-the second most popular version is almost identical to the first, only that the bone logo on the podium is white instead of blue.-the most popular variant features blue water, a grey podium with a blue bone symbol on it.The differences are slight and no official statement has surfaced on the reasoning behind them. There are five known variations of the Commencement album artwork. Each member is represented in the liner notes by a signature color (red, blue, yellow, green, and gray), stage name, and graphic. The disc itself and the liner notes feature a white chain link pattern used throughout the promotion of Commencement. The CD tray is flat white, a feature uncharacteristic of the metal genre. The backside features all five band members standing over a world map, simply illustrated with blank white eyes and their signature color schemes. The mansion is shown behind a fountain of skulls, based on the school's Sunken Garden, which is depicted in stark, relatively flat colors. Its cover depicts a simple illustration of the Hyde Mansion at Allman and Hawkey's alma mater, the Hyde School in Bath, Maine. Album art Ĭommencement's album art was designed & directed by Josh Gabbard.
The material on Commencement received praise from the late Wayne Static of Static-X who compared it to a combination of Type O Negative and Orgy and described the sound as "very melodic, lush, beautiful - yet brutally heavy at the same time." Regarding its electronic-heavy nature, Blue would later describe the album as "more synthetic" compared to Deadsy's 2006 follow-up. It also boasts guest appearances by Jonathan Davis ( Korn), Troy Van Leeuwen ( Failure, A Perfect Circle, Queens of the Stone Age), Jay Gordon ( Orgy), and John Taylor ( Duran Duran).Įlija Blue stated that, although five of the songs were already over six years old and another six were over four years old, "they are still ahead of the fuckin' curve." He also noted that the long delay "ultimately, for longevity's sake, worked in our favor" and allowed the songs to develop in re-recording. While containing obvious electronic elements of the '80s, such as shrill synthesizer melodies and generously reverberated percussion, the album also features deep, purring guitar distortion characteristic of alternative metal and clean, goth-like vocals that have been described as "faintly robotic." Commencement features two cover songs: " Brand New Love" written by Lou Barlow of the band Sebadoh and " Tom Sawyer" by Rush. I mean they signed someone they didn't believe in and were just so busy trying to figure out what the next band that was going to last for two seconds was." Music īlue has cited Gary Numan, Type O Negative, and Black Sabbath as the album's influences. I think ultimately they just didn't believe in it and wouldn't release it. "There were a lot of delicate situations going on politically when we were at Sire/Warner Brothers-basically, Deadsy was something so outside of what was going on in music, that they weren't about to take a chance. Vocalist Elijah Blue described the situation regarding the delay of Commencement in 2002: This would be his second collaboration with the group. MTV reported in July 2001 that Davis had recorded vocals for the aforementioned track at A&M Studios. Tracks dating back to Deadsy's 1996 effort were included, and entirely new songs were recorded, such as the lead single, "The Key to Gramercy Park". They would soon begin re-recording and retooling some of the tracks for its official release with co-producers Jay Baumgardner and Josh Abraham. With the support of Korn's Jonathan Davis, the group signed to Elementree two months after their dismissal from Sire. During this time, Carlton Bost was added on Ztar and guitar, and "Creature" Ashburn Miller replaced "The Beast" Craig Riker on bass in January 2002. Deadsy was soon dropped from the label and given the option of releasing their album underdeveloped or taking the songs elsewhere. However, the nearly completed record was left in limbo when Sire's distribution deal with Warner Bros. Intended as a much improved edition of Deadsy's first album, Commencement was originally anticipated for a fall 1999 release under Sire Records a promotional music video for "She Likes Big Words" was filmed from live concert footage.