The following is a studio report posted by drummer Martin Kearns on the band's official site:

"The time has finally come - recording the new album! Can't wait to get on my kit and knock out some new tunes!! It's a real pleasure recording at Sable Rose - the studio's killer, but dead relaxed, Andy is a great engineer (and comic genius), so I know the next couple of months are definitely gonna be memorable!! Ok, here goes..

WEEK 1
Get picked up by Phil (the drum tech), and we spend the day setting up the kit on the new rack, and re-skinning it all. I went for old-style pinstripe heads on the toms, and they're sounding really cool. The new snare I'd bought for the recording sounded ok, but it wasn't blowing me (or anyone else) away, but thought I'd see how it's sounding when it was miked up.. A hour or so later and the kit's got all the (13!) mics on - we start soundchecking the kit: everything is sounding killer, except the new snare. Back to the drum shop?

Next day, Vic (from Dr.um) lends us 3 snares to try out in the studio! The Premier brass was no good, the Ludwig wood had a really nice tone, but was lacking on the attack, so we tried number 3, the Noble and Cooley. It looked cool, matt black shell, rims and fittings, and the attack was immense, ok, we're rolling again? Start running through some of the new songs to loosen up and relax and I break my favourite China! Well pissed off! Back to the Dr.um..

Day 3 - Cymbals! Vic saves the day yet again, and lends us a few cymbals to try out, amongst them I found my new favourite China, the Istanbul. We run through a couple of tracks and sort out the headphone mix, which I apparently have at an inhumanly loud volume! The mix tears everyone else's face off, but I'm still struggling to hear what I'm playing! OK, we're finally ready to record...

Take 1, everything seems ok, get a bit rushy, blow a section or two, and it's over...

Take 2, going good, but I tried a couple of new things, didn't execute them very well and lost the flow. Tea, chat, try some of Gav's 'relaxation techniques' and listen to takes 1 and 2...

Take 3, nailed it! Well happy. Everything I wanted to do was there. Song 1 down. I run through song 2...

Right, ready for song 2. Re-soundchecked the kit and it's all sounding great, so we go for a take straight away. This particular song has a few drastic tempo changes, so with that and me struggling to hear Baz's guide guitar, it takes a couple of runs through for me to get it to flow. We record 3 takes, and pick the best, another song down.. Rehearse the next song for tomorrow amongst general piss-taking, movie talk, tea, sandwiches, etc?

Early start today. Looking forward to recording this one as it's one of my faves - loads of tom stuff! Took 3 takes again of this song (seems to be the formula from now on), some straight and some with extra fills, hopefully we'll use the take with the extra bits in!! Pleased with how it went down. On HVP I thought of better stuff I could've recorded after the album was out, so I'm determined not to make that mistake again!

Finish early 'cos everyone wants to watch the FA cup final!

Day off today to recharge my batteries (and watch the Monaco Grand Prix)!

More to come?"

Also the band posted an unmixed song from the HVP demo in the download section.

Source:	boltthrower.com
Band profile:	Bolt Thrower