Based out of Ohio, The Convalescence are a extreme metal band that combines various genres of music from symphonic black, deathcore, death metal and metalcore at times. With Monument Of Misery being the first album through their newest label Legend Recordings, this is a solid release beginning to back. Prior to 2017’s Unique Leader Records release of This Is Hell which I have enjoyed that album front to back, these guys have contributed themselves to grow as musicians and it showcases how passionate their songwriting, musicianship, progression and craft can really take leaps and bounds to understand what their views are within the music.

Musically, Monument Of Misery is quite possibly the best The Convalescence album to date and there’s a lot to prove why this band has been getting serious attention over the last several years. From heart pounding guitar chord sections, darkened passages of audible synths, onslaught of vocals and swallowing pure innocent souls within the album’s lyrical content, the production, atmosphere and everlasting quality of sophisticated musical brilliancy is one of the most highlighted features upon hearing this record. It’s heavy, atmospheric, blackened at times, symphonic driven and incorporating clean singing with harsh screams really set the bar sky high to have Monument Of Misery the most determined, authentic and executed releases not for 2019 but for The Convalescence as a band itself.

This album also introduces Cryptopsy’s lead vocalist Matt McGachy with one of the first singles, “The Return” being a standing ovation track with many emotions, strength, perseverance and the presentations alone to combine technicality, brutality and modern sounding extreme metal signatures makes me wanna keep on coming back for more vicious onslaughts. Each song casts it’s own character portraying emotions, strength, determination, isolation and grabs the listener to engage such chaotic and amazing musical signatures that’s another memorable highlight on Monument Of Misery and therefore, these guys have outdone themselves to bring out such dynamics and experimented many ways to bring something organic and fresh to the tables. Fans of This Is Hell and past Convalescence records will surely love Monument Of Misery as this is the band’s powerfully driven pieces of music to date!

Overall Score: 9.0/10
Review by Jake Butler

Toledo, Ohio metal band The Convalescence have shared their new song recently. You can check out the stream for their song “The Return” below. The song is from the band’s upcoming new album Monument Of Misery which is due out on June 28th via LEGEND Recordings.

Vocalist Keith Wampler commented:

We are very proud of this new album. We believe it’s the best we’ve ever done by far and having Matt McGachy of Cryptopsy joining us on vocals for a verse just makes it that much better. We have a lot more new music and a lot more tour dates coming soon so stay tuned!

The Convalescence have a new full-length album titled “Monument Of Misery” scheduled to arrive on June 28th through LEGEND Recordings. Ahead of that the group have just launched a video for their song “The Return“, which sports a guest appearance from Cryptopsy frontman Matt McGachy. The Convalescence vocalist Keith Wampler commented:

“We are very proud of this new album. We believe it’s the best we’ve ever done by far and having Matt McGachy of Cryptopsy joining us on vocals for a verse just makes it that much better. We have a lot more new music and a lot more tour dates coming soon so stay tuned!”

Pre-orders for the album can be found at this location. The band’s immediate touring plans include the following runs:

With Sea Of Treachery & Insvrgence:

04/10 Cincinnati, OH – Northside Yacht Club
04/12 Arlington, TX – Diamond Jim’s
04/13 Austin, TX – Texas Independence Fest
04/14 Houston, TX – Acadia Bar & Grill
04/15 Metairie, LA – The Twist Of Lime
04/16 Atlanta, GA – The Masquerade
04/17 Nashville, TN – The End
04/18 Bedford, IN – Eagle’s Club
04/19 Lakewood, OH – Spring Bash ‘N’ Thrash
04/20 Buffalo, NY – Stamps
04/21 Rochester, NY – California Brew Haus
04/22 Providence, RI – Alchemy
04/23 Brooklyn, NY – Kingsland
04/24 Greencastle, PA – Breathing Room
04/25 Battle Creek, MI – Dead Fest
04/26 Pontiac, MI – The Crofoot (feat. Whitechapel & Dying Fetus)
04/27 Toledo, OH – Toledo Deathfest

With Adrift On River Styx & From Blue To Gray:

05/17 Lima, OH – Northside Firehouse
05/18 Hamtramck, MI – The New Dodge Lounge
05/19 Chicago, IL – Live Wire Lounge
05/20 Milwaukee, WI – Miramar Theatre
05/21 Duluth, MN – The Red Herring Lounge
05/22 Sioux Falls, SD – Bigs Bar
05/23 Denver, CO – Herman’s Hideaway
05/25-26 Pryor, OK – Rocklahoma
05/27 St.Louis, MO – Fubar
05/28 Kansas City, MO – The Riot Room
05/29 Bloomington, IL – Nightshop
05/30 Indianapolis, IN – State Street Pub
05/31 Akron, OH – Empire Concert Club
06/01 New Haven, IN – Carl’s Tavern

With Oceano, AngelMaker, Prison & The Cambion:

06/04 Kent, OH – The Outpost Concert Club
06/05 Pontiac, MI – The Crofoot

The Convalescence:

08/03 Battle Creek, MI – Michigan Metalfest

One of the key aspects overlooked today more than ever in the metal world is the amount of blood, sweat and motor oil spent on touring. With music sales still in the basement, the way almost all music acts short of Taylor Swift and Adele stay afloat financially is by touring and selling merch. This means that even heavy metal royalty like Slayer has to criss-cross the country multiple times to earn a living. Slayer, of course, has the benefit of being known by everyone and is able to rely on an extensive catalog to help put people in seats. The reality for newer bands, however, especially those just starting out, is that you have to record, tour, tour again, tour some more, and then maybe do one more tour before recording again – and hope that you can sell enough merch along the way to fill your gas tank up and pay for pizza. There is no glamour in touring in metal unless maybe you’re Lars Ulrich and you can bring along your gallery of modern art pieces with you on your deluxe ultra premium tour bus.

The Convalescence is a hard-working deathcore band from middle America. These guys (and girl) have played over 400 shows in the past few years. Most of these shows were in dive bars with very few amenities (if any at all). And while most of you know that I’m not really into deathcore and often limit myself to True Norwegian black metal on my iPod, I’m definitely down with seeing bands from other genres that put on high energy shows and clearly love being on stage. That’s what turned me on to this band. This six piece is high energy all the time and they are going to do their best to win you over. It’s difficult not to appreciate that.

Speaking of dive bars, I caught The Convalescence at the horrendous Voltage Lounge in Philadelphia on September 1. As I mentioned, this a six piece band. The stage at Voltage can barely hold a four piece with any space, let alone six. But this is what bands sometimes have to do to gain a following. They have to play places like Voltage with zero amenities, no dressing room, an incredibly tight stage and terrible sight lines. Bands play these places, fans see them and hope they never have to actually move in a small crowded room or have to use the bathroom. But the Convalescence proved that they were significantly better than the meager, appalling venue and made the most of their limited time on stage.

The band just released their third record in nearly as many years, entitled This is Hell and it’s their heaviest work to date. They’ve been promoting their recent albums incessantly to date touring with the likes of metal greats Prong, Sepultura, Goatwhore, Venom Inc. and Testament. Unfortunately, they’ve also toured with metal “never were greats” like Otep – but these are things you have to do sometimes to build your audience. Touring with Otep, I would imagine, is probably even worse than listening to Otep, so let’s give these folks from Toledo, Ohio some props.

