Final Treason
A bit like a patchwork quilt, Final Treason has had various ‘interesting’ additions to its line-up throughout the band’s history. It wasn’t until early 2008, with thanks to a personal ad, that the Final Treason outfit was finally complete.
With “world domination” on their mind, the heavy metal four-piece are heavily influenced by the big metal greats, such as Metallica, Pantera, Machine Head, and Slipknot, which they use as a foundation for their music. What makes these guys stand out from the rest is that each band member’s individual influences bring to the table a new layer of sound that gives Final Treason a unique style and texture.
With layers of a more technical style of metal, like Lamb of God and Meshuggah, added to bass lines influenced by Black Sabbath, Mudvayne and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, with vocals akin to Faith No More, Final Treason is a band that has it down packed!
Rocking it live at the Leichhardt Lasers band competition presented by A Red Letter Day (Event Management), these guys say that performing in one of these comps is the best experience for an up-and-coming band, such as themselves, and the chance to win the prizes on offer can only sweeten the deal!
“It’s such a great opportunity for a new band to perform live to amazing crowds, with the added bonus of the chance to record an entire free EP by Megaphon Studios as a prize, and have it mastered by Sony Mastering!” said bassist Azz.
Veterans of the live music scene, having gigged individually for over a decade, Final Treason ripped up the stage at the Lasers comp, with a stellar reaction from the crowds!
“Nothing beats playing to a packed house! The crowd voted us to win, so it’s hard to get a better reaction than that”.
Final Treason will definitely be trekking the band comp scene to perfect their craft as a complete musical outfit.
“Watch out for us! We’ll be back for more band comps – anything that gives us the chance to quit our day jobs!”
“It’s a great opportunity for a band that wants to take itself seriously. If you expect to just turn up and win, think again. It’s not just another gig – it is a chance to be seen and judged by music industry professionals, so bring your A-game!”
Final Treason’s unique technical metal sound will be no stranger to the live music scene – so keep an eye out for these guys, they’re on A Red Letter Day’s Hot List!
Altar of Scion
No stranger to the band comp scene, Altar of Scion has smashed through the Sutherland Smash band comp presented by A Red Letter Day at Club Menai.
Starting off, as a band comprised of schoolmates, members have come and gone over the band’s time. The current outfit has only been hitting the gigging scene for the past 2 months!
With the motto Carpé Diem, Altar of Scion are enjoying living each moment while they’re playing their music – they aspire to be a band that will continue to experience life through their music and love playing it live.
A definite heavy metal/punk/rock band, Altar of Scion describes their sound as “a mix of humble melodies contrasted with harsh vocals.” This band is truly unique; the “Zen-ness” of their melodies is what makes their music stand out from the regular rhythms and vocals of a heavy metal band. Altar of Scion is the Garden of Eden meets Slipknot.
Hitting up the band comp scene, these guys are loving the awesome range of prizes and the opportunity to gain some experience and exposure. “The comps are good experience,” guitarist Cam explains. “A wise man once told us it took him 2 years of consistent gigging to become comfortable on stage, we’re just trying to speed that up!”
Naturally charismatic on stage, these lads can definitely get the crowds revved! The live experience is what this band is made for, and it shows when they’re interacting with the audience. “We love the live gigs! The crowd response varies at every gig but if you show a little stage presence and try and get the crowd involved they respond in kind”, they said.
As a young band, they acknowledge there’s room for improvement, which is totally refreshing!
Cam, notably the band’s funny-bone, says, “Another wise man once told us: ‘If you believe you’ve learnt everything on your instrument you’re a complete idiot.’ Everyone can always improve musically and we are no different”.
Keep an eye out for these guys, they’re keen and they’ll stay on the rise.
Burn the Dire Moments
Over the years Burn the Dire Moments have had newcomers and out-goers filtering through the band.
Originally a line-up of only two people, Brad (aka ‘B-rad’) and John joined musical forces and forged the beginnings of Burn the Dire Moments. Now, as a full 5-piece band, these guys have been trekking the scene for 2 and a half years, with no sign of calling it quits any time soon!
Playing-off against ripe competition in the Macarthur Clash band comp presented by A Red Letter Day at Ingleburn RSL, Burn the Dire Moments really proved their musical chutzpah when they pulled the crowd of the week.
From here, this band wants to keep smashing out the hits, and keep rolling forward with their tight and together brand of metal/rock music. “Our main goal is like every other band’s goal, we’d love to get our name out there and really build our fan base. We’d love to get heaps of fans going across other countries,” says drummer B-rad.
Whilst the band’s music is definitely influenced by bands such as I Killed The Prom Queen, Story Of The Year and Parkway Drive, the band are able to inject their own flavour into the mix, making their music a well constructed and an overall enjoyable listen.
These guys aren’t in it for the fantastic prizes that the A Red Letter Day band comps have to offer, they just want the experience – and what an experience it is proving to be! Burn the Dire Moments are through to the Semi Finals of the Macarthur Clash comp, and say, “actually…now that we’ve come this far we are trying our hardest to get the winning prize! But the experience is good too!”
“We’re going to be all over the band comp scene! The people that pull the competition off are awesome and the crowd responses are really good, no matter what your genre is”, says B-rad.
Darkest Illusion
Through the mateship and camaraderie of school, campfire songs and beach-lit bonfires, the Sydney metal/punk band, Darkest Illusion was born.
As individual musicians, Darkest Illusion have been hitting the live music scene for a few years with the aim of honing their craft to make their finished sound one of refined, pure quality.
“We really hope to play the major festivals too, like Download and Ozzfest. We also want to do a lot of touring with our music”, says Darkest Illusion bassist, Beavis.
To put it simply, these guys are a Metalcore/Hardcore band. Whilst it’s a great quality to have different layers to add to the sound quality of a band’s music, it’s also fantastic to see a band that just strips back, and gets back to the basics of metal music. With influences such as Parkway Drive, I Killed the Prom Queen, Carpathian, Killswitch Engage, As I Lay Dying, Darkest Hour and Metallica, Darkest Illusion is definitely heading down the right path!
Having only played as a full line-up since January 2008, these guys decided to hit up A Red Letter Day’s Macarthur Clash Band comp to get some live experience as a band under their belt.
“We just wanted to get started and get a few gigs going to really get the band used to playing in front of a crowd and get the band dynamic down packed. The prizes are just a bonus if we ever get far enough!”
As a rumbling ball of energy when seen live, these guys were made for the stage! And having had a taste of the band comp, and what it can offer an up-and-coming band’s musical drive, Darkest Illusion say they’ll be back for more comps, more prizes and more live music!
“These competitions are such a great way to get some experience and meet other bands. You get to bounce off them musically, and get feedback from some awesome industry professionals”.
Darkest Illusion is a band that has their head in the right place – they’re getting their music out there and taking over the world, one pub at a time!
With recommendations like these, why not get your band into A Red Letter Day’s band comp scene and win stacks of super-cool prizes! Just head to http://www.myspace.com/burgessbookings or email burgessbookings@bigpond.com
