Hell Cow is slowly advancing with its plan to take over the world; here is the mighty Hell Cow attacking Paris!!!

Do you hate this snow? Don’t you wish it was summer? So do we! Here’s a slide show of Hell Cow jammin’ out last summer! Can’t wait to be able to do this again! Cheers to beautiful days!

With anything new, there are always going to be problems. While trying to record “Agony” everything seems to be going wrong. Little by little we shall tackle these problems into submission.

Small progress is better than no progress at all. Chris is slowly adding to songs, while Mike is working on the site!

Not liking the sound of our bass drum, we switched the resonant head of the bass drum. Hear the difference?

We finished writing another song today! That makes Five! Now to get these bad boys recorded…
This latest song is titled “The Idea was Two” for literally no reason whatsoever. This is easily one of the most complicated songs the All-Knowing Chris has written up to date, its even got simultaneous solos. More updates soon, possibly with songs!

Mighty Hell Cow found the old Agony version weak and feeble, therefore, has re-recorded it. It is currently exactly 1012 times greater than the previous version.

The Hell Cow is awakening from its deep winter slumber and producing more new songs. In other words, Mike has been sitting on his ass while Chris has been conjuring new melodies and magical harmonies! Stay tuned for updates, in the meantime, here is a random picture of a puppy!

Here is the video to go along with our post on recording drums! Mike attempts to record a drum track for “Agony”.

Holidays, friends, and family have been keeping the Hell Cow away from what really matters ….Music…and world domination of course. Check back after holidays for updates!

We had a great time recording, hanging out, and making this video. For more information, check out the blog posting about our session with Tom:

http://www.projecthellcow.com/2009/11/tom/

Without further ado, here is the video!

Check out Hell Cow’s home recording studio! This is where we record all of our music, and sometimes come to sit in the corner and cry!

I’ve been working my ass off on this website, and it is just about done! Now I will finally have more time to focus on the music and the videos! I’ve been sweating like a child at a shoe factory in Asia, but Chris has been doing the real work; writing some new songs! He’s got a few great concepts which I cannot share the details of just yet, all I can say is they really tickle my fancy. Maybe I’ll post little video/audio snippets to get you all worked up (sexually) … Keep your eyes peeled!

This is the first and probably most important of our polls! Cast your vote on Hell Cow’s gracious ascend to the top, or its  inevitable failure!

Today we were graced with the presence of the all mighty Dan! Dan is a friend of ours and has been for many years. He is an exceptional guitarist, but a terrible friend; but hey, you can’t win them all! We used to jam with him on a regular basis, but now his job is more important than his friends. Dan works third shift at some shit-hole in the next town over which sucks because we don’t get to see him very often. But today was one of the few times we could hang out, so we made the most of it… by going to Wendy’s… then Jamming! Perhaps one day he will tell his boss how he really feels, and quit. Then he can join us and make absolutely no money!

Hell Cow is looking for a singer, and today we had our friend Tom come by and try out.  We started off by playing him some of the songs that Chris had written . Initially, he hated them and wanted us to die in the worst way possible for conjuring up such blasphemy, but eventually we sweet talked (read bribed) him into confessing it is the best thing he has ever heard.

Later, we showed Tom to our underground lair (A.K.A. Studio). We started jamming out some System of a Down because it was something we all knew. Tom had a distinct and interesting vocal style, but a terrible memory for lyrics (“disorder!!! Disorder!!!…….. Disorder!!!!”). Not being sure how he would sound with our song Agony… we went upstairs and ate pizza. While devouring triangular bits of love, Tom shared his old band’s MySpace page with us, which for the sake of your eyes (yes… your eyes), I will not share it with you.

Shortly after pizza, we returned to the secret underground lair and set up the mics. Now, Hell Cow isn’t some mean boss which wants everything done the way it says;  we are flexible (no not that way). We had Tom do a few (read a thousand) takes in different vocal styles. In one take Chris would tell him what he wanted for the song and Tom would attempt it. In the next take, he would sing clean vocals, and then he would mimic metallicuchh and megadeth for shits and giggles. We had a ton of fun, but at the same time we were actually very productive and finished recording the vocals for Agony. We’re not too sure if his style will match our song until we hear the mix, but we’ll keep you posted!

Today we went to the local music store (the one better than Guitar Center) and picked up a Shure SM-57 dynamic microphone. The plan is to use it to record guitars, the snare drum, and vocals (till we have enough money to afford a nice condenser mic). We went with the Shure because it’s basically an industry standard mic… and it was cheap.

We also picked up a new head for Mike’s snare. He went with an Evans genra dry. It has a built-in baffle ring on the inside, as well as some holes in the head that are supposed to help lower overtones. So far, he’s pleased with it; it has a nice crisp attack, and very short overtones; just what he was looking for.

On a side note, there is no concrete evidence proving that we may or may not have bought a case of beer at the huge liquor store next door…

Finally! We had everything set up properly (or so we had hoped) to start recording drums! For no reason in particular, we decided that “Agony” would be the best song to start recording. That meant that it was up to me to lay down a drum track first…

Eager, and excited to be recording our first song, I jumped right in with the intro; I had to do 16ths beats on the high-hats with an accent on the last hit. It sounded simple enough but this being my first time recording drums all of the pressure was on me. Let’s just say I gave it my best… and failed.

In the end, I realized two things; I needed a lot of practice, and I needed a new high-hat stand. I never actually sat down and practiced this song; usually I hop on the drums, Chris grabs his guitar, and we start jamming. From now on, I’ll actually have to practice! As for the high-hat stand, I was using a stand that Manny had given me for free. It sounded terrible. The old saying rings true; you get what you pay for… and I didn’t pay shit. So it was off to the “store-that-is-a-thousand-times-better-than-guitar-center” to buy a new high-hat stand. Stay tuned for new high hat action!

Our Bassist, Manny has stepped aside from Hell Cow! Did he leave to escape from the embarrassment which Project Hell Cow will bring upon us? Nope, he wouldn’t mind the shame or the *cough* massive success *cough*; Manny has moved to Ohio to live with his girlfriend in their new apartment!Yet another person successfully escapes the depressing shit hole of a town in which we so valiantly call home *shivers with disgust*.

We dropped by his house the night before he left and met his girlfriend, hung out, and even helped him pack (a box or two…)! Naturally, we got him drunk so his 12 hour drive, which started at 5am, would be a tiny bit worse (you’re welcome Manny =P).

We wish him the best of luck in his future endeavors, and hope to see him back soon… but not the “I lost my job, and declared bankruptcy” kind of back… or the “I pushed my girlfriend down the stairs, slapped a stripper named Susan, ran over a dog, and have to lay low for a few…” kind of back either… In fact, if that ever happens, please don’t come here Manny. We don’t want any trouble =).