VK Blog http://vultureking.com/vkblog.cfm Tue, 10 Jan 2012 00:24:01 GMT http://bandzoogle.com Recent Updates - January 2012 http://vultureking.com/vkblog.cfm?feature=2146007&postid=1698892 Well...this isn't much to report as of right now. We're still looking for a new bassist and a new drummer. Danny and I are continuing to write new music, which I think overall is the best thing to do right now. The sound of the new stuff will be decidedly more metallic and darker. Plus we've got some older tunes that we're reworking, songs from our Hades Landscape days (2007-2008) that had a bit more substantial riffage than we've got out there now. We're not gone, not by a long shot. 2012 is going to be a stellar year for us. We WILL have a new album out, and we WILL be touring to support that album. Expect killer new merchandise (probably featuring some kind of new logo design), great new music, a new lineup, and great live show. --Patrick VK
We're not gone, not by a long shot. 2012 is going to be a stellar year for us. We WILL have a new album out, and we WILL be touring to support that album. Expect killer new merchandise (probably featuring some kind of new logo design), great new music, a new lineup, and great live show.

--Patrick
VK
]]> Tue, 10 Jan 2012 00:24:01 GMT CE5DB8A031BE60D872D9DB2E100D7F11 Halloween + New Album Update http://vultureking.com/vkblog.cfm?feature=2146007&postid=1455388 It's been a while. So here are a few updates first: 1) We are working on putting together a &quot;Special Edition&quot; full-length version of &quot;<a target="_new" href="./store.cfm">The Death of Day&quot;. This will include (as of right now) all six songs from the original EP, several live versions of previously released AND unreleased songs from our recent show at the Nine Lives Club (where we played with Asyst and Granted Earth), live videos (once we figure out the encoding bit), and hopefully, a couple of demos of some material destined for our next album, which we hope to record in early Spring of 2012. The special edition will be entitled &quot;The Birth of Night&quot;. Pictured below is the proposed album cover: 2) The new album -- we are working on songs and demos RIGHT NOW for what will be our first full-length CD. As of right now, we have almost 30 songs that we are trying to whittle down into the best 12 or 13. Some of these have already made their way into our live set: &quot;Falling Into Myself&quot;, &quot;I Kissed Your Tombstone&quot;, &quot;Obsessor&quot;, &quot;Beautiful Disease&quot;, and our cover of &quot;Send Me An Angel&quot;. Once again, we'll run into a licensing issue with the cover song. But we do plan on including one cover song per album. And...for whatever reason...our covers so far have all been New Wave or Post-Punk songs. The Cure, Real Life, Tears for Fears. We've even covered &quot;Renegade&quot; by Styx. Not New Wave--but it was the 80's (wasn't it?). And finally the Halloween show, with Papa Wheelie, Relapse, and Rivals. We were supposed to play this show, but we couldn't make it. So those of us that could attend, did. And it was well worth it. Tons of people in costume. Three cool bands. Lots of alcohol. Truly the best part of the evening was actually being able to hang out with Jason Newsted (front man from Papa Wheelie, and former Metallica bassist). &nbsp; Papa Wheelie in action Danny and Jason got on like a house on fire. Much wisdom was transmitted from the elder to the younger. Jason asked Danny to name his three most influential vocalists. Danny responded, &quot;Peter Steele, Ronnie James Dio, and Dave Mustaine.&quot; Jason, in his gruff and wizened voice, said, &quot;It doesn't get any better than that.&quot; Danny, to his credit, talked up Vulture King a lot and Jason seemed very into us, or at least our passion and love for our own band. I also got my licks in, when Danny said that the first song he ever heard ME personally play was a Candlemass ripoff that I had cobbled together. Jason said, &quot;I've shared many drinks with the guys from Candlemass.&quot; And he seemed impressed that I knew Candlemass enough to actually have made my own pastiche of their music. Hanging with Jason was very cool and very inspiring. He's been doing this for a long time and had a lot to say to us about the industry and about touring in. Best piece of advice, in my opinion: &quot;The day you can't carry your own equipment is the day you quit.&quot; Testify.
1) We are working on putting together a "Special Edition" full-length version of "The Death of Day". This will include (as of right now) all six songs from the original EP, several live versions of previously released AND unreleased songs from our recent show at the Nine Lives Club (where we played with Asyst and Granted Earth), live videos (once we figure out the encoding bit), and hopefully, a couple of demos of some material destined for our next album, which we hope to record in early Spring of 2012. The special edition will be entitled "The Birth of Night". Pictured below is the proposed album cover:


