Benevolent live at Ratsky 3 Gig Experience

Hey guys!

So it's been an awesome few days, my brothers-in-metal came down from Kuwait and Bahrain to slug out a Benevolent gig and boy was it a great experience.

Our new session drummer Prasad Jayaruwan flew in on Tuesday night, Fadi and I drove down to Sharjah pick him up. It was awesome meeting Prasad, we've been buddies through the interwebs for a while and been talking metal for long enough to finally get to not only meet up but also gig it out together. The cool part was that Prasad and ourselves IMMEDIATELY hit it off with great chemistry and the excitement vibes were all over the place for the gig. We were really psyched to be opening for Nervecell and to be playing in Dubai again!

After picking up Prasad and chilling for a bit, Fadi and I made our way to pick up Sarj (from Sarj's Studio) who came down to be here at our gig and hang out with us! It was great seeing Sarj again and was awesome catching up on geek gear talk with him.

Wednesday night cometh, Fadi, Prasad, and myself went to In The Mix studios for our first official rehearsal (Sarj joined us too, he's the band's babysitter when he's not making us sound awesome). It was such a fun experience playing those songs straight up from the get go with Prasad, it's crazy thinking that this is the very first time we get together as a band (well, half the band that night) and the very second day that we hang out as peeps. CRAZY!

The rehearsal was electric, we all vibed right off of each other and had an absolute blast.

Right after rehearsal, we all went out for dinner and hang out right until it was time for Mohammed Gad and Hisham Khalil to arrive in town. The guys arrived safely, it was great seeing the guys once again. I haven't seen Hisham since leaving Kuwait back in March, but I did see Gad when I was in Lebanon last since he came down to visit.

The next day (Thursday) was when it all got pretty crazy, the very first (and only) pre-show full band rehearsal. The entire gang head over to In The Mix studios once again to prepare for show day. The rehearsal was great! We all prepared for those songs individually as per the album and since we're playing those songs live down to the tick it all just came together neatly. Again, it's pretty crazy that with just one rehearsal we all managed to put it all together for the show!

Show day comes, June 29th, no kidding, it's happening! We were up to an early start, had breakfast together as a band and then went out to buy some last minute things (new picks, spare strings, etc). Right after, we immediately made our way to the venue and arrived around 3:00 pm. The drums were still being setup and we just carried our gear inside and made ourselves comfortable with the location.

We helped the crew setup where we could, hung out, took some videos and photos, looked around the area, warmed up on our instruments, ate again, and what not.

When it was time for us to get onto our soundcheck, we got up on stage and put our pedalboards up (I was using my new POD HD500, which sounded unbelievable! Hands down the best live tone I've ever had...more on this!). Everything was plugged in perfectly and we played The Quantum Paradox at sound check. I was really psyched about how insanely HUGE my tone sounded straight into the mixer, I wasn't plugged into any amp and could hear myself perfectly through the monitors. I only had the new POD for a couple of days before the gig but I've just toyed around with some of the built in presets and downloaded a few tones from the Custom Tone site and with some tweaking I've found the right tone, it just sounded amazing and made me play better!

The guys from Nervecell came into the venue straight from their earlier all ages show while we were going through The Quantum Paradox and hailed us as they walked by. The entire time after getting off stage from sound check we just hung out with these guys (whom if you haven't met, are the nicest most genuine people you could meet), the crew, the band, and just everyone around.

People started coming into the venue and the energy was great! Echoes With Laughter kicked off the show playing a killer set of rock n' roll/metal covers by Iron Maiden, AC/DC, Metallica, some originals, and more! They had a great energy about them on stage and played with great enthusiasm and got everyone going and singing along, awesome band!

