Local / Independent Hard Rock Bands

[progrockfan]

To include prog, metal, alternative, punk, butt, post-grunge, powerpop, sludge, stoner rock etc... Anything where they hit hard, have distorted guitars and musical talent. Preferably doing something different that makes them worth paying attention to. Please give a short review of any bands you suggest including pointing out what makes them different and worthwhile from a critical standpoint. Also, please list any upcoming show dates, links to websites, MP3s, etc... I'd prefer to hear from fans rather than the bands themselves, unless you are in a band suggesting another band. You rock Seattle!

[coffdrop]

you first

..

[Oof]

My band... www.fromthefall.com (http://www.fromthefall.com/) ...stands out cause there is an ugly asshole (me) in the band. HAHA

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid89/pe611ab2cb9513f49f25483e9be6513e5/fa83b4fa.jpg

[-deathboy-]

~effluvia~

effluvia, in my opinion, is the greatest hard rock band in the local area. they have incredible stage presence, fast as fuck grindcore oriented sound mixed with heavy as fuck death technicality. their rythms are constantly changing and warping and they guitar wizardry is fucking amazing. they are tight and proffesional musicians. not to mention, the bass player is an albino who scares the fuck out of most people !

two severed thumbs up !

[manhog]

you first

fuck yeah, I second that.

enlighten us!

[manhog]

effluvia, in my opinion, is the greatest hard rock band in the local area. got a link? myspace?

[progrockfan]

fuck yeah, I second that.

enlighten us!

Alrighty then... but see, the thing is... If you are totally anti-mainstream nothing I can say will ever convince you, the stranger, critics, hipsters, art farts or anyone else that a band that has any mainstream potential is anything more than a poserish ripoff wannabe wankerfest. I am willing to concede that Seattle itself possibly leans anti-mainstream and if so then my words will most probably fall on deaf ears.

I personally have always thought of it as... The experimental/esoteric bands influence the mainstream, and the mainstream bands on the cutting edge are influenced by a ton of experimental bands but present those influences in an approachable and convenient/mass-marketable, familiar package. To me, that packaging does not detract from the artistic value, as long as I can hear the influence and the originality. To me, there is a form of artistic genius in creating a melody or lyric or hook that sticks in people's heads for days and days and years even if they hate the fucking song and wish it would go away and consider blowing their brains out to make it stop.

Essentially, the main thing that matters in a SONG is the melody and the lyrics. The performance comes next. THEN comes the arrangement, instrumentation, genre, format, etc... Those latter considerations are fluid and change with the times and the best songs are adaptable to whatever format the majority of humanity considers most listenable at that point in history. A hip hop remix with britney spears singing it of an amazing song, is still an amazing song. In fact, without that adaptation, the creative genius of more esoteric influences would be lost in obscurity.

Translating those influences into an approachable format is akin to building trails into the wilderness. From a purist's perspective it is a sacrilege, a corruption, an unnecessary, harmful and offensive violation of artistic integrity. But from a more realistic perspective, the "green-bonding" of the millions of ecotourists that recreate on those trails will be what ultimately preserves the wilderness from complete destruction.

Anyway, hope everyone is having a good night and a great weekend.

[manhog]

Alrighty then... but see, the thing is... If you are totally anti-mainstream nothing I can say will ever convince you, the stranger, critics, hipsters, art farts or anyone else that a band that has any mainstream potential is anything more than a poserish ripoff wannabe wankerfest. I am willing to concede that Seattle itself possibly leans anti-mainstream and if so then my words will most probably fall on deaf ears.

My ears are open. I already told you in another thread that I am **NOT** anti-mainstream. I'm **NOT** indie-obsessed like some indeed are. So forget about all this nonsense and just turn us on to some good shit, instead of offering up copouts, and blaming your inability to turn us on to good shit on outside forces. You got game??? Or just a buncha hot hair???

