CHALICE - One Final Sin

Absolute2000 · Post by **Absolute2000** » Tue Jul 14, 2009 12:57 am

Hello all. I am blown away and flattered that a demo I did almost 24 years ago is a topic of discussion here. I wanted to get on the Forum and say hello to everyone. As Iordan stated I am looking for the demo. Unfortunately I have no contact with anyone else who was in Chalice. The guitarist and I were friends in High School and played in different bands and then in 1984 decided to play together doing cover band stuff before we came up with the idea of an original band and thus Chalice was born. We started writing and then went into the studio and recorded the 3 song demo. There was if I remember 10 songs written that we performed live but there is no studio recordings of the other songs and a live recording I believe was done but where that might be is anybody's guess. Because there seems to be interest in this material I spoke to a friend of mine who is an amazing guitar player about going into the studio and rerecording the 3 song demo. I suspect even if I find the copy of this demo the quality will not be great. We need to get a bass player and drummer. I am curious if you guys feel it is worth for me to do this?

nightsblood · Post by **nightsblood** » Tue Jul 14, 2009 3:57 am

Hi! Thanks for stopping by and telling us some more about Chalice! As noted above, I just heard this demo for the first time but I was really impressed- the strong vocals and unique, buzzy guitar sound are really cool.
Regarding re-recording the tracks, fans & collectors of 80s metal are kinda split on that topic. Some folks like to hear how the band currently sounds, given the chance to use better technology and equipment to re-do the songs. However, other fans aren't very interested in re-recordings as they often fail to recapture the sound or spirit of the orig. recordings from 20+ years ago. Personally, I'll give re-recordings a chance, but I usually find them disappointing compared to the originals. Other folks here can speak for themselves.
Anyways, kudos for making a great demo back in the day, and good luck with any future projects/collaborations!

Absolute2000 · Post by **Absolute2000** » Tue Jul 14, 2009 5:10 am

Thank you. Yeah I thought that some people might feel that way about redoing a recording and maybe something being lost in the translation. I just don't know if I will ever be able to find the original demo. All these years later I never thought I would even be talking about it. I Thank you for the compliment. I actually hated my vocals on the demo. It was rushed so my guitarist could shop it when he went to Europe. The quality was not that good either. When we went back to the studio only a month or so later to redo the vocals we found that they had destroyed the master. This is probably why the original demo is not displayed somewhere proudly in my house where I could easily find it. I was just never that proud of it. I loved the songs but not the out come in the studio. I will continue my search but also consider going in and recording the songs again. It might be fun.
I am curious how people like yourself even came across my demo.

sovdat · Post by **sovdat** » Tue Jul 14, 2009 5:52 am

Put the original demo on one side and the re-recorded on the other side of the vinyl, it would be even long enough for a CD now

Stormspell · Post by **Stormspell** » Tue Jul 14, 2009 10:00 am

Hi Mike and welcome to the forum!

I'll echo the nightsblood's sentient; I'll be interested in checking new re-recording for sure, although I usually find myself mesmerized by the old magic and tend to stick to the original more often than not.

Sgt. Kuntz · Post by **Sgt. Kuntz** » Tue Jul 14, 2009 10:14 am

"Seven Seas Of Rhye" is such a great and unique song, i kinda like the idea having it on vinyl. So you can put me on the potential buyers list!

Avenger · Post by **Avenger** » Tue Jul 14, 2009 12:19 pm

I've never been interested in re-recordings myself. I’m interested in this "scene" of music because of the specific sound of those 80's recordings. Re-recording the songs would defeat that purpose for me. If the original demo can be found, perhaps a remaster job would do the trick. Either way, this is a great demo and I appreciate you taking the time to stop by and share more details about it with us.

Absolute2000 · Post by **Absolute2000** » Tue Jul 14, 2009 1:53 pm

I will be looking for the original. Please again I would love to hear from any of you on how you guys found this demo in the first place. I don't remember any distribution on our part.

nightsblood · Post by **nightsblood** » Tue Jul 14, 2009 2:52 pm

I heard an mp3 copy of the demo provided by another member of this forum; someone must have had a cassette copy and transferred it to mp3 format. 80s metal demos are popular downloads on blogs and forums that discuss classic metal. Thus, Chalice and other bands of that era now live on computers and ipods around the world

Orig demo tapes from 80s metal bands are qute collectible right now. I don't collect them myself (I prefer vinyl), but I enjoy checking out the music when they become available online. Some of the original cassettes sell for a lot of money on sites like ebay, and others are getting issued on CD (e.g., Texas Metal Underground just released a CD containing the 2nd Final Assault demo and the Vengeance demo, 2 bands from Corpus Christi in the mid-late 80s).

Interesting to hear that you were disappointed with your vocals on the tape, I think they sound excelelnt! Many US metal bands from that period tried using really high/shrill vocals (going for the Tate/Arch/DeFeis/Diamond sound) but the singers just didn't have the chops to hit the notes and stay in key, so the singing can sound pretty rough. Your vocals on the demo have a much 'fuller' sound that are more distinctive compared to many bands from that period.

ION BRITTON · Post by **ION BRITTON** » Tue Jul 14, 2009 8:59 pm

Vinyl, Cd or tape, I don't have a problem. If it will be rereleased, I will buy it. I'm of the opinion that the old material should be left intact.

Post by **DaN** » Tue Jul 14, 2009 10:07 pm

Very glad to see you dropping by, Mike!

I personally discovered CHALICE when it was uploaded on another forum some years ago, which might also be the original source from which the demo has later spread. What can I say? This 3-Song Wonder destroyed me on 1st listening and I think everyone I've ever played it to agree that it's some of the finest unsigned Steel from the US ever. Fantastic songwriting and the restrained, moodfilled vocals are really 50% of the magic. What nightsblood wrote.

The sound quality of the copy now circulating isn't perfect (lots of background noise) but more than listenable. For a proper re-release I guess a better copy would be prefered though. While a re-recording might produce "better" results productionwise, these things are generally frowned upon and cause of much scepticism. That soundbite-out-of-rock-history-feel should not not be underrated

MEXDefenderOfSteel · Post by **MEXDefenderOfSteel** » Tue Jul 14, 2009 10:28 pm

anybody! help! i cant find where to download this,all this thread just makes more interested in it!

and btw, original remastered demo and maybe a couple of re-recorded songs would make the perfect trick

Stormspell · Post by **Stormspell** » Tue Jul 14, 2009 10:43 pm

MEX, it is in the Poisonoise, under "A whole bunch of US demos" topic posted by daniel.

pzman · Post by **pzman** » Wed Jul 15, 2009 3:28 am

Just listened to this and my sentiments are just like most of the guys whove posted i guess - simply one of the best US Metal demos, especially the first track what an amazing number!
Also like some of the guys here i'm also tentative when it comes to re-recordings but i'd welcome a re-release of this material together with a few new songs.
Best of luck on any future endeavors!

Absolute2000 · Post by **Absolute2000** » Wed Jul 15, 2009 5:06 am

Oh my god, where were you guys 24 years ago. I would be a rock star today. I can't thank everybody enough for the kind words. I promise you all I am doing everything I can to dig up any material I can.