Mountain King is back!!! ;) Jon begins lead vocals!

[DrButcher]

Christopher Kinder :

The ultimate task is finally at hand and Mr. Oliva has entered the studio to do what he does best,.........Sing!


Jon and Greg spent the better part of Friday evening basically blowing the dust off Jons pipes and giving him a chance to play around with some of the new material before the final tracks were to begin on Monday......or so they thought.

They anticipated another day of warm-ups today,...but to Jon's surprise, Friday would be the only warm-up day he would need. Jon sang for 3 solid hours and was able to complete Father-Son, Walk Alone, Outside the Door and Fly Away.....the only songs that remained from the original demo material from a year ago. We had added a heavier feel while laying the musical tracks, so he approached these songs with a more serious attitude than the demo's.

We all got copies tonight to listen and all we can say is that the Mountain King has returned.... BIG TIME!

Remember When you first heard HOMK, Streets and Gutter Ballet. Well if you think he's lost anything since then,.........guess again! Don't forget that we are only listening to a basic scratch mix, but the power and originality in his voice has been missing for to long....And thankfully, that wait is now officially over!! The tracks are just pure agression, tones of soul, and nothing but FAT!

So, sorry for the tease.....And while Jon's music for the record is certainly at the top of his game.....It is the return of that distinctive and one of kind power that will finally cure those terrible withdrawls you have all been suffering for so many years.

We can't wait to get to Morrisound to "bake this cake"...There will be plenty of icing dripping off the edges, which were sure none of you will complain about!

Talk to you later.......

[GhostInTheRuins]

Ante Anastash...

[DrButcher]

Christopher Kinder :

Here is the final "Studio" installment before we head to mixdown on Monday...............Everybody say " I want to be there"!......You will all be there in spirit for sure. Jon has made countless references about the fans and how much he is looking forward to delivering this record to all of you.

This has been a true labor of love, and thank god, everything that we have planned has far exceeded our expectations. As everyone of us contributed their individual performances, these songs took on new dimensions and afforded us the opportunity and the means to take this record to the next level. The depth and variety of this record will surprise all of you. And while this is still a JO record, this record is like none before it, especially in terms of the entire recording process, the constant collaboration between all of us and the general raw excitement that we believe has been captured perfectly. The record sounds very "alive" as if we were playing right in your living room. But it has so many subtle ingredients mixed within each song, that it will require listing to it repeatedly in order to hear everything that has gone into this recording!


So the final week is almost complete, and it consisted of Jon's incredible vocal performance, and Matt Laportes "off the chart" guitar work. Matt's performance is very diverse. You will hear so many different styles and textures on his performance. Jon's amazing vocal tracks really pushed Matt's intensity. There is great tension between the guitars and vocals. Matt really knows how to compliment Jons attitude and has thought completely out of the box on every song.

Jon has two more songs to complete today, Matt one more solo and a few minor additions to some of the other's. Then it will be editiing on Sat and Sun. and then it is off to Morrisound to begin mixing with Jim Morris on Monday. As I said before, we are on a perfect schedule to complete this record by May 1. Jim Morris came over last night to hear what we are bringing to him on Monday and according to Jon, Jim was just in shock at what he heard and could not wait to get started. We have only heard scratch mixes and with just the basic tracks. Some of the songs have over 60 tracks each, so we have forgotten what the other half of each song sounds like...........kind of like ," Oh yeah, I forgot we put those tracks in there". Should be interesting.

I would personally like to convey how proud I am and what an absolute pleasure it has been to record this record with Kevin, Matt, John Z., Super G (Greg Marchak) and of course JO, to say the least. Jon took a big chance on us when he could have recorded this album himself, but as he has said many a time to us, this record would be nothing like it is now without the performances, the input, and the pure dedication we had to help bring his musical vision into clear view.

And we would like to thank all of you, for showing so much interest in what has been happening over the past 8 weeks and for what is in store for all of us, including you the fans, for the rest of 2004 and beyond!

Talk to you from Morrisound next week!