Sarcoma

16 July 2025

In March of 2025, Cosmic Strain hit the studio to record our first full band offering. We had three songs slated for three days at Not For The Weak Records, using a single-room studio set up in the back room. Kyle knocked out the drums on Friday, guitars took all of Saturday, and we did vocals along with accent parts on Sunday.

The highlight of the experience for me was dialing in the guitar layers. The house had a few amps to choose from, including a straight forward tube head for me and some high gain rigs for Matt and Ryan. Our standard pedal boards were deployed, with various drives and modulation enabled by default. We reworked a few parts as we recorded to tighten up the melodies and have varied levels of energy in our riffs, which ultimately resulted in more cohesive songs.

Sunday was really fun as the vocals had plenty of room for exploration. Matt and Kyle both executed their parts well, and tried a number of harmonies before landing on the ones that worked. We recorded a few accent parts that added a nice bit of flair to the record, such as cymbal washes, heavily delayed feedback, and one lead riff recorded through a tiny amp that had more heart than you could imagine. Boston, the shop dog, provided moral support throughout the session.

We’ve had a blast making these songs and playing them over the past year, so it’s a pleasure to finally be able to share them. As Matt, Noah, and I played pool at a bar one night after a day of recording, it was impossible not to reflect on the years we’ve spent playing music together. It’s a great thing to be creative with friends.

Released June 27, 2025.