Year : 2018
Style : Heavy Rock , Stoner Metal
Country : United States
Audio : 320 kbps + all scans + Video
Size : 155 mb
Bio:
Formed in the North Carolina coastline community of Wrightsville Beach in 2001, the riff-fueled, distortion-driven rock of ASG that can be found on their latest effort has actually been at the band's core since its inception.Initially forming as a three-piece instrumental project, due to the lack of a dedicated vocalist, ASG were intensely focusing on devising tight, driving guitar riffs, locking guitarist Jason Shi in with the rhythm section of bassist Andy Ellis and drummer Scott Key.But as time passed and no vocalist was found, Shi was eventually forced to step up to the mic.With Shi becoming more comfortable as a frontman, the group found themselves connecting with Volcom Entertainment, who signed the band and put them in the studio in 2003, to record their debut album, ...The Amplification of Self Gratification.In 2005 ASG found themselves in a proper studio with proper producers, Matt Hyde and Phil Caivano, recording their sophomore album, Feeling Good Is Good Enough, an album that summoned all the band's potential and spawned a thunderous hard rock creation that equaled what the band had been working towards for the past 3 years.Shortly after completing Feeling Good Is Good Enough, second guitarist, Jonah Citty, was added to help recreate the album's sounds live, which was none too soon as the band quickly found themselves on the road with the likes of Motorhead,Fu Manchu,Saviours,The Sword, Torche, Dwarves, and CKY.In June 2007 ASG returned to Los Angeles to record their fourth album, entitled Win Us Over, with Matt Hyde again.Win Us Over, is a vivid, psychedelic, and panoramic thrust that is just as much for the ears as it is for the aura; an experience in a colorful and dense cloth of abrasiveness.Big beefy guitar riffs and melodic foreboding are soaked in Southern roadhouse whiskey, that just might be laced with psilocybin, and are hazed out through a kaleidoscopic squall that packs a walloping sonic punch.While the ingredients of stoner rock, psychedelic metal, and angst-ridden punk rock are apparent, ASG doesn't fit under any particular category. Be you a fan of plain ol' rock and roll and don sleeveless flannels while sucking down 22 ouncers and gettin' rowdy - or enjoy waxin' deep on the bong, Win Us Over lives up to it's namesake and ensures that come January 22nd 2008, ASG won't be knocking on any doors; they'll be knocking them down.Win Us Over is available now digitally and is set for physical release (CD &am; 2XLP) on January 22, 2008.
Album:
Largely, natives of North Carolina count themselves as lucky with your humble reviewer including himself as one among the masses. This is a state rich in history, culture, and varied in land, though without letting this sound any more like a brochure for would-be travelers, the intention must now be made for this description. Despite being a state with much to offer for residents and a prime destination for vacationers, the music scene for many years has been hit and miss. CORROSION OF CONFORMITY is perhaps the band most would select if asked to pick one from the Tarheel State. There are, however, many, many more that have enriched music with bands as diverse as ELDRITCH HORROR, WIDOW, and BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME. Throughout the years, the scene has seemed to come and go with its own erratic ebb and flow, though, as it seems that once something productive and solid is established, the next thing one knows, management has changed.Enter ASG. Hailing from Wilmington, the capital of the coast, the band formed back in 2001 and has been melting faces across the land ever since. As unique as their friends in other bands from the area such as BUZZOVEN, WEEDEATER, and SOURVEIN, it often seems the band, like their peers, has done better outside of NC in other locales. Despite the fact, though, that many other markets such as San Antonio or Philadelphia seem to have their own built-in crowds, it's without doubt that the band regards it as special when they play in their home state.Wilmington itself could be thought of as the east coast version of Portland. Though it is often a tourist hotspot, the natives see how times change as each tourist season seems to bring new names to venues that retain their location, and, darkly enough, the seedier side of the city seems to endure with more and more cases of overdoses and drug