Excalion

Status update

2011-07-25T02:08:00.000-07:00

Time to fill the blog once again with some latest activities from the camp Excalion.
Last couple of months have been somewhat active but mostly what's been going on is not so interesting to write about...but the outcome of course is:

We now got more or less the basics recorded for all the demos for the next album!

This includes drums, bass and keys for something like 9 songs. With guitars we're somewhere in the half way there. Vocals for couple of those on track already! We also rehearsed a while ago one really energetic and up tempo killer song at the rehearsal space. Will surely be awesome!

Stay tuned for more news. In the next days Jarmo will sing some other songs for the demo versions and Vesa will put some amazing licks to the songs that still miss some guitars.

We'll also try to make sense of the timeplan when the next release could be. Anxiously waiting to get it confirmed!

Cheers!

Enter a Life video online!

2011-04-18T09:16:00.000-07:00

Yey,

It's finally out! The music video for Enter a Life, the album opener for High Time (2010). We really wanted to do this kind of anniversary video since it's already ten years of Excalion. Wow, time flies quite rapidly.
Think this is a nice way to show that we're alive and kicking! Check the video from youtube:

Enter a Life official music video

The demo recordings are going really nice as well. If you didn't remember, we're currently putting demos together for 9 new songs! Jarmo just sang the first one of those which is a bit heavier mid tempo song. I think in general the tempo could be going a bit up from last album. Nice twists and hooks there. Damn can't wait to hear the songs recorded. Was fun to hear one of the new songs with all the instruments in it since we weren't sure how guitars will be in that particular song...Vesa sent us a message during his composing period and said "hahahaaa...this song will be Rainbow!". We were quite excited what it will be since it really has a rockish vibe while it's still an uptempo song and has really really nice groove in it. But Vesa was actually bit right. Even though the guitars were really heavy sounding...it really had this Rainbow type of vibe in some parts of the song!

Ok. Some more updates later. Now some coffee and more promotion for the new video. Hope you like it. At least you get to see how we looked like ten years ago. Some really old clips there! :D

Cheers
Henri

Demo recordings on going

2011-03-13T09:39:00.000-07:00

Hey,

Small status report after a very intensive recording weekend.
We hit rehearsal space yesterday with Tero and Jappe to record demos for 7 new songs. We tried a new approach by putting bass tracks to the tape simultaneously as we recorded drums. We finally said goodbye to our old .zip discs and used a digital recorder. Hurray! :D

Was a blast. The songs are really tight and was nice to try out my new drumkit in the demo sessions. Had again some technical problems with the mics. Some of them always brake, don't know why? Of course was a bit of getting used to with the new recorder as well. Luckily Jappe is always eager to get familiar with those.

Yesterday we spend some 6 hours or a bit more to put up the equipment, to try the sounds and recorded 5 of the songs.

The songs all have still working titles which are getting weirder every year (the working titles I mean). Of these 5 songs, most we're bit faster songs including again some really nice and fresh elements for Excalion.

The evening was of course relaxing together with some nice drinks and pizza/kebab (what else?).

Today we finalized two last songs. The other quite heavy but slower song and one power ballad. So to conclude, the first day included quite much more bass drum hits. hehe

The next step Tero will finalize his bass lines to the songs. We got most to the tape while I recorded (Tero recorded along with me) but the focus was in the drums so that when I had good take, we agreed that Tero can easily then record later if his take wasn't as good at the same time.

But anyways. Great feeling. Songs are great, making demos is more fun now...Just then next step waiting to hear those final and of course waiting to get to the studio again for the next album!

January update

2011-01-16T02:36:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year everyone!

As you might have seen from Excalion.com, Jarmo will be appearing on a Heavy Musical on 5th of February in Turku. How awesome is that? Be sure to get your tickets for that specific act. ;)

Some update from the rehearsals as well:
We've got 9 new songs so far that are extremely potential for the next album. The songs are extremely versatile. Some really fast stuff to slower songs with huge choruses.

We also updated our equipment a bit for demo recording. We used to do all our demos (since last 5 years) with a 8-track recorder from ancient history, utilizing zip disks that are not sold anywhere nowadays. We've lived with a constant fear that some of the disks break (or just start to malfunction as usual) during the recordings and we would have to start all over again. But those days are gone since now we have an actual digital recorder for demo sessions. We will hit the rehearsal space in a couple of weeks to record a few more of the new songs.

Sorry for the delay with the new video. The timeline we had in mind was a bit optimistic since the producer is extremely busy with his dayjob and we want to have a bit of a extra work with this video. ;) So be patient.

See ya later!

Rehearsal update

2010-10-27T12:18:00.000-07:00

Just came back from the rehearsals. After a couple of quiet weeks we went back to the rehearsal space to work on the new songs. Have to say that it has been a blast. It seems that sometimes Jappe has astonishing flow with songwriting and killer songs just pop out after each other. Well, these are those times again. Just have to keep up with the pace and rehearse the songs that he doesn't have to store all ideas just in his head.
Today we worked on a few different songs. Few words about those:

First one of these is a bit slower but heavy song in the style of Losing Time from Waterlines. Has great melodies in it and is one of those songs that work even if played with just drum, bass and keyboard combination.

The second kinda rockish mid tempo song with a GREAT sing-along vibe. Only played once in the rehearsals right now but no doubt will be one of the most noticeable upcoming new songs.