I personally have always thought of it as... The experimental/esoteric bands influence the mainstream, and the mainstream bands on the cutting edge are influenced by a ton of experimental bands but present those influences in an approachable and convenient/mass-marketable, familiar package. To me, that packaging does not detract from the artistic value, as long as I can hear the influence and the originality. To me, there is a form of artistic genius in creating a melody or lyric or hook that sticks in people's heads for days and days and years even if they hate the fucking song and wish it would go away and consider blowing their brains out to make it stop.

your warm effluvia is making me sleepy... zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz......

Essentially, the main thing that matters in a SONG is the melody and the lyrics. The performance comes next. THEN comes the arrangement, instrumentation, genre, format, etc... Those latter considerations are fluid and change with the times and the best songs are adaptable to whatever format the majority of humanity considers most listenable at that point in history. A hip hop remix with britney spears singing it of an amazing song, is still an amazing song. In fact, without that adaptation, the creative genius of more esoteric influences would be lost in obscurity.

I'm going into a friggin' coma dude... ;-)

Translating those influences into an approachable format is akin to building trails into the wilderness. From a purist's perspective it is a sacrilege, a corruption, an unnecessary, harmful and offensive violation of artistic integrity. But from a more realistic perspective, the "green-bonding" of the millions of ecotourists that recreate on those trails will be what ultimately preserves the wilderness from complete destruction.


beep ........... beep ........... beep ........... beep ........... beep ...........
[look what you've done... i'm fucking flatlining...]

BUT WAIT, I HAVE ONE LAST REQUEST...
PLS TELL ME: WHO IS SAVING THE WILDERNESS FROM DESTRUCTION???
FILL ME IN MANG!!!!

your utterly confused comrade,
manhog

p.s. - maybe you should start a fanzine... call it "I'll put you to sleep in 3 minutes"... ;-)

[coffdrop]

Alrighty then... but see, the thing is... If you are totally anti-mainstream nothing I can say will ever convince you, the stranger, critics, hipsters, art farts or anyone else that a band that has any mainstream potential is anything more than a poserish ripoff wannabe wankerfest. I am willing to concede that Seattle itself possibly leans anti-mainstream and if so then my words will most probably fall on deaf ears.

I personally have always thought of it as... The experimental/esoteric bands influence the mainstream, and the mainstream bands on the cutting edge are influenced by a ton of experimental bands but present those influences in an approachable and convenient/mass-marketable, familiar package. To me, that packaging does not detract from the artistic value, as long as I can hear the influence and the originality. To me, there is a form of artistic genius in creating a melody or lyric or hook that sticks in people's heads for days and days and years even if they hate the fucking song and wish it would go away and consider blowing their brains out to make it stop.

Essentially, the main thing that matters in a SONG is the melody and the lyrics. The performance comes next. THEN comes the arrangement, instrumentation, genre, format, etc... Those latter considerations are fluid and change with the times and the best songs are adaptable to whatever format the majority of humanity considers most listenable at that point in history. A hip hop remix with britney spears singing it of an amazing song, is still an amazing song. In fact, without that adaptation, the creative genius of more esoteric influences would be lost in obscurity.

Translating those influences into an approachable format is akin to building trails into the wilderness. From a purist's perspective it is a sacrilege, a corruption, an unnecessary, harmful and offensive violation of artistic integrity. But from a more realistic perspective, the "green-bonding" of the millions of ecotourists that recreate on those trails will be what ultimately preserves the wilderness from complete destruction.

Anyway, hope everyone is having a good night and a great weekend.

Fuck you ninja, I aint reading all that shit. I glanced at it but I don't see any fucking bands names. You wanna highlight them for me or something?

