LaconicAura. Not related to Battle Cry at all, but when I finished the Versatile album, a lot of people heard it. To my surprise, I got a large amount of not only feedback, but good feedback. A few stating which songs they loved, or that they listened to it in their cars. It was great and though BC's twin cover albums of 2003 got some decent feedback, it's not my music to feel proud of.  So, this large success of Versatile just amazed me. It was an album that I kinda didn't hold back from and just let my feelings go with it.

 

Now, we fast forward to early fall 2004. Once again, despite backlaggings and computer crashes and tragedies and all the odds against it, I yet again started work on the third Battle Cry album. One I didn't think was gonna get made for a short time. Right from the get go things were  a lot different. Within a few days I already had keyboard tracks for three or four songs. A month later the keyboards were already completed. By then I felt a very positive vibe and thought "now it's time".

 

It's almost as if the album was just committing suicide over and over again. Maybe I wasn't ready for such a large step, who knows. Usually though, I believe everything happens for a reason. This kinda opened me up even more to that belief. After taking a break and doing something entirely different in an entirely different way, The Year After just flowed instantly. LaconicAura had a lot to do with that. Learned a lot.

 

Speaking of large steps, this is a huge one. I knew right away that I didn't want it to sound like the first two BC albums. It's always inspired me when others persue that path because you take things in ways you never even dreamed they could exist. This is not like the Odyssey at all. This is not like 02 BC at all. This is entirely new and with it's own vibe. Starting sad and then turning very optimistic.

 

I did keep four songs from the original Decay album: Fallen, All Good Ends, Exploration and The Course. I wanted it to consist of little pieces of the past year of hell. And if you go from the instrumental intro of "Losing Grip" (Fall, 2002) to the album version of The Course (Dec. 2004) that's 2 years of actual recording gaps. Not re-recording at all. The version of "Losing Grip" that appears on the album is the exact same that was recorded two years ago.

 

Why didn't I include "Empty" as part of the album? I pondered it for a long ass time. It's a great song, one of my favorites and I really wanted it to be part of it. The reason why though is. . it sounded great. It was too amateur and underproduced to successfully fit in with the other songs. I didn't want to record it because it just sounds great. The vocals I did well, the guitar has a nice sound to it and the song is just fuckin' sad! So, out of respect for the song, I didn't want to kill it and vibe it up. Again, that's the actual demo version I recorded Summer 2003.

 

One of the most prominent additions to the sound is the live bass. This simply happened by accident. I don't even remember what song I was working on, but I took a break and was sitting on my bed playing a friend's bass and just figured why not. Fuck it. So, I plugged it in, knowing that my computer sub could handle the low tone, and did one track. I was just blown away. I have a lot more respect for bassists now because I saw how it took a somewhat minute and dull song and totally livened it up. Of course, with me, everything's gotta match. So, most of the songs on the album do have a live bass on them. I think it's a Peavey actually. I want money for that plug now guys, come on.

 

The last decent thing my ex-wife could constructively say about BC was that my vocals sucked. This time I just happened to kindof agree with her. With this album, I took considerable amount of time with the vocals, quit smoking, and just let my heart do what it does when I sing covers. I would love to say I perfected but I only moved forward. A lot of the songs' vocals though do have a lot better vocals. There are a few weak songs in the vocal area but I'll let you be the judge.

 

Influences were also a large change. Instead of having tons of Depeche Mode and New Order influence, there's a lot less. Paradise Lost, Tool, Portishead and Stabbing Westward showed up a lot as well. It's hard to tell as it was mostly in the way things were done, sang or played. Singing Tool and Stabbing Westward at the bar the past two years definately helped my vocals here.

 

The title was of course voted on. Actually, this title won by just an amazing amount of votes. What was interesting is that it was my favorite and fit the album, as well as the point in my life, perfectly. The title describes kinda looking back on all the mess and the rubble. Most would feel a lot of shock and disappointment. But this also takes a look at the more positive points. Learning more about yourself, what you're capable of and realizing what you hold close to your heart and how much you shoud cherish it. So, it's kindof a sigh of relief. Takes a look on the mess and says "we're gonna change".

 

Overall, even though this thing was a fuckin' pain in the ASS to make. I'm entirely relieved, elated and excited about it's completion. I'm happy that I worked a lot harder on it than the others as it paid off in the end. So let the party begin and the album should be out here in a week or so. Lataz!"

 

-Brian Wardwell