The chronology of "Polemics and obscenity"

Short version

Early ideas for "Polemics and obscenity" started creeping up in late 2018 (while I was still deep into the recording process for "Sonic degeneracy", for which I was starting to face major issues) and I slowly kept writing more stuff up until early 2022 (when I had already released some early singles for "Sonic degeneracy", and was looking for a label to release the CD). Lyrics for one particular song got rewritten in september 2022. Recordings started in december 2022 and wrapped up in july 2024.

Long ass, track-by-track version

• OK ZOOMER: The main tremolo-picked riff for "OK zoomer" was the very first idea I came up with for any song post-"Sonic degeneracy", back in AUGUST 2018 (yes, I was still midway recording that album); I remember being very inspired by Napalm Death for that one riff (especially "Mentally murdered" and "Utopia banished"). More ideas for this song materialized slowly but steadily over the following years, and some time around 2021 (if I'm not mistaken) I wrote the entire tune down. Lyrics were written in january 2022. All instruments were recorded in august 2023; vocals were recorded in september 2023.

• IDPOL IS A WASTE OF TIME (BOTH LEFT AND RIGHT): This is one of the earliest tracks I completed for "Polemics and obscenity". All the main riffs were laid down in may 2019 and ruminated further over time, until getting a complete song (both musically and lyrically) by march 2021 - well, lyrics were only slightly rewritten in september 2023, but not that much really. Drums were tracked in december 2022; guitars and bass were tracked in august 2023; vocals were tracked in september 2023.

• BEING RIPPED OFF (Cripple Bastards cover): I think the idea of covering this song came up only in january 2022 (including the idea of putting some sample from beloved italian icon Dario Greggio during one of his meltdowns - this, to my knowledge, was before any popular YouTube mashup between Cripple Bastards and Dario Greggio). Drums were tracked in december 2022; guitars were tracked in august 2023; bass and most vocals were tracked in november 2023; a few more vocal tracks were recorded in april 2024.

• GOD OF THE GAPS: One of the earlier new songs. It all started from the badass hardcore mid-break I came up with around october 2018, and then I started adding more and more ideas until I had a complete track by july 2021 (I know, I was VERY slow to write new stuff back in those depressive years). Lyrics were written in january 2022. Drums were tracked in march 2023; rhythm guitars and bass were tracked in march 2024; vocals were tracked in april 2024; guitar solo was tracked in june 2024.

• LUCID FAIRYTALE (Napalm Death cover): I'm pretty sure I had been looking forward to make a cover of this song for many years, but I only decided once and for all around january/february 2022, when making up the full tracklist for "Polemics and obscenity". Drums and guitars were tracked in august 2023; bass and vocals were tracked in november 2023.

• ETERNAL RETURN (JANUARY 3, 1889 - JUNE 28, 2022): This is a messy one. The opening section is a VERY old leftover from the "Sonic degeneracy" era, dating back to JUNE 2015 (!!!): it was supposed to be the intro for a very awkwardly-composed track I almost instantly threw in the bin (by the way: from that one track, I also re-used a riff that became the chorus for "Without dogmas"). So, in more recent years, I decided to re-use this intro riff for another one of those long, riffy, convoluted thrash instrumentals I enjoy so much ("After the impact" style), and started making up more and more riffs since november 2019. However, I didn't truly finish the song up until february 2022 (was it the last one I finished working on for "Polemics and obscenity"? I think it was). If I'm not mistaken, the title "Eternal return" was decided in january 2022, but of course the mysterious two dates "january 3, 1889" and "june 28, 2022" were added AFTER june 28, 2022 (duh). Drums were tracked in july 2023; rhythm guitars and bass were tracked in june 2024; guitar solo was tracked in july 2024.

• SEX, GOD, SEX (Swans cover): The idea for a Swans cover came up around january 2022, but I originally planned to do "New mind" (the opening track for the "Children of God" album). Then I thought "Sex, God, sex" (from that same album) would have been a more impactful, destabilizing closure for Part 1 - and after some consideration, I think the idea of covering that one was set in stone by february 2022. Drums were tracked in december 2022; guitars were tracked in july 2023; bass was tracked in august 2023; vocals were recorded in september 2023.

• INSIPID METAL: The hardcore punk riff in the verses is yet another "Sonic degeneracy" leftover from around march 2017. The idea for "Insipid metal" (a song that indeed denounced the sterility of modern metal and thug-HC) came up in early 2021 I think, writing a few more riffs over the course of that year until I got a full song by january 2022 (man, I was REALLY slow to write songs back then, even when it came to the simplest stuff). Lyrics were written in january 2022 as well. Drums were tracked in december 2022; guitars and bass were tracked in august 2023; vocals were tracked in september 2023.

