All Else Fails is playing a pair of shows in Yorkton at The Spot.
Tonight (Sept. 22) they do an 'all ages shows', and go with an '18-plus show' tomorrow (Sept. 23).
The band, out of St. Albert, AB. plays music which brings together classical, progressive and metal elements, to create an orchestral approach to hard driving music.
Barrett Klesko, lead guitarist and vocalist with All Else Fails explained, "this will be our third major Canada tour, putting us in the 300-plus show range.
"Our main highlights include an opening slot for Fear Factory, a spot on 2009's Warped Tour, and numerous shows with fast rising indie Canadian metal bands such as Threat Signal, Endast, NinjaSpy, Stella, and more."
The band, which includes Klesko, Seedy Mitchell on bass and vocals, Mike Sands, guitar, and Tom Wolf on drums, uses a team approach to music creation.
"Under normal circumstances the band writes together, each member bringing songs, or song parts to the table, then working together towards the finished product, but this album is a bit of a mix as it has songs written before this album as well as new songs," said Klesko.
The Oracle was recorded at Klesko's personal studio FadeBack Studios United.
"As this is not the first album for any of us, the differences between playing live and in the studio were certainly anticipated," he said.
"That said, it is always important to take the time to properly prepare before recording, and we spent six months on pre-production before starting the album.
"The biggest challenge when having a band member self-produce is trying to step outside of the project and judge it without bias, one of the most important parts of the recording / writing process."
Klesko said the time and effort were worth it in terms of the finished product.
"We are extremely happy with the turnout of the album, both for musical content and production values,"
he said. "We tracked the last album Against the Darkening Sky ourselves as well, but brought in famed mixer Bill Kennedy (NIN, Megadeath, Nothingface) to mix, and Andy Krehm (Anvil, Jeff Healey, Boys Night Out) to master it, but continued to be very active in the process (Barrett shares mixing credit on the album).
"Two-years later, largely because of the learning experience, we were able to take this disc leaps and bounds ahead of the last one, and are proud to say that even being done completely in house, The Oracle easily surpasses the last album in quality of recording and performance."
