Wednesday, April 11, 2007

Chasing Victory's on the road

On May 8th Mono vs Stereo Recording Artist Chasing Victory Is Set To Release "Fiends".

Hailing from Camilla Georgia, Chasing Victory has just created a monster release titled "Fiends".

“We all have fiends living inside ourselves. Some are dormant and hibernating. Others are alive and vicious. But when we bring our inner enemies to light, they are disarmed and powerless,” states front man Adam Harrell.

TOURING with August Burns Red March 16 - May 5

It is in this spirit that Chasing Victory has overcome their inner demons to bring forth their sophomore effort, smashing sonic barriers and destroying scene obstacles. Originally labeled a screamo outfit with their heralded debut “I Call this Abandonment” , “Fiends” is neither core nor just a futile exercise in fashion. This is an album that forges its own path, a path of classic rock influence and rock n’ roll pioneering. Heavy and bombastic without being pretentious, it is a dynamic balance of brutality and melody.

“Fiends” is very diverse and each song has something that sets it apart from the rest. We used a lot of cleaner guitar tracks and let the bass and drums drive the songs to keep from masking everything with thick distortion, which has become very popular these days. The vocals on the record sound completely different also. There is a lot more singing and I owe it all to Jeff Buckley and our producer Nathan Dantzler. Nathan really help me capture a vocal sound that I felt comfortable with and steered me away from screaming as much.”

Relentless yet tasteful, “Fiends” is a much-needed diversion from the glut of heavy music today. Song-oriented without losing the band’s trademark riffs, a throwback to a time when music was pure, real, honest, and spontaneous. This is the album that this band needed to make. Muse-like falsetto meets STP-esque choruses and the occasional gang vocal, and Harrell’s dirt-laden growls. The whole of the album is fast-paced, though diverse enough in tempo and guitar approach to avoid becoming stale. Consider the track “Wolves,” as attitude-infused as the Wolfmothers of the world and as melodic as The Foo Fighters. The guitar lines are ambient, and Harrell’s vocals display great diversity, with an incessant chorus as the payoff. Another key number is the title track “Fiends.” More straightforward than any other song on the record, it is easily in the category of melodic radio rock, akin to the AFI.

“Fiends” is rich in imagery, as Harrell and company obviously devoted great effort to lyricism and concept. Yet, at the core of the record is a spiritual foundation; the message is that by exposing one’s vices they are disarmed.“Most of the characters are battling with some kind of addiction, such as sex, drugs, alcohol, or even arrogance. Although these are serious topics, the songs have a sarcastic over-the-top quality about them. Like the way old horror movies were scary in their time, but are funny to us now.”

Through constant touring with a host of industry powerhouses (such as Stretch Arm Strong, Project 86, Flee The Seen, Sullivan, Showbread, As Cities Burn, Maylene and the Sons of Disaster, The Showdown, and Chiodos), as well as appearing on the Vans Warped Tour the last two summers, Chasing Victory has become one of the top selling artists on the Mono vs. Stereo roster. But Fiends is in an entirely different category from their previous material, and should catapult the band into consideration as an industry elite. This, to match with a live show that has developed into one of the most captivating around--thanks in no small measure to their enigmatic and animated front man--and you have the formula for something special in the months to come.

“We just wanted to make a balls-to-the-wall rock record. I couldn’t be happier with the outcome. These days in music, it’s so easy to sing the same two-note chorus, play the same chuggy riffs, throw it into Pro Tools, and slap it up your Myspace page before Beethoven has time to roll over in his grave. We approached everything in the exact opposite way as that last sentence.”

Chasing Victory:
4/05 – Augusta, GA – Sector 7G
4/06 – Jacksonville, FL – Thee Imperial
4/07 – Winter Park, FL – Island Oasis
4/08 – Metairie, LA – High Ground
4/10 – Houston, TX – Walters on Washington
4/11 – Dallas, TX – The Door
4/12 – San Antonio, TX – White Rabbit
4/13 – El Paso, TX – Chic’s Bar & Billiards
4/14 – Phoenix, AZ – That One Place
4/15 – San Diego, CA – Epicenter
4/17 – Corona, CA – Showcase Theatre
4/18 – Calabasas, CA – Agoura Hills Center
4/19 – Orangevale, CA – Club Retro
4/20 – Modesto, CA – The Underground
4/21 – Portland, OR – Satyricon
4/22 – Seattle, WA – Studio Seven
4/24 – Boise, ID – The Venue
4/25 – Ogden, UT – Country Club Theatre
4/26 – Denver, CO – Marquis Theatre
4/27 – Lawrence, KS – Bottleneck
4/28 – Papillion, NE – The Rock
4/29 – Burbank, IL – Champs Rock Room
4/30 – Grand Rapids, MI – Skelletones
5/01 – Columbus, OH - Little Brothers
5/02 – Akron, OH – Lime Spider
5/03 – Buffalo, NY – Buffalo Icon
5/04 – Allston, MA – ICC Church
5/05 – Lancaster, PA – Chameleon Club
5/08 – Columbus, GA – The Core
6/16 – Wilmore, KY – Ichthus Festival @ Deep End Stage
7/12 – Wilmar, MN – Sonshine Festival @ HM Stage
8/18 – Lewisbury, PA – Purple Door Festival

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