Running on Red - Original by NZMetal

Community Recordings Originals (Not Covers)
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Well, at the beginning of last year I set some goals for 2023 in this thread, one of which was to “Write a song, anything, just write something, to make a start!”
So…

Here’s my first attempt at an original :see_no_evil:

Didn’t quite make it into the 2023 year, but not too far off eh?! :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye: :laughing:

This is only really a start to build on at this stage, there is plenty that could be changed/fixed/improved if I feel inspired to work on it further.

I went with a simple format so I could play and sing at same time given my current ability at both, hence no solos! :joy: The video below is one of the takes included in the track.

Recorded guitar and vox in Reaper with programmed drums using Steven Slate Drums and bass track programmed in Guitar Pro 8.

DaVinci Resolve for editing the video.

Canva for the small added vid at the end.

I am going for a particular sound that I imagine won’t appeal widely but I like it, so… :person_shrugging: :laughing: The vocals have heaps of delay and reverb which is a feature of the style I’m going for, but could well be a bit much for many.

My direct influences that I am hoping to channel, at least to some small extent, are Motorhead, Venom, Speedwolf, Bewitcher, Cruel Force, Midnight, Bathory, Steel Bearing Hand… (I thought I would list the main ones with links to specific tracks in case anyone is interested :metal:)

Track is called “Running on Red”.

Thinking of using the band name Ceaseless Storm :thinking: (if you can call one person a band :rofl:) A quick Google search didn’t show up anyone else using that.
…well, at least for now, subject to change :wink:

TURN IT UP LOUD!! :metal::joy:

Thanks for checking it out.

EDIT: For those interested, here are the lyrics, noting that these are very much tongue-in-cheek in the same vein as Motorhead and Venom did back in the day :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye: :laughing:

Lyrics

Evil in our hearts, satan in our souls
Cocaine running hotter, eyes are burning holes
Motors on fire, law is overhead
Flames grow higher, running on red

Running on red

Smoking and drinking, spirits from hell
Let it all out, 666 demons yell
Brain’s all twisted, tyres are shred
Burning like steel, running on red

Running on red

Vile behaviour, ungodly blood stained sky
Chaos surrounds us, you know your gonna die
Push it even harder, minds full of dread
Take to the edge, running on red

Running on red

Running on red
Losing our head
Raising the dead
Running on red

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Hi Jeff,
Well Well…me loving this on the sunday morning :grin: :sunglasses:

Ceaseless Storm … then I was more thinking of this Ceaseless Storm Or at least that’s what appears here… the opposite, so to speak, I’m curious to see what it sounds like with a little less reverb… I think it would sound a bit more powerful/aggressive, I think it’s definitely worth a listen comparing that with each other…But having said that all…

I already think the song as a whole is good and I think it is and it feels like…

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this :arrow_up: great and absolutely fantastic … (one more ripping solo in there (not necessary) ) you can perform in the pub :sunglasses: :clap: :sunglasses: :clap: :sunglasses: :clap: :sunglasses: :clap:

Greetings

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Turn it up loud!? Dude… almost blew my ear drum this sunday morning :rofl:

Tone is awsome, love the riff!
Youre voice sounds cool too!
Gives me a lot of Motorhead vibes…
Love it Jeff, super smooth production that i enjoyed a lot!
Do more of these please!

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I thought that was terrific, great job with both writing and playing. Perfect tone for this one from that axe. Can’t wait for the first album!

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Thanks for checking it out, Rogier!

:rofl: Love it! :joy:

Cool feedback, thanks! :smiley: :+1: Yeah less reverb would make the vocals more direct :thinking: I recorded them with the reverb and delay via a pedal rather than adding the effects in Reaper which would have likely been better so can’t easily remove without re-recording, but not a big deal to do that though, so I’ll probably give that a whirl when I revisit it.

Thanks again! Glad you liked it :blush:

:rofl:

Thanks so much for checking it out and your really kind words mate! Hope your ears are okay :hear_no_evil: :joy:

Excellent! I was definitely going for that, even thought at one point of referencing Motorhead in the lyrics as it worked kind of nicely with running on red :rofl:

Thanks so much, Paul! Really appreciate you checking it out! :smiley:

:rofl:
Hmmm… could be waiting a while… :older_man: :joy:

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Woah, an original from Jeff! As expected, some kind of laid back acoustic ballad :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

That was really good dude, great production and playing. Great decision to keep it “simple” (ish) with no solos etc, reasonably simple executed really well beats complicated IMHO. And it didn’t look that simple. Loved that bends at the beginning. Screaming.

I agree with @tRONd on the Motorhead vibes. That’s what I got too… I listen to them a little bit these days after you introduced me to them.

Was awesome man, tonnes of effort clearly went in. Did you upgrade your camera too, or was that just your new lighting? The video was SHARP.

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Three cheers on a first orginal, Jeff. It did not disappoint.