We were up next, we got right up on stage and put up all the gear in place and plugged everything in and got our metal faces on. Our setlist for the show was:

1. Haunting Shores
2. Purgatory
3. The Quantum Paradox
4. The Tyrant

Halfway through our first song, Haunting Shores, I realized that the backing tracks weren't playing through the PA and are only playing through Prasad's in-ears (the backing tracks basically have all the atmospheric stuff that sit in the back, which is important to our full sound and basically would be damaging to play the show without). Right after we finished playing through Haunting Shores, I jumped down to the house board to check on what's going wrong and Barry helped out immediately in solving the problem.

From that point onwards, the show went in a great direction. We all got into our muse and had a blast playing the songs. The 4 songs we played felt like we were up there for no longer than one minute, it all flew by really quickly. I definitely cannot wait for our next outing! It was a great pleasure for us to be performing alongside Nervecell and to have met so many great people and made some new friends at the gig.

Huge thanks to Spellbind Records, Thomsun Pure Music, the organizers (Sary, you the man!), the awesome guys at Nervecell and Echoes With Laughter.

And finally, thank you to all for coming out and I can't wait to see you all soon!

Don't forget to check out our page for more updates on dates and news on the new record at HERE

Hadi

Shoved Riffs & Being Over-Inspired

Hey guys,

You know that time of the day when you hear a little something in your head that seems to be suiting as a begin of a song or a continuation of an already-started piece? You get that extra super-energized excitement and you feel like you've achieved John Petrucci levels?

Be warned that in such cases there's a good chance you're being tricked by our own adrenaline, and blinded by your excitement.

I find that lots of times when I am SUPER-PERKY-STYLE psyched about a part, it's not exactly what I think it sounds like. This is evident when I show a recording of the idea to someone and they go like "Ummm...yea, it's alright!"; hearing words like that feels like an avalanche of despair and a heart-breaking moment that'll take you a few days of rerunning the conversation in your mind to believe if it's the truth or not. It can't be true, or can it?

Here's what I think happens: a lot of times when we try to copy certain things or translate certain ideas we're hearing in our minds they sound a lot like the other side of the spectrum, rather. This, however, is not always a bad thing at all. Here's why:

Sometimes we hear a song or a section that inspires us to write something or go in a certain direction musically and the fact that our newly created part doesn't sound spot on to what we had intended may very well cause the creation of something completely original. I find that a lot of times when we are "inspired" that inspiration is borrowed from something we've seen, heard, experienced, etc. Creating something remotely far from what we had intended brings out that inner genius.

So as we can see, there is a caution in being over-inspired in the sense that we tend to create things that are pretty far off from what we're hearing in our minds; however, there are moments where we find that a certain genius is born from such events.

A very contrasting and confusing post!

Hadi

A Musician's Canvas: Translate Your Inspiration Into Sound

I was having a conversation with a friend just today about that "blue" feeling you get when the creativity bulb gets lit up and how having a working "canvas" can get you in a position of power in a sense, it allows you to tap into that creative feeling in a way to utilize it and get ideas out in a productive form. I like to think of this as a translation process where you hop on the same wavelength as your inspiration and start to decode that "blue" feeling into riffs and song ideas. 

I've already covered inspiration with a previous post, and though it's hard to explain such a dynamic thing as inspiration into words, I would highly recommend exploring what triggers your inspiration and gets you going so the process of being inspired can become a somewhat manually-induced. Do check out my previous post here  which covers my approach to inspiration.

Back to the idea of a canvas;

I can't stress enough on the importance of creating/setting up a working "realm" for you to be able to easily walk into and hammer out your inspiration into auditory lines.

Some of you may have faced issues that made you feel you can't get yourself to write songs or music and this may very well be the byproduct of not having that comfortable working space to let it out.

I, personally, have found myself on a whole different level of musical productivity once I had a small home studio setup where the only thing standing between me translating my inspiration into recordings was just plugging in my guitar. The reality of that is not the fact that I couldn't write as much songs as a musician as much as it is the fact that having that setup on my computer where I can, not only record ideas, but also expand that possibility into writing complete songs and thus allowing me to make quick decisions about riffs that come up because I'm writing songs each and every time I pick up the guitar and jam. And in turn, making full utilization of being inspired.

