Mefitis - Emberdawn (Full Album) 

18.53 savage thats like an old riff

@navas015 On this album we used B standard, and C# standard for 1 or 2 songs.

@navas015 Yeah it doesn’t really sound like it since the guitars barely have any low end on this album ha-ha. No plans on releasing them but I could send some to your email if you have guitarpro.

@navas015 You can just send an email to Mefitis@protonmail.com Cheers!

Indeed, that was our intent, with obsessive determination. Thank you for recognizing our effort. We were not sure if it would translate to others, so it is quite rewarding to hear those words. Cheers, Maelstrrom!

Heheh, well it's the same artist, Turkka G. Rantanen. We didn't intend for the resemblance to be so strong, but that's how it turned out. Nonetheless, we are pleased with how it represents our music.

@Jeswin Thomas Good to hear, Jeswin. You’re the first person to mention us in 2021, so thanks for that. \m/

Vatha and I felt the same way. When we weren't writing/recording/mixing, we spent countless nights listening to records, analyzing the ingredients and balance that made them transcendent, and asked ourselves how we too could summon that same spirit. For our music to move someone the same way the classics moved us is an honor of the highest degree. Thank you.

Thank you Jamis. Our goal was to unify the best elements of both subgenres, rather than simply being unsure of what we want to play, so your comment is quite a rewarding one to read.

Its inspiring to hear that vision play out on Emberdawn

@@mefitis1859 A problem I have with 99% of the past 25 years of metal - and especially new "old-school" bands - is that people seem to first decide on a sound and then try to fit material into it, like they're buying and assembling a model plane or something. That's not what music and real expression is about. You guys 'get it', I can tell after just one spin. You sound old-school in the good way; not by emulating the aesthetics of certain classic bands but simply by being of the same mind as them. Whatever comes after that will automatically be good, even if the style you're using is power metal or techno. PS - Cheers for that Necrophobic cover, I'm Swedish so that was extra fun to hear!

@@JJJ111JJJ I think that is an excellent summation of new "oldschool" metal bands, Jonas. We didn't want to sound like a specific classic. Rather, we wanted to channel everything in those records that deeply moved us into a unified whole, with our own compositional tendencies and a meaning adapted to how we see the world today. Thank you. PS - I always notice that Swedes have the most eloquent use of English. Cheers!

Hello jem

Thank you Korgüll, We put everything into Emberdawn. I fell asleep thinking about it and woke up thinking about it for almost three years. That's the mentality it takes to make an enduring record today. I appreciate you taking the time to piece it all together, when there are so many new releases coming out all the time. Cheers!

@@mefitis1859 I can imagine. There are so many ideas on there. Its great to hear someone choosing to craft something rather than resorting to lazy melodic cliches. I think I can spot where you get certain ideas from (At the Gates, Demilich, Necrophobic, early Enslaved maybe?), but at the same time you never drag the riffs on for too long. Love the way that the best riff on the album is used in the fade-out (end of track #4).

@@DanRobot That's your favorite riff? Right on! I couldn't even begin to choose one, but quite a few have a special story behind them. We are also tired of lazy melodic cliches that are so prevalent nowadays... Why would we waste our time writing something that isn't stimulating? Mefitis is our legacy, not our hobby. We definitely took influence from the bands you mentioned (especially early At the Gates). Sacramentum's "Far Away from the Sun" is another big one. However, the entirety of our metal tastes played into "Emberdawn". Anything from Immolation and Timeghoul, to Burzum and Emperor. At the time of composing the album, were listening to a lot of the first Septic Flesh album and EP, My Dying Bride's Turn Loose the Swans, the first two Primordial albums, Allegiance's Hymn Till Hangagud, and the Dawn. We appreciate your support.

@@mefitis1859 How much thought did you put into the production/sound? Perhaps the main thing that turns me (and many others) off modern metal is the awful clicky drums (sounds like someone tapping a pencil on a desk), excessive use of triggers, generic 'heavy' guitar tone which rounds off all the edges. The other option is to cop out and record on a 4-track in attempt to sound 'raw'. How did you guys manage to get such a great production and why can't everyone else do it?