KthxBye

[Rane Stone]

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[progrockfan]

more established bands:

Zeke, Visqueen, Vendetta Red, The Ruby Doe, The Melvins, The Lashes, The Fall Of Troy, The Divorce, The Catheters, The Blood Brothers Band, The Abodox, Supersuckers, Mudhoney, Alien Crime Syndicate

bands I haven't heard yet:

XXX Audio, Waking Hour , The Valley , The Spits, The Gossip, The Gloryholes, The Emergency, The Braindead (Clark), Teen Cthulhu, Subjekt 2 Change , Shadow Demon , Rock N Roll Soldiers, No Tomorrow, Nights Like Pho Bang, Mico De Noche , Lamb Of God , J. Tillman, Himsa , Hell's Promise , Federation X, Ezee Tiger, Dungen, Drunk Horse , Diamond Nights, Death From Above, Comeback, Cobra High, Boom Bap Project, Big Business, Akimbo, 3 Inches Of Blood

Bands that I have heard, along with my mini reviews. The one's with my highest ratings are bolded:

Windowpane - http://www.myspace.com/windowpane - 3 stars
Good riff-rock post-grunge. Vocalist sounds a little like the guy from "Live".

Vindaloo - http://www.vindaloorocks.com - 4.5 stars
Reminds me of Soundgarden and Faith No More with a ton of originality. Very strong rockin music. Creative use of effects to create a synthesis of modern rock and funkier styles. Guitarist is amazing. Great soloist.

Utterance - http://www.myspace.com/utterance - 2 stars
Extremely heavy death metal with screaming vocals. Very Angry. About what, I have no idea. Interesting changes and use of dissonance.

Underride - http://www.myspace.com/underride_seattle - 3 stars
Reminds me a little bit of the various Rob Zombie projects. Also a little bit of Ozzy thrown in for good measure. I bet it would be fun live. I think some of their lyrics sum it up completely: "You don't need talent and you don't need class, when you want to sell the world a fresh peice of ass."

Turn To Fall - http://www.myspace.com/turntofall - 4.5 stars
Great melodies and mathy/progressive arrangements. Singer has a unique voice. Reminds me of Mars Volta and Jane's Addiction. Heavy rock with a psychedelic edge. Also hints of Rush and Incubus. Very dynamic changes, great use of effects and tone. Live they have an extremely full sound. Amazingly tight musicianship. Emo meets prog. Emog? Premo? Premog?

Trepan - http://www.trepan.net - 4 stars
This is about as screamo as I can stand. At least the screams are melodic. Singer spends about half the time singing before screaming. Music is very good. Tight, rockin riffage.

The Beautiful Mothers - http://www.myspace.com/beautifulmothers - 4.5 stars
Great drummer. Reminds me of The Jesus Lizard. I've seen these guys live and they kick ass. Very powerful sound.

Tempered Cast - http://www.myspace.com/temperedcast - 4 stars
Godsmack meets Tool? Singer has great range. Music is interesting and well produced. Heavy parts sound like Godsmack but they mix it up and make it way more interesting.

Second Coming - http://www.secondcoming.com - 3 stars
Post-Grunge paradise. Deep voice. They cover "rebel yell" by Billy Idol pretty well.

Scarlet Room - http://www.myspace.com/scarletroom - 4 stars
This band is 2 guys and 2 girls with the girls taking the drummer and vocalist slots. Their sound is original and this girl can really sing. Reminds me of a more interesting, less gothy version of Evanescence. Interesting changes and rythyms

River Red - http://www.myspace.com/riverred - 4.5 stars
Rob Zombie meets Helmet. These guys rock. Extremely heavy riffs. Powerful lyrics that are more spoken than sung. I bet these guys rock live.

Rishloo - http://www.myspace.com/rishloomusic - 4.5 stars
Fans of Tool will love this band. Vocals powerful and similar to Maynard. Definitely progressive hard rock. Falls apart a little bit in the more quiet parts. Guitar parts are slightly repetitive but interesting riffs/harmonies. Creative use of feedback and effects. Flanger reminded me of The Cure. Some Celtic influence.