Last one of the songs is really fast and heavy song with some killer guitar-keyboard patterns, lots of double bass drumming rhytms and some slight proggish influences. Hell of a lot of fun to rehearse this one.

We'll be sharing some news from the rehearsals in the upcoming weeks as well.

Btw. The video editing is progressing slowly but surely. The material looks absolutely great but it will take a bit of time still to get the video finished as we're combining some materials from the Excalion-journey and there's quite a big bunch of stuff that we have to go through. But the outcome should be really worth the wait!

Cheers!

It's a wrap

2010-09-19T10:42:00.000-07:00

Hey,

Quite an intense weekend starts to be over and the video shoot for Enter a Life is done. Have to say that it was an extremely fun shooting session and everything rolled flawlessly. I personally can't wait to see the final version of the video.

Can't think of a better way to sum up the last ten years we have been pleaying together, but with this video that shows some memories throughout our journey, looks back where we started from and takes us up to date, Rocking on "Enter a Life" from High Time album!

More pictures coming soon. In the meantime, check some from the right sidebar.

Video shoot starts

2010-09-17T13:06:00.000-07:00

Excalion shoots the Enter a Life - music video this weekend! Be prepared for an awesome video that also presents some sights to the past of Excalion.

Pictures from the shoot coming soon. First some sleep after a long day of preparations. Stay tuned!

New video planned, High Time released in Japan

2010-08-30T01:18:00.000-07:00

Hey,

Time to share some updates, what's happening in camp Excalion!
First of all, sorry for a bit quiet period. Summer was quite full of all sorts of activities in and out of band but what could be most interesting for you, High Time was released in Japan by Art Union Group in August. BURRN! review gave High Time 80 points! Excalion has also decided to do a music video for High Time album to celebrate the ten years journey that started end of 2000 in Konnevesi, Middle-Finland.

The new video will be shot within a month and will include some footage throughout our journey. We're extremely excited about the ideas for the video and can't wait to get it shot, edited and delivered to every single Excalion fan out there! More info on the progress coming later (with some pictures of course from the shooting naturally).

The demoing of new songs is also progressing nicely as is the composing. We foresee Autumn to be a very active period for Excalion. I also personally did a small investment for the future and took brand new double bass - Tama Starclassic drum set. Will share some pictures with you as soon as I receive the fantastic monster kit.

In the meantime, please keep requesting us for your local radio stations/pubs/venues and share us some recommendations for good places to ROCK!

Excalion.com down

2010-06-28T13:27:00.000-07:00

Hey,

As you might have seen, Excalion.com is currently down because of not enough bandwidth. The site should be up again tomorrow or the day after at the latest. We'll make sure this problem doesn't occur again.

In the meanwhile, we are starting to make the first demos out of the new songs. We're at the first stage demoing 3 really cool songs and at the same time rehearsing a few more. It's going very nicely now in the rehearsals and the songs will be extremely strong! Stay tuned for more news.

Update from the rehearsals

2010-05-13T14:05:00.000-07:00

Hey,

Just wanted to give a short update what's going on right now. Just came back from the rehearsals a couple of hours ago. We had a really nice session where Jappe introduced two new songs. I have to say it felt damn nice to start working on them. Both of the songs were awesome and now they're stuck to my head even if they still were on a really early stage.

We have started going over some rehearsal and gig material we have shot ourselves during the last ten years. Let's see what we come up with those. "Remains to be a secret", be patient :)

The new shirts are coming. We had a bit of delay as we had to get some posters also printed but they'll be here soon.

Now some sleep. Let's see which one of those new songs will play more in my head the next 24 hours! Cheers

Reviews updated

2010-03-29T01:38:00.001-07:00

Hey,

just added a couple of new reviews from Metal Crypt (4,75/5) and Angelfire (4/5) to the Excalion.com review page. Check them out!

To our Street team page we also added a couple of posters that you can print out and spread the word with. Or just put it on your own wall if you wish. ;) Here's the link to them: Excalion material

We have been rehearsing quite much lately and discussing our future plans. Some of you might remember that end of this year we will celebrate 10 years of Excalion. I think we can provide something cool before the end of the year so you don't have to wait that long. More about that later.

The layout for the shirts looks damn good and they will be printed soon.

Many of you are surely waiting for gigs to appear. For autumn we will try to arrange better selection of them. For now we would like to ask our friends and fans to come to Konnevesi 17.4 to jam with us in our home village.

See ya!

100 000 MySpace visits

2010-03-05T06:29:00.000-08:00

The Excalion MySpace page just recently crossed the line of 100,000 visits.

Thanks and come again!

New interviews and random talk

2010-03-04T09:45:00.000-08:00

Hi guys and gals,

just wanted to drop some lines as were doing some interviews during these days. We'll post links as they are released. If anyone is interested in hearing one, I suggest you check www.wolfhoundmetalradio.com tomorrow, Friday 5th at 9PM CET. I'll be dropping by to say some words about the new album.

The new shirts are still in the designing phase as we want to have it as great as possible! Shouldn't take many days to get them ordered now. Can't wait to get them.

Many people have been asking about a new video clip. We're still thinking of it as a possibility but first we want to have a really good idea for it and good production. We'll let you know how it turns out.

See ya all later!