• I'M JOINING THE TERRORISTS: Another messy one, and kinda hard to recollect memories of - but I think I wrote it in early summer 2021 (right around the time I had just finished working on "Sonic degeneracy", and was gearing up towards releasing the first few singles). This is a track that has changed title and lyrics at multiple points in time: at first it was "I love liquid society" (written in june 2021), then it became "Anti-vax delirium" (written in january 2022), and then again the Magnotta-themed "I'm joining the terrorists" (written in september 2022, a few months before starting the recordings, following a leg accident and a MASSIVE emotional meltdown - plus, the antivax topic was getting pretty old with the COVID-19 pandemic finally going away). Drums were tracked in december 2022; guitars and bass were tracked in july 2023; vocals were tracked in september 2023.

• TOTAL BURNOUT (TASTE OF THANATOS): One of the earliest song ideas I had for "Polemics and obscenity", dating back to october 2018. I was doing some editing and pre-mixing on the guitars for the Destruction cover "Curse the gods" (later included on the "Sybaritic metal" single from 2021 and the "Fragments of degeneracy" split tape released in 2024), and some weird, twisted riffs started popping up in my head - sounding basically like a schizophrenic mashup of 1986-era Destruction and 1997-era Prodigy (which I was also listening to quite a bit at the time). I quickly nailed the entire first half of the song, while the second half (the one sounding a bit more speed metal-ish and 1985-ish) was only written between march and july 2021. Lyrics were written in january 2022, dealing with the massive burnout I had suffered from in previous years, starting right around the time I was starting to lay down early ideas for this song (late 2018). Basically, the writing process for this song almost acted as a bookend to this very dark period of my life. Drums were tracked in february 2024; rhythm guitars, bass and vocals were tracked in april 2024; guitar solo was tracked in june 2024.

• MISANTHROPY (Protector cover): I think the idea for this cover surfaced in january 2022 too. Drums were tracked in august 2023; rhythm guitars, bass and vocals were tracked in april 2024; guitar solo and synth intro were tracked in july 2024.

• SADO-DEATH: All the various death/thrash sections composing the "metal" part of the song were laid down separately at various points between june 2020 and june 2021. However, the fast "noise" riff in the chorus was lifted from a very old song I had written back in DECEMBER 2015 (!) and then lost a few months later (in the famous "hard drive accident" I talked about in detail in the "History of Sonic degeneracy" article). I had forgotten all other riffs from that old song, but that one riff remained stuck in my head since then, waiting for the right time to be re-used. The "proper" song, however, was only conceived in january 2022 - writing the slow, bass-driven Joy Division-esque sections, stringing all the different riffs together and writing the lyrics. Drums were tracked in july 2023; guitars were tracked in june 2024; bass and vocals were tracked in july 2024.

• RENÈ FERRETTI MOSH: I wrote the hyper-fast verse riffs and the mid-paced bridge back in august 2020, being very influenced by 80s-era Schizo, for a song that was originally going to be called "Antisocial and proud" (big words aren't they). Then, after overdosing on the "Boris" TV series over the course of the various lockdowns, I thought it would be fun to have a tribute to such a brilliant (not) italian work that had given me so many laughs, so many quotable lines and so much company during such grim times - and so, I finally wrote "Renè Ferretti mosh" in january 2022, including all my favorite "Boris" quotes and memes in the lyrics (the fourth season had not come out yet, so of course there are no references to that one). All instruments were tracked in august 2023; vocals were recorded in september 2023.

• CHOOSE YOUR DEATH (Necrodeath cover): The idea for this cover came up in january 2022 (pretty much like most other cover ideas I had for this two-part series of EPs), and I thought it would make a perfect sendoff for Part 2. Keyboard intro was done in november 2022; drums were tracked in august 2023; rhythm/lead guitars, bass and vocals were tracked in june 2024; guitar solo was tracked in july 2024.

The two "industrial" intros ("Cult of Gabibbo" and "Fatal intrusion") were envisioned in early 2022, but I only started putting them together by the end of that year, going on to amass more and more crazy samples over time.

The outro/ghost track for "Choose your death" was also an idea I had started working on in late 2022 (starting with Dario Greggio's "Death Mantra" and then adding more and more deranged stuff). The sloppy acoustic guitar loop heard during the "Death Mantra" comes from a personal recording I had made with my phone back in june 2018.

ALL SONGS were mixed/mastered around late summer 2024.

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