Dark Company: the next four

The next four Dark Company songs have been upgraded and uploaded to Dark Company’s Alien Heat album.

We are attempting to finish off as much as we can of these songs. When the repair people finally reopen their workshop, we will be able to record the guitars and basses and release the songs soon after. At least, that is the plan.

There are sixteen songs on the Alien Heat album and we are upgrading and uploading them in batches of four. The latest four songs to receive an upgrade are Abnormal, Where Are You, Easy Street and The Joker.

Abnormal is a classic song that has been well loved for a long time. The biggest challenge is to find a good place in the stereo mix for everything to sit. The parts that were a bit buried have been brought out and the parts that were a bit too dominant have been mellowed back. The bass is still rather patchy at present as bits of it were recorded on different days by the looks of things. It still needs guitars and bass to be finished and a few small tweaks, but it is generally sounding quite good by now.

Where Are You is still missing a couple of guitar lines and some of the parts are arguably not arranged correctly. We are still debating the arrangement issue. However, the missing parts are agreed upon all round. Being a classic rock song that was initially composed in a tiny bedroom in 1989, then built on a sequencer in 1993, we had to mix it quite differently from how it is was before. Where Are You still needs a few tweaks to the mix and for the guitars and bass to be recorded properly, but other than that you will certainly get the general idea.

Sven visited our studios a few weeks ago. He laid down some new and fantastic drum tracks, including the one for Easy Street. Josh also gave the synths a good bashing. The results of their labours are a massive improvement on what we had before. The song now sounds far more coherent. Again, the guitars and basses need to be properly recorded and there are a few subtle tweaks that need to be made once they are present. We are also considering including a few sounds from the EDP Wasp.

The Joker needed something of an overhaul as well. We shall probably go back to the Atari and make a couple of subtle changes there before the final version is released. There is a bit more piano than there was before and overall The Joker sounds a whole lot better, although the mix still feels a bit wonky and needs more work. Again the guitars and bass need to be recorded properly. Neither of these instruments seem to sound quite right, but they are OK for now.

Further upgrades are coming soon. A couple of the next four remaining songs are already in pieces on the slab and progressing well. Uploads of the next four upgraded songs will be announced on Twitter and in our News service

If you would like to listen to the Alien Heat album, as it stands at present, right here at the Wud Records website, please click here.

Should you prefer to listen to Dark Company’s Alien Heat album at SoundCloud instead, please click here.

Should you fancy listening to bootleg recordings of live original versions of these songs by the band Alien Heat, please click here.

To enjoy an interesting demo version of The Joker that was released as a bonus track on Dark Company’s rereleased Signmaker album, please click here.

If you would like to listen to Abnormal by Dark Company, please click here.

If you would like to listen to Where Are You by Dark Company, please click here.

If you would like to listen to Easy Street by Dark Company, please click here.

If you would like to listen to The Joker by Dark Company, please click here.