Excalion Infernon uusimmassa numerossa

2010-02-26T07:38:00.000-08:00

Moi väki,

Infernon juuri ilmestyneestä numerosta (#74) löytyy Excalion-haastattelu. Kiinnostuneet ei ku kipaisemaan kioskille tummanpuhuvaa rokkilehteä ostamaan.

Status check

2010-02-13T12:58:00.000-08:00

Hey all,

So, what's been happening since the last blog post?
High Time was released and is available in many stores across Europe and can be ordered from all over the world from various online stores. We finally got the Excalion site updated with some new cool features as you might have seen.

The first reviews have been extremely positive and we are just totally thrilled about it. More importantly we have had very posivitive feedback from the audience which is most important for us. Thank you for that!

We're now finalizing ideas for the next Excalion shirts and hopefully they are available soon.

We just had our first gig after the release of the album. This was a band event at Hankasalmi and we had the pleasure to try out some new stuff and it felt great. We were a bit worried how it's going to go as Jarmo was really sick just a couple of days before the gig and we had no idea can he sing at all, but he totally rocked!

Here's the setlist for yesterday as I know some of you are interested what songs were played (I seriously cannot remember in which order they were):
Enter a Life, Lifetime, Yövartio, Foreversong, Bring on the Storm, Flags in Line, Losing Time, Wingman, Moment in the Spotlight and Luopio.

Cheers from now. We're searching now intensively for follow up gigs. Stay tuned for new interviews!

Launching the new layout

2010-01-28T12:54:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone!

By the time I´m writing this blog, the Excalion site with old layout is just drawn out and we're putting the new layout together. In a couple of hours the day will be February 29th, which means HIGH TIME is officially released!

Here's a small High Time promovideo to introduce the new album.
Check it out!

If the video is not working properly, access it from HERE (Youtube)

Release coming closer

2010-01-25T12:28:00.000-08:00

Hey all!

A while since we wrote something in Excalion blog. The release of High Time is getting closer day by day and we're totally thrilled about it. The new layout for the homepage is almost done and not long before we set that up.

We just had a band weekend to rehearse our new songs and they kicked serious ass. Can't wait to get on stage to play those for you. Didn't remember to take any pictures from our rehearsal space. Have to do that later then. We're also checking to order some High Time shirts to be later available on our site. Lots of things coming up so be sure to check the pages regularly.

Btw. Have you remembered to pre-order our new album? Seems to be up in quite many locations. Check here for worldwide shipments:

http://www.recordshopx.com/artist/excalion/

See you guys later!

11. Foreversong

2009-12-30T01:41:00.000-08:00

The song described

Foreversong ends the High Time album. It was the obvious choice for the last song from its lyrics and general feel. The song has basically two separate parts. First one is the faster side of the song and the latter introduces the chorus in a slower and more atmospheric beat. Foreversong starts with a funky keyboard melody solely that reminds some old game music (Megaman from Sega or similar). Suddenly all the instruments kick in very heavily and fill the melody. The song is very energetic until the end of second chorus when the mood changes more calm with a highly effected drum loop that sounds from distance and Vesa's guitar melodies that take the song perfectly to the C-part of the song with calm vocals. Then the song kicks in again to the chorus that differs from the earlier choruses by its arragements and finally take High Time to its end.

How it all started

This song has been in the making from summer 2008 I think. It has changed a lot during the process. This was one of those songs that really had to build itself up slowly but surely. Some parts of the vocals we heard for the first time in the studio. It was really nerve wrecking, not knowing at all what it would sound like but luckily it sounded great. In general the High Time sessions were much more challenging as we had new songs that we wanted to include on the album but weren't 100% ready when I for example played the drums for album. Very challenging but extremely rewarding.

-Henri

Yeah, the Mega Man song. :-) Something strange happened with this track. It didn´t feel like a strong song to me; I wrote 2 or 3 different (bad) lyrics for it and nothing worked. Its first demo version did not sound very good, and at some point I was even half-way hoping that this song would not be on the album. But then Jappe wrote more melody to it, the song got its final lyrics, we succeeded perfectly with the C-part and the vocal lines in studio, and all of a sudden it was fantastic. Now this is my favorite song of the whole album. Insane!

-Tero

10. A Walk On A Broken Road

2009-12-30T01:29:00.000-08:00

The song described

A Walk On A Broken Road is the ballad of the album. It is a tragedic yet hopeful song that has incredibly great atmosphere. The song is quite calm from the beginning of the end moving forwards with base synth and orchestrations and Jarmo's voice. The middle part and the ending bring a tragedic feel with touching keyboard melody and drums that sound like they come from miles and miles away echoing with the wind.

How it all started

This song was one of the 4 songs that we demoed in 2007 summer. It was originally a band version with pretty much same vocal melodies but the similarities end there. We wanted to try out a different approach for the album as we felt the song could work extremely well with very simple arrangements. Of course we were worried if that was a good idea or not, but it's hard to describe the feeling when I heard Jarmo sing this one in the studio. I knew that these changes made the song incredible.

-Henri

This is definitely the most special track on the album. In the demo stage it was a power ballad with more or less typical band arrangement, but at some point the decision was made to make a completely different version of it for the album. The instrumental tracks of this song are almost 100% synths. It was kind of funny -- we of course always record all the basic drums, bass tracks and rhythm guitars first in the studio sessions, but this song has none of those. So all the time there was this one title standing in the tracklist and nothing was done about it, until Jappe came in and crafted the song by himself.

