Snapshot of ANDOLS HERRICK tracking drums for the BENEVOLENT album

Title says it all!

GET PSYCHED!

Hadi

BENEVOLENT: TWO YEARS OF ALBUM CREATION (PART ONE)

December 2010: 

Psyched as F*** from Divided EP's reviews, reviews, reviews, and feedback / resulting in early demoing for the upcoming material.

February 2011: 

The song "THE 2011" is born with the main intro riff. Listened to lots of djent bands here so that's been an influence.

March 2011: 

"The USB riff" becomes the new song of focus; also heavily influenced by the djent bands I was listening to then. Sadly this song wasn't completed but didn't make the cut. Check out a half demo of it here!

May 2011: 

At this point the song "The 2011" is in the finishing phases of the writing process and being scheduled for tracking and release in the summer of 2011, hence the name! At this point I had been working heavily on generating other ideas but lightly because I prefer to finish the song at hand before moving on to other ones. I guess that's what happened with "The USB Riff" I just hopped into other things and never got around to finishing it, and I haven't "felt" it since then!

July 2011: 

Tracking "The 2011" takes place at Sarj's studio. We spent quite a bit of time tracking this one since it's got a set of really challenging riffs with specific picking patterns. At this point the working date for the new record's release started popping into mind heavily and whilst working on finishing "The 2011" we began to define a blueprint for the record. This was done in close consultation with Sarj as well! He's kind of like the band's babysitter in a sense.

September 2011: 

Benevolent signs to Spellbind Records. Can I get a hell yea?

Most definitely one of those proud moments for us as a band and myself personally, being on the same record as metal icons Nervecell is a true honor!

At this point "The 2011" was finished but due to so much going on at that moment we were taken away from focusing on the finalizing of this song and decided to let it hang as the album's picture starts to come more clearly into play.

At this point I began working on a song which I finished rather quickly, this was "Nice Introer"; to me this song is kind of like a Dream Theater meets Scar Symmetry with a nice acoustic topping here and there! I would say it's one of the best intros from the songs on the album!

October 2011: 

I started to toy up with two songs back to back at this point, and with working titles of "Paid to Rest" and "Sacramento" you guys can take a wild guess what I was listening to heavily then (Lamb of God FTW). The songs were demoed at my studio and finalized, however, they didn't make the final cut because I felt that they stood out distinctively from the rest, had a much too different feel about them, and I found myself losing interest in fixing them while rather just wanting to move on to fresh and new songs. Those songs were on the main picks of songs to track for the record's final product up until March 2012 (see in PART TWO!)

November 2011: 

Benevolent debut gig in Dubai at Metal Asylum Festival 2011 marking the band's first show in the UAE. We had a blast performing alongside the bands such as Zygnema, Firezone, and the rest!

I remember waking up at 8 am after sleeping at 5 am post the gig, really wired up from the show's energy, grabbed my laptop and started writing what later became the song "OBOBOBZEN"

At the point I was also grappling with a song named "EPIC2", which never got finished but I got a feeling this one will be making an appearance on future Benevolent releases. I remember recording a few ideas with my homie Khalid Al Mansour while we were bored and lonely in Dubai, waiting for rehearsal time.

Early December 2011: 

Demo recording of "OBOBOBZEN" comes to life. This was a turning point for the album's creation; it was the begin of the shift in tuning for the entire (well, most of the) album. I tuned down to E D A D G B E for a maximum sinister feeling when playing guitar.

Unfortunately, "OBOBOBZEN" sounded far too rushed and rather immature as a song, so it was scrapped, however, I feel this one song's presence in the process is key in this album's essence because it paved the way for the upcoming tracks, which in my opinion have made this album!

STAY TUNED FOR PART TWO!

In Lebanon; Working Hard

Hey guys!

So I'm in Lebanon taking a little break in between relocation. March has been a huge month, I've left Kuwait for good after spending over two decades there (in addition to being born there), and now I'm in the process of moving to the UAE. EXCITING.

So, while I'm here taking a short vacation I've been spending lots of time with my AMT Electronics pedals and being exceptionally productive in work on the upcoming BENEVOLENT album. It's all coming together nicely!

I'm also working closely with Ignite Amps on an upcoming exciting something which we all cannot wait to reveal. We're currently doing final touches before this gets announced and becomes available for ordering!

I'll leave you with a few shots that make my mess of a workspace look hawt.

Hadi

AMT B-1 through Ignite Amps TPA-1

Hey guys!


Here's a new test! AMT Electronics' B-1 through the TPA-1 by Ignite Amps (It is an upcoming Tube Power Amp plugin that I'm beta testing)

Cheers
Hadi

Working with IGNITE AMPS

Hey guys!

So we [BENEVOLENT] have been working with IGNITE AMPS on a little something to be revealed soon (STAY TUNED); what I wanted to do is to take this little moment to chime in about the experience of working with them on this project and the way they process custom orders and deliver gear brutality whether it be through plugins or through hardware units.

I've been in touch with Federico Berti from Ignite Amps for a while now, mainly exchanging ideas and having endless conversations about gear. Along the way and through the webs of our conversations emerged the idea of doing a custom SOMETHING for Benevolent and the experience of working with him and the Ignite Amps team has been absolutely brilliant! They are extremely dedicated, creative, capable, knowledgeable, proactive, and hard working guys! Thorough communication and a very transparent way of dealing with their clients who eventually become friends!

The way Ignite Amps does their custom work is by first developing a VST/AU plugin for you with the specifications of your unit; whether it is an amp, preamp, pedal, etc. The plugins are made to match the exact characteristics of the unit and provide you with a way to demo your gear before it enters the hardware stage, where things become a bit more tricky to change around.

I am happy to be one of the fortunate artists who are working with such a great and dedicated team. When you are dedicated to your craft and you meet people who are as dedicated (and more) and can sit right in with the wavelength of ideas you bring to the table, the work becomes a joyful ride!

If you've got some custom guitar/bass gear unit you want to get together hit these guys up on www.igniteamps.com

Talk soon!
Hadi

AMT P-1 Metal Test

Hey guys!

Here goes the test of the AMT Electronics P-1. The audio speaks for itself!

HELL YES!

Hadi

Discover YOUR Musicianship

One of the main things that definitely set things in motion for me as a musician is coming to an understanding of who I am as a musician; the solid yet dynamic definition that sets the stage to channel all the hard work into a unified path and opens up the gates for even further dedication.

The trick behind this deal is the simple reality that when you know and understand what you're all about (or plan to be all about) as a musician you develop this tunnel vision giving you that focal point and an edge in which this new found dedication becomes all you know, all you think about, and all you look forward to. It almost (or very much so) turns into an obsession where all the hard work involved with getting it done becomes a very light task and you find yourself able to activate your inner genius.

The results of your work and the gratification entailed with watching all the elements align from the work of your very hands is a beautiful and addictive feeling.

Tunnel vision is what it's all about; whether you are a musician, a painter, writer, etc; whatever it is, it's all about the go-getter attitude that automatically goes into positive-haywire mode once you find yourself at peace, knowledge, and full acknowledgement and understanding of what you're on about in that domain.

Talk soon folks,
Hadi