Remember the days when this blog was almost up to date and would feature new releases that were hot off the press? Yeah, me neither. But every once in a while when the planets align, I somehow manage to get something new and get it up here pretty quickly.
A couple of weeks ago I got an email from Quality Control HQ telling me about their newest release by a band called STAGES IN FAITH. I'd seen the name about a bit recently, but for some reason on this occasion I decided that I would check them out. I think I'd read something at some point that described their sound and made it sound like something that I would be interested in. So I clicked the link and listened to the album streaming on bandcamp, and then about ten minutes into it I was ordering a copy.
This is right up my street as it sounds like it has just time warped in straight from the 90s. The first song reminds me a lot like the first Farside 7". Other songs remind me of an older UK band Understand, and the more recent UK band Fade. All bands that I love, and enjoy singing along to all these years later (although Fade was pretty recent so that last bit doesn't quite fit).
Well, the first time I played this I thought that the sound was a bit 'fuzzy'. It kinda sounded like it had been recorded under water or somrthing, and it slightly bummed me out. But a couple of plays later and I wasn't hearing that anymore and started to really enjoy the songs. Right now this is my daily addiction. I'm listening twice a day and trying to stop there as I'm already worried I'm going to overplay and get bored of it.
There are two colours of this LP available. I picked up the 'cream' which is the more limited of the two, but it also comes on purple. As I type this both colours are still available here, in case you may be interested.
It's also pretty cool that this band is from the UK. It means I might actually get to see them play at some point...
3 comments:
Never heard of this, but I checked them out based on this post. Damn, it's a shame about the sound...you are right...sounds like it was recorded under water. Good stuff though...I'll keep spinning it and hope that I get used to the production.
Yeah, its a weird one. It sounded awful the first two or three times I played it and totally it ruined it for me. But suddenly I am somehow used to it & now I can't hear that weird underwater production anymore, even if I try.
Hey all,
I play guitar in Stages and it’s really cool to see our record metalled about on not one but two blogspots.
Anyway, you’re both totally right about the production and I’m afraid the story is just as 90s as the sound we were trying to create. We’d pretty much written the LP around the same time as the first 7” and were raring to get into the studio. We sue ded to record with John from Understand since he knew the style and I’d worked with him before with my old band Guidance.
We were on a slightly tight budget and recorded all the music with John in two days. Surprisingly, he really didn’t seem into it and was almost half asleep at the desk, forgetting to set levels properly and barely even micing up some of the amps. When we finally got the mixes back we were shocked at how awful it sounded. With our feet already in too deep, we bit the bullet, got a friend of ours to remix (as the original mixes were beyond listenable) and sent it to press.
Anyway, glad people are warming to the production and the songs. Expect a much better recorded and revamped follow up very soon!
Cheers
Ben
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