I spoke with the entire band right after their Philly show in the back parking lot of the Voltage (again – no amenities) right after they clearly won some members of the tough Killadelphia crowd over with their energy and enthusiasm.

Band Lineup:
Keith: vocals
Brandon: guitar
Zac: guitar
Ron: bass
Charles: drums
Katie: keys/vocals

The new record sounds heavier than previous releases. Was this a deliberate turn or did it happen organically?

Keith: Yes, definitely deliberate.

Katie: We had a lot of member changes. With each album that we’ve done we’ve had a new set of ideas. With this lineup we were about to sound a little bit different.

Brandon: We had a heavy influence on the album because of the Texas Death Metal Scene.

Keith: It was more of a group effort than previous albums. We just book studio time and just play stuff until we leave.

Ron: We had them in our heads. The guitar work was framed differently.

Brandon: On this album, “Burn” I wrote when I was 16 years old so that had been on the table for a while. One song I wrote in a day and it just showed up. Zach and I will show up.

Keith and Katie: The producer [John Burke] was really good. The producer comes from a diverse background and brings in aspects of other genres and artists into our mix and songs. He was able to give us more depth in the past. We don’t have to go line by line.

Ron: We all had the mindset that we had to knock it out. We didn’t want an album that was going to be bullshit. We fine tuned some songs we previously wrote.

Keith: One person would bring in a skeleton and then everyone would add to it.

Zac: It’s like building a house. Building with other people helping.

Katie: We all have differences in other types of music. I get inspiration from a totalluy different genre than metal. We listen to death metal, hardcore, etc. It was a group effort and we were all able to feed off one another’s ideas and make it.

Ron: I’m a huge Hatebreed fan. From a local scene, DRI came from Texas and they were a huge influence on me. Good Morning Gorgeous is a great band and we’ll be going out with the vocalist.

Brandon: Gods of Death Screw. Nifelheim Terror was the band I originally wrote “Burned” for. They scrapped it when they kicked me out. I joined Diminished and soon after was picked up by The Conv.

Ron: I was in Dinner at Dahmer’s and things started [growing] apart. Got into grindcore and deathcore. I hit Brandon up as a guitarist for The Con.

Brandon: Learned all the songs in a week.

Zac: These guys came up to your house July 1, 2016 and we went through the songs and they got them down so quick. We just kind of progressed from there. A new dawn. I’m not going anywhere.

You guys have played well over 400 shows in the past few years yet your energy and intensity on stage is unmistakably high and incredibly contagious. How do you keep your motivation and energy up through these massive treks through the US?

Keith: Adrenaline.

Katie: It’s a natural high.

Brandon: It’s put up or shut up and you try and do what you can. You gotta work.

Keith: You’re put in front of a bunch of people who’ve never seen you before and we try and do as much as we can. We need to get merch. Bands rely on merch to eat and be able to buy gas and pay the bills. You want to really put on a great show and then hope people want to buy your merch.

{Writr’s note: Voltage Lounge – you have to have a better place for merch tables. You can’t put merch tables in a remote area of the building that nobody even sees. The merch might as well have been in New Jersey. I couldn’t even get up the tables to see what was being sold}

Charles: We all have our own personal problems and issues at home and when we get on stage, that 30 mins really makes it worth all the trouble.

Zac: It’s our escape.

Brandon: When we’re pissed off at eachother that’s when we’re the best. My mindset is that we have to compete with the headliner. You better be top notch. You have to prove why you’re there.

Keith: We have corpsepaint. That makes it feel special. We give the people a show. We want to give them an intense show.

What was it like playing with legends like Testament, Sepultura and Prong?

All: A dream come true. It was crazy.

Katie: I fan girled so hard (to myself).

Keith: My Dad has a Testament tattoo so I was really into it.

Charles: Even the crew was really nice. Everyone was so nice on that tour.

Brandon: For me I was just stoked to be touring with half of Death!

One of aspects that people constantly talk about when it comes to the Convalescence is the incredible mixing and sound quality of your recordings. How do you and your sound team go about engineering the album and ensuring that all the nuances and technical aspects come out in the final mix?

Ron: We put the guitars down and get them to sound as great as they can. Then bass and then drums. We adjust all scratch tracks and try and refabricate and get the tone that we actually use live. Brandon is a very clean guitar player so that helps a lot. He doesn’t make a lot of mistakes.

Keith: Our producer doesn’t fuck around and he says ‘do it until its right.’ Our mastering and mixing team (Christian Donaldson) is top notch. Poison Words came out great for what it was. We love our producer’s ideas so much so if it ain’t broke don’t fix it.

A lot of keyboard warriors have criticized the “Scum” video. Can you tell us what that video is really about?

Katie: Yes. It’s a horror movie. The girl always gets killed in the end (in slasher horror flicks).

Keith: We’re not trying to glorify anything. It wasn’t meant to be anything more than a horror show. The actress is our merch person and she volunteered for it. We just made a brutal type of horror film. We’re against violence against women. 90% of everything that comes out of people on the internet is just people talking shit. Nobody wants to give new music a chance and everybody wants to talk shit. Everyone is tough behind the keyboard.

Katie: There’s a female in the band too! {Note: Katie is a female in the band} I mean, we put on a show. That’s our intended purpose. Everyone always has to formulate their own importance to someone or something that is just wrong. But our video actually shows that violence against women is shocking and appalling.

Ron: We only have one official video like this and people are not used to seeing a deathcore band in corpsepaint. So people talk.

Keith: We put out the lyric video for “Burn” and nobody complained.

Brandon: A lot of the songs on the album are way darker than “Scum.”

How did you get started with the corpse paint?

Keith: We wanted to do an actual show and be more than just jeans and t-shirts doing metal. So many bands don’t put on much of a show. You can buy a CD and listen to music. You don’t need to see that live. People want a show. I grew up listening to Zombie, Marilyn Manson and the music and image worked together. First Slipknot show was one of the best shows of my life. That shit was nuts. I saw Sid jump off the scaffolding in the arena and was like ‘Oh my God!’ I want to give people a show about the music. We went with the corpse paint as part of the show.

Are you all fans of KISS and King Diamond?

Keith: We played with King Diamond and I was so happy and I never even thought I would get to see King Diamond.

Ron: I would love to go golfing with Chuck Billy at least once. {Writer’s Note: I’m sending this to Chuck Billy.}

Your record Poison Words tackles the issue of speech. How important is the right to free speech and free expression in metal today? Where do you stand on the right to free artistic creation without the risk of being shut down?

Keith: It’s always been important in metal. It’s part of what metal’s about. People with a different opinion… and people that don’t fit in.

Ron: With social media everyone is bashing someone. Poison Words is about not being afraid to say what you stand for. Katie: The way Keith writes his lyrics…. people can interpret the lyrics for themselves and people can find their own meaning for themselves. That is crucial. It gives us diehard fans and we reach them in a way that’s personalized to them.

How were you able to hook up with Coki Greenway for the new album cover?

Keith: Through Unique Leader. We liked our last artist but we wanted something a little more in depth for this record.

Anything else to share?

Thanks to fans! Always for the fans! We just had that new album drop. Pick it up help us get where we’re going. We want to grow better as a unit. The band isn’t just about us anymore. It’s fans every where. Everyone is a part of this… manager…. label… fans…. everyone pushing hard.