2) The new album -- we are working on songs and demos RIGHT NOW for what will be our first full-length CD. As of right now, we have almost 30 songs that we are trying to whittle down into the best 12 or 13. Some of these have already made their way into our live set: "Falling Into Myself", "I Kissed Your Tombstone", "Obsessor", "Beautiful Disease", and our cover of "Send Me An Angel". Once again, we'll run into a licensing issue with the cover song. But we do plan on including one cover song per album. And...for whatever reason...our covers so far have all been New Wave or Post-Punk songs. The Cure, Real Life, Tears for Fears. We've even covered "Renegade" by Styx. Not New Wave--but it was the 80's (wasn't it?).

And finally the Halloween show, with Papa Wheelie, Relapse, and Rivals. We were supposed to play this show, but we couldn't make it. So those of us that could attend, did. And it was well worth it. Tons of people in costume. Three cool bands. Lots of alcohol. Truly the best part of the evening was actually being able to hang out with Jason Newsted (front man from Papa Wheelie, and former Metallica bassist).
 


Papa Wheelie in action

Danny and Jason got on like a house on fire. Much wisdom was transmitted from the elder to the younger. Jason asked Danny to name his three most influential vocalists. Danny responded, "Peter Steele, Ronnie James Dio, and Dave Mustaine." Jason, in his gruff and wizened voice, said, "It doesn't get any better than that." Danny, to his credit, talked up Vulture King a lot and Jason seemed very into us, or at least our passion and love for our own band. I also got my licks in, when Danny said that the first song he ever heard ME personally play was a Candlemass ripoff that I had cobbled together. Jason said, "I've shared many drinks with the guys from Candlemass." And he seemed impressed that I knew Candlemass enough to actually have made my own pastiche of their music.

Hanging with Jason was very cool and very inspiring. He's been doing this for a long time and had a lot to say to us about the industry and about touring in. Best piece of advice, in my opinion: "The day you can't carry your own equipment is the day you quit."