Point One - http://www.myspace.com/pointone - 3.5 stars
Very well produced. Great big distorted chords. Some cool vocal harmonies. Singer has a slight Layne Staley thing to his voice, except he doesn't use it as well, drifting into a whiny punk tone or screamo a little too often. Reminds me a little of God Lives Underwater.

Playing Enemy - http://www.myspace.com/playingenemy - 3 stars
Extremely heavy, complex thrash metal. Reminds me a little of dillinger escape plan. Screamy vocals, dissonant, mathy music.

Plaster - http://www.myspace.com/plasterseattle - 3.5 stars
Vocals sound like a mix between Tool and Soundgarden. Music is heavy and good, but not as original as either of those bands. Straight ahead, 4/4 heavy rock. Causes head to bang.

Peepshow - http://www.peepshowrocks.com - 2.5 stars
As has been discussed on these forums, shares a striking resemblence to Creed. Very polished, melodic pop rock songs. I actually think they are better than creed. But then, I hate creed. To me these guys are boring but I can see this music totally being a hit and having lots of fans.

Lyranthe - http://www.lyranthe.com - 3 stars
Reminds me of a math-metal version of Iron Madien, with a little Primus thrown in. Drummer pulls off double-bass and polyrythyms inpressively. Experimental blending of genres from jazz to funk to metal. Good musicians with a sense of humor and experimentation. Vocalist is pretty cheesy, probably on purpose. He reminds me of the guy from Queensryche.

Lowlife Superhero - http://www.myspace.com/lowlifesuperhero - 3.5 stars
Heavy rockabilly. Stray cats meets Jesus Lizard.

Lines Into Phoenix - http://www.myspace.com/linesintophoenix - 3 stars
Tool meets Iron Madien. Interesting arrangements and good lyrics. Too much screaming and could use more melody.

Let It Come Down - http://www.myspace.com/letitcomedown - 2.5 stars
Extremely fast/heavy metal in parts, slower grindcore in others. Vocals either mumbled or screamed. Some mathy/progressive influence. None of it is great but it's not repetative either so it keeps me mildly interested. Drummer can't keep up some of the time. Maybe they just need more practice. I don't like screamy vocals or extreme metal though so...

Kandi Coded - http://www.myspace.com/kandicoded - 4 stars
Good melodic heavy rock. Kind of like a a happy Helmet. A touch of The Vines in the drummer especially. Definitely some sludge/stoner rock influence.

Girth - http://www.myspace.com/girthmusic - 4 stars
Extremely fast, heavy and complex instrumental math-metal. Very creative, original, experimental and unique. Overall effect is akin to listening to slayer, frank zappa and jazz fusion all at the same time really loud, while on acid. Unlistenable for more than a few minutes. No vocals I could discern. A musician's band.

Gatsby's American Dream - http://www.myspace.com/GatsbysAmericanDream - 4.5 stars
Very good and interesting modern rock. Vocals remind me of Glassjaw. Great melodies, changes, heavy parts. Songs have catchy hooks.

From The Fall - http://www.myspace.com/fromthefallmusic - 4 stars
Vocals remind me of Alice in Chains. Music is heavy. Reminds me of butt rock like old Motley Crew or Skid Row? Sounds like it would be fun live.

Enkrya - http://www.myspace.com/enkrya - 3.5 stars
Live these guys sound way better than their recordings on MySpace. Like a more poppy version of Tool. Or a heavier perfect circle? Anyway, they rock.

Drown Mary - http://www.myspace.com/drownmary - 2 stars
What the fuck are these guys so fucking angry about? This music is ideal to listen to at full volume to psych yourself up for playing violent video games or performing freelance autopsies. Extreme metal.

Drop Six - http://www.myspace.com/dropsix - 4 stars
311 meets Slayer meets Linkin Park, with a hot chick guitarist. Need I say more?