We’ve gained some new fans on these tours!

And they certainly have gained new fans. A pleasure to interview this exciting young band. I really like these folks, they are incredibly friendly, very down to earth, and very respectful of other metal bands. Its clear that they love metal and love what they do. You have to respect a band that isn’t afraid to work and really grind it out to make it. If deathcore is your thing, or even some of the newer death metal out there as well metalcore, definitely check this band. Tickets on their tours are cheap and you will have a good time.

Haunting, dark, brutal; all words that describe this full length album by this hard touring band. Mixing Death Metal with elements of Black and Symphonic, The Convalescence sows dread, anger, and healing deep into your psyche, but in the end lead those along for the ride to redemption. Swirling synth waves and string pounding chord structures mix like oil and water while the double bass of drummer Charles Webber beats a permanent groove into the pathways of your brain. The vocal onslaught is shared between the intense growls of Keith Wampler and Katie McCrimmon, whose voice goes from angry howl to a tone that is so beautiful and sad that one could only wish to hear it on the deathbed. The emotional journey of this album is complete. It takes you from the first moment of childhood anger to the very last breath and leads one to remember that for some, This Is Hell.

Founded in 2011, this band has been on the road almost non-stop since its inception. Having stayed independent for most of it, they have signed to Unique Leader within the last few years. I only wish the the bands workhorse ethic would get passed onto their label. If you go to the label’s website, you will find little helpful information, and news updates from four years ago. I believe that this band, and the others signed to the label, deserve better backing than that. Despite apparent lack of support, however, these dedicated musicians have put out a well produced and arranged product, so please, go out and consume it.

Recommendation: Makes a great Symphonic addition to any hardcore Death Metal collection.

Rating: 3.75/5

Metal band The Convalescence have revealed they were kicked off their recent tour with Otep by singer Otep Shamaya personally. The band made a statement on Facebook detailing what went down on tour from their perspective, revealing how they were treated on the tour as a direct support band.
The group shared an incident of being accused of buying weed from the venue staff and a feeling a general disrespect from Otep herself, with The Convalescence calling the singer "an absolute nightmare to work with."

Their full statement reads as follows:
We will no longer be a part of the remaining dates of “The Resistance Tour” with Otep. After years spent on the road touring worldwide and never having a problem, this is a first. Otep kicked us off the tour after already loading in for tonight’s event in Pittsburgh.
This stemming from an alleged incident that occurred in Michigan two nights previously where claims were made that we sold merchandise during the intro of their set.
This was not the first time being threatened to remove us from the tour. First happening in Jacksonville, FL after their driver accused us of buying weed from venue staff the night before and went as far as to say we forced a venue runner to drive with him and a kid in the car to pick it up. This was in an attempt to take the heat off the driver himself because he called the police on the bands guitarist after an argument between them that morning.
In both instances, we were unable to explain or make any attempt to approach the situation since even after 50+ dates as direct support- unless she felt the need to threaten to kick us off the tour and belittle us, we weren’t even allowed in the same room.
After being told we were not needed on the tour, that we were not helping the attendance, we were simply a time filler and countless other negative comments about us being part of this tour we came to a mutual decision that we could no longer share a stage together.
We are all about being team players on the road. After going out of our way with things like covering her merch table every night during their set, helping the band with security at understaffed venues, and helping her band and crew load in and out daily. We were met with only disrespect from Otep herself.
We have no hard feelings towards her hired band and crew but Otep is an absolute nightmare to work with.
Again, we apologize to any of our fans that had planned to see us on this tour. Thanks for your continued support and we’ll see you on the road this Fall!”

It didn't take long for Otep to respond. She released the following statement via Facebook:
“We had to remove one of our opening acts. We do our best to give our tour package an opportunity to play for our fans who are the most loyal & Passionate people on the planet, but if the band begins to act entitled or jeopardizes our message then they gotta go.
I’m sure rumors will be abound about this but it’s for the greater good & we will give another band who appreciates & are grateful to play on our stage an opportunity to live their art with us.
Thank you, My TRIBE, for your unending support & belief, It matters. xoxo OTEP.”
Notably, Otep doesn't confirm or deny any of the statements made by the Convalescence, or go into detail about exactly why they were removed from the tour beyond "acting entitled." In a Facebook comment, one of the owners of Otep's Facebook account made the following reply:

Let's be clear on something, while the whole incident with selling of merch is going to be looked at as the straw that broke the camel's back, Otep wasn't looking to kick the Convalescence off the tour. In fact, Otep instead came up with that the Convalescence and Brand of Julez switch places in the lineup for the last few days Brand of Julez was on the tour. Brand of Julez was only playing selected dates on the tour, and they only had 5 or 6 shows left with the tour. After that, everything would have went back in terms of the lineup, but the Convalescence was having none of it. So this isn't people trying to say Otep got pissed because they sold merch during Otep's set and thus kicked them off the tour. They'd still be on the tour with Otep if they just did the lineup change for a few shows. -Brett-
It's not the first time issues have arisen on the road with Otep, as two years ago she alleged the singer of Terror Universal attempted to sexually assault her at a show. Time will tell what will happen next for Otep and The Convalescence as they now go their separate ways.

http://loudwire.com/the-convalescence-kicked-off-otep-tour-band-calls-her-absolute-nightmare-work-with/

Otep is no stranger to controversy. In the last year, she accused the singer of Terror Universal of sexual assault and had very unflattering things to say about Butcher Babies. This time, she's feuding with her tourmates (or should I say ex-tourmates) in The Convalescence.

The band announced last night they are dropping off Otep's tour, writing on Facebook:

“We will no longer be a part of the remaining dates of ‘The Resistance Tour’ with Otep. After years spent on the road touring worldwide and never having a problem, this is a first. Otep kicked us off the tour after already loading in for tonight’s event in Pittsburgh.

“This stemming from an alleged incident that occurred in Michigan two nights previously where claims were made that we sold merchandise during the intro of their set.

“This was not the first time being threatened to remove us from the tour. First happening in Jacksonville, FL after their driver accused us of buying weed from venue staff the night before and went as far as to say we forced a venue runner to drive with him and a kid in the car to pick it up. This was in an attempt to take the heat off the driver himself because he called the police on the bands guitarist after an argument between them that morning.

“In both instances, we were unable to explain or make any attempt to approach the situation since even after 50+ dates as direct support- unless she felt the need to threaten to kick us off the tour and belittle us, we weren’t even allowed in the same room.

“After being told we were not needed on the tour, that we were not helping the attendance, we were simply a time filler and countless other negative comments about us being part of this tour we came to a mutual decision that we could no longer share a stage together.

“We are all about being team players on the road. After going out of our way with things like covering her merch table every night during their set, helping the band with security at understaffed venues, and helping her band and crew load in and out daily. We were met with only disrespect from Otep herself.

“We have no hard feelings towards her hired band and crew but Otep is an absolute nightmare to work with.
Again, we apologize to any of our fans that had planned to see us on this tour. Thanks for your continued support and we’ll see you on the road this Fall!”

