SUNDAY 7/19 – SAN FRANCISCO

Bottom of the Hill
1233 17th st
with Triclops! and The Definite Articles
9 pm / $10 advance, $12 @ the door / All Ages
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MONDAY, 7/20 – SACRAMENTO

Club Pow (The Press Club)
2030 P Street
9 pm/ $4 / 21+
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TUESDAY, 7/21 – SANTA CRUZ

The Crepe Place
1134 Soquel Ave.
with The Secret Stolen and Room for a Ghost
9 pm / $8 / All Ages
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THURSDAY, 7/23 – LOS ANGELES

Bootleg Theater
2220 Beverly Blvd.
with Ninja Academy
10pm / $8 or $10 (under 21) / 18+
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FRIDAY 7/24 – LONG BEACH

Dipiazza
5205 E Pacific Coast Hwy
w/Ninja Academy
10 pm / $7 / 18+
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SATURDAY 7/25 – OCEANSIDE

Speakeasy Studios
2403 Industry St
w/The Burning of Rome and more
7pm / $5 / All Ages
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MONDAY 7/27 – SAN JOSE

Nickel City Arcade
1711 Branham Ln
with Mika Miko, Audacity and more
7pm / $10 / All Ages
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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

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.

_____________________

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

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

Tour with dredg and Torche has been so awesome that we really haven’t had time to blog. We’re really excited for the grand finale – Chico, San Francisco, Santa Cruz and LA! What a way to go out. Here’s something really awesome for you to check out if you are into instrumental rock music. It’s our fellow San Francisco musicians Silian Rail playing on this really sweet local podcast Chasing the Moon. Enjoy:

Dark Opus – $10

Acoustic EP – $5

Squid t-shirts (American Apparel, in black, red, and blue) – $15

Classic black t-shirts – $10

Stickers and posters – free

So far touring with dredg and Torche has been great. dredg’s playing some new stuff that sounds really good. Also has anyone noticed that each band name has an “e” either missing or where it doesn’t belong? weerd

-Lewis

ZOMBIE RODEO CLOWN

Lewis and I are currently waiting in the lobby of a hotel in Houston, TX for Jon to show up from his 20-hour drive and pick us up. We had our last show with Mates of State last night. I have to admit that I can’t help feeling a little bit emotional leaving those guys. Over the course of the last month I feel like we got really close. It felt like family. On our day off in San Francisco the whole bus (+ girlfriends) came over to our family’s house for a barbeque and it was amazing. I was so excited for everyone to meet our parents and everyone got along really well. It was really special. I think, and I hope that our relationship with the Hammels is one which will last for a very long time.

Alright. Enough of that sentimental dribble. Here are some of the highs (and lows) from the west coast tour:

• Lewis watching all of Battlestar Galactica (see photo above)
• Free shoes with fluorescent-green laces that glow on the dance floor
• The Progressive Auto Insurance girl buying a shirt at our Hollywood show!
• Great food everywhere!
• 4/20 in San Francisco
• Getting the van searched for drugs on the way to Canada…
• Depeche Mode playing for free on Hollywood Blvd, right outside our venue!
• Depeche Mode playing for free on Hollywood Blvd, right outside our venue… during our set….
• Amazing shows every night! Thank you!

Dredg tour starts tonight! We can’t wait.

-Anton