-Tero

I remember this songs arrangement divided opinions and there were some arguments too. :) Well that happens sometimes. I think this "ambient" version fits well to this album because it's again.. something new what we haven't tried before. Jappe "Vangelis" M. did nice arrangements with his Casio (tm) keyboard. (check below..) -Vesa

9. Quicksilver

2009-12-30T01:05:00.000-08:00

The song described

Quicksilver is also one of the newest Excalion songs. It is not the heaviest song on the album but definately one of the most melodic and catchiest songs. Quicksilver is very synth based song and introduces lots of great keyboard melodies and sounds you've never heard on Excalion albums. Some of the songs vibes definately come from 80's rock (even from synth pop) and heavy scene and these are the things that make this song sound really fresh. Believe it or not.

The song starts quite calmly with a hi-hat pattern and cool sounding keyboard melodies that finally blow to full band beat. This song is all about great sounding vocal lines that have been made for Jarmo to show of his great voice. The chorus could be the most melodic of all Excalion songs.

How it all started

This one is a quite new one from this Spring. I remember Jappe making me ready for the song before introducing anything. He said "I'm not sure if you will like this one. It's possibly the catchiest song ever written...maybe too catchy for a heavy album". :D

Sure I liked it... a lot! Jappe showed me the chorus and played the vocal melodies for it. It was great! Those who are interested can find one part of the last chorus in the studio diary videos!!! Go check it out!

-Henri

I think this one´s working title was "The Smash Hit Single" or something like that. Heh... Really vocal-driven, melodic approach here.

-Tero

8. Lifetime

2009-12-29T01:46:00.000-08:00

The song described

Lifetime is one of the newest songs of the album and one of the most fresh sounding songs with its uptempo, groovy and versatile qualities. Lifetime includes lots of variations and parts that differ from each other without never losing its great groove and beat that makes you throw your fist in the air as you hear it. The song hits you right in the face as it kicks in with a fast drum fill exploding in to a heavy and uptempo rhythm that lets you know that this song has a lot to offer.

How it all started

Lifetime was written in autumn 2008 but rehearsed for the whole band only in Spring 2009. We demoed quite a bunch of songs for drums, bass and keyboard in autumn 2008 and built 90% of the songs for High Time. This was one of the strongest ones for me even though it didn't have any vocal melodies for a long time. Jappe planned the melodies quite a while to get the best out of it and in spring he presented the melodies to Jarmo and he sang the demo straight away. Proved to be one of the best songs on the album (I think it's Jarmo's favourite) and one of the most fresh sounding songs that show the best of Excalion.

-Henri

I remember that this song changed very much along its way. The song´s chorus was not initially a chorus at all, but some other part. I also remember that for a long time I had no idea what this song would sound like in the end. Usually you get a general idea already when rehearsing the basic instrumental parts, but this one was elusive. Sometimes it is nice to be surprised.

-Tero

7. Firewood

2009-12-29T01:37:00.000-08:00

The song described

Firewood. What can you say about the song? It is one of the heaviest of the album, extremely rhythmic, has increadibly beautiful keyboard melodies, possibly the coolest verses from Excalion song history, fastest solos from the new album and great lyrics that represent what Excalion is all about.

How it all started

This song built up in summer 2008. I remember Jappe presenting some parts of the song including the chorus and the general feel of the song and giving me free hands to create the rhythms for it. Lots of fun building this one up and was one of those songs you knew you're gonna love from the first seconds. One of my absolute favourites.

-Henri

This song has a somewhat unusual structure. The chorus, or the B part or whatever it is, is more calm than the verses and is not the sole focus of the song. Also something out of the ordinary comes in at the end of this track. This is probably one of those songs that every one of us has been thrilled about ever since the first rehearsals. Well, at least I have.

-Tero

This song sounds fresh because of it's unusual structure. You can also hear some very distant vibes of SyX in this song. But very very distant and I mean guitar parts..

-Vesa

6. The Shroud

2009-12-27T10:19:00.000-08:00

The song described

The Shroud represents also the epic side of the album. The song has a marching feel in many of its parts and a big and catchy chorus. The song kicks in with a marching drum beat and continues with a nice, big and catchy keyboard melody with a heavy guitar riff. As most of the High Time songs, The Shroud gives a lot of space for Jarmo to sing his lungs out and vary the mood of the song from calm verses to fierce C-parts that show the variety and power of Jarmo's voice. The solo represents Vesa's great ability to combine an excellent melodic guitar playing to shredding that leaves no-one cold.

How it all started

I think this song saw the daylight in autumn of 2008. Once again Jappe had laid some basics for a song that he wanted to try out with me and Tero. I remember that we didn't have to struggle with this song that much. The chorus and the theme of the song were catchy as hell so that made building the rest of the song pretty easy. The structure has been the same from the start and we didn't have to make many changes to the song in the recording phase. It just works.

-Henri

All started from the main theme/chorus and they made me feel that there has to be some marching feel in the song. Also it sounded very bombastic and big right from the start. At first I had a little bit different arrangement in mind to the verses, but it turn out great. Now it is more dynamic and rises perfectly towards to chorus.

-Jappe

Like Jappe said I think there was a little bit different arrangement planned for this, but now it's more dynamic. I had some guitar creativity problems with this song, but that happens sometimes.

