Draken Live!

I figured I haven't posted in a few days, so I'm going to fill you guys in on how my weekend was. Yay!

Since the weekend previous to this one I spent at Heavy T.O. 2012 where I both got kicked in the face and busted up my knee something fierce, the original plan for this weekend was to lay as motionless as possible. Well, that sort of happened. Sort of.

My buddy Stuart is part of this band. They're called Draken. And they're pretty rad. They played Sunday at a bar in Brampton, ON (All-Stars, or something), and I was commissioned to act as roadie and tour bus driver for Stu. I didn't have a problem with it because I've both roadied and had a roadie before, so I knew how to do it and how helpful it is for the band and how much it means to them. So we hit the road, tearing up the tar off the 401, off to get our metal on.

We arrived at the bar and met up with the rest of the band. There I met Alec, a friend of the band who would later become my billiards and mosh buddy. We stuck around outside for the first 15 minutes or so, because the opening band wasn't really our thing. Or good. But I'll give them the benefit of the doubt and just call their sound "not for me". Around then Alec told us about a couple of drunk douches kicking people off the pool table for no reason, so he convinced me to partner up and kick these guys' asses...

...at pool.

I told Alec I sucked hardcore at pool, but it didn't really matter, because we didn't find the offending guys once we stepped into the bar. We did however find an older couple playing, and when they finished they asked if we wanted to play 2 on 2. Since we got there with pool on our minds, we took them up on the offer. We totally got our asses handed to us because a) I blow chunks at pool and b) I really blow chunks at pool. It was fun (at least for me).

After some billiards and beer, Draken finally hit the stage!

I've seen Draken play once before at The El Mocambo and they absolutely tore up the stage then, so I had some high expectations for this show. Boy did they deliver.

They had a longer set time than last time I saw them, so they had time for two Trivium covers ("In Waves" and "Black") as well as a new instrumental song that clocked in at around 7 or 8 minutes. The rest of their set was most of their EP, with them busting out "In Sheep's Clothing", "Deathmatch (Between Dinosaur and Dragon)", "Last Day on Earth" and "Torrential Rain". Everything was pretty tight with these guys, just like last time. There were a couple times when their drummer, Kyle, fell out of time for a bar or a half, but I'd chalk that up to the shitty mixing by the sound guy. The bass and drums were way louder than both guitars' rhythm tones, but the lead tones used cut through the mix really well (which was wicked because those fucking solos).

The crowd got into it too. For the most part, people were just sitting, but there were two pits that formed throughout the night. One was during "In Sheep's Clothing", where the pit included a middle aged mom and her daughter as well as some totally drunk guy and a couple teenagers. The second pit was for the last song of their set, "Last Day on Earth". The band asked anyone who hadn't gotten up and moved to get in the centre, and that's when I realized I hadn't been in the pit all show. I tried starting one the last time I saw them, but nobody was willing to move with me. I noticed Alec was standing in the centre of the floor so I moseyed on up to him and gave him a little nudge.

He nudged me back.

I pushed.

He shoved.

Pit.

Some other guy jumped in as well, and we had a wicked three man pit. It had been a long time since I had been in a pit, too (probably around a year ago, at Heavy T.O. 2011). When Draken finished up "Last Day on Earth", we were all chanting for an encore. Their faces lit up like Christmas trees. They had never been asked for an encore before (trust me, it's one of the greatest feelings ever as a musician), and the bar staff had been nice enough to let them play one more song. They opted for another Trivium cover, but I'm not sure what the song's title was. Either way, it rocked.

Post-encore, we all went on stage to congratulate them and help pack their shit up to bring home. Once everything was ready to go, I chauffeured Stuart and his gear back to his place and made my way home to sleep. When I woke up the next morning, I was greeted with an unpleasant surprise (other than work). Remember that busted up knee? Apparently pits don't make them feel better. It was flawless logic the night before. I'll give it a couple days. If not, third pit's the charm, right?

...Right?

That's all for now, folks!

Update + EP/ Demo Reviews: Local Band Edition: Crash! Radio & Draken

Hey kiddies, I’ve got a bit of an update before I start the reviews. First off, I’m on 8tracks! I’ll be operating under the username DGuptz, and Hell if I know what I’ll end up putting on there. So you can totally follow me there and see all of the zero playlists that I’ll probably end up making! Yay! [EDIT: I'm not on 8tracks anymore. I'm not creative enough to make playlists.]

Secondly, I’ve reworked the scale I use for rating the albums I review. Before, I used a 1 – 10 scale with 7 being “average”, anything above being “good” to “awesome” and anything below being “meh” to “holy shit, please kill me now”. Now I’m going to be using a 0 – 5 scale with the following ratings:

5.0 – Perfect.

4.9 – Damn near perfect.

4.5 – Eargasm.

4.0 – Great.

3.5 – Good.

3.0 – Decent.

2.5 – Average/ Meh.