Otep, for her part, issued a statement of her own:

We had to remove one of our opening acts. We do our best to give our tour package an opportunity to play for our fans, who are the most loyal & passionate people on the planet, but if the band begins to act entitled or jeopardizes our message then they gotta go. I'm sure rumors will abound about this but it's for the greater good & we will give another band who appreciates & are grateful to play on our stage an opportunity to live their art with us. Thank you, my TRIBE, for your unending support & belief. It matters. xoxo OTEP

The Convalescence are staying off the rest of the tour, but will be hitting the road with Venom Inc., Goatwhire and Toxic Holocaust. Dates here.

Here's what The Convalescence sound like, if you've never heard them:

http://www.metalinjection.net/latest-news/drama/otep-kicks-the-convalescence-off-her-tour-band-responds-shes-an-absolute-nightmare-to-work-with

The always-outspoken Otep Shamaya, leader and namesake for Otep, has a history of beefing with tourmates: in the past, she’s accused the then-vocalist for Terror Universal of sexually assaulting her, and she called The Butcher Babies “moronic bimbos.”

The latest target of Otep’s ire is The Convalescence, who have posted the following message on Facebook:

“We will no longer be a part of the remaining dates of ‘The Resistance Tour’ with Otep. After years spent on the road touring worldwide and never having a problem, this is a first. Otep kicked us off the tour after already loading in for tonight’s event in Pittsburgh.

“This stemming from an alleged incident that occurred in Michigan two nights previously where claims were made that we sold merchandise during the intro of their set.

“This was not the first time being threatened to remove us from the tour. First happening in Jacksonville, FL after their driver accused us of buying weed from venue staff the night before and went as far as to say we forced a venue runner to drive with him and a kid in the car to pick it up. This was in an attempt to take the heat off the driver himself because he called the police on the bands guitarist after an argument between them that morning.

“In both instances, we were unable to explain or make any attempt to approach the situation since even after 50+ dates as direct support- unless she felt the need to threaten to kick us off the tour and belittle us, we weren’t even allowed in the same room.

“After being told we were not needed on the tour, that we were not helping the attendance, we were simply a time filler and countless other negative comments about us being part of this tour we came to a mutual decision that we could no longer share a stage together.

“We are all about being team players on the road. After going out of our way with things like covering her merch table every night during their set, helping the band with security at understaffed venues, and helping her band and crew load in and out daily. We were met with only disrespect from Otep herself.

“We have no hard feelings towards her hired band and crew but Otep is an absolute nightmare to work with.
Again, we apologize to any of our fans that had planned to see us on this tour. Thanks for your continued support and we’ll see you on the road this Fall!”

For her part, Otep has offered the following vague response:

So who knows who’s really at fault here.

The Convalescence start a tour with Venom Inc., Goatwhore, and Toxic Holocaust in September. Get dates here.

http://www.metalsucks.net/2017/06/21/otep-kicks-the-convalescence-off-tour-band-calls-her-an-absolute-nightmare-to-work-with/

Ohio death metal/deathcore unit THE CONVALESCENCE is the latest addition to the Unique Leader Record roster for the release of their as-yet-untitled full-length later this year.

Delivering brutal riffs and dark imagery, the Toledo-born six-piece was forged in 2011 and have since made their mark on the underground metal scene having performed over 400 shows across the United States and Europe including appearances on the Rockstar Energy Mayhem Festival, Rock Fest, West Coast Death Fest, SXSW, and many more. The band is currently wrapping up a tour with Otep and will unleash their fifth studio album via Unique Leader in the coming months.

Comments THE CONVALESCENCE in a collective statement, “We are very proud to be a part of the Unique Leader Records roster for the release of our upcoming album. This is by far our heaviest and, in our opinion, hands down the best album we’ve done so far. We couldn’t ask for a better label to work with for this release. Keep an eye out for big things happening in the near future.”

In related news, THE CONVALESCENCE will serve as support to Testament, Sepultura, and Prong on a portion of their upcoming US tour from April 6th and through April 24th. The band’s fifteen-date trek includes a stop at this year’s New England Metal & Hardcore Festival in Worcester, Massachusetts.

THE CONVALESCENCE w/ Testament, Sepultura, Prong:
4/06/2017 Sunshine Theater – Albuquerque, NM
4/07/2017 Gas Monkey Live – Dallas, TX
4/08/2017 Aztec Theater – San Antonio, TX
4/09/2017 House Of Blues – Houston, TX
4/10/2017 House OF Blues – New Orleans, LA
4/12/2017 House Of Blues – Tampa, FL
4/13/2017 Culture Room – Fort Lauderdale, FL
4/14/2017 House Of Blues – Lake Buena Vista, FL
4/15/2017 Center Stage – Atlanta, GA
4/16/2017 The Fillmore – Charlotte, NC
4/19/2017 The National – Richmond, VA
4/21/2017 The Palladium @ New England Metal & Hardcore Festival – Worcester, MA
4/22/2017 The Paramount – Huntington, NY
4/23/2017 The Electric Factory – Philadelphia, PA
4/24/2017 Rams Head Live – Baltimore, MD

http://www.facebook.com/theconvalescence
http://www.uniqueleader.com
http://www.facebook.com/UniqueLeaderRecords
http://www.twitter.com/UniqueLeaderRec
http://www.youtube.com/uniqueleaderrecords

http://bravewords.com/news/the-convalescence-talk-debut-album-in-new-video-interview-we-wrote-poison-words-in-10-days

https://roppongirocks.com/2016/04/02/album-review-the-convalescence-poison-words/

http://www.rocknreelreviews.com/review/the-convalescence-poison-words/

http://www.adrenalinepr.com/death-metal-sextet-the-convalescence-reveals-new-track-reflections-u-s-headline-tour-dates/

http://www.theprp.com/2016/02/29/news/the-convalescence-debut-reflections/

http://www.revolvermag.com/news/the-convalescence-premiere-new-song-reflections.html

http://nextmosh.com/2016/02/29/the-convalescence-new-track-tour-dates/

https://noisebarrage.com/2016/02/29/the-convalescence-premiere-new-song-reflections/

By the time this show was starting, all of Texas had been bombarded with a display of celestial aquatics unmatched in recent memory. For some 20 days running, at least one major city in the state experienced severe thunderstorms, leaving places like Houston submerged under untold feet of water. Our Tuesday, however, had been relatively calm and peaceful, and hopes were high for a great night out and a killer show. We arrived at Gas Monkey Bar and Grill early in order to grab some food. Chantelle nabbed some chicken tenders and a hard cider, while I munched on their signature fish tacos and guzzled a 512 Pecan Porter (the fish is Asian Catfish, and I have to admit it was stunning). As we ate our fill, we couldn’t contain our excitement for the upcoming bill- Soreption’s first time in America and seeing Cryptopsy for the first time were definitely points of emphasis.

The Convalescence took the stage while we consumed our meal. This band’s look is misleading for how they sound. They wear corpse paint and dress as though they might sound like a ‘90s black metal band from Norway. But once they started, I was reminded of more American influences- overpowering synthesizers, chugging breakdowns, and even pig squeal vocals. The band jammed, even if the audience was only six people. In fact, they were solid enough to inspire three of their viewers to begin moshing. The “crowd” kept pace until one guy slipped on some water, after which the audience mostly stood still and watched. I couldn’t help but notice the ominous, looming cloud rolling in from a southeasterly direction behind the band. When the first band finished, Soreption, the second band, quickly moved to set up and play before the onslaught that was clearly lying before us. People moved from covered standing areas to the open floor, inviting the water to fall upon their heads. And just as Soreption began to sound check… A massive bolt of lightning thrust its way Earthward from the heavens and shook us to our cores. The venue cancelled the show. We were told to go home. And that was that. Until next time, dear reader! May the skies not fall too hardly on all of our heads.

