Despues de casi 18 años sin tocar, Draksen regresará por un corto tiempo para destilar puro thrashcore. El 29 de Septiembre estamos invitados a tocar junto a Strike Master, Damage, Night Breed, Meatfückers entre otras bandas. Esperamos ver a varios amigos durante este concierto!
lunes, 30 de julio de 2012
sábado, 12 de mayo de 2012
At last, Draksen´s second official demo, "From Beyond" finally available on MP3 for you to download. It is probably our best known work, even more so than our debut album. We recorded it in December of 1989 and released it in early 1990, maybe February or March, I don't really remember. It was the last recording with original bass player Oscar Del Rio, now known as "Jobito Panteras", the frontman/guitarits of humor punks Garigoles. It was the only recording of Luiz Ahumada with Draksen. Luiz, who came to us from the band Crucified, is now the lead guitarist/keyboardist for the latest Hardware line up. About six months after the release of this demo, Martin Lugo also leaves the band to focus on college, leaving me as the sole original member. Oscar´s place was taken by the now controversial figure of Francisco "Frank" Uribe, currently one of the masked madmen in The Meatfückers, a retro thrash band that mixes Mentors style of humor with the early thrash of Venom. Martin´s place was taken by ex-Twitch basher and fellow school buddy Mike Moon. Luiz Ahumada would remain on board through out 1990, finally leaving in early 1990 to concentrate on the then new project Hardware.
"From Beyond" was considered by us in the band our first "real" demo. "Thrashcore", which was recorded in the summer of 1988, had and abyssmal sound quality, despite being recorded in a "pro" studio. Back then you had no internet to check on some recording techniques and we lacked the proper equipment to make our music sound as powerful as it could've been. Plus, we self produced it, knowing virtually zilch about how to "produce" or how to plan a studio recording. No one aided us, not even the inept house engineer, who suggested we just "plug in to the mixing board" and just thrash away. By the time we did "From Beyond", we were better at our instruments and had aquired some decent equipment. The house engineer, Paco Loco, was at least helpful in guiding us to get a more powerful sound. We were still off with some of the timing; guitars and drums not always locked in, but the overall sound was a monumental step in the right direction. Despite being all Metallica die hard fans, our music tended to be more European influenced: Kreator, Sodom, Deathrow, Vendetta, etc. were clearly influential. On the American side, apart of Metallica, there was always the Slayer influence. Testament, which were relatively new also had an impact on us, particularly with their blend of thrash and neo-classical guitar stylings. Wehrmacht were also huge. Little known band from Portland, Oregon, with whom we had some contact through the mail back in the day, had an impact for their blend of proto-grind and wild time changes, all condensed in a compact and unique style of thrash and hardcore punk.
All the guitars were recorded with my trusty Marshall JCM800, 50 watt head. What I'd give to have that amp back. What an awesome tone I could get from it. I was always a bit of an "anti-pedal" guy, using an Overdrive every now and then, and during the recording, a chorus pedal lent to me by Galo Ochoa from CUCA. What you hear is our guitars, plugged straight into the amp and that´s it. For Luiz´s sound, we put some overdrive effect AFTER his guitars were done. My guitar, my trusty Ibanez ST300, had an active pick up set up from factory. It featured a booster and made a passive guitar active, just like an EMG, so it was easy to get a nice distorted sound but punchy.
Well, enough writing. Download and enjoy "From Beyond". Be sure to leave your comments!!!
"From Beyond" was considered by us in the band our first "real" demo. "Thrashcore", which was recorded in the summer of 1988, had and abyssmal sound quality, despite being recorded in a "pro" studio. Back then you had no internet to check on some recording techniques and we lacked the proper equipment to make our music sound as powerful as it could've been. Plus, we self produced it, knowing virtually zilch about how to "produce" or how to plan a studio recording. No one aided us, not even the inept house engineer, who suggested we just "plug in to the mixing board" and just thrash away. By the time we did "From Beyond", we were better at our instruments and had aquired some decent equipment. The house engineer, Paco Loco, was at least helpful in guiding us to get a more powerful sound. We were still off with some of the timing; guitars and drums not always locked in, but the overall sound was a monumental step in the right direction. Despite being all Metallica die hard fans, our music tended to be more European influenced: Kreator, Sodom, Deathrow, Vendetta, etc. were clearly influential. On the American side, apart of Metallica, there was always the Slayer influence. Testament, which were relatively new also had an impact on us, particularly with their blend of thrash and neo-classical guitar stylings. Wehrmacht were also huge. Little known band from Portland, Oregon, with whom we had some contact through the mail back in the day, had an impact for their blend of proto-grind and wild time changes, all condensed in a compact and unique style of thrash and hardcore punk.