2.0 – Not so hot.

1.5 – Just plain bad.

1.0 – Dear God, how did you think that making this was good decision?

0.5 – I feel like I’ve been molested. In the ear.

0.0 – I’d rather go listen to a Burzum/ BrokenCYDE collaboration.

Yes, 4.9 will be a potential score. A 5.0 will only represent an album that I believe is truly perfect in every way. Anything else will land a 4.9 at the most. I think this will offer more consistency and structure to my reviews, so I’ll try it out and see how it goes!

This music review will be a little different. Today I’ll be featuring two bright young bands from my local (Halton Region) music scene: Crash! Radio and Draken. They both might belong to two different genres of music (Rock/ Pop and Metal respectively), but I think they both deserve the attention. So without further ado, let’s begin.

Crash! Radio – “Crash! Radio EP”

Crash! Radio (herein called C!R) are a Burlington, ON based Alt. Rock and Pop band. I think they were able to get access to a recording studio for this EP, and you can really tell. Production is great on C!R EP. Everything is crisp and clear, with no instrument overpowering any other one. If they didn’t have access to a recording studio, then a big bravo goes out to whichever one of them did the production work.

Now, I’m not a huge fan of the Alt. Rock and Pop genres, because I find a lot of it sounds very bland and very similar. C!R seem to break away from the boring old formula and deliver some pretty sweet tunes. They vary their sound just enough to give each track some character and definition, but not so much to make it an incoherent mess. 

Something that I really enjoy on C!R EP is the guitar (go figure). Thrown in on every song are some expertly phrased guitar leads underneath the main mix which took me past the first listen to catch. If there's one thing I have to credit C!R with, it's that whenever I listen to their songs, I hear something new each time.

If I have to criticize this release with something, it's that even though each song was really good, none of them blew my mind. It feels like the band is staying safely inside of their comfort zone across this entire EP. I can't really blame them though. They're great at what they do, so it only makes sense that they do it.   

Bomb-Ass Track

Sunrise on the East Side: I definitely hear some Dropkick Murphy's influence here, especially in the intro. That big group "GO!" throws you forwards into the rest of this killer track. Also, don't even get me started on the bridge. Infectiously catchy stuff.

Overall Score

3.5

An enjoyable first release from C!R. Again, I’m not a huge fan of the Pop/ Alt. Rock genre, but C!R definitively keep things fresh. I'll be keeping my eye on them. Check out their EP on Bandcamp here (free only for the next 24 or so hours), like them on Facebook here, and check ‘em out live here.

Draken – “Cyprium EP”

Draken are a band that hail from Mississauga/ Oakville, ON. To my knowledge this EP doesn’t have an official name, but it was released when they still sailed under the moniker of Cyprium, so I’m going to call it the Cyprium EP. Draken blend influences from Melodic Death Metal, Thrash Metal and Progressive Metal together. Would I call them Progressive Melodic Thrash Metal? No. Not at all. When all those genres are mixed by these dudes, Draken becomes more. It transcends any of those individual genres, and I don’t think I can call it anything else other than straight up fucking Metal.

The first thing that hit me on this EP was the guitar work. Razor-sharp and striking with precision, the guitarists bombard you with air-guitar worthy, fretboard-burning riffs. The solos are also face-meltingly fast, just the way I like ‘em. Another highlight of the EP are the guttural vocals. Spewing forth from your speakers come some ungodly growls and screams. For being completely unprocessed, it’s delightfully surprising how heavy those vocals sound.

On a complete 180 degree turn from C!R EP, this collection of demo songs definitely wasn’t recorded in a studio (which is completely understandable for a band’s first demo. No harm, no foul.). If you’re someone who can only listen to 100% polished and heavily produced music, this might turn you off. In my eyes, the unpolished production doesn’t take too much away from Cyprium EP. That being said, if these guys get the opportunity to record these songs in a professional studio or something, I’m sure with big beefy production the songs would hit even fucking harder.

There are only a couple gripes I have with this release. As wicked sweet as the drumming is (seriously, “Torrential Rain” thrashes pretty fucking hard), in some sections they feel a little fast or a little slow. The clean vocals on the EP aren’t my favorite either, as the singer struggles a little bit to hit some of his notes. Given that this is their first recording, those two things really aren’t major, and I expect they’ll practice and grow to become a truly fearsome Metal act in the GTA scene.

Bomb-Ass Track

In Sheep's Clothing: Gothenburg style riffing? Check. Brutal vocals? Check. Eerie as fuck bridge? Check. Smash-your-face-in-with-a-sledgehammer guitar solo? Check. One of the most badass outros I've heard in a long time? Mother. Fucking. Check.

 Overall Score

4.0

A solid first effort from Draken. I’m excited to see what they’ll churn out next. Check out their EP for free on ReverbNation here, like them on Facebook here, and go see them shred live here.

After like, the longest post ever, that’s all for now, folks. Support your local music scene.