We’re very excited to announce that we will be releasing our very first vinyl 7″ record “Out of the Abyss: Live on Tape” on Third Culture Records on July 21st!

Track List
SIDE A: Out of the Abyss
SIDE B: Etude

BONUS TRACK: Genosha (Reep-Meister Jam)

EXTRAS:

• Free digital downloads of both songs on the record as well as a 10-minute bonus track.
• Sheet music for Etude.
• Sweet artwork of a dragon with it’s skin melting off by CJ Dunn

Credits:
Produced by David Reep and Judgement Day
Engineered by David Reep at Calrec Studios
Mixed by Roger Pruett at Calrec Studios
Mastered by Mike Wells and Hyde Street Studios
Illustration and Design by CJ Dunn

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Why Live on Tape?

We’ve always been a big fan of vinyl but what makes this release very special for us is that we recorded it in a fully analog studio on tape. These days it’s very rare for bands to record on tape, the reason being that you have to actually be able to play the song all the way through. You can’t cheat with 100’s of takes and punch-ins and you definitely can’t auto-tune. Part of the appeal of recording on tape is the warm analog sound that you get but I believe that the true benefit of tape-recording is that it captures real, uncut musical performances. Back in the days of Miles Davis and The Beatles, this was just how records were made and today’s world of robotic perfection, where digital recordings are often made literally one note at a time, those classic analog jazz and rock records seem to have more life to them than ever.

When Dave Reep of Third Culture Records approached us with the idea of recording a 7″ on tape in a classic analog studio we thought that it sounded like a great challenge. We had just finished our fall tour and were tighter than ever. We decided to record Out of the Abyss for the A-side because it was a song that we had been playing almost every night and because the original studio version, with huge orchestral string arrangements, was so different from the live version. We thought it would be cool to capture that song as we had been doing it live so we did it in one take. It’s definitely not as perfect and polished as the original recording but it is 100% real and captures that live energy you can’t get any other way.

The B-Side Etude is essentially Lewis doing  a shredding cello solo for 2 minutes straight. Etude (a french word meaning study) is a classical term for a piece of music designed to improve a certain technique.  This piece explores diminished tonalities and thumb positions on the lower strings. It is also an exercise in rationing the cellist’s energy and developing endurance for extended periods of loud, fast playing. Any cellists who wants to learn it will have their chance because the sheet music will be included with the 7″.

The bonus track Genosha (Reep-Meister Jam) is a 10-minute version of another song that we were playing almost every night on tour. It’s a song that is vastly different every time we play it. The reel of tape that we used for this record was about 16 minutes long and we used every inch of it. After we finished Out of the Abyss and Etude we figured the best thing to do would be to would be to have a 15 minute jam. It was super sweet! Too bad you don’t get to hear the last 3 minutes. The tape ran out.

The artwork is by our longtime friend and collaborator CJ Dunn who has done the layout for The Acoustic EP, Dark Opus, Opus 3: Acoustic and all of our t-shirts, including the infamous Squid Puzzle shirt.

So there it is. Our very first 7″. Now we can all say “do you want to see my 7?” You can mail order it starting July 21st at Stringmetal.com or you can pick it up at any of our shows.

-anton

It’s been a while since I’ve done a blog entry. I’m sorry I never did a big post about the spring tour about dredg. We were just having so much fun that I didn’t have time to write much. I think dredg might have some of the best fans out there. Every night was great for us and all three of us, Jon, Lewis ad I came off of the tour with a new found sense of excitement about the future of Judgement Day.

We have mostly been taking June off. Jon has been working and playing with his other band VS Them. Lewis has been practicing cello, working around the house and will be playing some concerts with Berkeley Opera soon. I have just been hanging out in San Francisco, doing a few recording gigs and playing with my new band Devotionals. I had a great birthday party  a couple of nights ago. A bunch of cool bands played at it.

In July Judgement Day will be back in business! We’ll be appearing on the Chasing the Moon podcast on July 7th, which is going to be really sweet. It’s basically going to be a really high-quality video of a live set. Shortly following that we’ll be releasing our very first vinyl record titled “Out of the Abyss: Live on Tape” on Third Culture Records. To celebrate the release we’ll be doing a one week California tour. We’ll do a whole blog post about that release very soon.

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There is a very exciting new record that was released last week and that is the new dredg record The Pariah, the Parrot, the Delusion. If you are a fan of dredg’s previous records you’re definitely going to like it. If you’ve never heard dredg before I’d say this new record might be just the place to start. In addition to the healthy handful of polished, catchy prog-pop songs, it also has some of the craziest interludes that I have ever heard. We’re talking backwords children’s choir through vintage ring modulator type of shit. Actually, I honestly have no idea how they came up with most of these crazy sounds but I’m definitely feeling it.

The other added bonus for on The Pariah, the Parrot, the Delusion is…. us! Judgement Day is featured on 4 tracks:

Track 5: Lightswitch -- We don’t do much on this one but we’re on it and it’s one of the better songs on the record.

Track  12: Mouring This Morning - We put some sweet disco string hooks on this uber-catchy prog-soul number.

Track 14: Long Days and Vague Clues - A crazy evil circus song on which we get to totally shred (see video below).

Track 18: Stamp of Origins (Horizon) -- The sorrowful album closer.

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Although we only worked on that record for a few days it was truely a great experience. The members of dredg as well as the record’s producer, our friend and colleague Matt Radosevich are all great artists and collaborators, continually excited by prospects of musical exploration. Whether it was late-night percussion jam sessions or ultra-precise string overdubs the process was always fun and fulfilling.  That spirit is present throughout the record.

Check it out on itunes.

-Anton

Artwork by Phillip Ginn - www.legendhouse.com

HUGE BLACK MAN / HUGH JACKMAN EP
01. Side A
02. Side B

Recorded in Sacramento in September of 2006, Huge Black Man’s “Hugh Jackman EP”  was in many ways a musical experiment. The rules: 4 musicians from very different bands would meet in a practice space for one day, without any prior rehearsal, and record an entire album.

Those musicians were:
Anton Patzner of Judgement Day - Violin
Nick Reinhart of Tera Melos – Guitar, Knobs
Sam Phelps of 4 Guys from Reno – Bass
Noah Clark of Brilliant Red Lights – Drums and Producer

The result is a highly unique blend of musical styles and an intriguing study of spontaneity and creativity under the pressure of time constraint.

It’s also pretty fun to listen to. Check it out:

DOWNLOAD HUGE BLACK MAN / HUGH JACKMAN EP

“the object is no longer to propel the course of music forward. the path to progress is through. quality over originality. music is its own universe, and all sides have been stretched to their overlapping edges. we must fill in the tears adequately. quality is originality”