Behind The Tracks: The Animal Warfare Act - Another Prayer (Single) (2023)

“Another Prayer” is the newest single from Toronto (via Whitehorse, Yukon) horror metal duo The Animal Warfare Act. The song marks a more modern turn for the band, with the aggression and vigor for which they are known dialed up. Sonically crafted to match the band’s theatrical, horror-based aesthetics, the song is tense, fierce, and full of equal parts unbridled rage and desperate fear.

Lyrically, the song follows a narrator whose religious upbringing is preventing them from seeking mental health treatment, causing them to lash out in rage at the belief system in which they’ve been raised and grapple with the idea of giving up on their faith altogether.

Another Prayer was written in the winter of 2023 by Hopskotch. It was a quick one to come together while the band was taking a break from playing shows and just jamming and coming up with new material, with no solid release plans. The song came together in one practice and the band knew it could be worthy of being their next single, with some polishing. They decided to add it the setlist of their next show and were thrilled to see how well it went over with the crowd, but knew it could still be strengthened. After working together to make the song as tight as possible, it was obvious the band would have to get some studio time to give it a professional recording treatment. In May of 2023, The Animal Warfare Act headed over to Mississauga with a day booked at Metalworks studios, whose notable clients have included Prince, Guns ‘N Roses, and many others, choosing due to budgetary restrictions to cut the entire song in a single day. One 10-hour session later, “Another Prayer” was ready for mixing.

The song started with a simple vocal melody… “I don’t wanna say Another Prayer, ‘cause I don’t think there’s anyone up there,” but after realizing the chorus sounded exactly like NSYNC’s “Tearing Up My Heart,” Hopscotch wrote new chords and altered the melody to what you will hear now. The song’s main musical inspirations include Motionless in White, Kittie, and Slipknot.

Recording the song in only one day meant the band had to get down to business, and didn't have unlimited time to go back and change things. It turned out to be the right move, as there’s a magic in the song that the off-the-cusp recording lent itself to, keeping the song from sounding robotic. Since the song is driven by emotion, the performances on the track had to come from that place as well.

QUOTES:

Hopskotch (vocals, guitar): This was our first time recording in a professional studio, and we were nervous. After jamming it out a few times and getting more comfortable with the click, we hit our stride. We tracked drums and rhythm guitar together then put everything else on after. Being in a room where so many legendary artists have recorded meant a lot to us, and we were determined to make something worthy of coming out of that place. Our mix engineer Audrey and mastering engineer Ry did some incredible things with the song, and we couldn’t be more proud of it.

Corndog (drums): Recording at Metalworks was an insane experience for me. I’ve never been in a studio that nice, especially one that had so many legendary artists step foot in. Overall it was such an amazing time and I felt so content with that being my job for the day.