I confess Motorhead is the only one of your influences I have listened to and actually know more about Lemmy than the actual music. I do like a little Ace of Spades.

You pulled off the metal rock vibe with the riff, the tones, the drums and bass. Plus of course a vocal with attitude.

I do miss a solo. I think for a studio recording it would be quite OK to overdub the solo. You could do it the Motorhead way and just play the solo over the bass and drums.

As for the vocal. I didn’t find the reverb and delay too much but I do think the effect of heavy reverb may have muddied the vocal, reducing its clarity and bite a wee bit. An idea to perhaps consider is to EQ the vocal going into the verb. It may help to add high and low pass filters, particularly a high pass filter to cut the lows, and just apply reverb to the mids. Then you can play with the mix setting to get the blend of wet and dry in the final vocal.

I did see your comment that you recorded wet that makes that more tricky. I know it can help the performance if there is some reverb and delay as you record but you could get that right by adding the fx on the track in Reaper so you hear as you monitor.

Look forward to more from Ceaseless Storm!

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Wooooooh hooooooo :star_struck:! Short on time, just a quick listen, last minute before heading into sunday activities. That sounds really cool :100:
Could you maybe add the text?
Come back later to listen again! Congrats! :slightly_smiling_face:

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Whaoah! Totally blown away mate - that was The Shiz! I’ve run out of superlatives…

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Good morning, Ceaseless Storm :smiley:!
Oh, what a powerful surprise on this lazy Sunday morning :star_struck:!

I was already wondering, what was going on in Jeff’s music studio :thinking:. After a very busy start in 2023 (several OM performances and even the mini live gig), it became a bit silent in NZ. But obviously, here’s the reason why. And what an awesome reason :smiley::+1::partying_face:!

I’m not really a metal fan, but I absolutely like Running on Red :star_struck:.
Such steady strumming and a fantastic riff. I would also vote for a bit less reverb on the vocals. But all the rest already sounds great :+1:. If there might be some solo in it as well, this would be the icing on the cake. But I already like it without any icing :blush:.

So well done :smiley:. Thanks a lot for sharing :hugs:!!

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Wow :astonished: Wow :grinning: I turned it up real loud and your song did exactly what good metal is supposed to do in my opinion: It hurt a bit :grin:

What a great basis you have there to continue working with!!! I’ll join the cue of those asking for a small solo somewhere. Then just very slightly less reverb to get the vocals clearer… Can’t wait for the next version of your song :grinning:

Your riff is still playing in my mind. I really like it. It’s somewhat funny that the association I got when listening to to your song was that of a car driving really fast on a motorway… And then the last frame of your video were those guys in the car :red_car:

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Sounds legit, Jeff, it captures the raw energy and intensity! :skull: :skull_and_crossbones: :smiley: Well done!

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Woah! Hold on tight kids :open_mouth:
It was early Sunday morning here, so I had to listen with the cans to protect the family.
I can definitely hear Fast Eddie Clarke acing the spades on this :fire: :metal: :imp: :metal: :fire:
Good to see you experimenting but most of all great to see you doing your own thing with originals.
Rookie error: You need to include the lyrics in your post for those of us who give a…

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Jeff that was excellent. You need to be very proud of your first born original. As someone who was a big Motorhead fan a while (actually a long long time) ago but has drifted away, if you told me it was a cover I wouldn’t have questioned you.

As others have said look forward to many more.

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Hey Jeff…this is absolutely awesome!! :100::bomb: I enjoyed much the listening…Love it all, also the band’s name but…who are those guys in the car? I wish you can find a well accomplished dummer and other musicians for your band to become true!
Boy you have talent to sell!!! (I have no clue if this saying actually exists in english :thinking::face_with_hand_over_mouth:)…well I know… you also practice a lot :wink::laughing::blush:
It’s quite amazing to me how one single person can make such a complete and fine musical product. Sir…many :clap::clap::clap::clap::clap: from my part! It’ s been a while I was quite absent from the Community and your Original is a very pleasant surprise! Thank you :heavy_heart_exclamation:

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Whoah Jeff way to go mate! Way to wake me up on a Sunday morning! Not a metal guy myself but that was super cool :sunglasses:. Congratulations on your first original and hope it’s the first of many. I had this turned up loud so may need to apologize to the rest of the family now for waking them up :joy:.

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:metal::confounded: :metal:

Mate, that was just awesome, Jeff!! :clap: :+1: I really needed a few mins to find my words again, all were blown out of my head by your powerful performance. From an energetic point of view, your one-man-band-name is a perfect fit! :smiley:

To my acoustic, pop, folk and country tuned ears, your original sounded quite round and finished already. If someone played me this tune, I would instantly believe it was from one of the famous metal bands. I especially liked the riff, really catchy. The tone, the mixing and your vocal performance really caught me. Even without a solo, the song works great already - which doesn’t mean it would deserve one. I think, this would be like the icing on the cake on this already round production.

