Saviours released their first EP, Warship (Level Plane) in 2005, following it up with 2006’s Crucifire, which was recorded by the Fucking Champs’ Tim Green. The group’s albums and powerful live presence quickly gained the attention of a slew of record labels. Eventually, they signed with Kemado, in their words, an atypically “pro-band” label, releasing the single “Circle of Servants Bodies” on 2006’s Invaders compilation.
You wouldn’t spend five weeks making a Saviours record; I don’t know what you would do with all that time. Those guys can all play.
A mutual friend brought the four-piece to the attention of producer “Evil” Joe Barresi, sending him samples of their music. Barresi, whose long list of album credits includes names like The Melvins, Queens of the Stone Age, and Tool, was impressed. “I was literally sitting in front of my computer paying some bills and a song came on and I was like, ‘Holy shit—this is awesome!’” says Barresi. Before he committed to the project, he had to see them in action, because as he explains, “A lot of times when you do fast records the band can’t play. They did a show downtown in LA, and I saw them for the first time in this old warehouse and they were playing on a skateboard ramp…I saw them live and it felt like someone hit me in the chest.”
When Barresi later asked for a demo of their new material, only a couple tracks had been completed. Batiste says, “That’s when we cracked down super hard to make sure our new songs kicked ass in that time, because we knew that if they didn’t, he might pass.” The band drove down to Henson Studio [formerly A&M] in Los Angeles, recording in a concrete room just down the hall from where country legend and new friend Dolly Parton was working on songs for her upcoming album. The entire recording session lasted less than two weeks, a time period Barresi deems appropriate for the job. “You wouldn’t spend five weeks making a Saviours record; I don’t know what you would do with all that time. Those guys can all play.”
Saviours have dubbed Barresi “Tone Master” for his production talents and extraordinary ear for sound. Barber elaborates, “We did a little bit of final writing in the studio, but we just let him be fucking tone master. There’s not a lot of guitar overdubs on it. It’s all single guitar tracks and a lead track. We learned so much. He has an endless amount of recording knowledge.”
One unique Saviours aspect, which Barresi considered an “added bonus” in a studio environment, is that drummer Batiste writes the bulk of the band’s music, plugging out riffs on bass guitar, his instrument of choice. “Once I show the riffs to everybody, I start to think, ‘Oh fuck—I’ve got to figure out the drums for this part.’ I think subconsciously I should be limited because I know I shouldn’t write something I can’t play on drums, but I always seem to find myself in that trap.” Although Batiste may suffer from a little residual stress at practice, Barresi says, “It’s great because he knows all the changes. He was really the backbone of it all. The music is so intricate that if he didn’t write that stuff, we might still be tracking drums.”