Testify.
]]> Tue, 01 Nov 2011 20:35:00 GMT 840EC002B3521F588A56834E4CCD3FB1 On the Eve of Possession http://vultureking.com/vkblog.cfm?feature=2146007&postid=959893 So we've come to it at last. &quot;The Death of Day&quot;, our debut EP, is being released tomorrow, May 10, 2011. There was a tremendous amount of work done to get this album put together, and it is right and proper to thank all those involved in the process, and to give credit where credit is due. All of which will ,of course, be easy enough to read in the liner notes of our new album, which is unleashed into the Digital Aether tomorrow. OR...if you download the album directly from us, through this website, you will also be able to download the liner notes, which includes the expanded list of special thanks to all the people that made this album possible. A little bit of information about the album itself. Yes...it is an EP. But from us, that's longer than some LPs. Six songs -- thirty-six minutes. Most of them come in right around six minutes, except for &quot;Redlight&quot; (7:20) and our cover of &quot;Lullaby&quot; (4:21). We like long songs. It's what we do. Hopefully you'll enjoy them too. 1) Truth Becomes A personal song of loss through addiction. It wasn't until that we dropped the soft intro for the skull-crushing som'bitch that kicks off the whole album, that this song really came together. We also killed a needless interlude after the first chorus. Sometimes--most times--less is more. If it doesn't make the song better, it makes it worse by default. Daniel's fingerpicked bookends on this song suggest the endlessness of the cycle of sickness. The song could easily start again, and the bitter tale could begin anew,as&nbsp; in this world, it often does. 2) Man of Faith Questions of life and death and the meaninglessness of it all. This was based on a different, bluesier riff, but reformatted and retooled, top to bottom, within a day of recording this final version. It's still based on what is essentially a 12-bar blues pattern. The chorus was inspired by the chorus from John Lee Hooker's 1959 recording of&nbsp; &quot;Burning Hell&quot;, by way of Tom Jones' version (from his newest album). True story. 3) Stitch Down the Seam This one originally started with something that sounded a little too much like Sabbath's &quot;Planet Caravan&quot;. (Some early gig recordings even have this version.) We branched out from there, started hard instead of soft (always a good thing), put some fire in the opening guitar solo, and it's a god damn gem now. About as close to a straight-up rock song as we've got right now. 4) Redlight A spooky motherfucker. This, like Death Dealer, is a story song, and the music and the lyrics are very closely married together. Every change in the song is motivated by a turning point in the story. Read the lyrics by candlelight whilst listening. All shall be revealed in the telling... 5) Death Dealer Based on the Frank Frazetta character and subsequent hero of the fantasy novel &quot;The Prisoner of the Horned Helmet&quot;, Gath of Baal is a vicious bastard, enslaved by the whims of a horned helmet, which gives him not only a thirst for violence--but also the strength and skill necessary to enact the helmet's pleasure. There was an idea in the book that the Death Dealer's victims were in fact imbued with a piece of his essence--so much so that collector's would follow him around, picking up the pieces (i.e., the bones and body parts left behind) of his battles. Hence the lines &quot;Taken for charms by the scavenging men; use the sinew for woad to please the helmet again.&quot; Our oldest song--back from the days when parts of Vulture King made up the now-defunct Hades Landscape. 6) Lullaby Our first cover (not counting the ill-fated &quot;Chop Shop&quot;, our self-loathed vamp on the Knight Rider theme...). Also, our first foray into the bewildering and often expensive realm of music licensing. We love this song, but in order to have it on the record, we had to pay future royalties to The Cure. A good object lesson, one that will surely be repeated as we become more adept at churning out great versions of our favorite songs. Over cover is timed exactly to The Cure's original, in structure, spacing, and tempo. This was done 1) to keep our version to an easily distributible length of time, 2) to have a little fun by slapping our version over the original video (which apparently costs even more money in licenses and fees...), and 3) because we liked the song at that feel and tempo. It's a creepy little number. More creepy if you consider the song as strictly literal (which we do) than as an allegory. Hopefully, we'll hear back from Robert Smith and his crew about what they think of us. -- So the album we'll be here, in the mercantile world, tomorrow. Or rather, tonight at midnight. It's the first giant step on a very long and well-trodden path. We hope you enjoy every gut-wrenching, head-banging, heart-stopping, soul-crushing minute of it (there are thirty-six of those minutes, remember?). --VK
All of which will ,of course, be easy enough to read in the liner notes of our new album, which is unleashed into the Digital Aether tomorrow. OR...if you download the album directly from us, through this website, you will also be able to download the liner notes, which includes the expanded list of special thanks to all the people that made this album possible.

A little bit of information about the album itself. Yes...it is an EP. But from us, that's longer than some LPs. Six songs -- thirty-six minutes. Most of them come in right around six minutes, except for "Redlight" (7:20) and our cover of "Lullaby" (4:21). We like long songs. It's what we do. Hopefully you'll enjoy them too.

1) Truth Becomes
A personal song of loss through addiction. It wasn't until that we dropped the soft intro for the skull-crushing som'bitch that kicks off the whole album, that this song really came together. We also killed a needless interlude after the first chorus. Sometimes--most times--less is more. If it doesn't make the song better, it makes it worse by default.

Daniel's fingerpicked bookends on this song suggest the endlessness of the cycle of sickness. The song could easily start again, and the bitter tale could begin anew,as  in this world, it often does.

2) Man of Faith
Questions of life and death and the meaninglessness of it all. This was based on a different, bluesier riff, but reformatted and retooled, top to bottom, within a day of recording this final version. It's still based on what is essentially a 12-bar blues pattern. The chorus was inspired by the chorus from John Lee Hooker's 1959 recording of  "Burning Hell", by way of Tom Jones' version (from his newest album). True story.