@@DanRobot Good question. I've noticed that dichotomy in newer bands as well: either it's too perfect, or too raw. With modern technology, it's actually pretty easy to make music sound overproduced. When editing drums, it's more convenient to just quantize them 100% than it is to manually make slight adjustments. It's much easier to sample layer/replace (trigger) a drumset than it is to produce acoustic sounds that actually cut through a mix. An amp simulator will give you an immediately gratifying, heavy, saturated, industry standard tone, and takes far less resources and effort than miking up a real speaker. With these modern practices, it makes every detail audible, which is appealing to the songwriter---You don't want anything to go unappreciated. To actually strike a balance between rawness and clarity is much more difficult, and requires a very finessed performance. The amount of effort we put into producing Emberdawn was ridiculous. It took us over a year to mix it, and there were many times that we re-recorded things. Firstly, we did it all ourselves, so studio time was never an issue, but we also had to learn a lot. Thus, no shortcuts were taken. We used all real instruments and oldschool amps (a 1980's Marshall JCM 800, and a 1960's Fender Super Reverb). We double tracked all the guitar parts, sometimes more when extra saturation was needed for a section. There were no drum triggers. That meant that a lot of work had to be done on post production to actually make this work. For instance, we would automate the volume on certain guitar licks, drum fills, etc. to make it come through. I changed the EQ on my double bass pedal to make it more "clicky" for the rolls, and fuller for normal beats. There were slow sections where we put giant reverbs on the snare drum. There were plenty of sound fx that all took a unique approach. Layering clean guitars and choir vocals was tedious. This album might sound "oldschool", but a lot of the unorthodox production elements took advantage of modern technology (without using to sound like stereotypical modern stuff). Another thing you might notice is that all the songs sound a bit different. That's because they we'd spend a weekend recording each one, in different sessions, at a secluded ranch. We'd tweak the settings on our gear to meet each track's individual needs, and variables in the room simply changed over time. This lent it's own set of difficulties. I could go on and on, but I understand why a lot of bands don't get this type of production.

We typically don’t hard-pan, because each guitar part is fairly different, and can make the mix sound lopsided if there’s too much width. The drums are 100% mono on Emberdawn though. We only had 4 inputs at the time, so there wasn’t enough for stereo overheads, or individual tom tracks that could be panned. We barely knew what we were doing lol, and we were working with a lot of limitations, so it’s a miracle the album turned out the way it did. Thanks for the sharing your thoughts, glad you enjoy our debut. -P.

Thank you Jesse. Vatha and I easily get tired of boring riffs, so we worked hard to ensure every part was interesting. CD's will be released by Chaos Records in late September, and we are working with Night Rhythm Records to get a vinyl pressing. We appreciate the support.

@@mefitis1859 I look forward to that, keep up the great work!

That’s cool to see. Thanks! Sometimes music that is immediately satisfying proves to be lacking with time. What brought you back?

@@mefitis1859 I saw how much effort was put into the album when reading through the comments and decided I would give it a couple more chances to win me over, and it definitely delivered.

Enlightened Groyper Awesome. Thank you for putting in the time. What about the album did you not get at first?

@@mefitis1859 Nothing in particular, just that a lot of the riffs didn't really do anything for me at first

Enlightened Groyper I appreciate you answering all my questions. Cheers!

Quite the heartening words, friend. I am pleased that Emberdawn did not get lost by the end of 2019. Hopefully one day we will be influential. For now, we are indeed trying to top what we did on Emberdawn with the upcoming 2020 release. Thanks for the support. ⚔️

@@mefitis1859 wherever it drops i'll make sure to grab an LP, I had an old school moment of sharing this with a few friends who generally dig this style and am generally asking people how they missed this record. the strength of your compositions leads me to believe anything you put out will likely be worth a blind buy from this point, it's the only thing that's upheaved the new paysage d'hiver from my record player. new masters of the old arts!!!

ChoirofWolves I haven’t given Paysage a chance yet, but I’ll do so on your recommendation. Your efforts to share Mefitis with your peers is appreciated. Thank you. We’ve been putting our best into this upcoming release. It will not disappoint.

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts, brother.

Ever take the time to listen through it?