All the guitars were recorded with my trusty Marshall JCM800, 50 watt head. What I'd give to have that amp back. What an awesome tone I could get from it. I was always a bit of an "anti-pedal" guy, using an Overdrive every now and then, and during the recording, a chorus pedal lent to me by Galo Ochoa from CUCA. What you hear is our guitars, plugged straight into the amp and that´s it. For Luiz´s sound, we put some overdrive effect AFTER his guitars were done. My guitar, my trusty Ibanez ST300, had an active pick up set up from factory. It featured a booster and made a passive guitar active, just like an EMG, so it was easy to get a nice distorted sound but punchy.
Well, enough writing. Download and enjoy "From Beyond". Be sure to leave your comments!!!
domingo, 11 de septiembre de 2011
Draksen: preparando la reunion (gearing up for our comeback concert)
Ayer nos junatmos todos los Draksen de la ultima alineacion (la que grabo el album): Tacho, Alex, Fabian y yo, en el Wing's de Av. Sta. Margarita para empezar a planear nuestro concierto de reunion, lo que marcaría la primera vez en casi 18 años que nos estariamos presentando juntos como Draksen, despues de que la banda quebrará en Diciembre de 1994.
Cabe notar que nuestra reunion es para un concierto y la posibilidad de grabar un par de temas que quedaron "enlatados" y darles su merecido tratamiento en un estudio profesional. No es un regreso "total", ya que Alex tiene su banda oficial, Fahrenheit, yo con Broken Bit y Tacho y Fabian con varias ocupaciones (Tacho y yo estamos por hacer algo musical). No descartamos la posibilidad de hacer mas presentaciones despues del primer concierto, pero tendrian que agendarse en segundo plano a nuestros compromisos actuales.
Estamos ansiosos de regresar a thrashear con nuestros amigos! Los mantendre informados!!!
Keep thrashing!!!
Cabe notar que nuestra reunion es para un concierto y la posibilidad de grabar un par de temas que quedaron "enlatados" y darles su merecido tratamiento en un estudio profesional. No es un regreso "total", ya que Alex tiene su banda oficial, Fahrenheit, yo con Broken Bit y Tacho y Fabian con varias ocupaciones (Tacho y yo estamos por hacer algo musical). No descartamos la posibilidad de hacer mas presentaciones despues del primer concierto, pero tendrian que agendarse en segundo plano a nuestros compromisos actuales.
Estamos ansiosos de regresar a thrashear con nuestros amigos! Los mantendre informados!!!
Keep thrashing!!!
domingo, 30 de enero de 2011
Draksen album remastered again (2011)
Although the last remaster is the official, pro-supervised one, this remaster will please some friends and fans of ours. For one, the sound is louder and a bit more powerful. Plus, you have 4 previously unreleased mixes: Epitafio, Improved Hatred, In The Name Of The Cause and Tae Kwon Do. "Epitafio" (or "epitaph") is a mix that was done along with the final mixes of the album. The drums sound bigger and overall it's a heavier mix. Why we didn't use this one is beyond me. Plus, the guitars are really crunchy here, the way it should've sound on the entire album. "Improved Hatred" is also a different mix. The drums are not as loud as with the original mix. The guitars are the ones that reign here, but overall I think it's a more aggressive mix, suitable for this song in particular. Same goes with "In The Name...", although the mellow guitar part in the middle sounds a bit buried. Plus, I hate the way that solo came out (the mellow part). I love the solo when the song picks up, but the mellow part always makes me cringe. "TKD" was shortened. I don't remember the reason to make the song longer in the final mix. This is a joke song of course, but a lot of people loved it. At least we have one song in Korean!!!
Again, the MP3 files are perefectly tagged and with a higher bit rate and VBR. Thanx to all those who've downloaded our album. I hope you enjoy this remaster because it should sound a bit better and fuller. Don't forget to leave your comments, even if you think we sucked (we no longer exist, thus we no longer suck! Hahaha!).
Un saludo a todos los thrashers de Mexico que han descargado nuestro album. You fuckin' RULE!
Download / Descarga:
http://www.mediafire.com/?qnoyg6iu7a7vd3s
Again, the MP3 files are perefectly tagged and with a higher bit rate and VBR. Thanx to all those who've downloaded our album. I hope you enjoy this remaster because it should sound a bit better and fuller. Don't forget to leave your comments, even if you think we sucked (we no longer exist, thus we no longer suck! Hahaha!).