Signing out!

Hadi

Songwriting: How to Save a Helpless Song / Guide to Pwning Writer's Block

Being a songwriter, you’re going to encounter (sometimes more often than none) quite a few of those songs that are just not really THERE, you know? Songs that while you’re working on them you get that feeling inside telling you this is going down a different direction; bad different that is.

As difficult as it may be to really make a decision on keeping/pulling the plug on a song , a lot of things are worth considering. Check it out:

1. Is this song hopeless? 
2. If not ENTIRELY hopeless, where is the song taking a dive into obscurity? 
3. Is this song much too far from what is originally intended and you’d like to reapproach the original idea from scratch? 
4. If yes and you’d like to start from scratch, what are some of those riffs/bits that you’d like to preserve and use in future songs (if not the re-approached version even) 

As a budding songwriter I can tell you it’s quite difficult to let a song go, lots of hard work go into those. BUT hard work isn’t always pleasurably audible.

Let’s examine the above points in the bullets section…

IS THIS SONG HOPELESS?

I don’t mean this as a “Do you feel helpless about this song?”, this question is directed to the song itself (musician therapy posts may come later, I know I need those! Haha).

I’ll tell you this, I don’t think any song is hopeless. If you’ve got a couple taste riffs down with a basic structure in mind, any song can be saved. But you gotta be ready to throw some hard work down the bin, once again it’s important to note that songs aren’t measured by the hard work put into writing them but merely by how appealing they sound, I assure you that some of those big hits we’ve listened to for years might have been a spree-of-the-moment type songs, the raw factor in those is usually what makes them so electric to listen to.

DICOVERING WHERE YOUR SONG IS TAKING A DIVE INTO OBSCURITY

Listen to your song over and over from the beginning while doing nothing else, just listen to it and feel it out. Tune in to that feeling where you start to truly realize when and where the song just strays off the true essence that the rest of the song is conveying. This is not an easy step, but it’s not hard either; figure out when the song stops being fun to listen to, that’s usually where you need to take a closer look.

EXAMPLES OF WHY YOUR SONG IS TAKING A DIP AT THAT PARTICULAR MOMENT

This could be one of many, or a combination of a few things. Check out the below possibilities and examine those against your song:

• Too much repetition 
• Dangerously progressive; in a sense that it feels like you just started a completely new song with no relevance to the main one 
• Uninspired riff 
• An “Awesome” riff that you are trying really hard to throw into the song, but it’s leading to a bottle neck situation where it’s not fitting into any upcoming transitions 
• Maybe you need to rediscover this song’s true essence, it’s very possible that you are now inspired to write something completely different (What I usually like to do is, if something has inspired me to write in a certain direction, I don’t allow myself to explore any other source of inspiration until I’ve finished working on what I’m inspired to do. Mixing different sources of inspiration can be damaging as it’ll stray you off and divide your work’s essence into different feels that don’t complement each other) 

Those are just some of the things that are worth considering and that I’ve personally came across, the reasons could be much too many!

SIDE NOTE: THE DANGERS OF HAVING AN AWESOME RIFF

I hate those awesome riffs that get stuck in your head, and personally try to avoid them as best as I can. Here’s how I think about it:

A riff, no matter how great or bad, is meaningless unless placed in the right place and the right time within a song. What is an IMMENSELY amazing riff in standalone, could be the weakest link in your song; as on the contrary, the most uninteresting riff in standalone could be your game changer in a song, think about it.

ONCE YOU’VE FOUND THE WEAKEST LINK…

Once you’ve found your song’s current weakest link, get rid of it and just start writing from that leaves you off. This approach usually leaves me happy by the end of the songwriting process.

Above all, make sure you’re having fun, not rushing, and keeping it genuine. You should be able to enjoy the song with no regrets by the time it’s done.