Your love and dedication for metal truly shows in your tune, Jeff. You did a terrific job on your first original. I still have no clue what you were singing about (a thing I have with all metal tunes by the way :sweat_smile:), but it doesn’t matter at all. I got the vibes, the power and was totally in it. I really liked it, even though metal is not my favourite genre at all. You left me stunned and impressed, Jeff. :+1: :clap:

I’m truly looking forward to more of your originals already!

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That was terrific Jeff. Your playing was awesome. Super tone and killer riff. That was a well rounded and executed production. Definitely add the lyrics in the top post. Congratulation on your first original and one to be very proud of mate.

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@jkahn @DavidP @Helen0609 @twistor59 @NicoleKKB @JokuMuu @franzek @brianlarsen @philsmith @SILVIA
THANK YOU all so much for checking this out and your very kind words!! BIG HUGS to you all!! :hugs: :hugs: :hugs:

:rofl:

Thanks mate! Yeah, I thought I really wanted it to be something I could perform live not something that I could only do in the studio, so to speak :laughing: I would like to have a small solo towards the end, but it would be quick as (unless it’s David Gilmour) I’m typically not a massive solo fan (as we’ve discussed before :wink:)

YES! THIS :point_up: This makes me very happy too! :smiley: No new camera unfortunately :cry: :laughing: but I have been working on my lighting. Using the two new lights I purchased but I found their diffusers weren’t really ideal, so (along with some tweaking of my back lighting) I added some baking paper over them to create a softbox effect. I think it helped a bit so very glad you noticed an improvement too :slight_smile:

Thanks, David! Love the GIF! Made me laugh!! And very fitting with the song :joy:

Good idea! :smiley: I would like to add a small solo towards the end, hadn’t thought about it just being over the bass and drums, that would still mean I could perform it live (assuming I never find any bandmates :laughing:)

Glad you didn’t find the effects too much, it is supposed to be a bit over the top so could be unpleasant to some, but yes it does also muddy them up quite a lot… for better or worse :thinking: :joy:

Oooh that’s a great tip, I’ll give that a try, thanks again David! :smiley: :+1:

Thanks Andrea! :smiley: Glad you liked it. I had a goal to keep it at 3mins in length so hopefully that helped to allow for a quick listen :wink: :laughing:

Done! I’ve now added the lyrics to the bottom of the original post :sunglasses:

:rofl: Thanks, Phil!!! :smiley: :+1:

:joy: Thanks Nicole! :smiley: Perhaps not exactly Sunday morning music, but thanks for giving it a spin and hopefully it helped to kick start your day :zap: :laughing:

Yes, I must apologise for my lack of engagement over the past few months, typical busy life stuff, but hoping that might change this year :wink: This community is so amazing to be a part of and I really want to be more involved, have to work on my time management skills! :laughing:

Thank you so much! :hugs: Glad you like it and noted your up votes for less reverb and adding a solo :wink:

:hear_no_evil: :joy:

Thanks Nicole! Vote for less reverb noted! :slightly_smiling_face: :+1: Definitely keen to add a solo in too :guitar:

Oh cool! That is what I had in mind, love that you got that association! :sunglasses:

Thanks Franz!! :smiley: :+1:

:joy: Yeah perhaps not typical Sunday morning music :hear_no_evil: :rofl:

Thanks Brian! Yeah I for sure had Fast Eddie and Lemmy at the front of mind when putting this together :metal::confounded:

:rofl: Doh! :man_facepalming: Done! Added to the original post :wink:

Thanks Phil!! :smiley: :+1:

Wow! Thank you, that means a lot mate!! :blush:

Thanks Silvia!! :smiley:

:rofl: Yes, positions to be filled! One day they’ll be real people hopefully! :crossed_fingers: :joy:

Yes, that’s a saying for us too… and thank you again!! :smile:

I have missed seeing you here too! I’m glad this one caught you’re eye. Thanks for checking in on it :hugs:

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Hi Jeff, I see you‘ve done your homework and replied to all listeners so far, but bad news: here I am again :slightly_smiling_face:. I had the time now to listen mindfully and you kindly added the lyrics meanwhile.
My dear friend from „Point Nemo“ on the other side of the world….what can I say, as most things have already been said?
This original is just GREAT :hugs: :hugs: :hugs:. You know, that I‘m not so much into metal, will say, it takes some effort to reach me and make me listen to this genre, but with this one, you really caught me. Great playing and singing, great song, superb tone and then those lyrics :star_struck:! Like Lisa already mentioned, if I‘d heard that song somewhere, I wouldn‘t have noticed that it‘s not from a known band. You did a huge step forward in your musical work. I lift my hat off, or maybe more my ski helmet, as I don‘t wear hats. The only thing I would slightly adjust is the reverb, as you already mentioned yourself. Apart from that, I can clearly hear that your work on tone pays off. Amazing production, congrats on this one :partying_face: :zap: :fire:

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