Out of the Abyss: Live on Tape

We’re very excited to announce that we will be releasing our very first vinyl 7″ record “Out of the Abyss: Live on Tape” on Third Culture Records on July 21st!

Track List
SIDE A: Out of the Abyss
SIDE B: Etude

BONUS TRACK: Genosha (Reep-Meister Jam)

EXTRAS:

• Free digital downloads of both songs on the record as well as a 10-minute bonus track.
• Sheet music for Etude.
• Sweet artwork of a dragon with it’s skin melting off by CJ Dunn

Credits:
Produced by David Reep and Judgement Day
Engineered by David Reep at Calrec Studios
Mixed by Roger Pruett at Calrec Studios
Mastered by Mike Wells and Hyde Street Studios
Illustration and Design by CJ Dunn

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Why Live on Tape?

We’ve always been a big fan of vinyl but what makes this release very special for us is that we recorded it in a fully analog studio on tape. These days it’s very rare for bands to record on tape, the reason being that you have to actually be able to play the song all the way through. You can’t cheat with 100’s of takes and punch-ins and you definitely can’t auto-tune. Part of the appeal of recording on tape is the warm analog sound that you get but I believe that the true benefit of tape-recording is that it captures real, uncut musical performances. Back in the days of Miles Davis and The Beatles, this was just how records were made and today’s world of robotic perfection, where digital recordings are often made literally one note at a time, those classic analog jazz and rock records seem to have more life to them than ever.

When Dave Reep of Third Culture Records approached us with the idea of recording a 7″ on tape in a classic analog studio we thought that it sounded like a great challenge. We had just finished our fall tour and were tighter than ever. We decided to record Out of the Abyss for the A-side because it was a song that we had been playing almost every night and because the original studio version, with huge orchestral string arrangements, was so different from the live version. We thought it would be cool to capture that song as we had been doing it live so we did it in one take. It’s definitely not as perfect and polished as the original recording but it is 100% real and captures that live energy you can’t get any other way.

The B-Side Etude is essentially Lewis doing  a shredding cello solo for 2 minutes straight. Etude (a french word meaning study) is a classical term for a piece of music designed to improve a certain technique.  This piece explores diminished tonalities and thumb positions on the lower strings. It is also an exercise in rationing the cellist’s energy and developing endurance for extended periods of loud, fast playing. Any cellists who wants to learn it will have their chance because the sheet music will be included with the 7″.

The bonus track Genosha (Reep-Meister Jam) is a 10-minute version of another song that we were playing almost every night on tour. It’s a song that is vastly different every time we play it. The reel of tape that we used for this record was about 16 minutes long and we used every inch of it. After we finished Out of the Abyss and Etude we figured the best thing to do would be to would be to have a 15 minute jam. It was super sweet! Too bad you don’t get to hear the last 3 minutes. The tape ran out.

The artwork is by our longtime friend and collaborator CJ Dunn who has done the layout for The Acoustic EP, Dark Opus, Opus 3: Acoustic and all of our t-shirts, including the infamous Squid Puzzle shirt.

So there it is. Our very first 7″. Now we can all say “do you want to see my 7?” You can mail order it starting July 21st at Stringmetal.com or you can pick it up at any of our shows.

-anton

Life at Home and the New Dredg Record

It’s been a while since I’ve done a blog entry. I’m sorry I never did a big post about the new tour about dredg. We were just having so much fun that I didn’t have time to write much. I think dredg might have some of the best fans out there. Every night was great for us and all three of us, Jon, Lewis ad I came off of the tour with a new found sense of excitement about the future of Judgement Day.

We have mostly been taking June off. Jon has been working and playing with his other band VS Them. Lewis has been practicing cello, working around the house and will be playing some concerts with Berkeley Opera soon. I have just been hanging out in San Francisco, doing a few recording gigs and playing with my new band Devotionals. I had a great birthday party  a couple of nights ago. A bunch of cool bands played at it.