Talk soon

Hadi

[PRESS RELEASE] Benevolent Lead Guitarist Hadi Sarieddine now on AMT Electronic's Official Artist roster

Hadi Sarieddine, Lead guitarist of extreme experimental metal band Benevolent, has been added to AMT Electronics' lineup of official artists, marking him as the first Lebanese musician to be featured on the Russian comany's roster of artists.

Hadi Sarieddine had this to say about AMT's products, "I've recently picked up the E-1 from AMT Electronics' line of Legend Amps and was shocked by the quality from the get-go"

"The E-1's tone fits perfectly with the tone that I go for with Benevolent and I absolutely cannot wait to take this beast out live, and the best part is it can fit in my guitar gig bag's pocket" 

The Legend Amps series line from AMT Electronics features the emulation of legendary amplifiers in a full analog designed based on JFET technology, all in a stomp box design. The stomp boxes feature 2 output options, one that is a dry signal output and is designed to go directly into the effects return of your amplifier head; while the other output option features an emulated speaker cabinet intended to go directly into the PA or sound card.

Hadi Sarieddine added, "if you were to listen to a clip of how tuneful those little stomp boxes are without being told where all the preamp sounds are coming from, there's no way you'd guess it's coming out of something as small as a cell phone; I've never been so psyched about a tone like this before" 

Benevolent released their debut EP in November 2010, received rave reviews around the region; the band is currently in the recording process of their debut full length record which is due for release with Spellbind Records. You can listen to Benevolent's music on their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/Benevolent.band

Check out Hadi Sarieddine's profile on AMT Electronics on http://www.amtelectronics.com/artisty/hadi_sarieddine/, and make sure you check the rest of AMT Electronic's products on their website.

- ENDS -

Andols Herrick (Ex-Chimaira) to record with Benevolent

UAE-based extreme metal band BENEVOLENT to feature ANDOLS HERRICK on upcoming debut Full Length Album

UAE-based metallers Benevolent are in the recording process for their upcoming debut full length album, the band is adding drum-icon Andols Herrick (ex-Chimaira) as a featured musician on the album to record one track on the record. Hadi Sarieddine, the band co-founder and lead guitarist states "It is pretty crazy thinking that Andols Herrick is going to be drumming on one of our songs; if I go back in time and tell past-me that this was happening I'd probably get a pretty sarcastic reaction." He added "The last couple of years since we started the band have been absolutely insanely great for us; getting such great reviews for the debut record, getting signed to Spellbind Records, and now this? I can't think that things could be any better for the band, I'm really proud of how things are coming together"

Andols Herrick commented on his work with Benevolent and how this all came together and stated "I was approached by Hadi Sarieddine awhile back about the possibility of tracking drums for Benevolent. I was quite impressed with the quality of the music and vocals."

"I love having the opportunity to work with a great band, who happens to represent the Middle East metal scene very well. I do know it is very vibrant having had the pleasure of performing with Chimaira at the Desert Rock Festival in Dubai back in 2009."

The band hit the Middle East scene with strong waves with the release of their debut EP titled DIVIDED in the year 2010, placing the band as the top names in the metal scene on regional levels garnering fans across the world as well in Europe, USA, Japan and Asia, and Oceania. Benevolent was signed to Spellbind Records in September of 2011 (alongside label mates and Middle East metal icons Nervecell).

The band has provided previous information to the press about the direction of the next album as being a technical, dark, and progressive album that picks up where Divided left off whilst expanding the band's sound identity. Hadi commented on the material further saying "It's definitely a lot more technical than Divided; the songs have a lot going on and while it preserves that sound that we've created in our debut EP this is a step forward on many levels and it tells a story about lots of dark themes with the lyrical and instrumental direction on the album."

As for the specific song that Andols Herrick is recording, Andols commented stating "This song presented numerous rhythmic challenges as I was learning it. If you were a drummer with limited music theory experience, I'd just say "Good luck trying to learn it!" The song is loaded with "over the bar line" guitar riffs, and I found myself, on occasion, discovering some of my transcriptions would be a sixteenth note off here or there!"

