It is my pleasure to announce the Beast in the East Tour 2012 with our friends Ark of the Covenant.  You can see all of the dates for the tour on our Shows/Tours Page .

I’d also like to take this opportunity to let you all know that we will be performing “Dissimulation” from front to back, completely gapless as it is on the CD.  We’ve put a lot of work into getting this together for you guys, so come on out and show your support!

There are no hard feelings, and Brendan has decided he will stay with the band until we find a suitable replacement….no matter how long that takes.  That means NO CANCELED TOURS OR SHOWS WILL RESULT FROM HIS DEPARTURE!  He will also be highly involved in the audition process.  Not to mention, he will continue practicing and working with us until we have a new drummer.  We have a a busy 2012 schedule including FACEDOWN FEST 2012, Cornerstone, 2012, and numerous tours setup…these tours and fests are DEFINITELY HAPPENING, and will not be affected by this.

That all being said, we are now accepting auditions for drummers.  Those interested should see the box below for more information..

Drummer Audition Requirements/Suggestions/Information:

We play Christian music, meaning our music is inspired by and written for Jesus. This is something you should be on board with completely before considering an audition. Ministry through our music is priority one.

You must be 18 or older.  This is not to be considered as any sort of age discrimination, it is simply due to the fact that you cannot be enrolled in high school and manage a spot in the band effectively.  If you are in college, online classes are doable from the road…mandatory attendance classes are not.  We will not encourage anyone to stop pursuing school in an attempt to join the band.

You must be completely comfortable with playing to a click track. You will also be operating a laptop that controls the entire backing track to our show. Be prepared, download a trial of Cubase, and play around with it. We will provide a sample of the click track for the 3 audition songs

Your gear does not need to be worth thousands, we only ask that it sound and look professional.  It should also be dependable.  Tuning your drums is a must.  Brendan plays a 6 piece set, 3 high toms and 1 floor tom.  If your setup is not identical, it’s not a HUGE deal, but please do your best to emulate the parts on your setup.  You should also have some way to protect your drums in the trailer…you’ve been warned!

DRIVE IS IMPORTANT.  You must have ambition.  This band is not at the level of sustaining any sort of income for it’s members, so we all work hard and take care of our own business/personal life.  Do not come into this expecting a paycheck!  You will have to work, just like everyone else.

You must have dependable transportation to/from practice.  If you are auditioning from another state we will talk about practice schedules and how we would work out arrangements for your travel.  We’d love to have someone local to our area, but we will not limit this audition to locals only.  Any and all are welcome.

THE AUDITION PROCESS
The Audition will consist of 3 songs: Vacillation, Orison, and Transcend.  We cannot provide free copies of these songs, so please acquire them from iTunes, Facedown Records, Amazon, or your local Hot Topic.  We CAN provide tempo and time information for these songs.  We will offer a couple of options for auditions, but all auditions will consist of two stages…preliminary audition, and in person (full band) audition.  For the preliminary audition, we will accept videos (youtube, vimeo, downloadable, etc).  The video should consist of you playing the song Transcend (no backing tracks on videos, please).  Audio quality does not need to be perfect, but we need to be able to hear what you’re doing.  If you are local to the Carbondale, IL area, we can setup a time to have you come down and perform the preliminary audition if you prefer to not do the video.  If we get past the preliminary audition phase, we will ask you to come audition in person and perform with the band at our practice space in Jonesboro, IL.  At this audition you will play all three songs to the click and backing track along with us.   Brendan is not in a hurry to leave, and has agreed to stay until we find someone who can play the parts note for note!  From initial contact, we’d like to see your preliminary video within 1 week.

We look forward to hearing from those interested in this position.  It will take HARD WORK and DEDICATION.  Serious inquiries only please!

We may change requirements a bit as auditions commence…if you have ANY questions contact Josh via email at josh@hopeforthedying.com

A couple notes for you about the tab and the music. The current version of the tab software we use when we’re writing and practicing these songs (Guitar Pro) apparently takes issue with tuning a bass down a step and then also dropping the low string another step (typical ‘drop C’ tuning) so all of the notes on the staff are off by a step. I’m going to try and figure out a work-around and re-upload the tab, but until then just focus on the actual tab and ignore the staff. Unless you wanna try to transpose in your head…which is totally possible if you simply pretend your bass is in standard drop D and you change the key signature from C minor to D minor (in D minor, only the B is flat, where C minor the B, E and A are all flat).

