Getting Ready...

Well, well, well...Cardiac Arrest is going to the studio again...We will be starting our next full length CD, Cadaverous Presence...It will contain 13 tracks and will be released by Epitomite Productions sometime in early 2008. Track listing has been decided and the artwork is completed. We will be recording with our buddy Kai Kauffman at Polymorph Studios...I'm sure I will be doing a detailed "studio report" as it happens...Jim will be recording his drum tracks this weekend...

On the merch front, we will be getting 1" Pins...We have ordered them through Bearded Lady Buttons, who was recommended to us by our metal brother Sly of Fondle Corpse...Many cheers to you bro!! Anyway, check out Bearded Lady if you need buttons...They are great people and their prices are ace!! Here are the designs we are doing...







Vinyl Stickers will also be coming soon...I had a company in mind, but they seem too busy for us...so if anyone in a band wants to plug who they use, please let me know...Here is the sticker design...




Now for some Severed news...well, there is no news...We are still on a hiatus, but we should be back working again in another month or so. Our hopes was to have our free 10 song promo, Free Cuts (ha ha...get it?) out this year, but that may not happen. It is recorded and roughly mixed, but we still have some tweaking to do. In time...we ain't going nowhere...More updates as they happen...

And finally, I may actually start working again. Don't want to jinx myself, but I may have a sweet job coming up soon. I have been unemployed for the last year and a half and have not been able to find anything. Previously, I was a corporate manager and got laid off after 12 years of busting my ass due to a buyout and outsourcing...some thanks...And I am in kind of a rough place because of my experience (too much, in which companies think I will be expensive) or that I do not have a Masters Degree (seems like every company wants that in management now...so much for the hands on that I have, eh?) This job will be much different...I applied to be a Union Electrician. I take an aptitude test in a couple of weeks. Now I am chasing around getting college transcripts, past work history, letter of recommendation, etc. If I get in, I will go through a 5 year apprenticeship program in which I will attend classes and work under people. In my family, there are a lot of electricians who all did well, so why not?? I should have did that after high school like I wanted, but noooo...family wanted me to go to college...that really worked out, eh? So, keep your fingers crossed for me...I could use it...

Bored and Pissed On Friday...

Just a few random things...

Gotta love Chicago traffic. I moved back here in April and was getting used to it...but this week, it was horrible. The band generally practices at 7:30pm...we practice in Aurora. It is 37 miles door to door...on both days, it took me like 2 hours to get there...Ugh...I asked to bump practice to 8pm now...that way I can leave a bit later and hopefully miss most of the rush hour traffic...

We are getting some more merch...We are working on some pins finally. We want to do three designs...one for sure will be a logo...the other will be the Morgue T Shirt design...the third will be the zombie dude from the Heart Stopping Death Rot MCD...

I also picked up some more Beast Among Many 7" They are officially OOP now, so snatch them up while you can...$5.00 gets you one...

Logo Stickers will be coming soon as well...

That's all for now...time to indulge in a beer or ten...

YOTI Madness

Our show on Saturday night at YOTI went pretty well. Much smoother than the night before, thankfully. As usual, I was the first one there...I think I got there around 7:30pm. And of course, ordered my first pitcher of beer. I was so damn exhausted from the day before, that I was really spacing out...next thing I know, I dosed off at the bar. Adam came in and more or less woke me up. We began loading our merch and distro in to set up. A few people then showed. I met Nev, who I post with on Exploited Filth. We hung out and talked for awhile about, what else? Horror films and metal!!! Very cool guy and hope to hang out with you again soon... Nikolle (Ms. Gnome) showed up wearing a Morgue Mutilations T and her pockets jingling...no shit...she had all quarters for the cover!! That's fucking dedication!!! She starts a new job today, so good luck to her. Since there were only three bands tonight, Jimmy (From Jungle Rot/booker at YOTI) and I decided to drop the cover to $6.00...If we could only drop the beer prices there...

I also met a dude name Roger, who is in the band Splatter Whore. He just relocated from the St Louis area. Very cool guy and talked about quite a few bands. I hope to see him around some shows in the future...

The Mordrid guys came in, and shortly after the Moral Decay guys showed. Said our hellos and bullshitted a little while. Ian from MD gave me some stickers and a copy of their new release, A Face Full Of Guts. Pretty damn killer stuff. More people were coming in. Saw a lot of familiar faces and a lot of new people, which is a good thing. Maybe we are doing something right??

I retreated to my truck, where I had a fully stocked cooler waiting for me. Matt and Rick from Dead For Days was hanging out with me and we put a hurt on the cooler. After awhile, it was time to play. It sucks, because I missed both bands. I really like both Moral Decay and Mordrid. I just get "metalled out" easily these days, especially after what I went through the night before...

So we set up and began our set. Pretty much a carbon copy of the previous night...

1) The Inevitable
2) Cadaverous Presence
3) Beyond Trauma
4) Beast Among Many
5) E-Viper-Ate
6) As The Dead Pillage
7) Into The Woodchipper
8) Make Them Die Slowly
9) The Haunted Remnants
10) Carnage Your Fate

James from Dead For Days came up to sing some of Carnage with us. He about knocked me over several times. I said it before and will say it again, James is one of the most craziest people on stage. He just goes nuts. He is such a great front man.

I never like over staying my welcome on stage. When we plan our set lists, I always shoot for 30 minutes, 35 tops. The guys usually agree with me. But, since this show was only three bands, there was still some time. And everyone there wanted more...so hence...

