User:Ubiquitousness/Helvetios

Background
The idea of a concept album about the Gallic Wars came to drummer Merlin Sutter during a telephone conversation with Chirgel Glanzmann in 2007. He worked on designing the concept and storyline of the album until early fall 2010. The song writing took place during the Everything Remains World Tour and was not finished until directly before recording began. On 1 September 2011, the album’s 2012 release was announced on the band’s blog, along with its eventual title: Helvetios.

New Sound Studio
The band began recording the album on the very day it was announced. Merlin Sutter was the first to begin recording in the New Sound Studio, with his percussion tracks completed on 7 September. The guitar tracks followed directly after, with guitarist Ivo Henzi starting his recordings on the same day. Due to initial complications, his recordings were not completed until the middle of September. This delay was partially due to necessary repairs to Henzi’s damaged guitar as well as the need to procure missing equipment, such as additional amps.

Great care was taken in setting up all instruments involved in the album to ensure the recordings achieved a natural sound. Before the guitar parts could truly begin, the band took several days to find an appropriate sound for them. To achieve this, they not only tested multiple speakers, amplifiers, microphone models and microphone positions, but also various instruments, guitar constructions and tunings, as well as strings, picks and other accessories. The band approached the other instruments in the same careful way.