Dolour - http://www.myspace.com/dolour - 4 stars
I think this is what is meant by the term "emo". Very vocal melody focused, but it works. Intentionally catchy songs. Not quite as heavy as I wish they were but music is interesting and original.

Dog Bone Sanctuary - http://www.myspace.com/dogbonesanctuary - 4.5 stars
The mouse cursor changes to a devil horned hand on DBS's MySpace page. It fits. Quite good, original heavy rock.

Dissonance - http://www.myspace.com/dissonance - 3 stars
With the name, I was hoping for a more original/experimental sound. It's well put together music in the heavy rock / metal vein. Vocalist screams a lot and guitars are extra crispy.

Dangermart - http://www.myspace.com/dangermart - 3.5 stars
Combines elements of grunge, butt rock with a slight U2 influence in the rythyms.

Danger Radio - http://www.myspace.com/DangerRadio - 4.5 stars
Definite Mars Voltaish sound. Awesome vocals and the music is great too. Fans of Sparta, At the Drive-In, Mars Volta, etc... will love these guys. Slight Rush influence. Emo meets prog. Definitely rockin.

Daft Like Jack - http://www.myspace.com/dfl - 1.5 stars
Screamo meets monotone weak female vocals and bad teenage poetry lyrics. Out of tune/practice. They say they have new music on the way so maybe they've been practicing more.

Charlie Drown - http://www.myspace.com/charliedrown - 3.5 stars
Fans of industrial metal will like this band. Actually, I am starting to like them too. Female screaming vocals actually work. Original guitar work for this style.

Altarego - http://www.myspace.com/altarego - 4.5 stars
Their music combines elements of garage rock with humor, irony and a sort of Texas/ZZ Top kind of thing. Songs are dramatic and dynamic with interesting/unexpected changes. Singer has an 80s sound to his vocals. Definitely loose, wild and entertaining live.

[Mason]

Lowlife Superhero - http://www.myspace.com/lowlifesuperhero - 3.5 stars
Heavy rockabilly. Stray cats meets Jesus Lizard.

Thanks for taking time to listen to our music.

What you have done here with all of the mini reviews is a very good thing. Hopefully you can build upon this and make it into something that will truely benefit the cause you are shooting for.

Great work.

[progrockfan]

You are welcome Mason. I've actually been contacted by a group that is starting up a website focused on heavy rock bands in the PNW and I will be promoting shows, writing reviews and such for them in the near future once it launches.

Oh, and Dan from the Tablet never answered my questions when I sent him private messages. Jen Maerz went back and forth with me multiple times in private messages and I thank her for her advice and assistance. If only everyone in the Seattle music scene were so friendly and cooperative! I remain optimistic though, and the advice Dan gave on the board was great, but I'd still like to know who are the pro-promotion/publicity companies in Seattle who would work with and be affordable to local independent bands so that I can cooperate with them, refer bands to them etc...

[Rane Stone]

Thanks for the kind words. Being called original is all that matters to us. :-)

[-deathboy-]

i like the mini reviews ! i don't always have the attention span to read in depth reviews.

www.tastygore.com

hit me !!

[progrockfan]

Well hey, y'all go check em out and review my reviews. Let me know where you think I made a good pick, where I went wrong, etc... Also, if you have other bands to suggest for me to review then let me know.

[Oof]

Thanx for the review man. Nothing wrong with a lil bit of 'buttrock' in your diet! ;)

Go check www.subjekt2change.com (http://www.subjekt2change.com) If ya like prog and/or punk...you'll love this shite!

[flowerchic]

The Consul -- a trio of amazing talented progrock/funk musicians -- how these three actually found each other and came together as a group is against all odds in itself! Check it out:

The Consul website (http://www.interactivejack.com/artists/theconsul/)

Definitely worth seeing and listening too. Plus, some of the nicest guys in the local scene - Zane Williams, Jake Savishinsky and Anders Burggren.