11) Underworld Hate
12) In His Name They Spill Blood

We seemed to go over well. And everyone there got a pretty decent snapshot of the new album, as we played 5 songs from it. We relaxed and talked to a lot of the people there. John and Nick from Kommandant were there and their feedback was awesome. See, I knew John for years and years. And he is very selective musically. He has seen us before and likes us, however, on this night, he said a lot of great things. My friends don't blow smoke up my ass. And when certain people give us feedback like that, those are the opinions that matter to me.

So thanks to everyone who came out to support us. As we keep saying, this is probably our last local show for a long time. To those who missed out, guess you shouldn't have, eh?

Adventures In Cardiac Land

And so it continues...We played a show last night in Fond Du Lac, Wisconsin...for those that know me, you know that I absolutely hate playing shows. Well, I mean, I love playing, seeing the other bands, and drinking and bullshitting with people. However, I loathe loading up, driving to the show, unloading, sitting around, loading back up, then driving home...If there was a way that I could warp everywhere, I'd be a happier person. But since that won't happen anytime soon, just expect me to be kind of distant before a show...I get more comfortable and relaxed once I get to my destination...

Which brings me to last night...Fond Du Lac is about three hours from my house...we were all driving up separately due to work schedules and such. My plan was to leave here around 1:30, which would put me up there around 4:30. They wanted bands to be there at 5pm, so no prob. Some traffic jams here and there getting out of Chicago, but overall, pretty smooth sailing. Got to the venue pretty much at 4:30 as planned. So far so good. Went back into town to find somewhere to buy beer (For those that don't know, I always travel with a cooler...I am too broke and unemployed to be paying bar prices for beer)and ice and cigarettes...Got that stuff and headed back to the venue...by then, Adam showed up. So we went in and scoped things out. Not a bad place. It was called Marghael's and it was on the edge of town, pretty much all by itself. Of course, I got a beer as soon as I walked in. Nice and cheap at $1.25 (those prices I can afford!!) Talked to the bartender for awhile and Lethal Weapon 2 was on the TV behind the bar. Not bad, not bad. The Face of Ruin guys showed up shortly after...we all introduced ourselves and Ed (who booked the show) filled us in on what was going on...like 4 or 5 bands canceled, the soundguy screwed up his schedule and was unable to show...But alas, Ed got another guy and a couple of other bands to fill in last minute. Very cool. The Face of Ruin guys were really cool and laid back. The night would be fun for sure...

Adam and I set up the merch table and I was very relaxed. Even attempted to play Mario Bros. a few times, but since I suck at video games, and I was beyond sucking at Mario Bros, I quit while I was ahead...Drank a bunch more beer, talked to some of the other bands and the others that were walking in and was just waiting on the other guys to show...

Then, the call came. Adam had a voicemail. It was Jim informing us that his alternator in his truck shit the bed. He was at a gas station in Highland Park, IL.
Fuck!!!! He was trying to work out a rental, but most places were closed already. We exchanged voicemails for a bit (service was not so good out there)and were trying to figure out what to do. Finally, I made the decision that I would go get him. Got ahold of him and said I would be coming. Told Ed of the situation. I think he was afraid we would cancel, which we try never to do. I was more worried that I would not make it back in time to play. It was about 7:30. Ed assured me we would play and not to worry. So I left. And I drove. Fast. Real fast. Like 90-95 MPH fast. I made it down to where Jim was at in about 2 hours. Put his stuff in the truck, called Adam to let him know we were on are way...the goal...be there before midnight. Had to stop for gas along the way, but we finally made it back. At 11:50pm. Damn, I'm good!!

Rictus Grin just got done playing which sucked, because I really wanted to see them again. Cool band and great guys. We appreciate you guys working with us and swapping times. Much appreciated!! Adam and Amsterdamn were getting nervous though as people were starting to leave. We hurried to get unloaded (which I did in record time...you should have seen me running at full sprint carrying a Marshall 1960B cabinet) Got all set up, very quick level check, and off we went. Very cool. Lots of people ended up sticking around. Some decent pit action as well...We got to play our full set as well...which was...

1) The Inevitable
2) Cadaverous Presence
3) Beyond Trauma
4) Beast Among Many
5) E-Viper-Ate
6) As The Dead Pillage
7) Into The Woodchipper
8) Make Them Die Slowly
9) Carnage Your Fate

By the time we were done, I was wiped. And my buzz was non existent. I was more or less on autopilot the whole time. But, everyone wanted more (which was a first I think) So, we busted out The Haunted Remnants. After that, I was done. Relaxed for a bit. Sold some merch (always a good sign when you sell stuff after you play) and began loading. Kicked back for awhile, drank lots of water, and it was time to call it a night. Thanked all the staff at Marghael's and headed out around 2:30am. Took our time this time. Cruise set at 65MPH and just rolled. Got back to Jim's truck around 5am so he could get a few more things and then went to look for a hotel for him. After driving around for a bit (which at that point, I did NOT want to do) and seeing a lot of No Vacancies (Honestly, I'm glad, because they looked like fucking dives anyway)we finally found a place. Dropped him off and headed home. I believe I walked in around 6am. I set my trip odometer when I left...when I got home, it read 642 miles...

So, anyone who thinks being in a band is all fun and games, think again. It is a lot of hard work. And, in situations like we had yesterday, I honestly think most bands would have said "Fuck It!!" Not us. That would be too easy...

We play again tonight, locally. Should be a smooth one. Playing with our friends Mordrid and Moral Decay. Hopefully it will turn out decently. Probably our last show for a long time locally.

I'm sure I'll do another entry tomorrow...I'm sure it will be happier in tone as well...Till then...