Keith and Katie of The Convalescence
Two parts of the driving force in The Convalescence sat and talked about the road, how important band product is, and the writing process.

NRR: Tell me how the band got named, The Convalescence, and what does it mean?

Keith: The band was actually named by our original drummer who left the band after one practice, We had some other ideas we were throwing around in the first band meeting but this one just seemed to fit. It means the healing process which given that most of the band had issues such as problems with drugs or drinking or in some cases even being homeless it just seemed fitting.

Katie: The name was decided on before I was in the band, but since it means the healing process, it did seem a fitting name for those involved. I hit a personal rough patch and I had always turned to music to find direction.

NRR: Describe your sound for those that might not have heard any of your music before.

Keith: We’ve been classified as symphonic Deathcore. We blend together elements of Black Metal with the symphonic style keyboard parts as well as a heavy influence of Deathcore breakdowns and Death Metal riffs. The best way to say it would be The Convalescence for fans of Winds Of Plague, Suicide Silence, Whitechapel, The Black Dahlia Murder, and Cannibal Corpse.

Katie: I’m terrible at genres, and really I have to say I rely on what our fans believe we sound like. We do have some symphonic tones with the keyboards, but overall we are able to blend heavy riffs, deep powerful vocals, breakdowns, clean vocals, synth work together to form what our fans have called symphonic deathcore. I”d have to agree with Keith on the bands he mentioned, as for our fans have mentioned those bands to us.
NRR: You guys did some pretty crazy touring last year, what kind of plans do you guys have to tour this year?

Keith: As of right now we have even more touring lined up than we did last year including several festivals around the United States.

Katie: More touring, and definitely more surprises for our fans.

NRR: Your latest release is The Process, tell me about the album and maybe something that you would like a new fan to take away from the CD?

Keith: The Process was written based off of things we were going through in our personal lives, I feel that a lot of the issues covered in the lyrics on this album are feelings shared by a lot of people around the world and we’ve been told over and over at shows and through our social media sites that people related to the lyrics and they meant a lot to them. People can take the words however they wish to take them.

Katie: The album was definitely a process for us and the completed album turned out better than any of us expected. I feel that the album has a story behind it, yet the story is different to each person on how they want to interpret it. It’s amazing to hear how our fans have be able to relate to the album.

NRR: You guys had your share of Spinal Tap moments just on the last tour alone. Give me the funniest or just the plain saddest moment that makes you laugh or shake your head to tell even now.

Keith: These kind of moments seem to be almost constant with this band, I’d say the saddest moment was wrecking our van in New Mexico for sure. But the crazy part of that was the recovery….We walked about 2 miles got a hotel room and stayed up all night and early morning making phone calls until we had it set up for members of Katie’s family came to pick us up in Albuquerque,NM with a car and a truck. The truck pulled the trailer and carried a few members and the car took the rest of us. Stopping that night in Las Cruces, NM to play a show then leaving to go directly to where her family was from in El Paso, TX where we bought a van off of Craigslist the next morning and were able to play the Metal Reigns In The Southwest Festival then made the 8 hour drive to play another show the next day in San Marcos, TX with a broken steering wheel and an unregistered vehicle. Long story short we destroyed the van and with the help of friends and family plus a large amount of us being completely insane we never missed a show.

Katie: Sigh, Yes the van. I’m just so lucky we had the help from family and friends. There are all those little moments that you’d only believe if you were there sort of thing. My favorite memory was on the As Blood Runs Black Tour. We had to make a 14 hour from San Francisco to Seattle, in about 12 hours. Loading our trailer was impossible being parallel parked between cars, our guitarist was in a lot of pain from a toothache, the drive was so long and had to be done in such a short time we only had time to stop for gas and nothing else. We arrive to Seattle in the rain and mud, hungry munching dry Ramen and actually got there before most of the other bands. With the bad weather we thought it was going to be a slow night and a small crowd, we were completely wrong. The line to get in reached around the entire building, and for being one of the opening bands on the package, we were so thrilled to be playing in front of a packed audience!

NRR: When new songs are being written, is there an official method to the madness, or does a core piece of the song get done and then everyone helps to finish it off? How does it go down?

Keith: Every song is a little different, Some songs a member will write the whole song on their instrument and everyone else writes around and sometimes we sit down in the studio as a band and puzzle piece together ideas, So I guess there is not an official method.

Katie: In all honesty, each album has been written differently. As of late the members are not even in the same state so getting together and jamming is out of the question. Someone writes a good riff and scratch drum tracks, I write keyboard/synthesizer parts and then Keith writes vocals. Well at least that’s how six out of ten songs on the album were done. The other four were a result being snowed in a studio for a week in the worst/best crunch time ever… So who knows how we write on our next album.

NRR: There is a lot of downtime between gigs, what do you guys do to stay occupied from one show to the next?

Keith: Since we have members based in Ohio, Nevada, Texas, Louisiana, and Wyoming we are not able to get together for anything except tours. So when we are off the road we all get day jobs to recoup some money, pay our bills, repair our tour vehicle, restock merchandise, book more tour dates, and work with our label and management on a game plan for the next run of dates.

Katie: We do go back to our home states and work to recoup money, square away debts and get ready for the next tour routing. As for the unfortunate times a show cancels or something happens and we have an off day in between shows during a tour we usually attempt to sight see things in the area, or scrape up enough money for a cheap motel for a shower and WiFi.

NRR: How important are the social media sites along with the music sites for the ability to connect with fans all across the country and beyond for you as a band?

Keith: They are very important, it gives the fans easy access to contact the band members if they want to and also makes it easy for us to make announcements that everyone can see and follow what we’re doing in our off time, in the studio, or on the road.

Katie: Social media is the absolutely most crucial thing to connect with fans, book shows, promote, get feedback from fans. Of course leg work of talking face to face is paramount to knowing the audience, at least exchanging Facebook names you can tag them in an upcoming show in their area.

NRR: Every band has a merchandise table to one extent or another at their shows. How important is the sale of band merchandise to the survival of smaller to medium sized bands?

Keith: It is one of the most important things for a small to medium sized band, for example a lot of the time when we do bigger tours or festivals we don’t get paid at all so the only way we can get through the dates is to sell merchandise.

Katie: Merchandise is the thing that fuels smaller bands. Smaller bands don’t necessarily get paid from venues, and unfortunately, kids have admitted this to our face, you can download or rip a CD from YouTube. Having bad-ass designs on shirts or something unique like can koozies or shot glasses with the band logo sell really well, and essentially get you just enough money to make it to the next venue.

NRR: You guys have already played a few different festivals, with summer not that far off, which of the big festivals would you drop everything to make a regular appearance on stage for the entire run? Why?

Keith: We would drop everything to do Mayhem Festival, Summer Slaughter, or Warped Tour. The major reason being the exposure we would get, that is a huge amount of new people who enjoy music like ours that have never seen us or heard of us. Another reason for us personally is that we all grew up waiting all year to see who was on these festivals and putting together road trips with friends to make it out and see these festivals so to have a chance to actually play on one of them would be a big deal to all of us.

