I recently got an email from guitarist Jay Tarantino asking me to introduce his band, Shadows Of Dawn. Would you believe that I had to pick my teeth up after hearing these guys? Okay, not really, but these guys are pretty nasty! Vocally, I would like to hear a little bit more feeling, but musically, there is so much ear candy here that I couldn’t wait to keep shoving this music into my ears! The songs “Heavenfall,” “Dead In Your Eyes” and “Salvation Denied” are so technically sound that they kind of set themselves apart from the rest of the North Jersey pack a little bit.
Shadows Of Dawn formed back in 2000, but it wasn’t until recently that they found their niche and finalized their lineup. They’re the self-proclaimed “serial killers of speed metal,” and if you watch their WSOU video on the group’s ReverbNation page, you’ll understand why. The band combines heavy riffs and technical dual guitar attacks from Jay Tarantino and Rob Vicari with strings and synths from Dylan Roberts, aggressive and mean vocals from Dan Lassen, and a brutal rhythm section comprised of bassist Chris “Sandman” Targia and drummer Tom Cooke. According to their bio, each member in Shadows Of Dawn comes with a wealth of musical history, bringing them a wide variety of musical styles to help create something fresh and new—or so they say!
Shadows Of Dawn released their current five-song EP, Heliacal Rising, back in November 2011. The EP has done pretty well for the band since they’ve been able to use outlets such as iTunes and Amazon to sell it, and they’ve been performing everywhere possible to promote it. You can even catch them this Thursday night (12/27) with Julius Seizure and Thanatotic Desire at Dingbatz as part of Jose Mangin’s Hard Attack Thursdayz series. For more info on Shadows Of Dawn, log onto reverbnation.com/shadowsofdawn.
NORTH JERSEY NOTES UPDATES:
My boys from Atom Strange have been holding a mini-residency at Arlene’s Grocery in NYC. They’ve been playing there almost every Monday night in the month of December with their residency culminating on New Year’s Eve. So, if you want to stay away from Times Square and wouldn’t mind ringing in the New Year with my bros from Atom Strange, log onto arlenesgrocery.tunestub.com to buy your tickets now. You can also log onto atomstrange.com to find out more about this great NYC rock band.
Ethan Murphy and the Scars Of Envy boys have been partaking in some sort of ballot voting contest called Project Independent: The World’s Only Independent Metal Showcase. So, I actually went to vote, and the site was telling me that my vote wasn’t recorded. It sounds like a fixed contest to me! In any event, our North Jersey boys need your help. If you’re able to, log onto projectindependent.net/vote2012 to cast your vote for the band today, as voting ends on Dec. 30! I know that’s a few days away, but let’s make a final push to get them across the finish line! That is, of course, if the damn site works! You can also check the group out at scarsofenvy.com.
And finally, I swore that I would never waste ink on this band again because they lack respect and have no room for criticism. Okay, let me take that back, because I really like the rest of the band since the drummer’s son was in my old band, Mean Venus, and the bass player is pretty cool too, but this is directed at the singer of AUG, who came up to me after his set at Dingbatz during That Metal Show’s Christmas party and said to me, “See, Tim? We’re not as bad live as we are on tape!” and then walked away before I could even respond. Who does that? First of all, I’m one of the most approachable people on earth! Come up and talk to me! Don’t make a comment and walk away. Secondly, I wasn’t at Dingbatz to see your band because of the way you reacted to my critique of your band a few months ago here in North Jersey Notes. I was there to see my boys from Audio Machine and my bros Don Jamieson, Eddie Trunk, and Jim Florentine, which was the same reason why Dingbatz was so packed. It wasn’t because of your band. Besides, I wasn’t even paying attention to your group while you were playing to even make a judgment call on if you were better than your recordings or not. Most of the bands that I write about and support respect what I do for the scene and their bands. Not this guy AUG! For some reason, he thinks I have a personal vendetta against him, which I don’t. I just don’t pay attention to the little things in life. There, I said it! To the rest of you, have a happy and safe New Year!
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:
12/27—Julius Seizure/Thanatotic Desire/Shadows Of Dawn/Simensis—Dingbatz, Clifton, NJ
12/28—40 Below Summer/Thy Will Be Done/Darkness Descends/Mindswitch/Beyond Visible—Dingbatz, Clifton, NJ
12/28—A Clever Con/Rockit Fish/Exit 117/The Small Horse/Caisy Falzone/Our Fellow Savages—North Centerville Volunteer Fire Station, Hazlet, NJ
12/29—Lower The Veil/Ascending From Ashes/Pushing Eleven/The Falling Of Rose—The Blue Room, Secaucus, NJ
12/29—40 Below Summer/Seas Of Wake/Aurin/Empire Fallen—Dingbatz, Clifton, NJ
12/31—Atom Strange—Arlene’s Grocery, NYC
1/4/2013—The Dirty Pearls—The Bowery Ballroom, NYC
1/4/2013—Michale Graves/The Dead Elvi/The Unknown—Dingbatz, Clifton, NJ
1/5/2013—Fever Vein/Gas NYC/Voodoo Terror Tribe/Mordus—Dingbatz, Clifton, NJ
1/5/2013—BlackOcean—La Grand Fromage, Atlantic City, NJ
1/11/2013—Alekhine’s Gun/Seas Of Wake/Leech/Valor/Thanatotic Desire—The Studio at Webster Hall, NYC
1/12/2013— Scars Of Envy/Negative Sky/Beyond Visible/Shadows Of Dawn/The Optimist/Iratetion/A Need For Reason/Ixion Lux/Useless/Cover Her Face/Sydbarret/Ominous/Dead Fish Handshake/Ripface Invasion —Roxy and Dukes Roadhouse, Dunellen, NJ
1/13/2013—Ionia/Saint Diablo—Dingbatz, Clifton, NJ
1/13/2013—Lords Of Mercy—The Saint, Asbury Park, NJ
1/18/2013—Dead Fish Handshake/ Ed Kowalczyk—Bergen PAC, Englewood, NJ
1/18/2013—PT Grimm/Reese Van Riper/The Racer—Dingbatz, Clifton, NJ
1/19/2013—Attacker/Arctic Flame/Present Darkness/Operatika—Dingbatz, Clifton, NJ
1/25/2013—Robot Slaves/Spiritual Sickness/Spiral Out—Dingbatz, Clifton, NJ
1/26/2013—VOD/Carbomb/Slam One Down—Dingbatz, Clifton, NJ