The song predominately revolves around the C harmonic minor scale. For those of you who aren’t familiar with theory (or at least the harmonic scale), that basically means that most of the times that we play the 7th note of the scale (in this case B flat) we raise it a half step (or one fret on the guitar). Another aspect of the C harmonic scale is the fact that it takes the minor chord on the fifth note of the typical minor scale (in this case G) and makes it major. This is most clearly audible in the verses and choruses of Vacillation.

When recording and performing this song, I use several techniques to play the various parts. At different times during the song, there is sweep picking, tapping, string skipping, of course hammer-ons and pull-offs, alternate picking, legato runs, pedal tones, and so on. My suggestion to you is to just play it however you feel most comfortable playing it. Feel free to alter the fingering and the positioning of some of the notes if they don’t feel natural when you play through it. When you really get down to it, there’s not really a wrong or a right way to play anything on the guitar. What’s super easy and makes perfect sense to you might seem impossible to another guitar player. All that to say that if you find yourself really straining your hands to play a certain part, break it down and try to find an alternative fingering or positioning that works better for you!

Alright, I’ve rambled on long enough about this thing. If you have any questions about the song, feel free to hit me up on facebook or send me an email (james[at]hopeforthedying.com) and I’ll try to help you out.

I hope you enjoy learning the song!!

Peace,
-James | HFTD

How could you, spit in the face of God
This is an all out war
The hatred you preach wont stand any longer
We’ve come to rectify
The years of abuse and pain,
The bitter taste, endured
Till we can celebrate

Revere the glory of your demise,
Your words will not prevail, and we will not stray
The time has come for all the wrongs, to be turned into rights,
It won’t be long

How dare you, condemn in the name of God,
This is your final chance
For He will send the wicked down for their lies

The pit of destruction awaits
Oh, deceptive tongue,
For your folly, you will pay

The final hour approaches
Of sorrow and despair,
And soon enough, you’ll beg for death to come

These days will come
Come to an end and so will you
The words you’ve said,
Depicted a voice that you
Were never given

Time for reformation
Has arrived

 

Background
This song addresses a few events/people in particular, but should be considered with broader implications.  A few years ago a good friend of mine was killed while serving his country and fighting for our freedom.  The day of his funeral should have been a quiet time to celebrate his life, and show our respects to his family while offering up prayers for healing.  However, the day was rudely interrupted by a group of radicals protesting “in the name of God.”  The problem I see, in today’s day and age ,is the fact that it is far to often these “radicals” that make the news.  This particular group has been on the Fox News, ABC News, and hundreds of local news stations.  They spread hatred, in words and in actions, that they claim is in the name of Jesus.  There are plenty more organizations out in the world, preaching (and teaching to their children for that matter) hatred.

“Transcend” is two things:
1. Transcend is a call to fellow Christians to rise above (hence the title “Transcend”) those who falsely represent Jesus.  Not in a physical sense or in any retaliatory manner, but to put forth a light that outshines the darkness these organizations broadcast.  I thought about John 4:1-6 a lot when writing, not only this song, but the entire album.

1Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world. 4You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. 5They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them. 6We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood.

2. Transcend is a reminder to those misrepresenting the name Jesus that, in the time of judgment, no amount of pleading will make up for the people who have turned from God as a result of their actions.  I pray for these people and organizations, that they may see the error of their ways and repent.

In Closing
That pretty much wraps up “Transcend”.  I would, however, like to send my condolences to all those who have lost a friend or family member serving in the military.  My friend, Brian Romines, will remain a hero in our community for years to come, and his sacrifice will not be forgotten.  For those of you currently serving,  our prayers go out to our troops every day.  Thank you for your dedication and sacrifice.

I urge you all to seek the truth in God’s word and rise above the absurd teachings  of ridiculous radicals.