Katie: It has always been a dream of mine since I was 14 to play on Warped tour, or Mayhem fest. I’d love to get on these larger festivals someday to be exposed to a new audience.

NRR: You guys have a pretty good relationship with your fans, are you more happy to be inspired by a fan’s dedication or to find out you helped to inspire a fan to get through a rough time?

Keith: The relationship we have with our fans is huge for us, the fans are the only reason we can continue to live our dreams and do what we do. They make stepping up on stage worth while, and knowing that we could inspire a fan or help them through a tough time is really an amazing feeling.

Katie: I feel the most inspired talking to fans who have had a rough day but coming to our show made it better, or that we were the one band that made them love metal, or it was their first show ever. Everyone has had rough times in life but relating to someone softens the blow and provides reassurance. Things are shitty but it will get better. I’m glad that in a way our shows and our music provide that outlet [or] reassurance to others as I have found solace in my favorite bands in the past.

THE CONVALESCENCE: Okay, another mash up band, The Convalescence had pure Deathcore, with the facepaint of black metal or dimestore Mushroom Head. A damn fine show, they had a full lineup: 2 Guitars, Female Keyboard, Singer with a good set of pipes, a Bassist who kept the groove, and a Drummer who earned his keep that night. All were coated in white and black corpse paint, with matching regalia including black vests and heavy boots. The sound wasn’t anything groundbreaking, but they put on a hell of a show, with a pretty sweet crowd reaction going. They were typical heavy, with some great breakdowns and small solos, and none of the hallmark hokiness that their genre usually carries with it. The singer was adept at crowd control, getting reactions from the crowd most of the time. Only weak part was the backing vocals from the keyboardist, but this wasn’t due to her not being up to it, more like terrible sound mixing for her mic. Overall a fun band to go and check out, if you’re in the mood for something of that ilk.

"Last week we caught the fierce death metal set by The Convalescence at the DNA Lounge in San Francisco. They delivered their deathcore set as they opened for As Blood Runs Black on their Ground Zero Album Release Tour. It was awesome to see them bring their theatrical deathcore makeup and they had the crowd in a ferocious state, complete with intense moshing and circle pits. If you have ever been to the Above DNA stage, you know that space can be limited but there was no holding back for them. They gave a 150% of their energy and the crowd returned it twice as hard!"

http://musicjunkiepress.wordpress.com/2014/10/28/the-convalescence-make-a-stop-in-san-francisco-with-their-fierce-death-metal-set-at-dna-lounge/

It started off as a side project The Convalescence was a thing for various musicians until they took things seriously and made this project a full time gig, it becoming a project no more. They then went on to write and record for their debut EP and full-length and other releases as well as touring. Now they have more shows coming up with another all new album underway! Frontman vocalist Keith Wampler discusses the new album and future activity these guys have in-store for this year.

1. Can I get a backstory on the band/ band biography?

Keith: Well The Convalescence started as more of a side project than anything originally but after releasing music and seeing very quick success we decided to turn it into something more serious. We got signed to an independent label called Enthral Entertainment and released our first EP "Memories" with them, We did some support tours and a handful of festivals in support of the release before hitting the studio at Metro 37 Studios in Rochester Hills,MI with Producer Kevin Sharpe to work on our first full length "Unmasking The
Betrayer". We released the album on our own and continued with relentless touring all the way into July 2013. For the last few months after getting a solid lineup of people we were really happy with were working on a new album and signed to Ferocious Records. We all just got home about two weeks ago from recording with Producer Johnny Burke (Forever In Terror) at Vibe Studios in Bedford Heights,OH and I must say we are more than happy with how this new record turned out and we can't wait to release it.

2. How did you guys come up with your band name?

Keith: Well the band name "The Convalescence" means The Healing Process and since we were mostly broke and homeless and everyone had a long list of personal problems and habits at the time it just seemed fitting.

3. What bands have influenced your band and its sound?

Keith: Honestly everyone in the band has pretty different tastes in music as well as well as different musical backgrounds, we've never really sat down and said "Hey, let's write something like this band" We've always just kind of starting writing and let whatever was on our minds decide what came out on the records.

4. What lyrical theme do you guys use in your music? What message do you want to send?

Keith: Well....That varies from song to song, and album to album. I write the lyrics from the heart and from personal experiences and hopefully if anyone else is feeling the same way I do when I'm writing these songs maybe it can help them.

5. How did you guys come to get signed to Ferocious Records? Are you satisfied with what they have to offer?

Keith: For getting signed to Ferocious Records we just have to thank Tedy Butte from Sykosis for that one, I was helping them out by booking their "Reap What You Sow Tour" and had Tedy check out our music and he liked it so he took it back to Dylann at the label and I got a phone call with the offer from Ferocious Records a few days later, We can't thank Tedy enough for helping us out there. As far as the deal we got I can't really say as of now since the upcoming release is the first we've done with this label, But so far it's been good working with them.

6. What can you tell me about your new single and lyrical video for that single, why did you want to create a lyrical video instead of an official video?

Keith: The new single has a lot of elements that we have never really used before and we are curious to see the reaction that it gets since it is very different than anything we've done before. We elected to do a lyric video instead of an official video for now because we have band members from all over the United States and it is very expensive for us to all get together for something like a video shoot, So financially it makes a lot more sense to do a lyric video, although we do plan to release an official video for another song at a later date.

7. Where are you in the recording process of the new album?

Keith: We are finished actually, everything is mixed, mastered and ready to go.

8. Who is producing the album? How has the producer aided the recording process?

Keith: Johnny Burke was our producer for this album, He really made us a better band overall I think. He pushed us to try things on this album that were a little bit out of our comfort zone but ended up sounding way better than the original idea. There was also no "OK, that take was good enough" he made sure that every take of everything was as perfect as it could be, Johnny is a great producer and I recommend Vibe Studios to anyone.

9. Where are you recording the album?

Keith: We just finished recording at Vibe Studios in Bedford Heights,OH.

10. How would you describe the overall sound of the new album? How does it compare to "Unmasking The Betrayer"?

Keith: I would say it doesn't compare to "Unmasking The Betrayer" I think this new album completely blows it away.

11. Did the band have any definitive goals they were shooting for before the recording process began for this album?

Keith: Our only goal with this album was to make a kickass metal album and I feel that we accomplished that for sure.

12. Are you using any new instrumentation you've never used in the recording process before?

Keith: Not that we've never used before but it is more of a factor than it ever has been on a previous record. Luke does some clean vocals on the new album which we did not do any of on Unmasking The Betrayer and we also brought Katie in on keyboards and she was a big factor in this new album.

13. When did you start writing for this album? How was the songwriting process different/similar to previous The Convalescence releases?

Keith: The writing process was totally different than anything we've ever done before, For "Memories" and "Unmasking The Betrayer" the whole band was from Toledo,OH and we were able to all sit down in the same room and write the album but for this album after all the member changes we have members in Ohio, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Texas we were not able to get together and write so it was a lot of emailing tracks back and forth to each other and a lot of phone calls to get pre production done, and actually on 4 of the songs on the new album they were written on the spot in the studio and ended up coming out as some of the best songs on the album.