[dan10things]

Oh, and Dan from the Tablet never answered my questions when I sent him private messages. Jen Maerz went back and forth with me multiple times in private messages and I thank her for her advice and assistance. If only everyone in the Seattle music scene were so friendly and cooperative! I remain optimistic though, and the advice Dan gave on the board was great, but I'd still like to know who are the pro-promotion/publicity companies in Seattle who would work with and be affordable to local independent bands so that I can cooperate with them, refer bands to them etc...

Dude, I'm a busy guy, only when it's slow at work can I pop over here. I can't possibly give you a list of all local promotion companies, I don't really pay attention to who is local and who is not. And there are plenty of resources compiling this stuff that are easy to find, don't rely on me for anything complete. Off the top of my head there is Nice Promotions, 206, MT or whatever Julliane calls her company now, Dave Mienert's Fuzed Music, Frank ex-Chop Suey has a company... there are probably about a dozen. And lots of out of state ones like Nasty Little Man, Michelle Roche PR, Chipster Entertainment... when you write about music these are often the people sending you bands CDs, calling and emailing you when the band tours, setting up interviews, etc. Promo companies can be spendy for a band, like a grand a month, but for an indie band to push things to the next level it's pretty much a necessity so they hire them for like two months when they put out a CD and tour behind it. That way they get a lot of reviews, promotion, radio and press interviews, hype for their shows, etc. A lot of indie labels do their own promo also which is a good incentive for bands to sign to labels like Lookout, Fat, Epitaph, BYO, etc. (I come from a punk perspective, so those are the kind of labels I know that have their own promo staff). For a more complete list, do a web search or go to Bulldog News and pick up I think Guitarworld or some similar mag's annual guide to band resources - it's packed full of contact info for radio stations, publications, labels, promo companies, etc. For more DIY stuff, there's Book Your Own Fucking Life and similar stuff.

[erikTrepan]

Hey, thanks for taking the time to review a bunch of us local artists.

No press it bad press, and it gives people a starting point!

- Erik, Trepan
http://www.trepan.net

[horhey]

not talking shit here, just think some of these might be misleading


Utterance - http://www.myspace.com/utterance - 2 stars
Extremely heavy death metal with screaming vocals. Very Angry. About what, I have no idea. Interesting changes and use of dissonance.

"Extremely heavy death metal" doesn't sound right to me. hmm, how about..."nu-metal"

Drop Six - http://www.myspace.com/dropsix - 4 stars
311 meets Slayer meets Linkin Park, with a hot chick guitarist. Need I say more?

yes, you could say more, how about "i think big tits make a chick hot"

and to add to that, who cares if there is a chick in the band. Does that make them good? if so, check out Barefoot Barnacle (http://www.myspace.com/barefootbarnacle). we're an all male metal group from seattle (with a hot guitarist, need i say more?)

[progrockfan]

ok well... I think they are more death metal than nu-metal. That's the beauty of opinions. Maybe I am wrong. nu-metal implies commercially viable, and their music is way too heavy, noisy, screamy and distorted to be commercially viable. It will never play in shopping malls or high school proms. nu-metal on the other hand has a chance of doing this, because you can understand the lyrics, it's not a constant wall of distortion and noise hitting you in the brain, and the singers actually sing (sometimes). nu-metal is not my favorite genre but I'd listen to it over more severely violent forms of metal any day.

Also, saying big tits make a chick hot is like saying a lack of 300 pounds of fat makes a chick hot. Kind of redundant. First of all, it's an opinion. To some men, 300 pound women with double mastectomies are hot. To me and the vast majority of average, straight men, slender chicks with nicely shaped breasts and clevage, regardless of size, are considered hot. Do I really have to school you in this common sense?

And yes, bands with hot chicks in them get more attention, press, fans, etc... Is it fair? no. Does it make a band worth checking out? Maybe. If I have to choose between 2 sucky bands and one of them has a hot chick in it, which one do you think I will go see?

[horhey]

yes, opinions are great