Now, I can’t remember for the life of me if I have ever written about this week’s feature band. I mean I’ve known of them for a while, and they’ve even played many shows with friends of mine. So, if I’ve written about them already, “Lucky you! You get to read about them again!” The name of the band is Dispute To Flames and they’re from Paramus, NJ. They recently had the opportunity to open a pretty big show down at Dingbatz in Clifton, NJ, for God Forbid. Upon giving their songs “Marching In The Red Land” and “Fake Before Beauty” a listen, I felt that they had the Jersey metal sound down to a “T” with great guitar riffs. Here’s what I didn’t understand: These guys have been around for a while, and you would think that their sound would be developed by now and their recordings would be top notch, but I felt quite the opposite. The recordings made them sound like a bunch of kids playing in a garage recording onto an analog tape.
Dispute To Flames is four guys with four different influences and styles thrown together into one band. They formed in October 2004 in lovely Paramus, NJ, and claim to have accomplished a lot since their inception. They’ve played venues like the late CBGBs in NYC, the Starland Ballroom in Sayreville, NJ, on numerous occasions, and the Electric Factory in Philly, just to name a few places. The band consists of singer Andrew Padilla, guitarist Chris Ecochard, bassist Steve Koob, and drummer Nick Repice.
After taking a year off, Dispute To Flames made their return to Dingbatz in 2009, but parted ways with rhythm guitarist, Mike Koenig. No, I’m not talking about the Mike Koenig from LowBuz. Though the band feels that they’ve gotten by just fine as a four-piece, they feel that a replacement for Mike will fill out the sound of the band. So, if you live in the Paramus area and are a metal guitar player, contact these guys as soon as possible. If you want to give them a listen first, log onto myspace.com/disputetoflames.
NORTH JERSEY NOTES UPDATES:
My bro Steve Brown of Trixter fame recently sent me an email saying that he just finished producing and performing two songs for the new Liberty N Justice CD, Light It Up. For those of you scratching your heads thinking Liberty N Justice? It’s sort of an ‘80s hair band All-Star compilation Christian rock band. Did that make any sense? It’s basically a compilation CD of Christian rock songs featuring some of your favorite hair band members. The new CD, Light It Up, features Steve Brown and Pete Loran of Trixter, WWE Superstar Chris Jericho of Fozzy with Phil Collen of Def Leppard, Marq Torien of the Bullet Boys and Chris Holmes of W.A.S.P., and Ted Poley of Danger Danger and Vic Rivera of Crunch. You get the idea.
Anyway, Steve said that he produced his and Pete’s song, “Wrestling With God,” and Jericho and Phil Collen’s song, “Best Time You Never Had.” You can pre-order the CD, Light It Up, now at libertynjustice.net. You can also catch Steve Brown and Trixter next month, Fe. 26, at Mexicali Live in Teaneck, NJ. For more info, log onto stevebrownmusic.biz.
Local guitar wiz Angel Vivaldi has a new CD out. It’s an EP called The Speed Of Dark. All I have to say is “Bravo, Angel! Bravo!” I think that when I first featured Angel Vivaldi, I called him a modern day Joe Satriani, but after hearing tracks like “Acid Reign” and “As The Sky Lay Burning,” I’d have to start calling him the metal Satriani on steroids! This kid is good and he’s starting to make a name for himself on the scene. Besides being a solo act, he’s also played guitar for With Daggers Drawn and now he’s tearing it up with Black Market Hero featuring Max Illidge. Angel is young, but what a future ahead of him! Thank you Steve Bello for introducing me to this new guitar hero! Check out Angel Vivaldi at myspace.com/AngelVivaldi.
And finally, my bro Eddie Night from Ten Feet From Murder, has a new project about to hit the streets. Eddie’s teamed up with some pretty heavy hitters too! His new project is called Murder League All Stars, and it features Tim Mc Murtrie from Rhythm Trip and M.O.D. on guitar, Jeff Wood from Dillinger Escape Plan and Shat on bass, and Bill Lester from Pave The Way on drums. Now that’s an All-Star line-up! Eddie threatens that the band will be hitting stages shortly with their version of rap-metal. They’ve even posted a teaser video on YouTube stating that they will be here in January. Well, boys! It’s January! Check out the Murder League All Stars at myspace.com/murderleagueallstars.
That’s all for now! And remember, if your band is from North Jersey, and you want some exposure, send your demos and press kits to Arts Weekly, c/o Tim Louie P.O. Box 1140 Little Falls, NJ 07424. No cover bands, please! Also, if you haven’t checked out my podcast yet, do it now at northjerseynotes.mypodcast.com.
Just remember….We’re all in the same boat, so every little bit of exposure counts!
NJN Concert Calendar:
1/22—Deathrash (CD Release Party)—Dingbatz, Clifton, NJ
1/22—Rahway—The Local 269, NYC
1/22—Kosmic Daydream—The Blue Room, Secaucus, NJ
1/22—Steve Brown—Beachcomber Bar, Seaside Heights, NJ
1/23—TRIMM—Crossroads, Garwood, NJ
1/23—Deathrash (CD Release Party)—Duff’s, Brooklyn, NY
1/24—Angel Vivaldi—Crossroads, Garwood, NJ
1/24—Bled For Glory/Lamps Burning/Auraborus—Dingbatz, Clifton, NJ
1/25—Diablo Royale/Charetta (Diablo Royale CD Release Party)—Gramercy Theater, NYC
1/27—Steve Brown—The Copper Bottom, Florida, NY
1/29—Lamps Burning—Bowery Poetry Club, NYC
1/29—Atom Strange—The Delancey, NYC
1/30—Steve Brown—The Grasshopper Also, Carlstadt, NJ
1/30—Rahway—Market Street, Bangor, PA
1/30—Swear On Your Life—Crash Mansion, NYC
2/4—Killcode—John Varvatos (Old CBGB’s), NYC
2/5—Kosmic Daydream—Clash Bar, Clifton, NJ
2/6—Mean Venus/Sebastian Bach/Z02—Starland Ballroom, Sayreville, NJ
2/6—Charetta—Mr. Beery’s, Bethpage, NY
2/6—Lamps Burning—Bar East, NYC