busts. Therefore, the larger point must be made that despite having a shaky music scene at times, the successful bands that call NC their home, with ASG being the prime example, are tight, talented, and original as they have managed to stand the test of time. The aforementioned conditions have fostered a band in ASG that have their own unique interpretation of heavy music no doubt tempered by their shared experiences in the dark underbelly of Wilmington itself."Survive Sunrise" is the band's first album in five years and is part two of the albums I would consider essential summer listening (for part one check out my review of the new LIZZY BORDEN here on Metal-Temple). The title track begins with an eerie combination of tremolo-effected guitar over some soft chords giving a heavy Spaghetti Western vibe. Soon, the full band comes in with a cleverly thick and driving sound while still maintaining the strange air of atmosphere. This song is unbelievably catchy, a perfect choice for title track, and ultimately, a full, ample display of the deft creativity behind this band. The third track, "Up From My Dreams," kicks the door in with some lacerating screams that are soon altered to more melodic Perry Farrell-type psychedelic passages singing of "Jesus and Mary swinging in the grape vines." One cannot help but feel the vibe of classic JANE'S ADDICTION running into Dax Riggs's more trippy moments during his tenure with ACID BATH.A very melodic and inventive bass line launches the fifth track, "Hawks on the Run," and is soon met with the rest of the band to form a head-trip of sound. When in the later part of the song the guitar and bass somehow meet to form a unison of their parts, it is pure sonic magic, the kind of melody that could only be crafted here in the South. "God Knows We," the eighth track, features one of the sickest, syncopated grooves this side of Dave Lombardo. With the hanging melody, the ASG vibe is achieved just in time to break into one of their megalithic choruses. The tenth track, "Weekend Money," bursts out of the gate with huge Southern-sounding pentatonic licks that resolve with a fat-bottomed bend that evokes Duane Allman and Pepper Keenan. "Florida Sleeps On" is the twelfth track and has a standard Stoner Rock meets Punk approach tough thankfully colored with the pristine shades of ASG as they sing of how the "Sunshine State explodes". At mid-point, one guitar plays a light-speed tremolo-picked melody while the rest of the band maintain an uber-slow grounding in one of the absolute highlights of the entire album.For those that are not in the loop, how can ASG best be defined? Perhaps the three strengths that top the list are dynamics, maturity, and delivery. ASG is the face of what modern Hard Rock and Heavy Metal should sound like. They achieve this by retaining all of the machismo of a storied history of sound and combining it with a head-fuck of syrupy harmonies and effects-driven guitar wash. The band is super-tight as they execute rhythms from complex to super-slow and never show any sign of faltering or losing the live vibe successfully captured in this studio offering. With harmonies, the band makes simple riffs sound fuller and more complicated riffs more palpable. The guitars are always doing at least two to three independent parts. Capitalizing on their Southern blood, the band uses a dual-guitar approach to paint pictures from the psychedelic to pummeling to the mastery of melody. The band is truly gifted with a singer who can do it all from piercing screams to melodic clean vocals that, despite sometimes invoking JANE'S ADDICTION, have their own unique vibe. ASG should appeal to fans of KYUSS, QUICKSAND, and ALABAMA THUNDERPUSSY among others. This is a band that is true to themselves and their convictions, and one that turns a collectively deaf ear to trends in the music scene. "Survive Sunrise" is therefore a prime choice for essential summer listening as it combines intensity with mood and shifting dynamics throughout creating its own trek through the mind via song.
Line Up:
Jason Shi- Guitar/ Vocals
Andy Ellis- Bass
Scott Key- Drums
Jonah Citty- guitar
Tracklist:
01. Survive Sunrise
02. Execution Thirst
03. Up From My Dreams
04. Lightning Song
05. Hawks On The Run
06. The Heaven Moon
07. Kubrick Colors
08. God Knows We
09. Heavy Scars
10. Weekend Money
11. Lamb Song
12. Florida Sleep On
+ Video "Lightning Song" (Official Video)
Download links for all albums only on our blog here: http://goodmetalandhar.do.am/