3) Stitch Down the Seam
This one originally started with something that sounded a little too much like Sabbath's "Planet Caravan". (Some early gig recordings even have this version.) We branched out from there, started hard instead of soft (always a good thing), put some fire in the opening guitar solo, and it's a god damn gem now. About as close to a straight-up rock song as we've got right now.

4) Redlight
A spooky motherfucker. This, like Death Dealer, is a story song, and the music and the lyrics are very closely married together. Every change in the song is motivated by a turning point in the story. Read the lyrics by candlelight whilst listening. All shall be revealed in the telling...

5) Death Dealer
Based on the Frank Frazetta character and subsequent hero of the fantasy novel "The Prisoner of the Horned Helmet", Gath of Baal is a vicious bastard, enslaved by the whims of a horned helmet, which gives him not only a thirst for violence--but also the strength and skill necessary to enact the helmet's pleasure. There was an idea in the book that the Death Dealer's victims were in fact imbued with a piece of his essence--so much so that collector's would follow him around, picking up the pieces (i.e., the bones and body parts left behind) of his battles. Hence the lines "Taken for charms by the scavenging men; use the sinew for woad to please the helmet again." Our oldest song--back from the days when parts of Vulture King made up the now-defunct Hades Landscape.

6) Lullaby
Our first cover (not counting the ill-fated "Chop Shop", our self-loathed vamp on the Knight Rider theme...). Also, our first foray into the bewildering and often expensive realm of music licensing. We love this song, but in order to have it on the record, we had to pay future royalties to The Cure. A good object lesson, one that will surely be repeated as we become more adept at churning out great versions of our favorite songs.

Over cover is timed exactly to The Cure's original, in structure, spacing, and tempo. This was done 1) to keep our version to an easily distributible length of time, 2) to have a little fun by slapping our version over the original video (which apparently costs even more money in licenses and fees...), and 3) because we liked the song at that feel and tempo.

It's a creepy little number. More creepy if you consider the song as strictly literal (which we do) than as an allegory.

Hopefully, we'll hear back from Robert Smith and his crew about what they think of us.

--

So the album we'll be here, in the mercantile world, tomorrow. Or rather, tonight at midnight. It's the first giant step on a very long and well-trodden path. We hope you enjoy every gut-wrenching, head-banging, heart-stopping, soul-crushing minute of it (there are thirty-six of those minutes, remember?).

--VK

]]> Tue, 10 May 2011 01:40:01 GMT 2C777D24D5319FEB956F36E54D6CAE5E All alone in the After... http://vultureking.com/vkblog.cfm?feature=2146007&postid=783016 The recording is done. Mixing and mastering to come. So we shall leave it to the Mixmaster Aaron to do what he was made to do. (With frequent and probably irritating whisperings from the band...)&nbsp; 5+ hours on Friday. 12+ hours on Saturday. 14+ hours on Sunday. The Death of Day EP. Needle drop in the near future. <a href="./studio.cfm">Studio Photos
5+ hours on Friday.
12+ hours on Saturday.
14+ hours on Sunday.

The Death of Day EP. Needle drop in the near future.