14. Do you feel any pressure to do this follow-up?

Keith: Initially there was a little pressure for the follow up but after hearing the way the tracks came out we are just very excited to release it.

15. How was the vibe in the studio?

Keith: It was awesome, even though some of us had just met everyone got along, there was a lot of goofing around during down time and everyone seemed to be extremely dedicated to making the best album possible.

16. How’s was the mixing?

Keith: Mixing is all done and it sounds great!

17. Are there any surprises or any collaborations on the album?

Keith: We had a few people that we wanted to get on the album for some guest vocals but there was a few big snow storms that prevented them from making it into the studio, so this album is all us.

18. When can we expect the new album to be released?

Keith: All I can say is that it will be out this Spring.

19. Can you go into one or two tracks on the new album? If so, can you give us the track title and brief description of how the track sounds and how it came about?

Keith: We're keeping track titles and details secrets for now.

20. What are your plans for 2014?

Keith: We have a lot of touring scheduled following the release and will be making a lot of announcements over the next couple of months.

The band THE CONVALESCENCE , first came together in March 2011 as a side project. In the last two years the band has played with some heavy hitters, performed at large festivals and has toured with top names.

What decisions did you make to develop the band to this point?

Well really it just got a lot more popular than we thought it would a lot faster than we thought it would and I honestly liked the style of music a lot better than what I was doing before.

What makes you different than other Death Metal/Deathcore bands?

Well we try to change our image up from the normal with the corpse paint and blood, stage clothes, etc. We always make sure our artwork is top notch and that we put on an overall entertaining performance, I see a lot of bands that all look the same that do the same things on stage and have the same style artwork and yes, some of them are amazing bands but just not that entertaining to see live.

Can you tell me about playing with larger bands and touring? Any fun stories to tell fans?

ve grown up listening to but it also gives us a chance to meet them, maybe get some advice and kind of compare how m sure some of the fans that have met us could tell some better ones about us than we could.

Your first single “Extermination” was released in March 2011. In October 2012 the band released their first full length album titled “Unmasking the Betrayer”. Can you tell us more about your last release?

release was kind of a stepping stone album I think, we just kind of played to the strengths of the members in the band at the time instead of trying anything out of our comfort zone. Our goal was pretty much just to write a brutal metal album which I believe we accomplished but looking back on it I think it could have been better.

You are working on your 3rd CD and are releasing soon? Can you tell us more about the release and the album?

We’ve actually completed work on the new album and it’s set to release this spring, We’re very excited about this release for a lot of reasons, We were able to add keyboards and clean vocals into the mix which is something very new for us, we have a lot more guitar work and I think the drums are a lot more interesting, overall it’s the best album we have ever done hands down. We worked with Producer Johnny Burke from Forever In Terror at Vibe Studios in Bedford Heights, OH and he made a world of difference on this album.

You are signed with Ferocious Records (www.ferociousrecords.com) How is it going with the label? How will the label influence your future?

Well all we’ve released through the label so far has been our single “The Human Disease” but so far they’ve been great to work with and we are very confident that they will help push us to the next level.

Where are you next touring and can we expect to see you on the West Coast soon?

We do have a lot of touring planned for this year but dates will not be announced for a few weeks, and yes you can expect to see us on the West Coast a few times this year.
You are from Toledo, Ohio, how has your local and regional scene influenced the band’s development.

Where can fans find more about The Convalescence?

t really claim Toledo as our hometown anymore, Yes, the band was started in Toledo but now I am the only member that even lives in Ohio. We have members from Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, and Texas now, as far as what the Toledo scene did for our development I do believe we have a lot of die hard fans in Toledo that have really helped us a lot over the years and we love playing there but at the same time it re met with just as many people talking shit about us and hoping we fail. Toledo will always be a home show for me but we have stronger fan bases in other areas at this point.

Anything else you would like to add?

I want to thank everyone that has supported us over the last 3 years and hopefully you all continue to do so, We are busy gearing up to get back out on the road and party with all of you! The new album will be out soon enough and keep your eye out for more announcements over the next few months.

Link to Original Page - http://www.woodbangers.com/home/convalescence-interview-echoeyes/2014/

This band always throws a great curveball. Amidst the speed train of guitar and drums float otherworldly sounds hanging in space yet blending with the song just as good Easter eggs should. The lyrics are well composed and vocals cut that vital balance of being just thick and harsh enough without falling off into garbled Cookie Monster nonsense. Buy this song. Buy the album. Buy a T shirt. Buy a hoodie. Go to their shows. You will be glad you did. - Leadcoffin

It started off as a side project The Convalescence was a thing for various musicians until they took things seriously and made this project a full time gig, it becoming a project no more. They then went on to write and record for their debut EP and full-length and other releases as well as touring. Now they have more shows coming up with another all new album underway! Frontman vocalist Keith Wampler discusses the new album and future activity these guys have in-store for this year.

1. Can I get a backstory on the band/ band biography?

Keith: Well The Convalescence started as more of a side project than anything originally but after releasing music and seeing very quick success we decided to turn it into something more serious. We got signed to an independent label called Enthral Entertainment and released our first EP "Memories" with them, We did some support tours and a handful of festivals in support of the release before hitting the studio at Metro 37 Studios in Rochester Hills,MI with Producer Kevin Sharpe to work on our first full length "Unmasking The Betrayer". We released the album on our own and continued with relentless touring all the way into July 2013. For the last few months after getting a solid lineup of people we were really happy with were working on a new album and signed to Ferocious Records. We all just got home about two weeks ago from recording with Producer Johnny Burke (Forever In Terror) at Vibe Studios in Bedford Heights,OH and I must say we are more than happy with how this new record turned out and we can't wait to release it.

2. How did you guys come up with your band name?

Keith: Well the band name "The Convalescence" means The Healing Process and since we were mostly broke and homeless and everyone had a long list of personal problems and habits at the time it just seemed fitting.

3. What bands have influenced your band and its sound?

Keith: Honestly everyone in the band has pretty different tastes in music as well as well as different musical backgrounds, we've never really sat down and said "Hey, let's write something like this band" We've always just kind of starting writing and let whatever was on our minds decide what came out on the records.

4. What lyrical theme do you guys use in your music? What message do you want to send?

Keith: Well....That varies from song to song, and album to album. I write the lyrics from the heart and from personal experiences and hopefully if anyone else is feeling the same way I do when I'm writing these songs maybe it can help them.

5. How did you guys come to get signed to Ferocious Records? Are you satisfied with what they have to offer?

Keith: For getting signed to Ferocious Records we just have to thank Tedy Butte from Sykosis for that one, I was helping them out by booking their "Reap What You Sow Tour" and had Tedy check out our music and he liked it so he took it back to Dylann at the label and I got a phone call with the offer from Ferocious Records a few days later, We can't thank Tedy enough for helping us out there. As far as the deal we got I can't really say as of now since the upcoming release is the first we've done with this label, But so far it's been good working with them.

6. What can you tell me about your new single and lyrical video for that single, why did you want to create a lyrical video instead of an official video?

Keith: The new single has a lot of elements that we have never really used before and we are curious to see the reaction that it gets since it is very different than anything we've done before. We elected to do a lyric video instead of an official video for now because we have band members from all over the United States and it is very expensive for us to all get together for something like a video shoot, So financially it makes a lot more sense to do a lyric video, although we do plan to release an official video for another song at a later date.

