Category: News

This past Wednesday evening went very smooth. Kore picked me up at the airport and we met for the very first time and hit it off right away. He drove me over to Steven’s house in San Jose where again I was greeted as if by an old friend. The only person we were waiting for was Bobby who was driving up from LA.. When Bobby finally showed up, again, it wasn’t like we were all meeting for the first time, it was as if old friends were just getting together again. Music speaks louder than words they say, and they (whomever they are) are correct. There is an unspoken language between musicians. We’re a different breed, non-conformists, most of us growing up the same way. Most growing up, going to school, having really horrible grades, some dropping out of high school and some barely making it through. Why is this? Our minds think differently. We are artists and 99% of all artists have a hard time fitting into the society that demands the 9 to 5 day job, making a certain amount of money, etc. Those of us that do this become depressed or go into a beat up mode because we think something is wrong with us. We don’t think linear. So when musicians get together it is usually this way. Because we are with our tribe.

Thursday, the 15th of July, we headed up to San Francisco to Soundwave Studios to do the shoot with Mike Sloat and his crew. One thing that I loved about the whole process is that Mike never asked any of us what we wanted. It was his vision and he knew exactly the shots he needed to get what he wanted. There wasn’t any of the questions that you normally get with a video shoot like, ‘So guys, what do you want me to do?’ Nothing like that at all. His vision, his shoot… we just played along and enjoyed the process. NO more than five hours later we wrapped it all up. Super productive day, sweating our asses off from the lights, guy liner smeared, exhausted and exhilarated.

We can’t wait to see the final product no more than we can’t wait to present it to the world. We are proud of what we created and confident that you are going to love it as well. Make sure to check out the Kill Ritual page for updates.

Peace,
David

This coming week I will be flying up to San Francisco to do a video shoot with Kill Ritual. I’m really excited for a number of reasons….

1. This will be the first time that I’ve met my bandmates. Crazy, huh? Yeah. In this day and age of the internet I can do recordings all over the world. I remember meeting Ged Rylands for the first time maybe a year after we recorded Dreamworld together. Long gone are the days of sitting in warehouses jamming for hours on end. Is it something I miss? Definitely. You get a good sense of someone’s character by spending time with them. Eye contact, hanging out, etc. So in todays music world I do the best I can to communicate with everyone over the phone, skype, email. After a while you get a sense of who the person is. The flip side is that you can do a lot more in a lot less time and you aren’t limited to location. For instance, Kill Ritual has members in LA, San Francisco and Vegas. That never could have happened 10 years ago. As far as Kill Ritual goes, Steven and I hit it off pretty quickly during the writing process of this album which we started back in February. My hat goes off to him because he had actually done this album months prior with the previous singer so for him to be going through this with an new guy, new sound, new lyrics…. whew. Let’s just say it would have been very difficult for me to do that and I’m grateful that he never let me hear the other vocals. I naturally would have had that it my head and wouldn’t have been able to come at it with fresh ears. He didn’t have that option. It took him a few to get used to the new sound after listening to the old sound for so long. All I can say is this album is going to be epic.
2. We’ll be in the famous Soundwave Studios in Oakland where so many bands have played that the list is daunting. Bands like; Testament, Metallica, Exodus, Primus, Tesla, Faith No More, etc…. etc…. to infinitum.
3. The video will be shot by Mike Sloat who has shot video for Testament, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Staind, Tom Waits, etc. We’ll be up there for a couple of days for the shoot and hanging out together.

We’ve got labels behind us on this that we will announce shortly, with album release dates and tours in the works. So keep your calendars handy and I hope to stop by your hometown soon.

Peace,
David

I’m happy to announce that Kill Ritual and I have finished our new album Karma Machine. We’ve completed 10 Tracks that are from heavy to melodic while retaining the Thrash roots that Kill Ritual have always been known for and I am very proud to have been a part of this process. It’s been a different approach than most of you have heard from me in a long time. For starters, all of the vocals were recorded at my Kundalini Sound Studios here in Las Vegas, where in the past most of my vocals have been done in major studios with the band or sent to the band. You’ve got to love technology. 🙂

Steven played a big part in getting my studio up to par where we, basically, duplicated each others studios to make the process easier and more fluid for when we would send everything to Andy over in Sweden.

