I've made a decision regarding Orationem...

I'll just leave this here.



There's more information in the video comments. Any questions, you can always ask me!

The guitar for 6 songs (out of 7) is now done. One to go, then the cello and the music is DONE!

Something happened during today's session that has never happened to me before. When I go to record, I always pray before. Its actually turned into a habit, something I never forget because I don't "feel" right recording until I got a dose of prayer.

WHILE I was in the middle of recording guitar, this need to prayer just showed up. I actually zoned out and started praying (in my mind) while I was playing the guitar. In like 30 seconds, I asked for this music to be blessed, for God's guidance in the notes, and that this project will turn out as a whole. When I was done, I was pretty sure I botched that take, but I listened to it - and the part was played perfectly!

I think I'm actually more overwhelmed NOW than I was during that prayer or reviewing the song. ...especially since I CANNOT "juggle" other things while I'm playing. I can't do out loud or in my head vocals/thoughts/conversations while playing guitar riffs, but today I somehow had the ability to say a prayer while recording guitar!

How cool is that?

Right on dude!  Haha actually I am pretty certain I was listening to the upcoming Orationem album in my dreams last night and being totally blown away by its awesomeness.  So the pressure's on: don't crush my dreams Thomas! 

LOL well, I'm fairly certain you'll find out this month if it lives up to your dreams or not. HAHA!! The guitars and drums are completely done. That just leaves the "cellos" and vocals as the only thing left to be completed, which never take anywhere near as long as the meat and potatoes (guitars and drums).

Mixing and mastering never takes me long either. Finalizing an album is hardly new territory for me here, especially since I've had about 8 billion albums released since 1937.

Orationem "Your Presence and Strength" is now completed. Set to release October/November 2016 through Vision of God Records. Limit 50 copies.

This is a huge triumph for me. I don't know how many artists create an album not only during cancer, but during IV chemotherapy.
Its harsh, dissonant and pretty wild. I'm convinced my illness effected this album's sound. In the world of black metal, I think having a "sick" sound is an asset. As always with Orationem, the lyrics don't compromise. (very high JPM)

The Official Orationem channel will eventually contain the lyric videos of this entire album. For right now, you can preview 2 minutes of each track through this video.

Its here folks! The fourth full length Orationem album is now available to order!
7 tracks, 48:22 running time. This was supposed to be limit 50 copies, but the pressing plant sent me extras! so... Limit 75!
These CDs are $8 plus shipping.

This is some very intense, raw and harsh black metal with violin/cello symphonic attacks. The lyrics once again do not compromise, and are full on prayers to God and his Son, Jesus Christ.

You can place an order, read the lyrics, listen to samples, view information about the album at
http://www.orationem.com

You can also preview this album from this YouTube video.

This is a Vision of God Records release and they will also have have copies available at: http://www.visionofgodrecords.com

Since most of you knew I not only recorded this while fighting cancer, but also while being sick from chemotherapy. I'd like to share the lyrics from the first track, which I hold close to my heart...

Spoiler:

Thank you everyone that places an order. Everyone that gets a CD, I'll be more than happy to send you MP3s of the album while you wait for it to be delivered - IF YOU ASK FOR IT! Also, if you're not interested in a CD but a high quality digital release, for this forum, if you PayPal $4 to thomas@ankouawaits.com, I'll email you a direct download to 320KBs tagged MP3s ASAP.

Any questions? Please let me know!

Thanks again, and God Bless,

Got another black metal prayer up on my YouTube channel. These riff variations are from the new album. For those who haven't been following this thread, this will be the future of the Orationem project. I hope to do a ton of these. I'm honestly album'ed out - I mean, that's been done and done again. These videos is something new. This is the closest thing I can get to Orationem playing live, so I'd eventually like to expand on this. (after I've exhausted riff variations, this is where brand new riffs will be)

I might consider featuring synth riffs if they're even remotely requested.

I decided now was the time to start uploading lyric videos from the newest album.
Got the first 2 tracks done!

I had a goal set for myself to get the new "Your Presence and Strength" album uploaded by Christmas.
Goal complete.

Here's the lyric videos playlist for the entire "Your Presence and Strength" album.

A few announcements. Since there's a limited pressing of this album which will eventually run out, and Vision of God Records is going to do a special pro-press of the self-titled and Fulfiller (ON ONE CD!), whichever happens first, I will stop selling Orationem merch (CDs and shirts) from the dot com, most likely sometime in 2017. This will be the first step towards the newer music, which will be individual songs/prayers on YouTube.

Right on!  Wow, my Orationem CDs are going to be collectors items! 

One day hopefully! (if there's ever a re-kindled demand for Christian black metal that's now out of print)

This shirt makes me lawl. I'll wear it forever. HAHA!!



Click on the image to see a larger version of it.
These shirts are now for sale (for a limited time) at orationem.com

When the time comes to stop selling CDs, I'll stop selling shirts as well...

On the Sanctuary International forum, one of the members made a list of 16 "Top Albums and EP's of 2016".

Orationem - Your Presence and Strength made #14 on his list.

Pretty cool!

Made an update to orationem.com

I replaced all the music samples with YouTube playlists from the official channel.

I know these "Black Metal Prayer" sessions aren't extremely innovative, nor are they "songs", but... I really like them for 2 reasons.
1) Its a way for me to share a short prayer with everyone; its also a prayer anyone can say themselves
2) You can see me in action, should anyone be curious what me making musical mayhem looks like.

I don't know if you guys saw the black metal video game cover I did, but I was kind of thinking of doing more of these. I know there's no Christian value, this could broaden the listening audience and lead them to the music and message. ....plus, it was really REALLY fun to figure out all the intricacies of someone else's music on my guitar.

I wasn't thinking of using the Orationem banner, but just like record labels have sub-labels for specialized releases, I was thinking of doing a sub-band under the "EverSoul", specializing in covers. I kinda want to make it exclusive to video game music, but I'm wondering if film scores might be a challenging reward.

Gotta design the artwork this week for the dual-album Orationem CD releasing through CMU...

I submitted the artwork to Duane at Vision of God for the upcoming CMU pro-press.  (he's had the music for a while so he has everything now)
This is the first two Orationem albums on ONE CD.  The pressing includes a cover, insert, on disc printing and tray card - all with exclusive artwork.  This will be the 2nd Christian Metal Underground release.  (not sure if the 1st was pressed, but he's working on 3 releases at the same time - this Orationem album being one of them)

Proceeds from this release will go to Dale Huffman and his family.

I closed the CD shop portion of Orationem.com
I've only got a few copies left of all albums, and I'm too burnt out on making CDs to make any more.

Orationem.com will also be closing in June 2017.

Thank you for everyone who picked up an Orationem disc from me!

Taking a bit of a break from this project. Yes, I plan on continuing on with this, but I'm also getting too burnt out on trying to be a black metal track factory. New songs will be added to the Orationem channel at later dates.