-Vesa

5. Bring On The Storm

2009-12-25T11:26:00.000-08:00

The song described

Bring On The Storm is the fastest song on High Time. It is also the newest song of the record. As the title fiercely intimidates, the song bursts straight in to business and fast double bass rythm with a very cool guitar riff. With grooving and galloping verses, the song goes to the chorus that follows the fast double bass rythm and the guitar riff of the intro with the lyrics "Bring on the storm, let it rage on"! After the calm middle part and Jappe's keyboard solo the song ends with choruses that raise higher and higher till the end.

How it all started

We were coming fast to the end of summer of 2009 and we had most of the High Time songs ready but we felt that we need still a fast double bass song to make the album whole. We made the basics of the song ready only a couple of weeks before the studio and Vesa rehearsed his guitar parts when we had just started the drum and bass recordings. Jarmo was introduced to the song when all the instruments were already recorded! Jarmo took an hour or two to try out the song and see how it felt and he nailed it to the album. It was extremely cool but at the same time really challenging way of working. Normally all the songs have been ready when we've started the recordings. As Jarmo started to sing the verses to the album I knew that this song is going to kick ass. And it certainly did.

-Henri

I remember Jappe coming to visit me when we were about to start the High Time sessions, and he played this song and put into place the lyrics I had sketched. That´s when I heard the song´s melody for the first time, and the melody sounded great even before any arrangements were there.

-Tero

It was nice different approach to make song like this way. I just got bass and drum tracks
and wrote guitar riffs based on that. And nice surprise (well it's not a surprise hahah) was the first mixdown because I didn't know any vocal melodies. This song is nice fast ride with catchy chorus!

-Vesa

4. The Flags in Line

2009-12-23T03:17:00.000-08:00

The song described

The Flags in Line is one of the most epic songs on High Time. It is at the same time one of the heaviest and catchiest song. Even though it's one of the biggest Excalion songs in the vein of Soaking Ground, the Waterlines-epic, it is still very compact yet versatile song. The intro builds on a heavy riff that guides through the main themes of the song with a very tight baseline by the drums and bass. Followed by a calm verse the song bursts into big and catchy chorus with the biggest choirs of the album. With an extremely emotional yet powerful singing by Jarmo, The Flags in Line is definately one of the must hear songs from High Time.

How it all started

This is one of the oldest songs from the new album. It was included in the 4 song demo tape of 2007. It has gone through small changes since then. The lyrics were modified by Tero a while before entering the studio and the title of the song was changed in the process from September Falling to Flags in Line. This song was always one the best we've written, but it totally exploded in the studio to a new level with fantastic choirs, new and absolutely great lyrics and the orchestrations made by Jappe as well as because of the new solo part that introduced really great twin solo by Jappe and Vesa. One of my favourites from Excalion, if not the best song.

-Henri

Yah, this is propably the heaviest song Excalion has ever written and it starts with guitar riff. Solo part has changed a little bit during the years and I think it's now perfecto. Like Henri said this is also one of my favourites from Excalion.

-Vesa

Actually I don't quite remember how this song was composed. I think that it was first based on the vocal lines completely and after that came the rest. I remember that I was composing and trying to sing the vocal lines outside in the cold breeze. It has one of the best verse vocals that we have. I liked the old title a lot, but the new one is also good.

-Jappe

3. Sun Stones

2009-12-21T11:59:00.000-08:00

The song described

Sun Stones is the most progressive song on the High Time album. It is an orient influenced song in the style of Dire Waters from Primal Exhale. The song is extremely versatile, it builds on different atmospheres from quiet and misty parts to powerful verses and a melodic chorus. The intro as well as the solo part introduce a very fresh sounds to Excalion with lots of percussions and a groovy bassline that represent essential parts of the song.

How it all started

Sun Stones was one of the most interesting songs for myself as we started to jam this one in 2008. Jappe presented a very rythmic bassline that prooved to be an important part of the song. It was extremely fun to play with other instruments as well and it didn't take long as the song was ready. Big part of the song structure came by improvising session with Jappe and Tero as we just started to jam on the one bassline Jappe introduced. The song just built itself up. This is how it is supposed to happen! One of the best memories of our rehearsing session for High Time definately. We had a bit quiet months before Jappe wrote this one, but the songs started to flood in as we got our rehearsal sessions kicked in well.

-Henri

Yeah this song represents really new sounds for Xcalion. Lots of percussions and even a little bit of wah wah "funky" guitar.

-Vesa

The idea of the song came up from a synth sound. I tested some new sounds and there was some groovy sound that inspired the intro theme. The scale of the intro made clear that there would be some orient feeling. The song basically built up around the theme. I had some different choruses in mind, but right after we played the one that sticked, it was clear that we had the winner. Tero's lyrics reflect perfectly the atmosphere of the song.

-Jappe

This album's little prog monster. We spent much time arranging its tricks and hooks. It would have been easy to mess this one up in the studio, but we managed to get the song to work perfectly.

-Tero

2. From Somewhere To Anywhere

2009-12-19T07:57:00.000-08:00

The song described

From Somewhere To Anywhere is as close to ROCK Excalion has ever been to. The song is as catchy as hell and builds on groovy vocal melodies and the motto: "Simple is brilliant!"

