Dropped the Ball Again

Kind of sucks...I missed out on over a year...My time is limited... It was a good and bad year for Cardiac Arrest in 2012. Played the show of our lives with Autopsy, Cianide, and Bones in May of 2012. Did limited shows since I started working again. Released our fourth full length album, Vortex of Violence. You probably didn't hear it because it did not get pushed at all. Oh well, on to bigger and better things. 2013 is busy. I'm getting married in May. Cardiac has a split 7" coming out with Mutant Supremacy. We are also working on our fifth full length. Played in Indianapolis with our good friends Radiation Sickness in January. Will be playing next week (Mon Mar 11) with Master here in Chicago. Playing Cheyenne, WY for the Wolves of the Apocalypse Fest in April. Have some irons in the fire for some other shows in the US. That's all for now folks...Maybe it won't be another year before I update this thing...

It's Alright...

You digging how I'm interweaving these Black Sabbath songs? I thought it was clever. But then again, I'm always drunk...

So, Jim is no longer in the band and the line up has been compromised for the first time since I joined in 2006. Five years...that is a pretty long run for stability in bands these days. So what the hell were we going to do?

We had a couple of options...Jim set us up with someone. This someone had already learned some of the tunes. Ok, why not try him out? I also had Danny from my other band Severed in mind too. Danny and I have jammed together since 1995 so we more or less share the same brain. Decisions decisions.

Ok, so we tried both out. Since we wanted to keep things quiet, we did not put out any adds or go posting all over the internet. We just wanted to test the waters with these two guys and see what happened. We had the time. If neither would work out, well, we would worry about it then.

So we played with both drummers for the next few weeks. And we made a decision. It wasn't Danny. And this is not a slight in any way. Danny just could not commit to our schedule. We had a lot of things coming up, and it caused some conflicts with his family life as well as his other bands. So Danny and I will still be doing Severed together at some point.

We had our first show coming up in Milwaukee on May 13th...so we continued to practice and tighten the screws...

Oh...and the new guy is.......

















...going to be revealed soon!

We're Going Through Changes...

Yup...

So, where did I leave off...Oh yeah...a great local show here in Chicago and finishing up in the studio...We got everything done in January and were planning to keep things moving...Them, the bomb dropped in February...

Jim, the Cardiac Arrest drummer since 2005 had to leave the band. I'm not going to get into detail about this, but I will say it was not an ugly thing. Yes, it sucked for us, but Jim did what he had to do. This was not dick thing, nor a high-school drama thing. We are on good terms and wish Jim the best of luck in the future.

So, why did we keep quiet about this and why did we keep quiet for so long? Well, in my opinion, there is just too much information on the internet these days. We have Album #4 (I'm still not saying the title) done, we have a bunch of shows booked throughout the year, and frankly, we do not cater to drama, and it is none of anyone's business why a member left. Also, I don't believe people (especially on the internet) need to know every single detail about a band. There is no mystique left anymore and I don't think everything needs to be broadcast. Call me old, since I was around back in the day when information was not so readily available, but whatever...This is the way we chose to handle the situation and Jim agreed with it...

I guess I can be called a hypocrite as well since I am talking about it now...but it is almost 8 months later...We kept all of our show commitments and are working the new guy in (more on that in another post) and all is fine...I guess I just did not want Jim's absence to be the focal point of our future...Is that fair??

I Dropped The Ball Again!

I guess it takes the new Facebook changes to make me seek out other outlets on the interwebs...I have slacked off yet again keeping this thing updated...I kept saying this would not happen again, but life gets in the way sometimes.

There will be a ton of stuff to update here...I won't do it all at once...I'll just post some stories here and there...then I should be able to update more frequently...

So, I'll get cracking if you want to read this stuff...

Cheers!

Studio Day 9

Well, on Sunday, 1/16, Adam went into the studio to do leads. Don't ask me what happened other than they got done...I wasn't there...I will be hearing them for the first time tomorrow...

We go back to the studio tomorrow morning...I hope the damn snowing and blowing stops by then...You know it has to snow when I have to go to the studio...Let's make the long drive that much more difficult...

Anyway, we will be doing vocals tomorrow...Bright and early...My guess is we will wrap up recording tomorrow...

Update then...

Studio Day 7 and 8

Another weekend and more progress made on Album #4...We did bass tracks this weekend...Got a great sound, although we ran into some equipment problems mid-way through on Saturday...Either way, we got what we needed to get done...

And low and behold, I knew I had to go to the studio on Sat morning, and what happened Friday? You guessed it...snow...Although it was not that bad, it still pissed me off...It takes me an hour to get to the studio from my house...

Recording is not an easy process...You don't hear what you hear at practice or live...Issues can pop up from time to time because while we think we are playing the same thing (and yes, we are) each person has a different variation to what they are doing and the others are hearing that in the studio for the first time...So there will be discussion and compromise to deal with...Not to mention getting a proper headphone mix to be able to perform...While we all went in prepared, it is still tricky...it's not like we record every week...