Un saludo a todos los thrashers de Mexico que han descargado nuestro album. You fuckin' RULE!
Download / Descarga:
http://www.mediafire.com/?qnoyg6iu7a7vd3s
lunes, 24 de enero de 2011
Sesons In The Abyss "Remastered"
Another great thrash album that hasn't been remastered. When played along newer Slayer CD's or MP3s, "Seasons" sounds very quiet and low. Again, I just raised the volume a bit more and EQd it to have a bit more bass, nothing over the top. I hope you guys notice and like the difference! Enjoy!
Download:
lunes, 2 de agosto de 2010
Improved Hatred - el video!
"Improved Hatred" (odio mejorado) fue uno de los temas "nuevos" que se inlcuyó en el album debut de Draksen. Aunque en el album prevalecieron los temas "clasicos" de demos anteriores, "Improved Hatred" daba un buen indicio hacía donde iba la banda en cuanto a thrash extremo se refería. La canción fue una mezcla de unos riffs que tenía Alejandro, Fabian y yo y los juntamos para crear el tema. A pesar de lo violento de la canción, la letra en realidad es "anti-violencia". Es tipico oir a la gente decir, "que horror! Yo jamas haría eso", pero, bajo las circunstancias apropiadas cualquiera puede convertirse en un carnicero de humanos!
El video en realidad es un collage de imagenes y videos, en donde se incluyen imagenes violentas y desagradables (que es precisamente de lo que habla la cancion) e imagenes y videos de nosotros en vivo y de nuestros amigos, asi como un tributo a todas las alineaciones que tuvo Draksen. No es un video 100%, pero creo que esta divertido y en algunos casos, perturbador.
Para aquellos que nunca nos vieron en vivo, por ahi salen un par de escenas de la gente haciendo un buen slam.
Por ultimo, el audio de este video esta ligeramente distinto a la version del album. La bateria esta ligeramente "re arreglada" y por ende, se oye mucho más fuerte y potente que en la version del album.
Ojalá disfruten el video!
El video en realidad es un collage de imagenes y videos, en donde se incluyen imagenes violentas y desagradables (que es precisamente de lo que habla la cancion) e imagenes y videos de nosotros en vivo y de nuestros amigos, asi como un tributo a todas las alineaciones que tuvo Draksen. No es un video 100%, pero creo que esta divertido y en algunos casos, perturbador.
Para aquellos que nunca nos vieron en vivo, por ahi salen un par de escenas de la gente haciendo un buen slam.
Por ultimo, el audio de este video esta ligeramente distinto a la version del album. La bateria esta ligeramente "re arreglada" y por ende, se oye mucho más fuerte y potente que en la version del album.
Ojalá disfruten el video!
lunes, 31 de mayo de 2010
Broken Bit - El nuevo proyecto
Tenia desde Diciembre sin escribir nada por la friega de estar en la chamba. Broken Bit es una banda de covers que tengo con unos amigos. Originalmente me invitaron a "cantar", ya que ya había dos liras. Uno de los guitarros empezo a ir de forma mas irregular y aproveché para tocar lira y cantar. La banda se formo (hasta donde sé) como tributo a Metallica, tocando covers de casi todos los discos. Hoy en día, aunque seguimos con los covers, nos ampliamos a incluir de Megadeth y posiblemente otras bandas de metal y de thrash. Ademas, ya estamos en proceso de escribir un tema original, algo que siempre quize hacer desde el principio.
Durante meses ensayamos sin tener un nombre. Broken Bit fue el que más latio. Originalmente salio por el tema de "Broken, Beat & Scarred" de Metallica. El "beat" se lo dejamos en "bit", a manera de evitar confusion con algun genero de musica tecno y asi darle un toque moderno. Bit como en "kilobit".
En la banda tocamos: Alfredo "Freaky" Ruiz (bajo), Jorge Pimentel (guitarra), Juan C. Pimentel (bateria) y yo en la voz y otra guitarra.
Les paso un clip de Youtube para que nos chequen!
Durante meses ensayamos sin tener un nombre. Broken Bit fue el que más latio. Originalmente salio por el tema de "Broken, Beat & Scarred" de Metallica. El "beat" se lo dejamos en "bit", a manera de evitar confusion con algun genero de musica tecno y asi darle un toque moderno. Bit como en "kilobit".
En la banda tocamos: Alfredo "Freaky" Ruiz (bajo), Jorge Pimentel (guitarra), Juan C. Pimentel (bateria) y yo en la voz y otra guitarra.
Les paso un clip de Youtube para que nos chequen!
Suscribirse a:
Entradas (Atom)