How it all started

This song goes way back. I think it was written straight after the songs of "Waterlines" and rehearsed before the second album was released in 2007. The song was made as a demo in Summer 2007 with three other songs. 3/4 made it to the album "High Time". This song has gone through least changes from the point it was written by Jappe. Some lyrical changes and a couple of slight changes with the chorus vocals melodies.

Funny to remember way back thinking that we have played this song in three different rehearsal spaces. Not easy to find stable place to rehearse for a heavy band! heh

-Henri

This song was a long time in the making, it is the oldest song on the album. I have liked this one from the very first day. It is our stadium rock song.

-Tero

What can I say? A simple forward going song. First song I wrote after Waterlines sessions. Composing started from the chorus as usual. Some minor changes were made before the studio. In the demo there was a different intro, but I wanted to some song have a guitar solo in the beginning and this was obvious choice.

-Jappe

This song is played with drop C tuning which creates certain heavy feeling. I remember jamming this song in our rehearsal place and it sounded good. This song has quite a lot of guitar solos but thats nice... (or is it?? :D)

-Vesa

1. Enter a Life

2009-12-18T01:08:00.000-08:00

The third Excalion album "High Time" will be described here with additional information on how the songs got started and what the creation process was like.

The song described

The album opener "Enter a Life" is a catchy and energetic uptempo song that was immediately planned to kick start the album with full blaze.
The song starts with a short drum intro and kicks in with a highly melodic theme. The song is pretty simple in its structure, but has extremely nice vocal melodies and catchy guitar shredding in the solo part.

How it all started

This is the weirdest place songwriting has ever begun for us: the lyrics of the chorus. I had the lines, and just for fun I mailed them to Jappe and asked him to make a piece of music to them, and he wrote a whole song. This was an obvious album-opener from the start.

-Tero

I remember discussing with Tero that he had written some of the best chorus-lyrics up to date. Instructing Jappe to write as good melodies.

The second memory of Spring 2009 is that us three (Tero, me and Jappe) are driving away from the rehearsal place trying to sing the chorus as Jappe had just finished writing the melody for it. I'm sure it didn't sound that good sung by us three (Boychoir) but it felt really good and we knew the song would be one of the best we have.

-Henri

We had a different approach with this one. Usually music comes before lyrics. Tero said to me that he had good chorus lyrics in his hands and I thought that lets do the process different this time. The lyrics were inspiring and in no time I had the whole chorus ready and a vision of what kind of song this would be. When I had the song structure ready we hit rehearsals to work on this puppy. After tightening some loose ends it was ready for the rest of the lyrics and for the demo session.

-Jappe

Mastering High Time

2009-12-02T08:38:00.001-08:00

Let's bring you all up the speed of what's happening at Excalion camp.
High Time is currently at mastering studio and we just got to hear the first songs ready. Sounded extremely good and now were waiting anxiously to hear the whole album.

The artwork is now done. It was made by an extremely talented Spanish guy. We hope to reveal the cover artwork and the release date (which will be quite early 2010) soon. Our ex-bassist Timo Sahlberg took our new photos some time ago and they turned out really good as well. Next we'll start looking for possible gigs of course!

27th and final day

2009-10-16T10:18:00.000-07:00

This is it. The album is now ready. Only a couple of slight things to improve with the mixing but these will be done in no time. We're extremely happy with the quality of the record that Arttu once again made possible in studio Watercastle. Now it's time to relax a bit and just start waiting the release and your comments. Over and out.

Day 26 & 27

2009-10-16T01:23:00.000-07:00

Today is the last day for the studio and we have tons of things to do. We noticed some crucial things that had to be corrected during the pause and now we're quite stressed to finish everything today. I think the last modifications have to be made when Arttu has time after today but let's see how this day goes. A long long Long day ahead of us. Wish us luck!

Day 25

2009-10-06T07:52:00.000-07:00

Almost on the finish line, but not quite. Originally, this was supposed to be the last day of the sessions, but we saw several days in advance that it is better to stretch the schedule a bit. You don´t want to leave anything half-done because you´re in a hurry. So we booked two extra days, and take a little break now.

The final days are next week, 15. and 16.10. See you then!

Day 24

2009-10-06T01:26:00.000-07:00

Sometimes these songs take one by surprise. I heard a completely mixed version of one particular song... and it was totally different than the unproduced raw version. Usually they just get enhanced, but this one had altered its form totally... In a good way. It was so much richer that it almost felt like a new song.

It´s nice to be surprised, sometimes.

Days 22 & 23

2009-10-04T10:14:00.000-07:00

The weekend saw a couple of mixing days with not very special events. We are busy listening to differently mixed versions of the songs, and little changes are made here and there, but we seem to have the basic sound of the album in our hands now. The most hectic days of these sessions are over for us, and now it is more or less only the fine-tuning of the album that is left. But that, too, requires some time. There is much technical work.

Arttu is working long hours to make our wishes come true, sound-wise. Our hats are off for him.

Day 21

2009-10-02T09:34:00.001-07:00

Now it sounds even better!

Day 20

2009-10-01T10:31:00.000-07:00

Yeah, we finally got to inform everyone about the album title, record company and release schedule. And you know what? The mixing just started and we have the first song almost totally ready. It is sounding totally killer! The next days will be much faster to work on because the first song is always the slowest one because so many different decisions need to be made according how everything should sound in general. More to come tomorrow!

