If all goes well, Solstice Coil's second album, 'Natural Causes', will be mastered this Friday, finally concluding our latest musical journey. The album will be mastered at Bardo Studios, by our good friend Erez Caspi, who also lend us a hand with mixing the album (and did an excellent job, btw).

We've been through a lot in the four years that followed the release of our first album, 'A Prescription for Paper Cuts'. We've grown up, got to play some gigs abroad, learned a few valuable lessons and had to part ways with founding members of the band.

Most of the songs on the album have been appearing on the demo on our music section for nearly two years. Still, I believe you're in for a surprise. Our songwriting style has eveloved, but we've managed to stick to the more important principles we set out for ourselves with Paper Cuts. The new sound and Yatziv's drumming on the album (instead of the VST we used on the demo) really make a difference.

We're not releasing the album right away - now starts the hunt for a proper label. 

After a long process of writing, arranaging and recording, work on the second Solstice Coil album Natural Causes is nearly complete! Yesterday we visited the Eyal Amir Studio for the last time and recorded the very last guitar part needed for this album. The songs are already being mixed by Shai, so it won't be long before the album is ready!

Now comes the hard part: we are looking for a distribution deal of some sort. As much as we enjoy being a DIY band, there are some things we simply can't do on our own. So we turn to you, our faithful listeners: if you know anybody who knows anyone who might be connected to someone interested in distributing our high-end alternative-progressive rock, let us know!

You can also have them contact us:
Phone +972-50-7927175
E-mail: album@solstice.co.il

Anyone who helps us in this pursuit will receive a special credit on the album's booklet and a free copy of the album once it is released.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 As work on our second album continues, the big picture is starting to unfold. After finishing all work on drums and bass, and being half way through vocal recordings, we took one sunny Saturday noon in order to record a string quartet. This was to be our greatest challenge yet.

 If you've been following our demo recordings, you've probably heard the string quartet on An Essence Recycled and Replacing People. Naturally, what appears on the demo was not recorded but rather placed with the use of samples. Good samples, but samples nonetheless. Recording a quartet is a different story altogether.

 Since none of us are actually classically trained, it was a bit difficult to speak music with this group of four classical musicians. Mainly, the fact that we provided them with music sheet as accurate and detailed as the Cubase feature allowed us to (and with the assistance of the quartet's cellist, Neta Cohen-Shani) suddenly became obsolete when one of the players asked us questions about the notes, and our rock musician note reading skills made it difficult for us to answer.

 The session lasted four hours, for a total of two songs. Since the entire quartet needs to be recorded together (for reasons of resonance etc.) the songs had to be played over and over and over, until we were sure we have enough good takes to use. This was also done in order to achieve the best performance, as the stringers were all playing their parts prima vista. And there were some pretty complicated parts, indeed. 

 Meanwhile, we carry on with the recording of vocals. The progress until this point has been quite satisfactory. Although we've hit a few walls, some that have actually drove us into rewriting certain lyrics, but overall we're making good time. With two more vocal sessions left (I hope), all that remains is recording some guitars and we're pretty much done. Not too bad!

Check out our Facebook group for more photos of this exhausting yet satisfying event.

I know a lot of you are wondering why the comics hasn't been updated in quite some time. I'm wondering the same thing! While I hate to place the blame on "some people" who "don't have time" for drawing up the comics, you can enjoy this great fan art drawn up by Lior Friling!

On completely unrelated news, we attended the studio yesterday for some more vocal recordings. We finished An Essence Recycled, Walking Graveyards and Too Many Regrets – not bad at all! This leaves us with six more songs to record vocals for. Later this week we will be recording a string quartet at the studio. Should be fun!