hear things if he has them with the guitars already". According to Decicco several different guitars were using during the recording process: a Gibson Les Paul Custom for the main rhythm tracking, as well as a Fender Telecaster Thinline and a Fender Telecaster Deluxe. Bogner Ecstasy and Marshall JCM800 amplifiers were used for most of the rhythm sections, as well as an Orange amplifier occasionally for octave parts. Decicco used the Delay Modeler Line 6 and Big Muff effects units. Machine then engineered and mixed the recordings. Additional engineering was performed by Jacob Nyger. Will Quinnell mastered the album at Sterling Sound in New York City. Composition After completing the first demos for the album, Jorgensen planned to rewrite the lyrics to be less death-centric. For a while, he was unable to write anything else but from the perspective of being dead. While at a bookstore, he came across guides written for ghosts. He saw it as epiphany, "pointing me in that direction [writing about death]." Around this time, Jorgensen was going through a break-up of his "first real relationship," combined with the two years of touring with the group "...It was a very transitional period, and all those emotions converged." He initially composed the songs before showing them to the rest of the band; writing the lyrics in isolation. He later pondered that he should've "asked for help but it was something I wanted to be from me completely". According to Decicco, every song on the album is in Drop D tuning, often incorporating a ninth chord, which gave a "super rich" sound. Monger classed the album's sound as emo and punk rock, while Jason Notte of the Colorado Springs Independent said it toyed with progressive rock. What to Do When You Are Dead opens with "Car Underwater", where the narrator sings about crashing into a lake and entering the afterlife. With "The Truth About Heaven", the group were unsure how to go into the first verse until Jorgensen came up with a single-note line that both he and Decicco liked. The line was recorded as an overdub using a separate guitar. Decicco said the group wanted "Remember to Feel Real" to "just have it start and ... kick your ass". The pre-chorus riff was written by Jorgensen and Decicco while on tour. The bridge in "Stay on the Ground" features a flange effect, which was written by Decicco