The band is set out to release the debut full length through Spellbind Records in the spring of 2012, and will be performing across the Middle East and beyond to promote the new release.

On a final note, the band's frontman and co-founder, Fadi Sarieddine, stated "We all can't wait to share this album with the world; I believe we have a very strong set of new songs and it's going to be great to share the new stuff with the world. Once the album is done, it will be the begin of the next phase of this observation's life cycle, and that is to get it all out there to as many listeners as possible worldwide; we're excited and we absolutely cannot wait!"

To keep up with the band's news and updates be sure to check out their official pages on the links below: (ALSO, BE SURE TO DOWNLOAD THE BAND'S DEBUT EP WHICH IS AVAILABLE ON FREE DOWNLOAD HERE http://benevolent.bandcamp.com)

http://www.facebook.com/benevolent.band

http://www.twitter.com/benevolent_twitter

http://benevolent.bandcamp.com

-ENDS-

Album Blueprints: How Many Cylinders Are You Firing On?

I remember having a conversation with Sajid ‘Sarj’ Masood, Benevolent’s co-producer, (and one of the main factors that brought our sound to the shape that it came out through); we basically were talking about the upcoming Benevolent album and this was way early on in the writing process, months and months ago, and the idea of having a “blueprint” for the album came about. This would basically be like a rough mission statement of what we would like to achieve from the album as far as what elements are coming into play, and I believe this has truly served the write process well and definitely put things into perspective.

This was a great thing for me to have personally because I’m always anxious and stressing about the very little details going into the album’s writing process and what elements the songs are entertaining; is it too much? Is it too little? Is it just about right?

When we sat down and figured out a rough blueprint for the upcoming record it changed the game plan positively because I felt like I was writing with more purpose, I was writing songs for them to be included on the record instead of writing songs off the fly with little perspective or vision as far as how they serve the big picture of the album’s sound.

I remember us doing something similar unconsciously during the Divided EP sessions where Sarj came up and said “Alright, you’ve got a couple songs that have this specific feel; now you need another song that sounds a bit on that other send of your style and push things in that direction.” The best part of it all is that I find myself getting super inspired by things that those around me are saying about the music I’m writing, so it makes me consider things from a very broad view; although, I think a musician is truly able to get as close as possible to listen to his/her music for what it really is, rather than be stuck in a bubble thinking it sounds a certain way, much kudos go out to that person!

Keep producing!
Hadi

It's happening!

Hey guys!

So we [Benevolent] are getting ready to start tracking the new album, the final collection of songs going into the production is a fine mix of hard-hitting, melancholy, and progressive songs with lots of chugging and shimmering melodies; I CAN’T WAIT!

Basically, what’s going to happen is we’re going to get on with tracking down the bass to scratch MIDI drums. I really can’t wait to get down to designing the bass tone and getting on with tracking things up, I think the guys are gonna rip through this album and it’s going to be a very fun experience.

I am pretty sure we’re going to be experimenting with some of the song structure when need be, in addition to adding up some more enticing layers than there already is. It’s a whole lot like cooking, you’ve gotta have the right ingredients in there, but even with the right ingredients there has to be a control as to not have that stuff on there with an overload.

We’re going to start with the song with the working title of PODISBACK, which actually is probably my favorite song on the record right now. It’s as heavy as Chuck Norris’s beard and has a very cool overall drive with lots of textures and an interesting dreamy selection of sounds.

So yea, we start with tracking the bass, and then get on with doing guitars; while simultaneously working on the preproduction work for the vocal bits. It’s exciting, we’re nervous and excited!

STAY TUNED!!!!

Hadi

Interview on Metal Music Production - Talking Divided EP's production

Hey guys!

Here's a really extensive interview talking about the production process of Divided EP with lots of info on gear and what not! It's pretty cool!

http://metalmusicproduction.com/?p=162

Cheers,
Hadi