Thanks for reading this, and thanks for adding “Dissimulation” to your music collection,

Josh Ditto

This it my first post explaining the lyrics to the new album.  The song in this post is called “Orison” which by definition means “a prayer.”

Let’s start with the lyrics:

My prayer, my prayer
That faith will be my voice of reason
Through trials and storms
My hope will always lie in you
If I should fail
Your mercy will be never failing
My hope in the unseen to stay forever strong

That through flame and fire
My mouth never denies
That my hearts desires
My mouth never denies

You pardon all of the transgression that I’ll ever see
Your mercy reaches past my burdens and my apathy
If ever I should thirst with water you reach out to me
If ever I should fear unfailing love will surround me

Rectify my life,
I want to burn for you
Take this flesh and bone
and make it what you will

That I may seek you in the darkest of the blackest nights
That I may know that those who truly seek will always find
That I may knock and know the door will always open wide
That I reflect upon the day the stone was rolled aside

The explanation of this song is actually pretty brief/simple.  The lyrics basically express my desire to live my every day life in a way that is both Christ-like and constantly seeking better growth and understanding.  The idea in the chorus is that I would have an open mind to the true meaning behind God’s word and use that knowledge to hopefully guide others with questions or confusion on why we believe.

I would love to hear from anyone with their opinion on the lyrics or the meaning behind them, so please feel free to use the comment section, and I’ll respond the best I can!

Josh

1. Exordium (2:29)
2. Vacillation (4:09)
3. Orison (3:29)
4. Transcend (7:20)
5. Imminent War (5:17)
6. Perpetual Ruin (4:39)
7. The Awakening (7:26)
8. The Awakening: Dissimulation (4:43)
9. The Awakening: The Veil, Lifted (2:29)
10. Vile Reflections (4:43)
11. Derision (7:06)

The album is a little over 54 minutes long, and plays continuously from beginning to end, and (depending on your listening device) will actually loop continuously as well.

Make sure you check out our merch page or head over to the Facedown Records MerchNow store and pre-order Dissimulation today! Remember, pre-orders are discounted heavily and also enter you in the drawing for the sweet prize pack from Peavey, HFTD, and Facedown Records!!

The other bands… featured on the sampler include:

-Gideon: Virtue
-Your Memorial: Surface
-My Epic: Lower Still
-For Today: Devastator
-Messengers: Anthems
-Onward to Olympas: The War Within Us
-War of Ages: Collapse
-A Hope for Home: The Overman
-Call to Preserve: Empty Promises
-The Hands: Resistance
-Overcome: Alone in a Crowd
-A Plea for Purging: And Weep
-Take It Back: Defamator
-In The Midst of Lions: The Machine
-The Burial: Demons Never Sleep
-Saving Grace: All, But The Archer

And its all free! All you gotta do is download it and put it on your iPod!

We’re playing on opening night, I believe right after Saving Grace (but I’m not totally sure). Whatever you do, make sure you’re there both nights for all of the bands! Get there early… to make sure you don’t miss our bros in Messengers (opening things up Friday) and The Burial (opening things up on Saturday). Facedown Fest is without a doubt the sickest show around, and for only $25 for a two-day pass you’re not going to find a better chance to see all your favorite Facedown bands in one place.

Anyway, speaking of our bros in The Burial, tonight marks the kickoff of the West for the Fest tour. We, along with The Burial, will be working our way out to Facedown Fest together so be sure to hit up our facebook pages for West for the Fest tour dates! The tour kicks off tonight in Herrin, IL, and goes right up until Facedown Fest! We’re excited to be back on the road, and are totally thrilled to have the chance to rock out with The Burial dudes!

See you on the road!

There are several places around the internet to find information about the show, but we’re primarily using facebook these days so I would recommend checking out the official event page. Once you RSVP, don’t forget to invite all of your friends (especially those in southeastern Missouri!) to help us spread the word about this show!

The first 50 people at the door on the night of the show will have the opportunity to purchase the new album for just $5 so get there early and save a few bucks! We’re also working on some other cool giveaways and merch deals that will only be available at this show so you don’t want to miss out!