In July Judgement Day will be back in business! We’ll be appearing on the Chasing the Moon podcast on July 7th, which is going to be really sweet. It’s basically going to be a really high-quality video of a live set. Shortly following that we’ll be releasing our very first vinyl record titled “Out of the Abyss: Live on Tape” on Third Culture Records. To celebrate the release we’ll be doing a one week California tour. We’ll do a whole blog post about that release very soon.

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There is a very exciting new record that was released last week and that is the new dredg record The Pariah, the Parrot, the Delusion. If you are a fan of dredg’s previous records you’re definitely going to like it. If you’ve never heard dredg before I’d say this new record might be just the place to start. In addition to the healthy handful of polished, catchy prog-pop songs, it also has some of the craziest interludes that I have ever heard. We’re talking backwords children’s choir through vintage ring modulator type of shit. Actually, I honestly have no idea how they came up with most of these crazy sounds but I’m definitely feeling it.

The other added bonus for on The Pariah, the Parrot, the Delusion is…. us! Judgement Day is featured on 4 tracks:

Track 5: Lightswitch – We don’t do much on this one but we’re on it and it’s one of the better songs on the record.

Track  12: Mouring This Morning - We put some sweet disco string hooks on this uber-catchy prog-soul number.

Track 14: Long Days and Vague Clues - A crazy evil circus song on which we get to totally shred (see video below).

Track 18: Stamp of Origins (Horizon) – The sorrowful album closer.

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Although we only worked on that record for a few days it was truely a great experience. The members of dredg as well as the record’s producer, our friend and colleague Matt Radosevich are all great artists and collaborators, continually excited by prospects of musical exploration. Whether it was late-night percussion jam sessions or ultra-precise string overdubs the process was always fun and fulfilling.  That spirit is present throughout the record.

Check it out on itunes.

-Anton

Free Collaboration EP

Artwork by Phillip Ginn - www.legendhouse.com

HUGE BLACK MAN / HUGH JACKMAN EP
01. Side A
02. Side B

Recorded in Sacramento in September of 2006, Huge Black Man’s “Hugh Jackman EP”  was in many ways a musical experiment. The rules: 4 musicians from very different bands would meet in a practice space for one day, without any prior rehearsal, and record an entire album.

Those musicians were:
Anton Patzner of Judgement Day - Violin
Nick Reinhart of Tera Melos – Guitar, Knobs
Sam Phelps of 4 Guys from Reno – Bass
Noah Clark of Brilliant Red Lights – Drums and Producer

The result is a highly unique blend of musical styles and an intriguing study of spontaneity and creativity under the pressure of time constraint.

It’s also pretty fun to listen to. Check it out:

DOWNLOAD HUGE BLACK MAN / HUGH JACKMAN EP

Film Scores

When I’m not writing music with Judgement Day I write music for films. I’ve always loved film scores. My favorite growing up was The Empire Strikes Back by John Williams. It’s super epic and has tons of great themes that interact with each other in cool, interesting ways. It’s dope. Check it out.

The first score I wrote myself was for “Black Scar III”, a movie I made with my friends in 4th grade. My uncle Joe said that it sounded like music from a porno. Since then the scores have gotten a little bit better and a lot more ambitious. In high school I worked with director Hoku Uchiyama on a film called “The Killer Chihuahua”. Although it was all synthesizers and kind of sounded like an 80’s horror movie that was kind of like my first real score and my first of many collaborations with Hoku. In college I started using real instruments in my scores, adding more and more each time until they started sounding like real film scores. That’s how I got started and I’m still doing it to this day.

I released two of my scores on cd: “Undercut” in 2005 and “Rose” in 2006. “Undercut” is now out of print and “Rose” has stopped selling so they are both free downloads now. I hope you enjoy them.

-Anton

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Undercut
This was a no-budget martial arts film directed by Stephen Reedy that ended up getting nominated for an MTV Movie Award (best student film). The music is somewhere in between Shaft and Mortal Kombat. Then there are some parts that sound like smooth jazz. Ya. It’s a pretty weird movie. In a good way.