Day 19

2009-09-25T10:49:00.001-07:00

Yeah, all the vocals and backing vocals are now done. Today we had two female singers to sing some really cool choir parts and Jarmo finished his parts aswell. Vesa has also done almost all solos. He will send the last one's to the studio start of next week.

We will start the mixing of the album next thursday. The songs sound already extremely good and big. Now we have some time off until next thursday to cool our brains a bit so we can dig into the mixing efficiently.

Day 18

2009-09-24T09:02:00.000-07:00

Today was a busy day. It was spent working with lots and lots of backing vocal lines and figuring out arrangement details and such. Jarmo had lots of stuff to sing. Meanwhile, preliminary mixing has also started. During the day, Arttu did some mixing work for one of the tracks before Jarmo started with his vocal recordings, so we are moving closer to the final sound of the songs. Some vocals are still left to do, and some may be postponed to next week, but the songs are almost completed now. Soon we can start to concentrate on the mixing only.

The day ended in a beautiful way as all the guys managed to fit in the booth to record some chants. Four men shouting -- very pretty.

Day 17

2009-09-23T11:14:00.000-07:00

Vocals and some more vocals. You should've heard one backing vocal part that Jarmo did today. It was maybe the highest voice a man could ever make. hehe.. Well I guess you can hear it in the final album. Extremely entertaining to listen to Jarmo scream his lungs out on those parts. :)

Vesa has also sent most of the solos to the studio now. Can't wait to hear them.

Day 16

2009-09-22T10:51:00.000-07:00

Hey, it's me reporting from the studio once again. How original? :D

Quite typical day. Arttu did some editing until Jarmo came after three. Jarmo has now done the backing vocals for four songs and all the lead vocals. Sounds absolutely fantastic. The arrangements are very fresh sounding and I'm thrilled. Three days to go still this week.

Vesa has also been working his ass off with the solos. Got a taster yesterday what's coming. Wow! :D

Day 15

2009-09-21T10:35:00.000-07:00

Back in business after the weekend. The main vocals for one song were still to be done. That one is a recent song and Jarmo basically had to learn some new melodies for it on the spot. He managed to do it really fast. The vocal lines proved to be absolutely powerful. Some of the stuff Jarmo did today is really difficult to sing -- got to respect him.

So, now it is time to start recording backing vocals and "choir" parts. That continues tomorrow.

Day 14

2009-09-18T11:11:00.000-07:00

Another day of some great vocals! Went to the studio after 14.00 and Tero was doing some acoustic guitars there. Had to look in to the booth where he was playing just in case Vesa would've been there. hehe. I guess Vesa was a few hundred kilometers away from that booth.

Jarmo had again a couple of intensive hours for his vocals. Only one fast and newest song lacks still the lead vocals. Jarmo has done an amazing job. Have to say that I got some very nice chills from some of the parts he did today. Next monday we will continue with the final song and we start the backing vocals recordings. Stay tuned!

Day 13

2009-09-17T10:21:00.000-07:00

I guess I could write something again. Has been a couple of days since I last had a chance to be at the studio. A lot of cool things have happened in between. All the keyboards are recorded and the songs sound terrific! Jarmo also came at the studio a bit before 4 o´clock and did lead vocals for three songs. There will be some extremely cool arrangements on some of the songs that you've never heard on Excalion albums. Could I go to the studio now and listen to the songs over and over again? I would very much like that. hehe

Tomorrow afternoon Jarmo will continue recording the lead vocals. A few songs are still lacking the vocals. After that it's just backing vocals, adding Vesa's solos and mixing. I think Vesa will get his parts to the studio very soon aswell.

Day 12

2009-09-16T11:17:00.000-07:00

We are happy to notice that keyboard parts are almost completely done. Some of that stuff was left for tomorrow, but after that it will be just vocal recordings and editing for the rest of this week´s days.

Jarmo is taking a couple of hours each day for his singing work. His voice seems to have more and more energy each studio day.

Tomorrow the magic will continue to happen. It seems that even four of us may be hanging around in the studio that day - a new record for these sessions.

Day 11

2009-09-15T11:33:00.000-07:00

This day was spent doing the same stuff as yesterday. Day hours working on keyboard sounds, later afternoon vocal recordings. Everything sounds fine. Although Jarmo is critical towards his singing, it takes him a couple of studio days to warm up. Anyway, we have already managed to get some quality vocal tracks completed. Also, there was discussion on some details of final arrangements.

Quote of the day: "Hey, have you learned to play that harmonica?"

Weird.

Day 10

2009-09-14T11:10:00.000-07:00

Tenth day, and it is time to start working on keyboards and vocals. We have reached the stage when the songs start to sound big. Jappe worked on the keyboard parts throughout the day, picking different sounds and adding layers. Keyboards were completed for four songs today, I think. It was kind of satisfying to listen to the results. The instrument parts for those songs are "full" now, and one can finally listen to the stuff sounding much like it will sound in the end. I really liked what I heard today!

Jarmo came to the studio in later hours and started recording the vocal parts of his first song. Both guys will continue their work tomorrow.

The newest of this bunch of songs is very recent. I heard the vocal melodies for it the first time last weekend. Now the damn thing is playing in my head. Good song? No, better. Great song.

