The Umbilichaos project, led by vocalist, guitarist, lyricist and programmer Anna Chaos, has released 11 albums since 2009, in addition to singles and other materials. Seeking to improve the quality and update their old songs, “Entrails Redux” has just come out independently, re-recordings of their first album “Entrails” in 2009.
About the remake, Anna comments: “In the first two weeks of February 2009, I went into the studio to record Umbilichaos' first work. I chose as responsible sound engineer Bernardo Pacheco, member and responsible for recording two of my favorite bands, Are You God and Elma.
We spent about 25 hours in the studio over a weekend. On the first day, I was tinkering with the amps while he recorded the drum-machine parts. In the second, there were guitar recordings for over 12 hours. There was a second session of 1 or 2 hours, to record the vocals.
In the following months, Bernardo had some personal isues that kept him away from the project and we decided that someone else would finish the recorded material. Working with other people on this ending left me unsatisfied: the result was an appalling amount of ambience, and compression that destroyed the dynamics of the disc. In fact I was unable to dispute due to my total inexperience at the time. Added to the amateurism in the treatment of the arts to make the booklet, and manufacture the CDs.”
And it goes on: “Those three songs that made up 'Entrails' had been rehearsed Spartanly, and polished in more than a dozen presentations in São Paulo, in the previous semester. I still believe and feel the power of every riff and arrangement like almost 15 years ago. Everything I wanted for Umbilichaos, was there since the first album.”
On the decision to re-record not just the first album but the first 8 albums, Anna comments: “In 2019, an especially active year, mainly because I was playing live almost every night for two tours, changed my perception of my work. The drone aspect didn't work for me anymore, I no longer had the slightest interest in repeating a riff 32 times in front of the stunned crowd.
Along with that, the single 'Vast Horizon, Narrow Paths Pt 01', collaboration with Mike Radice, was released in March 2020. In this work, I had changed my audio technical structure, and had some meager knowledge accumulated by previous recordings. This gave the work a sound quality superior to anything that had been released. The guitar sound on this release was an improvement on what I did on the album 'Belong to Nothing', a collaboration with Kovtun. This work had positive feedback from Rennie Resmini, singer of the band Starkweather, an influence, which motivated us to explore more that achieved sound.
With improved structure, 'Vast Horizon...' set ground zero for the sound of all subsequent works. Along with the new emotional direction for the previous compositions, it led to the decision to re-record and update all Umbilichaos' work, with the exception of the collaborative albums. The project takes its name from Redux, a nod to Apocalypse Now and Amebix, will span the first 8 albums and singles, and will run for the next decade. This will void the original versions. And nothing better than starting with this record that went so far out of the blue that is 'Entrails'.”
Listen to the full album “Entrails Redux” below:
For 2022, Anna is working on a new album, in addition to re-recording her second album “Entrails II”. The artist is also available for shows in Brazil, South America and Europe. Producers interested in taking Umbilichaos to their city can send an email to emmanagementoficial@gmail.com .
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