New album from MY band —me on vocals, guitars… and lotta Hamer love!

[zorrow]

There will be a vinyl edition in few weeks, but you can already listen to our new album on Spotify and on Apple Music, plus many other streaming platforms.

Spotify:

Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/ca/album/dragonfly/1877171168

Now, for the guitars, these are the ones I used, per song —all the Hamers in bold typeface:

VORTICE – “Warsongs” (2026)

1- Wake Up!
- Hamer Korina Standard
- Scheithauer Mayday V

2- Time to Rise
- Hoyer import, Manlius Fat Goat R90 pickups

3- Weapons Rise
- Apocryphal custom V—rhythm
- Hamer Vector import, SD George Lynch V8 pickup—both leads and rhythm

4- The Strangest Dream
- N/A

5- Dragonfly
- Apocryphal custom V—rhythm
- Scheithauer Mayday V—rhythm
- Hamer Vector import, SD George Lynch V8 pickup —leads and rhythm

6- Mercenary
- Hamer Korina Standard

7- Flying Free
- Apocryphal custom V
- Scheithauer Mayday V

8- Delilah
- Apocryphal custom V

9- Wax Museum
- Scheithauer Mayday V—rhythm
- Hamer Standard 0204 (from Hell) —rhythm
- Hamer Korina Standard—solo 1
- Apocryphal custom V—solo 2

10- Time to Rise (revisited)
- N/A

11- No Quarrel
- Hamer Korina Standard
- Scheithauer Mayday V

I didn’t play guitar on songs 4 and 10, as my bandmate arranged all the guitar parts for those, so it wasn’t necessary for me to add more noise. He didn’t play guitar on 5 either —in that case, I arranged all the guitar parts myself. We shared guitar duties in all the other songs.

What else? Ah, @Jakeboy guested on one of our songs, but that one didn’t make the cut on this album, because it’s a pop song. It will be released eventually —sooner than later, promised!

And last, but not least, I thanked the HFC in the booklet —it will be in the vinyl release:

Enjoy! 🤘

[zorrow]

By the way, I know you guys love guitar “pron”, so this is my Hamer pair —yeah, I know the Vector is an import, but it works just fine:

As for the other Hamer involved in the story, it’s number 0204, which I got from @KevBower. We used to call it “The Standard from HELL” here, remember? But well, I finally decided that it belonged to the Big Leagues and I transferred it to Andy Sneap last year, so you may call it from now on “The Standard from Judas Priest” 😜

For the record —pun intended—, here’s a picture of it:

[Jakeboy]

@zorrow, I loved working with you on “Ashes”. Will spin this album. 😎✌️

Edited February 14 by Jakeboy

[draelyc]

Preview sounds very professional! 👍🏼🤘🏼🔥

[Disturber]

7 hours ago, zorrow said:

By the way, I know you guys love guitar “pron”, so this is my Hamer pair —yeah, I know the Vector is an import, but it works just fine:

As for the other Hamer involved in the story, it’s number 0204, which I got from @KevBower. We used to call it “The Standard from HELL” here, remember? But well, I finally decided that it belonged to the Big Leagues and I transferred it to Andy Sneap last year, so you may call it from now on “The Standard from Judas Priest” 😜

For the record —pun intended—, here’s a picture of it:

 

Some fine old school Heavy Metal right there. Congrats! I like the organ on Weapons Rise. Well mixed and well played.

I have the original pickup rings from that Standard and the JB that used to be in it is now in my Hamer Super Pro.

[Spinaltap]

Crunchy, I like it

[Saul Goodman]

Driven, that is packed full of Awesomeness! Makes me want to play it and wheel around the kitchen and fry some bacon for breakfast. The hubby is still asleep though. There is a bottle of Tequila on the kitchen bench.... hmmmmm. 

[Feynman]

Damn.  You sound great.  Thanks for sharing this with us.   

[Dave Scepter]

"MY Band".. you sound like a nerd trying to pick up a chick in a bar 🤣

[zorrow]

1 hour ago, Feynman said:

Damn.  You sound great.  Thanks for sharing this with us.   

Man! You’re back!? I missed you!

[scottcald]

Sounds great!  What are you playing those guitars through?

[zorrow]

On 2/15/2026 at 3:55 AM, scottcald said:

Sounds great!  What are you playing those guitars through?

Hey, thanks!

All the guitars were recorded DI, and then reamped. My buddy uses a Rockman and I use a treble booster + Vox AC/30, but the settings change from song to song.

And you didn’t ask, but for the vocals, two thirds of the album I used a RØDE N1, but when we were mixing Dragonfly we noticed some distortion, as the mic was too sensitive and my singing style relies too much on belting. So, we didn’t re-record the vocals on Dragonfly, but for all the songs we recorded after that one, I used a Shure SM58.

[Dave Scepter]

Hey Lonel, do you still have that Schenker Vector?

[BTMN]

Can’t believe you sold 204! Has he used it on the road? 

[tommy p]

Saved to my Spotify list.  I can't wait to hear it.

[scottcald]

On 2/17/2026 at 9:36 AM, zorrow said:

Hey, thanks!

All the guitars were recorded DI, and then reamped. My buddy uses a Rockman and I use a treble booster + Vox AC/30, but the settings change from song to song.

And you didn’t ask, but for the vocals, two thirds of the album I used a RØDE N1, but when we were mixing Dragonfly we noticed some distortion, as the mic was too sensitive and my singing style relies too much on belting. So, we didn’t re-record the vocals on Dragonfly, but for all the songs we recorded after that one, I used a Shure SM58.

Thanks for the info.  

I wouldn't fret over a little distortion.  There are plenty of big name recordings with a bit of distortion on the vocals or on a guitar track.  As long as the feel is there, that's all that matters. 

Edited February 18 by scottcald

[zorrow]

On 2/17/2026 at 12:59 PM, Dave Scepter said:

Hey Lonel, do you still have that Schenker Vector?

I still do. 

[zorrow]

On 2/17/2026 at 4:49 PM, BTMN said:

Can’t believe you sold 204! Has he used it on the road? 

He’s using it on the road, yes. In all honesty, aside from its collectible value, I wasn’t very enthusiastic about its neck, too skinny for my tastes. Andy always wanted it, since he was 14 y/o. And he does like it. I think it’s a good thing it’s back to where it belongs.