The CD was once again produced by guitarist Steven D. Rice and mixed/mastered by King Diamond guitarist Andy LaRocque. Artwork was completed by longtime Kill Ritual artist Jobert Mello who has done album covers for such greats as; Sabaton, Primal Fear and Benedictum, to name a few. The CD also marks my debut with these guys as well as for drummer Koryun Bobikyan.  Koryun replaces Gee Anzalone who moved on to DragonForce. Koryun has some big shoes to fill but when you hear this new album you will know that he is more than capable. Our best to Gee and DragonForce. We hope to share the stage with you in the future.

Here is a preview of the album. We will announce shortly when it will be released. Until then, enjoy.

Kill Ritual ‘Karma Machine’ album Preview
https://youtu.be/BgeJhMzJ34A

1. Just A Cut
2. Rise
3. The Enemy Inside
4. The Key
5. Karma Machine
6. My Green Room
7. Kundalini
8. Land Of The Dead
9. The Camera’s Eye

We expect a summer/fall 2015 release by a yet to be determined label.

KILL RITUAL
killritual.com
facebook.com/killritual
reverbnation.com/killritual
youtube.com/killritual
soundcloud.com/killritualmetal

Peace,
David

Andy LaRocque, the guitarist for King Diamond, now has the Kill Ritual album in his possession at his Sonic Train Studios in Sweden for the final mixing and mastering. We should be hearing back from him with mixes in the next week or so before he has to head over here to the U.S. for rehearsals with King Diamond for Mayhem Fest in June with Slayer.

For the last three months or so I’ve been working on the Kill Ritual album. What I love about writing is the ebb and flow of ideas and the collaboration between musicians. I must say, it has been very pleasant. I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again, It’s been a constant surprise to me when someone accepts lyrics that I’ve written. In my head I’m saying, “Yeah, they aren’t going to like this. I’ve overstepped some boundaries.” Only to find out that they actually love them. Awesome! My writing process is a lot like others I’ve come to find out. One night while talking to a friend of mine from a very famous metal band I said that I will usually come up with melody lines to the music, lay those down and then some key words from the gibberish that I’m singing will come out. I can’t write lyrics without music. Not sure what it is but ‘blogging’ or journaling is completely different from songwriting. I HAVE to have the music. It’s almost as if the music speaks to me, tells me what to write. Anyway, after saying this to him I was thinking that he was probably thinking I’m a nutcase, only to find out that he has the same experience.

I look at lyric writing as partially divine intervention, part music, and part experience. I remember when I was with The Constant, in Los Angeles. Frank, the guitarist, had this uncanny way of writing some great lyrics of other people’s experiences. Almost like he was a reporter. I can’t write like that. I shouldn’t say, ‘can’t’ because I don’t believe in that word, I should say, I haven’t. At least not yet. My lyrics come from my experience. One of my most popular songs was a desperate plea. It was me being totally vulnerable and not afraid to say what I was really feeling. I’ve come to believe that people can actually ‘feel’ what you’ve written if you are sincere. Almost as if the energy is transferred to the recording. Have you ever listened to a song where it touches your soul? That is what I try to achieve. Sometimes it hits home and sometimes it doesn’t. Anyway, it’s exhausting at times. I will get so wound up in the writing process that I can’t sleep. Many times Taylor has had to give me ambien to finally just pass out. When I’m not writing I can fall asleep within seconds. You could be talking to me and the next minute I’m snoring. Haha.

The name ‘Karma Machine’ was not my idea for the album title. When Steven, Kill Ritual’s guitarist, told me the name I was like… Dude, you don’t know me yet but this is right up my alley.

Anyway, I can’t wait for you all to hear this album. It’s explosive, insightful, and METAL. Who would have thought that this was my forté? I’m full of surprises lately.

Peace,
D