RETURN TO EARTH: 'Automata' Release Date Announced

May 14, 2010

New Jersey-based aggressive hard rock outfit RETURN TO EARTH, featuring the talents of Ron Scalzo, Brett Aveni, and Chris Pennie (COHEED & CAMBRIA, ex-THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN),will release its sophomore album, "Automata", on August 17 via Metal Blade Records.

Drums and vocals for "Automata" were tracked in Dover, New Jersey at Backroom Studios where drummer Chris Pennie regularly rehearses. Guitar tracks, along with additional production, were handled in guitarist Brett's basement, which the band so affectionately refers to as "The Boiler Room" as the space acts as both a recording studio and housing for Brett's boiler. Mixing for "Automata" was overseen by GUNS N' ROSES guitarist Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal who also worked on RETURN TO EARTH's first album, "Captains of Industry", and polished up what turned out to be quite an ambitious multi-track recording.

"Automata" was self-produced by Chris and Brett under their new production company, Fight Mannequins. Brett comments: "We wanted complete control over the proceedings, as we felt that only we knew what was best to get the songs across." Vocalist Ron Scalzo adds: "After going about the recording process modestly for our first album, 'Captains of Industry', we decided to up the ante for 'Automata' — better studios and mics, more tracks, more gear. We wanted to create a heavier, denser sound with more dynamics this time around.

"Heavier and denser can be a nightmare without the proper mix, and our old friend, Ron 'Bumblefoot' Thal, once again made magic with more tracks than most sane people would dare to blend together to make everything sound cohesive. With file management not necessarily being our 'strong suit,' Mr. Thal once again outdid himself trying to piece all the madness together."

In honor of the upcoming release of "Automata", RETURN TO EARTH has posted the brand new track "You Will Be Replaced" on its MySpace page.

Guitarist Brett Aveni recently posted a blog explaining the concepts behind each track on "Automata", which is more a group of themes than a running story line that one would find with a concept album.

"['You Will Be Replaced' is] about the tenuous nature of humanity — how easily replaceable we are, as workers, as partners — coming to the forefront; and our recognition and ultimate fight for survival against the technology that threatens to take over, against machine replacing mankind," he wrote.

Find more on

Prev More News Next

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).