DOWNLOAD THE UNDERCUT SOUNDTRACK

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Rose
This  film is a 30-minute ghost story directed by Hoku Uchiyama. It’s scary, sad, sweet and pretty awesome. It it did really well on the festival circuit and it will hopefully be out on the internet soon. The music is mostly orchestral but has some folk instruments as well. The melody for one of the main themes was written by the singer-songwriter Amanda Mehl. She also does all of the ghostly vocals. Lewis has a nice cello solo on one of the other main themes. A bunch of other great musicians are on it as well.

DOWNLOAD THE ROSE SOUNDTRACK HERE

www.rosethemovie.com

Free Rarity Download – Noae Kaedae, Electric

This is the happiest song that Judgement Day ever wrote. If you have heard Opus 3: Acoustic then you know the acoustic version of Noae Kaedae but we also have an electric version. We originally recorded it during the Dark Opus sessions but we decided it was just a little bit too sunny (and sloppy…) to fit on that disc. It ended up on the 2005 Norcal Compilation which was put out by Agent Records and featured other bands like Tera Melos, Desa, Audrye Sessions and Overview. We still have a few copies of it lying around. We might be able to sell you one if you want but you could also just

download Noae Kaedae, Electric for free HERE

Original Acoustic EP Free Download – Happy Holidays!

The ORIGINAL Acoustic EP (2003)

OPUS 1: Acoustic EP

Before we had drums or FX pedals, before we tried to get every note perfect, before we had enough songs to make a full length record, we released our first EP- The Acoustic EP. The songs on it are basically the songs we used to play for spare change on Telegraph Ave in Berkeley along with a couple of quieter avant garde intros. I just listened to it again for the first time in a couple of years. It’s interesting. It’s definitely raw. We recorded it really quickly in our parent’s and uncle’s garage without computers so there’s no editing or cheating. Some of the violin parts are improvised and sometimes doubled by another violin that is improvising. The intro and interlude were completely improvised. We didn’t do very many takes so some of the songs have blatant mistakes. Overall, though I think that the rawness gives it a pretty cool energy. If nothing else its cool to hear how it all got started.

BONUS TRACK
The bonus track, “Carol of the Bells (orchestral)” is the same as the original ep version except with 4 or 5 extra violins and a couple of extra cellos doubling what is already there. We decided to use the version with just one violin and one cello because it sounds more real but I always liked the “Orchestral” version too so we’re putting it on here as an extra holiday bonus.

FREE DOWNLOAD
The original release of the Acoustic EP was a CDR in a plastic sleeve with a black and white booklet. It’s been out of print for a few years now so we are excited to be able to share it with you all again now as a free download. Take a listen and let us know what you think.

Download the Acoustic EP HERE

Opus 3 Acoustic

The new acoustic ep is here.

1. Barrage
2. Coda in E Major
3. Noae Kaedae
4. G Minor Interlude
5. Mark of Vishnu
6. Air Raid

buy now
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The CD release party for this new ep is next Friday, May 9th at the legendary 924 Gilman St. in Berkeley:

The ep will also be available at Amoeba Records in Berkeley and San Francisco and at all future Judgement Day shows.

Check out our myspace page to download the new version of “Barrage” from the EP.

OUT OF THE ABYSS

The video is up! The premier last night at Madrone was great. Thanks to everyone who came out. I hope that you had as much fun as we did. Here it is:

Help us out. Vote for this video on the following sites:
DIGG IT
REDIT
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Crew Credits:
Director: Travis Jones
Special Effects and Editing: Adam Rygiol
Cinematography: Dustin DeVoy
Camera Operator: Charlie
Producer: Anton Patzner

Zombies:
Adam Davis
Joe Anderson
AJ Juncker
Alicia Marie Campbell
Colin Buckley
Garrett Grant
Max Rygiol
Clara Voigt