Studio Photos
]]> Tue, 22 Feb 2011 11:21:25 GMT F36B95EDC79188AE4F5839EAD444DA81 6:30pm on Day 3 http://vultureking.com/vkblog.cfm?feature=2146007&postid=780368 &nbsp;Danny's vocals are amazing! &nbsp;3 down &amp; 3 to go. &nbsp;The record is coming together &amp; booming! Get some Get some]]> Mon, 21 Feb 2011 06:27:50 GMT B4D0A545D0DB430849350D875A9470E7 Vocals are a go! http://vultureking.com/vkblog.cfm?feature=2146007&postid=780241 &nbsp;Music is sounding...great! &nbsp;Vocals are starting. Nothing like having our lumberjack, who is 10 feet tall, hit the mic! Go Danny Go! Nothing like having our lumberjack, who is 10 feet tall, hit the mic!
Go Danny Go!]]> Mon, 21 Feb 2011 03:59:04 GMT 36FB9A5A0A6A1D84E21AC08B1FE7E3E5 Guitars, Guitars, Guitars http://vultureking.com/vkblog.cfm?feature=2146007&postid=779952 &nbsp;Guitars are cranking in the studio. &nbsp;Clean parts are done &amp; solos/fills are on their way! &nbsp;Lullaby is sounded just like The Cure intended (We're sure they'd approve of our version). Mon, 21 Feb 2011 00:42:05 GMT 5B84AF1BCDB3AACFC94532EA9C57A2C4 Studio - Day 3 ignition http://vultureking.com/vkblog.cfm?feature=2146007&postid=779721 &nbsp;Starting Day 3 in the studio with a bang, Red Light is sounding rich as Patrick is starting his day with recording clean guitars. &nbsp;Nice! Sun, 20 Feb 2011 22:14:26 GMT 06C56763ADB133807436973C413A4300 Studio - Day 2 http://vultureking.com/vkblog.cfm?feature=2146007&postid=778756 Drums - check Bass - check Rhythm Guitar - 1/2 way though &nbsp;- blazing through Redlight as I type. &nbsp; It's been a long day, but we are excited with our progress &amp; sound this far through the EP recording. Come join us tonight at Carbone's in Monterey to see Pride Subject tonight! Bass - check
Rhythm Guitar - 1/2 way though  - blazing through Redlight as I type.  

It's been a long day, but we are excited with our progress & sound this far through the EP recording.

Come join us tonight at Carbone's in Monterey to see Pride Subject tonight!
]]> Sun, 20 Feb 2011 07:24:32 GMT B66A2A0C61FEA40B4D1AAAFD84F473D8 Bass is Done! http://vultureking.com/vkblog.cfm?feature=2146007&postid=778744 &nbsp;The bass sounds phenomenal! Daniel wrapped up his recordings with &quot;Stitch down the Seam,&quot; which was great! Super strong and super tight. A great first day in the studio - we got a lot accomplished and are thankful for the many fans who came by to cheer us on! Sun, 20 Feb 2011 07:10:00 GMT 32B840F3FE1890477A4F13CC3E7D17DA Studio - Day 1 http://vultureking.com/vkblog.cfm?feature=2146007&postid=778317 &nbsp;The drums. The drums. Apparently, Steve is a one-take wonder. He's nailed every song in two takes or less. &nbsp;We (Daniel &amp; Steve) spent more time changing his drum heads in studio yesterday than Steve did recording today, unreal. &nbsp;Chicago Representing! Drums are done. Nice.
Drums are done. Nice.
]]> Sun, 20 Feb 2011 00:45:10 GMT E6A8BC79FA2D8FD88295BC8C1E344F43 The Night Before http://vultureking.com/vkblog.cfm?feature=2146007&postid=776189 Team-building last night. Gearing up for our studio excursion. First, we started out at <a target="_new" href="http://www.chopstixboba.com/">Chopstix, for some excellent Vietnamese food and some weird-ass Vietnamese milkshakes that had these gelatin balls in them. Then we headed over to <a target="_new" href="http://www.easystreetbilliards.com/">Easy Street Billiards for some weird-ass pool. Daniel's rules. Still don't understand them. Sort of a survival style pool. Your balls have to be the only ones remaining on the table. It was fun, if a little confusing. It kinda showed that VK (and their associated wives and girlfriends) are probably not the best pool players. But...it did give us a chance to set up the game plan for this weekend. We're excited. Because we now that we've got quality musicians, quality songs, and a quality engineer in a quality studio. Chopstix, for some excellent Vietnamese food and some weird-ass Vietnamese milkshakes that had these gelatin balls in them. Then we headed over to Easy Street Billiards for some weird-ass pool. Daniel's rules. Still don't understand them. Sort of a survival style pool. Your balls have to be the only ones remaining on the table. It was fun, if a little confusing. It kinda showed that VK (and their associated wives and girlfriends) are probably not the best pool players. But...it did give us a chance to set up the game plan for this weekend. We're excited. Because we now that we've got quality musicians, quality songs, and a quality engineer in a quality studio.
]]> Sat, 19 Feb 2011 00:05:00 GMT B43A1D1F33164C680E3F58B38914AC68