7. Where are you in the recording process of the new album?

Keith: We are finished actually, everything is mixed, mastered and ready to go.

8. Who is producing the album? How has the producer aided the recording process?

Keith: Johnny Burke was our producer for this album, He really made us a better band overall I think. He pushed us to try things on this album that were a little bit out of our comfort zone but ended up sounding way better than the original idea. There was also no "OK, that take was good enough" he made sure that every take of everything was as perfect as it could be, Johnny is a great producer and I recommend Vibe Studios to anyone.

9. Where are you recording the album?

Keith: We just finished recording at Vibe Studios in Bedford Heights,OH.

10. How would you describe the overall sound of the new album? How does it compare to "Unmasking The Betrayer"?

Keith: I would say it doesn't compare to "Unmasking The Betrayer" I think this new album completely blows it away.

11. Did the band have any definitive goals they were shooting for before the recording process began for this album?

Keith: Our only goal with this album was to make a kickass metal album and I feel that we accomplished that for sure.

12. Are you using any new instrumentation you've never used in the recording process before?

Keith: Not that we've never used before but it is more of a factor than it ever has been on a previous record. Luke does some clean vocals on the new album which we did not do any of on Unmasking The Betrayer and we also brought Katie in on keyboards and she was a big factor in this new album.

13. When did you start writing for this album? How was the songwriting process different/similar to previous The Convalescence releases?

Keith: The writing process was totally different than anything we've ever done before, For "Memories" and "Unmasking The Betrayer" the whole band was from Toledo,OH and we were able to all sit down in the same room and write the album but for this album after all the member changes we have members in Ohio, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Texas we were not able to get together and write so it was a lot of emailing tracks back and forth to each other and a lot of phone calls to get pre production done, and actually on 4 of the songs on the new album they were written on the spot in the studio and ended up coming out as some of the best songs on the album.

14. Do you feel any pressure to do this follow-up?

Keith: Initially there was a little pressure for the follow up but after hearing the way the tracks came out we are just very excited to release it.

15. How was the vibe in the studio?

Keith: It was awesome, even though some of us had just met everyone got along, there was a lot of goofing around during down time and everyone seemed to be extremely dedicated to making the best album possible.

16. How’s was the mixing?

Keith: Mixing is all done and it sounds great!

17. Are there any surprises or any collaborations on the album?

Keith: We had a few people that we wanted to get on the album for some guest vocals but there was a few big snow storms that prevented them from making it into the studio, so this album is all us.

18. When can we expect the new album to be released?

Keith: All I can say is that it will be out this Spring.

19. Can you go into one or two tracks on the new album? If so, can you give us the track title and brief description of how the track sounds and how it came about?

Keith: We're keeping track titles and details secrets for now.

20. What are your plans for 2014?

Keith: We have a lot of touring scheduled following the release and will be making a lot of announcements over the next couple of months.

Link to Original Page: http://www.nataliezworld.com/2014/02/the-convalescences-keith-talks-new.html

Toledo, OH based metal outfit The Convalescence has officially entered the recording studio and is now working on a new album to see release via Ferocious Records in 2014.

Further details are forthcoming, and in the mean time you can follow the recording process at the band's Facebook profile. You can also listen to the song "A Wretched Creation" off the previous release "Unmasking The Betrayer" below.

Link to Original Page: http://www.metalunderground.com/bands/details.cfm?bandid=11047&tab=news

The death-core genre has been on the rise in the last couple of years. Left and right you find yourself surrounded by a trend that seems to fill up a bucket which has been full for quite some time. This has also happened to other trends as well, including scene, metal-core, and even the more recent "djent" genre. I'm not bashing death-core or any genre related to it, not at all. I'm bashing the fact that it is hard to find any quality in the midst of all the quantity of bands present today. It seems with trends, many of the general folk tend to just go with anyone that creates music. Music is subjective, I know, but there has to be a certain filter or guideline when it comes to these sort of things.

The Convalescence is in the middle of this tug of war. Being labeled as death-core (as well as death metal) they are automatically thrown into the fray of the genre. Listening to this album, I don't think they'll have much of a problem. This is especially true when considering the artists they have performed with on stage. These include All Shall Perish, Carnifex, Fleshgod Apocalypse, Conducting From The Grave, and The Contortionist. They have also played in Alcoholacaust 2, and headlined Toledo Deathfest. This fancy resume actually intrigues me, as these guys only formed in 2011. Something has got to be up.

Before opening this up, I had quite a few expectations. I was expecting breakdown heavy tracks, and the same vocals thrown in over and over. I wasn't expecting much in melody and wasn't expecting much variety in general. Diving into the first track, "Unmasking the Betrayer", I wasn't sure where to place my judgement. The vocals are powerful indeed, and can match with some of the vocalists of the better well known bands of the genre. You'll hear much of the higher end vocals as well as the gutturals, so the variety is somewhat there. So far, I'm still on the fence.

"Blind Victim" enters into the fray, and surprises the hell out of me. The underlying metal-core-like rhythms in the guitar work remain instilled in the ears even as the track progresses. Insert the breakdowns later on, which may or may not go on for longer than needed. This track ends up being one of the short pieces of the album.

"Moral Decay" clocks in at less than two and a half minutes, much like the previous. This has a different feel though, with a much more death metal feel compared to what has been witnessed so far. The lack of breakdowns is already a nice fresh burst of air.

"Black Roses" introduces the part of the album that has the band experimenting with longer tracks, which allows them to explore many other possibilities musically. With exploration, comes the variety. The Convalescence inserts some catchy melodies with the guitar work. The production is solid, as you can hear pretty much every aspect of the band playing. This doesn't mean that it sounds clean though. The album actually has a raw taste to it. The rest of the album doesn't disappoint.

As you progress further, you'll find yourself recognizing bits and pieces of several metal genres thrown into the mix of things. There are times I hear melodies of death, sometimes metal-core and even the surprising black metal riffs that are ever so popular. The guitar solo in "A Wretched Creation" is crisp and clean, which is very much different from other parts of Unmasking the Betrayer.

"Deceiver" feels like the only filler track of the album, which is good but bad at the same time. However, this vibe changes as you get into the next track, "Memories". The Convalescence throws a curve ball with some powerful passages of melodic guitar work, almost something you'd find in a mainstream track. This album has surprised me left and right with all the little details (as well as some big ones) that help set these guys apart from most of the genre they happened to be placed in. They put more death than core into their music.

The final track leaves me at a point where I'm satisfied with the album as it is but it also leaves me wanting more in a sense. It leaves a great impression to the ears. Either way, whether you want to play it again or leave it be for the next listen, you won't regret either decision. This album is well rounded and the surprises it throws out really help give it some substance.

For a debut album, I gotta say this is a great start. I'm just hoping that in their next work they keep the same variety and mentality with their music. Although I find the album to not be that put together in some areas. I do however hear a progression as the album carries forward, where most of the influences get introduced and flourish. I can't wait for their future releases, and hoping they can tighten it up just a bit more. If you're looking for heavy, this album surely has that.

Link to Original Page: http://www.ultimamusicblog.net/search?updated-max=2012-12-17T09:01:00-06:00&max-results=5&start=65&by-date=false