So, we got the bass done in two sessions...David finished on Sunday and he kicked ass...The bottom end on this album will split skulls...All we have left is leads and vocals...So far, I think we spent about 24 hours total recording time...Leads and vocals will be done in no time...Then on to the mixing...

But, it is safe to say that Album #4 is practically in the can...

And my beer can collection is getting quite impressive...Ha ha!!

January 2nd...First Cardiac Show of the Year!

Let's see how this works out...in the past, I have thought about doing write ups for our shows, but end up forgetting about it. Either that or I am too hammered to remember what happened...

A little back story...I was approached some time ago by Renato, a local promoter, to have my other band Severed play a show with Johnny Vomit and Eyegouger. Why not Cardiac? Well, most people who know us know that we will not play shows in the Winter time...Usually from November through March, we are rehearsing for the studio, in the studio, then writing and making plans for the next year...Of course there are always exceptions, but par for the course is to simply not play. Why you ask? To be honest, it is a fucking pain in the ass! Snow and cold simply just suck and we are not a Black Metal band who seem to thrive on the stuff...no thanks! So I agreed to have Severed play this show...

There is a problem though...Severed has not played together since March...And we could not schedule any time to get a practice in or two to be ready. There is also some other drama going on that I'm not going to bother getting into...long story short...Severed was unable to play...

Not wanting to be a tool like many "scene" people are, I did not want to leave Renato hanging...So a few weeks before the show, I asked the Cardiac dudes if they wanted to do the show...we discussed the pros and cons and we decided to go for it if Renato would have us...

It was at The Empty Bottle, a great divey place here in Chicago...I have seen several shows there in the past and there was always a great turnout and sounded great in there...And beer prices were cheap! Besides, we were going to be playing with Johnny Vomit, who have been friends of mine for years and we have never shared the stage with them. And Eyegouger was an added bonus. They are doing their Pornus Grindus thing again which is very welcomed by me. See, these guys were doing the porn grind thing well before kids with drum machines...They are very punked out, crude death metal...Look them up...I'm sure you'll be pleasantly surprised...

Here is the flyer...



So, it was going to be a long day...It was an early show, which required being at the venue early...3pm early...The bands had to soundcheck and get organized...Everyone was there right around the scheduled check in...hows that for pro??? Eyegouger would soundcheck first and of course, we all stood around and listened...Great hearing them again!! We were next, but we skipped...It made little sense for us to set everything up and tear down again, then reset up...We would just use Johnny Vomit's sound as the template and the soundguy could make adjustments during our first song...

Went to eat next door and then it was time to drink...Half off for the bands!! Sweet! Watched Johnny Vomit and talked to friends, old and new. The place was filling up nicely and it looked like we were going to have a great crowd...

And indeed we did...We played all new songs off of our upcoming album and they got a great response...This is tricky because people familiar with us are unfamiliar with the new material...So you never know how it is going to go over...

We played for about 35 minutes and had a great "million dollar" ending...Just a wall of noise and feedback that the club let go on for over 5 minutes...most kill the mics as soon as the set is over, so this was extra cool. And Adam got carried off the stage by the crowd which was just surreal and a first for Cardiac...Hopefully there is video of it around...

Eyegouger was up next and they were great. As said during soundcheck, it was great hearing these guys again. I missed out on ever seeing them live back in the day, so it was great to finally see them, let alone play with them.

Overall a great night and a great show...I guess I have to give slack to Chicago now because since March, we have done a total of 5 shows here and each one of them were excellent. We got treated right and the crowds were all great...But, I'm sure something else will happen in the scene here to screw that up...

Thanks to Johnny Vomit, Eyegouger, Renato, the staff at the Empty Bottle, and all who came out to make this such a great show!!

Well, now it is rant time...

Ok promoters...this one is for you...

Imagine this...an early 7pm-10pm show on a Sunday night with 3 bands...There were 163 people paid...Not bad, eh? Which again, makes me stress...STOP TURNING EVERY LOCAL SHOW INTO A FEST!!!! Four bands tops...3 bands preferred...Each band got paid well, got half price drinks, and were treated like we were supposed to be treated. Do not act like it is you doing us the favor...There is a lot of work for bands to do shows, so please understand that going forward...I'm sure you won't though...it is all about your greed until you move on to the next thing...And if you ever want us to sell tickets, I will tell you to shove them up your ass as well...Other bands need to do the same thing...but of course, they won't either...Of course, this is not every promoter, so don't get your panties in a bunch if you read this and think I am referring to the true promoters...If I know you and work with you, you are cool...

Other than that, not much to complain about...I would have liked to have seen certain friends and peers at this show, but oh well...Just like I said on Facebook, you have to give support in order to get support...This was an early, $3.00 show on a Sunday, so excuses don't cut it...Whatever...As much beer as I drink, I still have an excellent memory...

Anyway, a great way to start the year...We will be wrapping up recording of our 4th Full length (the 2nd on Ibex Moon), getting some new merch, and planning some shows...I do know we are playing the Evansville Deathfest in June and there is talk of a Milwaukee date in June as well...Hopefully we can get on an established tour as well...Ve Vill See...