Whatever It May Take (2007 re-mix)

Band logo is stickered on the front of the jewel case.

From the Booklet:

Back in 2001, Heaven Shall Burn entered "Rape of Harmonies Studios" again to record their 3rd Album: "Whatever It May Take". Neither the band nor the producers thought about the upcoming success of this record and its worldwide appreciation. We simply laid down the tracks to record another album... time was short and the budget was not very high, so it was necessary to work fast. At the time our equipment was very cheap and recordings were not easy to manage with a 16 track machine and a handful of low-quality microphones and effects. But sessions went well and we finished the entire album within a few days to mix down the final product.

Marked by many compromises in sound, "Whatever It May Take" was released the same year through Lifeforce Records and reactions were just euphoric. Heaven Shall Burn opened the door for a new scene, touched by the sound of modern Hardcore but also saving the spirit of Extreme and Melodic Metal into the 21st century.

During the last years I listened to the album over and over again and I was ashamed by the sound we created back in 2001. I thought about re-mastering, but the mix was too poor to make it sound a lot better. I talked to the band and finally we decided to re-mix the entire album using much better technical standards than in those days. It was great to work on "Whatever It May Take" again, cause everybody was sure that we would create a much better result. Maik and Alex of HSB (Heaven Shall Burn) did a great job assisting during the mixing process. We decided to leave the tracks as they are - with no re-recordings or any changes of the original material. Some small playing mistakes or some detuned guitars were part of the session and it was important to us to save the original spirit and rawness of the album. You may still hear some non-HIFI standards in the equipment and the little time we had for the recording sessions...

Checking the old multi-track tapes, we discovered an unreleased and unfinished acoustic song by the former HSB guitarist Patrick . I added some piano tracks, inspired by a working track of a lead guitar for this acoustic piece and a new, exclusive song was born. We decided to use this one as an outro for this re-mixed album. Finally, the band decided to bring up a different artwork and a different song order to make this version very special. Two original intros had to be left off to avoid copyright problems, but it does not change the record in a bad way I think.

I am very lucky everything is finished now and I think the 2007 version of "Whatever It May Take" presents the album as we had it in mind six years ago - with a much better mix and mastering. I am very proud to introduce the polished record and hope you will like it as much as I do. Enjoy this outstanding album - it's part of my history and I will always be part of it.

Patrick W. Engel (Producer) April 2007