BENDIGO progressive metal band Ironstone have fine-tuned their debut EP and will launch later in May.
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Lead guitarist Eddie Warren said it was recorded in the band's home studio and has gone through a number of tweaks during the coronavirus lockdown.
"It's a bit DIY but we have a good set up," he said. "We recorded it ourselves in January and February, so before isolation, then tracked it all and go it organised to be sent through to have mixed and mastered.
"Because a lot of our stuff is quite intricate and finicky, I have the luxury of being able to re-recorded parts of it. I did that a few times, at the last second."
Warren said the EP - titled Prophecy - had been in the works for some time, having written some of the songs a couple of years ago.
The 17-year-old is also the only member remaining from when the band was first formed (as Detention) when Warren was only 11.
"There are six songs on the EP. One is Bound, which was released as a single (last year), another is Downpour, which will be released in a couple of weeks before the rest of the EP on May 29.
"Our most modern evolution is about a year old. It's hard to consider at what point we (became) Ironstone but probably when (lead singer) Dan Charlton joined (about) a year ago.
"So some of the songs are quite old and have gone through several iterations and versions. Dan came in and the songs got reworked. Even after we recorded, we changed stuff."
The debut EP is an exciting follow on from 2019 when Ironstone reached the finals of a battle of the bands for a slot at the Good Things festival.
"It went well regardless of the end result of not winning," Warren said. "It was quite a big show and we got a decent amount exposure from the build up. Obviously another band got the spot but it wasn't a wast waste of time."
Since the COVID-19 restrictions saw countless gigs, festivals and events cancelled, Ironstone have been working to maintain connection with the music sector.
"In some ways yes it affected us and in some ways no," Warren said. "We definitely had shows planned during lockdown, we were going to do an EP launch and that couldn't happen.
"Our new bass player Oli has only played one show with us and was planning to play more to get comfortable with us. We haven't been able to meet or rehearse.
"We're definitely on the social media, that's all we can do. But we're kind of refraining from live streams because getting band mates together is problematic."
Since cutting their teeth on Bendigo's stages, the band has found regular performance slot in melbourne's metal scene.
"Right at this second the metal scene is not doing great," Warren said. "Before isolation, the scene in Melbourne was going alright but there's not really a scene in Bendigo since the closure of MusicMan.
"We played some good shows there and it was instrumental in building a following for us in Melbourne because big bands from Melbourne would ask us to play when they visited MusicMan.
"There are metal bands in Bendigo now but no scene, it is primarily happening Melbourne."
To coincide with the relase of the EP Prophecy on May 29, Ironstone is running a Pozible campaign.
"People are able to pledge money for rewards and it works as a pre-order to recoup funds and break even on recording," Warren said.
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