@@mefitis1859 Indeed, I am actually approaching my tenth playthrough. There's a lot to unpack here and I didn't want to reply without a fully understanding of the material.

@@Tempestuous_Might Ten playthtoughs!? Such patience is unheard of in the modern age. Thank you for giving Emberdawn your time.

Thanks for giving our music a chance in spite of your initial impression. I’m pleased to see you found some artistic value in it. \m/

I didn’t expect to see a new comment on Emberdawn, considering the fact that we just put out new material-but that’s really great to hear nonetheless. Thoughtful descriptions like yours are quite rewarding. We only played one show before lockdown, performing songs from the debut. Since then, it’s just been Vatha and I doing studio work. Once this pandemic passes, we will be getting back into action. Thank you, -P.

Glad to see people coming back to Emberdawn.

Thanks Tougas. A nice surprise to see you on here. RU-vid hid your comment from me because it had the "F-word" in it. Ha-ha.

@@mefitis1859 Of course. You've created the best death/black metal album of 2019. It reminded me of how I personally felt the first time I listened to Sentenced's North From Here and The Chasm's work. I'll purchase a copy the first chance I get.

Phil Tougas Well that’s quite the high praise. We love those bands you mentioned. A friend forwarded me your Instagram post-thank you for sharing our music. You’ve got quite the extreme metal resume, so your words carry extra weight to them. Cheers!

Damn right. \m/

Oops, they did it again.

@@mefitis1859 lol

Thank you Steve. It’s surreal to see people speak so highly of our music (which of course brings forth inevitable backlash haha). The composition process took about three years, but with gaps. Also, we recorded it ourselves in sessions, and often went and revised things when we weren’t pleased with it. Emberdawn was originally meant to just be a quick EP, because we were intimidated by the scope of (what is now) our second album, which we began writing in 2008. It’s already recorded mostly, so keep an eye out for it.

@@mefitis1859 sure thing. I wouldn't be concerned with those who don't understand this music. That's quite a while but it's interesting to me to read that as sometimes I fear I rush too much personally when writing. Great news to hear another recording is planned, I will buy it for sure. Any plans for the band to perform in USA or internationally? I would consider flying out to Cali from Boston to see the band depending on the lineup.

Steve128967 You write music? I’m sure it’d be interesting if you appreciate metal and stuff like Al Di Meola. Have you released anything? It’s hard to say what our plans are. We’ve played one show recently, but wish to do more.

@@mefitis1859 I do (though Al Did Meola I am not as a guitarist, haha). My music is influenced by certain aspects of jazz and classical music that is meaningful to me as well as references to both modern and historical styles of death and black metal. In the past I helped with arrangement and part-writing for my band Garroted on "In the Court of Nyarlathotep" and "Of Damnation and Abyssal Terrors" (on which I play drums, wrote all lyrics, and specified the cover artwork to the illustrator), but so far my current project is still in the embryonic phase. That's good to hear, I await further news and any possible merchandising.

Steve128967 Oh, you compose for Garroted? That’s awesome-your music is cutting edge! What are your goals for your personal project? We’ve been sleeping on merchandise... Put a lot of money into upgrading our vinyl release into a gatefold. Your comment is yet another indicator that we need to get on it. We’ve got a solid t-shirt design, so it’s about time.

We use GuitarPro. If you’ve got that software, I could send some tabs to your email. What songs are you interested in playing?

Mefitis The song that interests me the most is "Grieving the Gestalt", but I would really appreciate it if you could send me more tabs for other songs🤘🏻

Mefitis Here’s my email. none_shall_defy@yahoo.com Thanks!

@@vb__channel Right on man. I sent over Grieving the Gestalt, Widdrim Hymn, Heretical Heir, and Emberdawn. Some of the others require a capo, so the tabs will just end up being confusing. You might need to play around with the fingering on some of these riffs. Enjoy!

Mefitis Nice tabs, thanks! Wish you lots of creative inspiration🤘🏻

We have an Emberdawn vinyl release coming out in the next month or so through Night Rhythms. I’ll update this comment thread with a link when it’s available. Thanks for the support Stefanos.

store.nghtrhthms.com/product/mefitis-emberdawn-lp