The winner of this year’s Headbang For The Highway Battle Of The Bands last month was an amazing North Jersey band called Thanatotic Desire. What did they win? A spot on the New Jersey stop of this year’s Mayhem Festival this Friday (7/27) at the Susquehanna Bank Center in Camden. When I heard how many bands they beat out to win the battle, I had to give them a listen on their ReverbNation page—and they ripped my face off! A well-deserved win, I must say. Their songs “….And So We Listen,” “Metal Never Sleeps,” and “Knights Of Nocturne” were mere ear candy and full-blown technical metal at its finest!
Thanatotic Desire has actually been around since 2007 and they’ve made quite a name for themselves on the NJ metal scene. Speaking of names, where does the name come from? Well, apparently, the word thanatotic comes from the Greek word “thanatos,” which is the primal urge for death, decay and destruction. The band’s name comes from the desire for the three “D”s. Thanatotic Desire honed in on their skill from 2007 until now performing at just about every club Jersey has to offer opening for national acts like God Forbid, 40 Below Summer, The Black Dahlia Murder, GWAR, Whitechapel, and Darkest Hour. These big shows led to the attention of WSOU’s Street Patrol, garnering the band much of their well-deserved airplay. This airplay would lead to a gig on the Slave To The Metal Festival. The band’s current lineup consists of four members: singer/bassist Will Winton, lead guitarist Ben Moore, rhythm guitarist Anthony “Mace” Capozzi, and drummer Dave Frech. Winton wasn’t always the band’s lead singer, though. In early 2012, Thanatotic Desire parted ways with singer Tom Gilmartin, who left the band to take care of his family.
The quartet debuted their self-released CD, Deathwish, in 2011 on iTunes, amazon.com and Spotify, with hard copies of the CD being sold at their shows or on their online store, thanatoticdesire.bigcartel.com. You know that you want to get to the Mayhem Festival early this Friday, so do yourself a favor and get there early enough to get your fill of Thanatotic Desire. You can also check them out on thanatoticdesire.com. Expect a brain melting when you hear this stuff.
NORTH JERSEY NOTES UPDATES:
New Jersey’s number one surfer group, The Brigantines, have released their latest CD, Vacation, this week! How did they celebrate their CD release? They played Joey Harrison’s Surf Club with the legendary surf rocker himself, Dick Dale. If you missed that incredible show, The Brigantines are having their official CD release party for Vacation this Friday night (7/27) at the Verve Lounge in Somerville, NJ. For more info on The Brigantines, log onto thebrigantines.com, where you can also buy a copy of Vacation.
How about my boys from Scarlet Carson? They landed an opening slot for Papa Roach a couple of weeks ago at the House Of Blues in Atlantic City. That was a huge gig for the boys and from what I heard, they killed it! You can catch Scarlet Carson live this Saturday night (7/28) when they headline the Starland Ballroom. Also performing will be Life Without Warning and Set It Free. Find out more about this show on facebook.com/scarletcarsonnj and don’t forget to vote for Scarlet Carson to get on the Uproar Festival while you’re on there.
And finally, next weekend is the big Rockin’ The Lake show up at the Pompton Lakes Elks Lodge and the headliner is the mighty Kix! If you haven’t bought your tickets for this event yet, you’re going to miss out! Also performing are my bros Black Water Rising, Our Black Friday, Peter Baron Band, Adrenalize (The Def Leppard Tribute Band), and DJ Alex Kayne. Buy your tickets for Rockin’ The Lake now before next Saturday (8/4) or you’ll be too late! Log onto rockinthelake.org for more info.
That’s all for now! If your band is from North Jersey, and you want some exposure, send your press kits to Arts Weekly, c/o Tim Louie P.O. Box 1140, Little Falls, NJ 07424, or you can email me at tim@theaquarian.com, where you can also let me know where you’re performing next!
Just remember….We’re all in the same boat, so every little bit of exposure counts!
Tim Louie is the Author of S**t Happens.
NJN Concert Calendar:
7/27—Thanatotic Desire—Susquehanna Bank Center, Camden, NJ
7/27—Adema/Fever Vein—Dingbatz, Clifton, NJ
7/27—Trixter—Mohegan Sun, Wilkes-Barre, PA
7/27—The Brigantines—The Verve Lounge, Somerville, NJ
7/27—Gotham Rocks Unplugged Presents: The Lost/Mother/Revel 9/Tom Pino (of Ghosts Of Eden)/Last Stand For Lucy—Local 269, NYC
7/28—Scarlet Carson/Life Without Warning/Set It Free—Starland Ballroom, Sayreville, NJ
7/28—Panzie*–The Hampton Bowl, Hampton, NY
7/28—Steve Brown—The Beachcomber Bar, Seaside Heights, NJ
7/30—Steve Brown—The Beachcomber Bar, Seaside Heights, NJ
8/1—Steve Brown—Valley Stables, Oakland, NJ
8/2—Julius Seizure/Thanatotic Desire—Dingbatz, Clifton, NJ
8/4—Black Water Rising/Kix/Our Black Friday—Rockin’ The Lake Summer Festival, Pompton Lakes, NJ
8/4—The Brigantines—Harvey Cedars, Long Beach Island, NJ
8/4—Mass Punishment—The Brighton Bar, Long Branch, NJ
8/10—The Brigantines—Langosta Lounge, Asbury Park, NJ
8/11—Panzie*–The Legendary Dobbs, Philadelphia, PA
8/14—Steve Brown—Rhodes North Tavern, Sloatsburg, NY
8/16—Scarlet Carson—The Delancey, NYC
8/16—Steel Panther/The Bad News—Starland Ballroom, Sayreville, NJ
8/16—Steve Brown and Dennis Zimmer—Sands Casino, Bethlehem, PA
8/17—InDisguise—Le Grande Fromage, Atlantic City, NJ
8/18—John Rango and Friends—The Canal Day Festival, Wharton, NJ
8/18—Steve Brown and Dennis Zimmer—Sand Bar, Brielle, NJ
