Becoming The Archetype Singled Out Week: The Ocean Walker

"The Ocean Walker" was technically the first song written for the new record. I wrote the main riff over a year ago and felt like it was a really good start, but had no idea where to go with it. At that point I didn't really know what kind of songs I wanted to write for the rest of the record, but it was still early on in the game and I didn't want to force things, so I left "The Ocean Walker" alone for a little while. As time went on, and riffs from other songs started coming together, it all started to click. I figured out exactly what I wanted and how these songs should flow. I realized how dark and heavy this record was going to be, so I started reworking songs before they even really had first drafts.

"The Ocean Walker" was the first song that I came back around to, and it all just sort of fell into place. I knew that I wanted to focus more on song structure this time around, and make sure that I wasn't just cramming riffs on top of each other. I did my best to make sure that there would be recognizable sections to each song. Verse, bridge, chorus. etc. I also wanted these songs to be intricate and technical, but not so intricate and technical that it would be distracting. Most of the songs on the record have two rhythm parts and a lead part throughout. It was a lot of fun getting to add some melody with a lead over the main guitar parts, especially on this song. The lead melodies seem to mold right into the riffs and add a lot of feel to the song.

When we entered the studio to start tracking these songs and putting vocals to them, it didn't take us long to realize that this should be the opening track on the record. Things just came together so smoothly with this song and I'm really stoked with how it turned out.