Day 9

2009-09-10T22:58:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the most important studio day until now. None of us were there. heh
Actually we forgot to cancel that day because we rescheduled our studio times at one point. We just forgot about that day. Well no harm done. Arttu had another editing day. Jappe had send the first keyboard parts for Arttu and now was a good time to deal with those and also I guess do some overall editing aswell.

On monday Jappe and Jarmo will start really working on their parts. Next two weeks will be mostly just singing and singing and some keyboards. Vesa will do his lead parts from Helsinki. I think we've progressed quite fast and have to say that the sounds will kick some serious ass.

Day 8

2009-09-09T22:22:00.000-07:00

Ok lets write now little bit more than yesterday. I had three days full of guitar playing and I did what I had planned. Today I recorded more guitar spices which means upper harmonies and little riffs which makes songs more lively. According to Arttu he called some stuff as Popeda, Trio Niskalaukaus and HIM. I also recorded acoustic guitars to few songs and I would say basic guitar tracks are ok now. Guitar sound is rawww and sounds very promising even in this point when sound is not mixed. Unfortunately I had limited time so I have some homework now....

Day 7

2009-09-08T09:02:00.000-07:00

Ok, another guitar day... I finished basic rhythm guitars and played some clean stuff. Tomorrow leads and other shit..

Day 6

2009-09-07T09:11:00.000-07:00

Nonii!

Guitars guitars and more guitars.. I'm full of guitars at this moment. 6 songs filled with rhythm guitars and still more to come. I think I'll finish rhythms tomorrow and then it's time to add some lead (tiluliluliii) and acoustic parts. Last night I had a terrible liskojen yö and I was little bit tired during the whole day.

Day 5

2009-09-01T12:24:00.000-07:00

I was wondering wether to write anything or not. Today was the only day for this week. Nothing extremely fascinating happening. Arttu boosted some drum sounds and did some other editing to the songs as well. We worked on also on some cool drum loop for one particular song. Tried out what could work and how.

Tero also made some minor changes to some bass parts. We had made some changes to the songs lately so we had to update the basslines a bit. We've also thought with Tero that maybe we just should release the next album as a drum and bass album because it sounds so damn good at this point already. hehe.

OK, Next monday the guitar parts start roaring and we'll maybe try to get some videos online as well. Over and out.

Day 4

2009-08-27T08:17:00.000-07:00

Ok. This day was something different. Only Arttu was at the studio with his cats. Tero and me went to the studio at 15.00 to check up how the editing is going. Arttu had made quite lot of progress and the next stage is boosting the drum sounds. That will happen on tuesday. We have a couple of days to chill in between.

After tuesday's editing day there will be 5 days of pause again. heheh. Then Vesa will come and conquer. He has a few days dedicated just for him. Waiting anxiously to hear the heavy riffs to the songs. They will kick some serious ass.

Day 3

2009-08-26T06:53:00.000-07:00

Third day done and things look bright. It was only Arttu and me in studio today, and we managed to finish all the remaining bass tracks. Well, all except one. In our songlist there is one title which has no check marks at all -- no drums recorded, no bass, no nothing. Why is that? I won´t tell. :)

I had a good playing day. There is some difference between days, at least for me. Sometimes you are clumsy and uninspired, and sometimes... well, a little better. This was one of the better days, so it was relatively fast work today. (Much of the credit goes to Arttu, obviously.)

So, the basic rhythms are now down. There are minor things that will probably be added or adjusted, but the core drums & bass are now recorded. The next stage will be to start working on the guitar ideas in detail.

P.S. Note to Jarno: I made it, didn´t I? Bomb on Colonial 1 !!

Day 2

2009-08-25T09:10:00.000-07:00

So this was the second day. Henri started early and tackled track after track -- he never seems to waste much time. By noon we had the drum tracks down for all of the songs, so we could move on to recording bass. We are ahead of schedule, which is nice. Not too much stress. By the end of the day, we had basslines for four songs completed. Some time was also spent for recording short separate drum beats (material for drum loops that will be inserted into some songs) and "cleaning up" tracks (removing unwanted noise). Things seem to go easily and smoothly, at least these first days.

We are making a metal album co-produced by a couple of cats. Arttu´s cats are hanging around in the studio, lying on pieces of equipment and occasionally pushing some buttons... Inserting some sleepy felines into a room can have a great relaxing effect. It´s awesome. :)

Tomorrow will be a day for more bass tracks. I hope the good pace will continue.

Day 1

2009-08-24T09:31:00.000-07:00

Finally it started. The day we've been waiting for. The recordings of the 3rd album. Came to the studio at 10 and realized that Siwa had invaded Arttu's front yard. Well, at least don't have to drive that far to grab some ultimate Pizzas from Saarioinen. heh

We took 4 hours or so to get some nice sounds from the drums and managed to record drums for 5 songs. Almost the half of album. If the final product will hold 11 songs? We'll have to see. Really nice start for the studio. Tero was the only one to hang out at the studio with me. Jappe, Jarmo and Vesa had their jobs on the way. Tomorrow will be another drumming day and let's see if Tero gets to start his parts...

(Sorry bout the movie quality. Some technical problems I try to conquer later)

Entering the Studio

2009-08-21T12:35:00.000-07:00

So this is it. Only a couple of days and we get the recordings for our third album going. The material is great and the band sounds great. Magic will happen once again in Studio Watercastle, Jyväskylä. More to follow on monday.