It was sometime between the end of 2011 and the beginning of 2012 when we had enough songs finished, our first label deal secured and were finally ready to start working on our first full-length album - still without a title. Like with the self-titled demo, we didn’t have the budget to rent an expensive studio, so the plan was to record everything in our home studios again.
By May / June that year most of the rhythm section had already been recorded and discussions about the album title began. So here’s No. 1 on the list of things you probably didn’t know about Time Tears Down.
1. Time Tears Down should have been called "Back For War"
Initially, the album was supposed to be called Pulse of the Dead. Since we had no convincing visual concept for that title, we changed it to Back for War, which reflected the band’s situation at the time after lineup struggles and setbacks - we felt ready to be “back for war”.
However, in August 2012 the movie Expendables 2 - Back for War was released. With very similar themes and visuals, keeping the same title would have caused confusion, so the idea was dropped and the backup option returned: a track from the album called Time Tears Down.
Cover idea “Pulse of the Dead”
Cover idea “Pulse of the Dead”
Cover idea “Back for War”
Cover idea “Back for War”
Cover “The Expandables 2 – Back for War”
2. The artwork of "Time Tears Down" is an evolution of the demo debut artwork
After struggling to find a visual direction, Benni suggested redesigning the artwork of the self-titled demo debut. Since the original artwork already featured clockwork elements representing “time” and many demo songs were re-recorded for the album, the idea immediately felt right.
The clock on the cover shows 20:12 in European time format, referencing 20.12.2012 - the supposed last day before the predicted end of the world according to the Maya calendar (21.12.2012). Thankfully, that prediction didn’t come true.
Cover “Time Tears Down”
Cover “Parasite Inc”
3. Movie references in "Time Tears Down"
At the end of Fire the Machines and the beginning of Back for War you can hear audio samples taken from the 1982 movie Blade Runner. The laughter at the end of Fire the Machines and the high-pitched scream at 0:15 in Back for War originate from the film.
If you listen closely, you can also hear the famous Wilhelm scream at 1:02 in Fire the Machines.
The demo version of Function or Perish originally contained an intro sampled from the movie White Noise, which was later removed. That version only appeared on the limited CD Unreleashed Vol. 1.
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More Information4. 13 Tracks for 2013
To create a connection to the release year, the idea was to include a 13th instrumental track. The song was written and recorded by Kevin but never made it onto the album and the final recording was lost.
However, you can still listen to a demo version here:
13th Instrumental Track Demo
Eventually, Deadlife became the 13th track on the album. It was actually the first song ever written for Parasite Inc. and was remixed and mastered together with the rest of the record.
5. Nothing spectacular happened during the recording?
Recording the self-titled debut was rather chaotic and heavily fueled by spontaneity. In contrast, recording Time Tears Down was much more structured and work-focused - but that doesn’t mean nothing silly happened.
Here are some funny outtakes:
Pulse of the String Break
Function or Polka
Chaos at the Ending
End of Melodies
Another funny fact: The vocals were recorded in an apartment close to a church. During pre-production, recordings had to be interrupted every 14 minutes because of the church bells. Luckily, during the final vocal sessions the bells were temporarily disabled for maintenance.
