Progressive metalcore band Shading are a band you’re going to be hearing about more and more. The Italian 5-piece have been together since May of 2011, and have just released their first LP The Vanishing of Our Lore. To help promote the new tunes, we are beyond stoked to premiere this full-band playthrough video of their track “Convergence”, only right here, on Gear Gods!
Now, the first thing you might notice is that this track is tight as hell. The production, riffs, and overall songwriting are all locked in and fully realized, which isn’t something you hear a lot on a band’s first record. If that wasn’t enough, the video was self-produced by the band, and filmed by the talented team of Alex Aramini, Damiano Affinito, and Alvise Dieci. If you’re a fan of bands like Monuments and ERRA, these guys are 100% going to be up your alley.
Here’s what the band had to say about writing this track:
“Technically speaking, this is an interesting song because it is built around a triplet 4/4 time signature but it has parts in normal 4/4 – examples of this are the two verses and the special before the last chorus. Guitar riffs sum up our style as we shift from arpeggios to tight down-picking sections. Actually, the second verse of this song reprises the main riff but with lots of staccato strings, and the whole section is down-picked. By the end of the song, there’s a tapping theme built around a loop composed of sixteen notes and sixteen triplets, all in the 4/4 time signature. The drum parts have been really fun to write because of these time signature changes, and during the last chorus, we wrote a polyrhythmic pattern where the hands and feet just do different beats that merge together to create an interesting movement. Vocally speaking, it was very challenging to write the vocal line for the chorus because it has 24 4/4 bars instead of the common 32 and if we cut in a half this section we see that it is asymmetric because it is composed by 16 bars, with the first two chords + 8 with the last two, everything is repeated twice to achieve the symmetry required by a good chorus. So in the end, the entire section is built by 48 bars composed by (16+8) + (16+8). It was a really tricky part to write vocals on but we’re a bunch of nerds and at the end, we came up with one of our favorite lines on the album”
If you were wondering what gear the band used in the video, you’re in luck! Check out the full spec list below:
Guitar 1:
- Mayones Guitars / Regius 6 Custom Made
- TOP: Cocobolo
- BODY: Mahogany
- NECK: Maple / Mahogany / Amazokoe / Wenge
- FRETBOARD: Ebony
- FRETS: Jumbo Standard
- SIDE-MARKERS: Luminlay
- TUNERS: Hipshot Grip-Lock Locking Tuners
- BRIDGE: ABFixed Bridge
- PICKUPS: Bare Knuckle Juggernaut set
Guitar 2:
- Markline Guitars / Custom made
- TOP: American Black Walnut
- BODY: Black Limba
- NECK: Rosewood / Wenge (3+2)
- FRETBOARD: Figured Ebony,
- FRETS: 24 steel / 16 radius
- BINDING: Maple
- TUNERS: Hipshot Open Gear Locking
- BRIDGE: Hipshot Hard Tail
- PICKUPS: Bare Knuckle Juggernaut set
Bass:
- Luca Ragazzo Self-Made
- 5 strings
- NECK: 5 pieces Wenge / Padouk
- BODY: Italian Walnut
- FRETBOARD: Brazilian Tulipwood
- BRIDGE: Gotoh
- TUNERS: Gotoh
- PICKUPS: Nordstrand Big Blades
- PREAMP: 3b-5a Nordstrand
Drums:
- Tom 1: 10” x 8” Bully Custom Drums Acrylic
- Tom 2: 12” x 9” Bully Custom Drums Acrylic
- Floor: 16” x 14” Bully Custom Drums Acrylic
- Kick: 20” x 22” Bully Custom Drums Acrylic
- Snare: Tama SLP limited edition in Oakwood 14” x 16”
- Paiste Cymbals:
- Hi-Hat: 14” signature
- Ride: 22” signature
- Crash: 17” 2002
- China: 18” 2002
- Crash: 18” PSTX
- Stack: China 16” PST8 / Splash 10” PSTX
- Crash: 18” Rude
- Splash: 10” Rude
- Splash: 8” Alpha
- Double Pedal: Tama Speed Cobra
- Hi-Hat Stand: Iron Cobra
- Rack: Dixon
- In-Ear: Shure
- Sticks: Promark
Be sure to follow these dudes on Facebook and YouTube, and to buy The Vanishing of Our Lore on iTunes.
