Hardcore. The word itself sounds threatening. It only seems appropriate, though, when describing one of the hardest forms of rock, a genre built on blasting drums paired with insanely fast guitar work, typically tied together by a screaming juggernaut of a voice.
For the past few years, the hardcore scene in Southern California has been brewing in the underground at venues such as Chain Reaction in Anaheim, the Showcase Theater in Corona and the Glass House in Pomona.
Although most of the hardcore bands signed to labels have been at it for a long time, the rise of Huntington Beach’s Avenged Sevenfold has shifted the public’s eye back to O.C., where bands such as Atreyu and Bleeding Through are now stepping into the spotlight.
Within the past three months, both bands have made themselves nationally known by releasing prominent albums. Atreyu played Thursday night in Long Beach as part of the Taste of Chaos tour. Bleeding Through will play a weekend set at the House of Blues in Anaheim.
“We’ve never said, ‘We sound like this because we’re from Orange County,'” said Travis Miguel, guitarist for Atreyu. ” I think it’s just because Orange County is so big and the scene is so big that people are going to take notice.”
Bleeding Through
From the sound of “The Truth,” the band’s breakout January release, you’d expect frontman Brandan Schieppati to be a seething man, intent on destroying everything he comes in contact with. Though the tattooed, guttural screamer looks menacing, underneath the ink-covered skin, he’s really just like the rest of us, lyrically at least.
“(My lyrics) are about rejection and heartbreak and the things that people go through every day,” Schieppati said, acknowledging that his emotional style is similar to the bands that got him into punk and hardcore. “I relate to other people that live through our music and let them know they aren’t alone.”
That message has come through loud and clear. “The Truth” debuted as Billboard’s No. 1 independent album, and the accolades haven’t stopped there. Metal Edge magazine recently praised “The Truth” as “the first great record of 2006”; it also received nods in Rolling Stone and Alternative Press (the latter had originally voted “The Truth” one of the most anticipated albums of 2005).
It’s not surprising, though, that this Newport Beach/Irvine six-piece (guitarists Brian Leppke and Scott Danough, bassist Ryan Wombacher, drummer Derek Youngsma and keyboardist Marta Peterson fill out the lineup) has found success. Inspired by death metal and black metal bands like Integrity and Emperor, the band has rapidly garnered a rabid fan base with its synth-laced brand of hardcore.
The band formed in 1999 (Petersen, living in Seattle at the time, came later to replace former keyboardist Molly Street) and found a home at Trustkill Records, the same label that Schieppati’s other band, Eighteen Visions, was signed to. When his side project became his main project, Schieppati parted ways with his former band.
Bleeding Through toured heavily, playing Chain Reaction and the Showcase Theater, to promote 2003’s “This Is Love, This Is Murderous.”
Two years later, when it was time to record a follow-up, the band took a different approach, Schieppati said, mainly because of producer Rob Caggiano, former guitarist for Anthrax.
“(Caggiano) was really focused on making (the record) really structure-oriented. He threw out riffs and parts that were unnecessary to make it feel like a heavy record with a lot of intensity but not make it all over the place like we were before,” he said. “We wanted everything to be clean and recognizable.”
With the record in stores, Bleeding Through finds itself touring the world once again, but will return home for a weekend of performances at House of Blues in Anaheim. Fans should catch the band now, before it leaves the States to headline dates in Australia and rock the Download Festival in England. Then Bleeding Through will be back, tearing it up for the crowd on this summer’s Ozzfest.
Atreyu
It may not have been the first metalcore band, but Yorba Linda quintet Atreyu has got the formula down. Take the harrowing elements of hardcore, add them to metal dynamics (think guitar shredding and musical structure) and what you get are edgy scream-along anthems, hardcore enough to throw windmill punches to but still metal enough that headbanging doesn’t seem out of place.
Atreyu formed in the late ’90s as a street punk band, but it wasn’t until some lineup and stylistic changes that things really came together.
Vocalist Alex Varkatzas, guitarists Dan Jacobs and Travis Miguel, bassist Marc McKnight and drummer Brandon Saller released the EP “Fractures in the Façade of Your Porcelain Beauty” in 2001.
Atreyu took the same route as Bleeding Through, showcasing itself at as many local venues as it could. Eventually, the EP made its rounds throughout the scene, but it was Victory Records that took the most interest in the band.
“(Victory) was the cream of the crop for us,” Miguel said of the Chicago-based label. “Our first EP release kinda floated into the right hands of the right person. One thing led to another and we signed.”
Atreyu hit the mainstream in 2004 with the release of its second full-length album for the label, “The Curse.” Influenced by Black Flag, Hot Water Music and Hatebreed, the album quickly has an effect, giving the band the opportunity to headline shows across the country.
“With our first record, we toured (extensively) and that kinda laid the foundation for a fan base. We didn’t know what to expect with the release of ‘The Curse.’ We got so much farther than we’d already expected anyway,” Miguel said.
On Tuesday, the band released its third LP, “A Deathgrip On Yesterday.” Where previous releases have lacked a feeling of cohesion, the band made a concerted effort to pull together musically on the new record.
“With ‘The Curse,’ we threw some songs together, demoed them and basically how they came out on the demo is exactly how they came out on CD,” Miguel said. “This time, we picked apart the songs to really see what works and what doesn’t. Nothing made it on the record if the five of us weren’t happy.”
Vocalist Varkatzas approached the effort with a newfound focus, something Miguel attributes to his recent sobriety. Miguel thinks the band’s sound hasn’t changed because of it, but Varkatzas’ take on writing the lyrics has.
“(The lyrics) are all very personal to him. This time around, I think he’s very straightforward with his lyrics. … I’m not saying this because I’m in his band, but I think his lyrics are written very cleverly and they definitely evoke thought,” Miguel said.
The band has been debuting the new tunes on the Taste of Chaos tour, sharing the stage with Deftones and Orange County metal outfit Thrice. Atreyu will head over the pond for some European festivals before meeting up with Bleeding Through at Ozzfest as a second-stage headliner.
Contact the writer: (714) 796-2406 or npirani@ocregister.com
