Southern Ohio Bands Ascend Toward Metal Fame
By Dani Purcell, Senior Writer
This season, three Southern Ohio metal bands celebrate individual and collective success in a slew of tour dates, big shows and festivals. Death of an Era, Shall Be the Conqueror and Black Vice embody distinctly different styles of metal, yet their attributes are strikingly similar: each is comprised of a set of talented, passionate dudes ambitiously accelerating their music careers in a local and regional setting.
Hometown heroes Skeletonwitch are hailed for producing excellent material, and most notably, touring with Danzig and (currently) Cannibal Corpse. The group draws a rough and sizeable Ohio fan base in its notoriously painful, sweat-and-beer fueled live shows. Yet, Skeletonwitch’s success may be a magnified projection of a complex network of hidden metal gems, scattered across the state, which has only begun to emerge.
DEATH OF AN ERA
Sunbury, Ohio-based Death of An Era has experienced enormous success since the group’s formation in 2008. Drummer Michael Cooper and his bandmates began playing in a pop-punk outfit in high school, practicing Blink-182 covers for fun. “We've all kind of been interested in music and always been friends, and we wanted to do something together,” Cooper said.
Yet the quintet began shifting its interest toward metal, sparking the group’s transition into harsher, more dynamic material. Singer Daniel Simpson projects Nathan Explosion-esque vocal quality betwixt guitarist Chris Cooper’s backing vocals atop a barrage of baritone guitar shreddage. Death of An Era’s ability to juxtapose moments of extreme cacophony with melodic synth interludes exemplifies the band’s talent for composing multifaceted, binary material. This winter, the group concluded recording its 8-track EPSeasons and released the album via iTunes in late January.
Death of An Era also participates in an annual Battle of the Bands in Delaware, OH. In 2009, the group placed second. Cooper characterized the 2010 Battle of the Bands as a good time, as well as a money-making opportunity. "We sold a lot of merch over there, and it turned out to be a pretty good show!”
The group also signed up to participate in a battle of the bands to acquire a position to play in the Jamboree Music Festival. Too few bands signed up and the Battle was canceled, but the promoters were so impressed with Death of An Era that they invited the teens to play the festival anyway. The Devil Wears Prada and Metal Blade-based White Chapel headlined. Death of An Era recently recruited Mike Hill as their new bassist, and plan on recording their next single in early June at The Capitol House in Columbus.
SHALL BE THE CONQUEROR
Chillicothe-based Shall Be the Conqueror recorded its 10-track EP at The Basement in North Carolina with the same engineer who has recorded heavy metalcore band Between the Buried and Me. Over the course of six months and several sessions, the band progressively wrote and recorded the album, which they finished in January.
Although the band lost their bassist, they recruited a friend, Jon Huffman. In order to complete the record, Huffman composed the bass lines for 10 songs in a mere two months. “Jon plays stuff that is just beyond what we thought – parts we really didn’t think we would even be able to have on or record,” vocalist Josh Richter said.
Huffman blends his bass lines into guitarists Nicky Richter and Jon Murray’s tumultuous, calculated guitar lines that climb the fretboards in a fury of notes atop Richter’s throaty roars. Drummer Justin Daily focuses on some intense double bass fills, and while the group evinces grindcore-style composition, they take a more tech metal approach to frequently changing time signatures. As the band played more, writing new material and playing as a unit became easier for them.
Members of the band aspire to perform without asserting arrogance, and complained that it’s common for “elitist metal bands” to put up extra-tough fronts when playing. Shall Be the Conqueror brings the shred but doesn’t front. Despite their extremely aggressive material, they are really just a bunch of nice dudes who spend “way too much money on gear.” “We are all so trash-ass broke.” Richter said. “In debt up to our eyeballs,” Murray added.
Shall Be the Conqueror drives a 1996 van formerly used for Brooke’s Edge Day Care in Columbus. The band is “currently sitting on a full-length record” and is seeking a label. They also say they are “trying to find an artist for album artwork, not digitally-enhanced crap like everyone in the metal scene does. No monsters -- we want actual artwork.”
This April, Shall Be the Conqueror secured a spot on The Almighty Khannqueror Tour with Khann and Tiger Flowers, which concluded in Philadelphia on April 20.
BLACK VICE
In 2008, Nelsonville singer-guitarist Erik Atkinson and bassist Dave Steenrod formed Black Vice with a drummer who has since been replaced. The group embraced stylistic components of modern melodic metalcore in composition, yet incorporated complex, difficult guitar solos into its dramatic bridges. Atkinson said when they began, he aspired to play as well as metal idol Zakk Wylde, but lacked the experience. Since then, Atkinson has developed his shredding skills to a magnificent tee, and he credits Steenrod in assisting him to that level.
“We started it together, and without Dave Steenrod I don’t know where I would be," Atkinson said. "When I met him, I couldn’t play an instrument to save my ass. I started playing, and he was like, 'damn dude, you done passed me up!'”
The band recorded with Sloth Sound in New Marshfield. Tensions surfaced and issues within the group caused two members to leave Black Vice. Since the addition of drummer John Dayton and rhythm guitarist Larry Witham, the group has recorded two rough tracks during rehearsal. Black Vice intends on recording more recent material eventually, though Atkinson concedes the group has difficulty scraping the funds together for such an endeavor.
Although the band has not had recent opportunity to record, they enjoy great local success are set to play a gaggle of shows across Ohio this spring. The band scored a spot in the Dayton-based Warriors of Metal Fest, a two-day annual festival in June, in which Atkinson said bands gather to promote the age-old genre ideal of “having a good time and getting your drunk on.”
Warriors of Metal Fest isn’t the first of great gigs for the group; Black Vice has played several metal festivals and opened shows for Mistress Juliya, of Fuse’s Uranium. Although the quartet enjoys great local success, perhaps most impressive is Atkinson’s optimism about the band’s contribution to the scene. Atkinson says he hopes successful musicians don’t abandon their goals in the face of success.
“Don’t ever forget why you started this, why you wanted to do this –- it all begins with fun. You start playing guitar for fun, and it’s a lifetime dream.”
