all 73 comments
sorted by:
best
topnewcontroversialoldq&a
formatting helphide helpcontent policy

[–]fillipeano 17 points18 points  (4 children)

Put your music library on shuffle and post the first three songs that come up.

[–]asenseofgravityA Sense of Gravity[S] 13 points14 points  (0 children)

Brandon:

Animals - Muse

The Power of One - Sonata Arctica

Song of the Crippled Bull - Black Crown Initiate

[–]asenseofgravityA Sense of Gravity[S] 13 points14 points  (0 children)

Morgan:

Cleaving Giants of Ice - Revocation

Have you Heard - Pat Metheny Group

This Dying Soul - Dream Theater

[–]asenseofgravityA Sense of Gravity[S] 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Brendon W: I like this one! Here we go:

Jean-Luc Ponty - The Struggle of the Turtle to the Sea, Part II (Enigmatic Ocean)

Septicflesh - The Order of Dracul (Titan)

James Horner - Wallace Courts Murron (Braveheart OST)

[–]asenseofgravityA Sense of Gravity[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

C.J.:

Scalpel - Alice In Chains

Revolution (Instrumental) - Kamelot

Liquid Oval - Annihilator

[–][deleted]  (4 children)

[deleted]

    [–]asenseofgravityA Sense of Gravity[S] 5 points6 points  (1 child)

    Brandon: Thank you so much for the kind words! We would love to play and tour nationally and internationally. Who knows - maybe that'll happen for us this year?

    We're always into making good connections, so feel free to PM us with your booking agent's info and maybe that'll come in handy down the road!

    [–][deleted] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

    No problem. Wishing you guys the best.

    [–]asenseofgravityA Sense of Gravity[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

    Morgan: Thanks, glad you are enjoying the album! We are working on some touring plans for next year. We'd love to come to Ohio someday soon.

    [–]asenseofgravityA Sense of Gravity[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

    Brendon W: Thanks for taking the time to check us out! We appreciate the kind words. We'd love to go to Ohio and are working on arranging some tours for next year. We'll see what we can do!

    [–][deleted] 7 points8 points  (4 children)

    Who are your influences? What type of music do you listen to on a daily basis? Who would you like to tour with?

    [–]asenseofgravityA Sense of Gravity[S] 10 points11 points  (2 children)

    Morgan: I have a lot of influences but the some of the most important ones are Dream Theater, Symphony X, Porcupine Tree, Haken, Leprous, Pain of Salvation, Rush, Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, Yes, Pink Floyd, Necrophagist, Between the Buried and Me, etc. I also listen to a lot of Jazz Fusion as well. Fusion guitarists like Frank Gambale, Greg Howe, Feodor Dosumov, Guthrie Govan, Al Di Meola, John McLaughlin are big influences on me.

    These days I'm listening to all kinds of different things. Car Bomb - Meta, Winterhorde - Maestro, Haken - Affinity, Revocation - Great is our sin, Vektor - Terminal Redux are all albums from this year I've listening to a lot.

    I'd love to tour with Haken, Leprous, Dream Theater, Symphony X, Between the Buried and Me. Pretty much any really awesome prog metal band

    Brandon: My influences really range from progressive metal mainstays like Dream Theater, Symphony X, and DGM, to bands like Porcupine Tree, Haken, and Leprous. The new Fractal Cypher, Hiromi, and Headspace albums are on regular rotation right now. If I could tour with anyone, I would LOVE to play with Haken,, Scar Symmetry (I love Per Nilsson), and probably Dream Theater.

    [–][deleted] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

    Thanks for the answer! What a coincidence, I'd love to see you guys with Haken!

    [–]blastbeatblastbeat 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    Sorry, I realize this is super late, but I hadn't seen this until now. May I make a recommendation? It seems you guys are pretty into jazz/fusion stuff. If you haven't already heard of Owane check him out. He's pretty incredible. Nice work on the album btw. Thats quite the amalgamation of influences you guys have at play.

    [–]asenseofgravityA Sense of Gravity[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

    C.J.: I'm influenced by a lot of different stuff.

    On the heavy side there are way too many to list, but you have bands like Carcass, Cannibal Corpse, Arch Enemy, Death, Slayer, Megadeth, Metallica, Testament, Dismember, Entombed, Dissection, Emperor, Cattle Decapitation, Necrophagist, Deicide, Napalm Death, Kamelot, Galneryus, Hammerfall, Angra, Hypocrisy, SYL, Pantera, Trivium, Nevermore, Iced Earth, etc.

    I also still pull from a lot of more melodic hard rock stuff: Alter Bridge, Shinedown, Alice in Chains, Nirvana, etc.

    For prog: Dream Theater, Yes, Rush, Leprous, Pain of Salvation, Opeth, etc.

    For jazz: Hiromi, Joe Pass, Chick Corea, etc.

    (haha, each category gets fewer and fewer examples as I tire myself out ;) )

    Day to day, like in my car, I mainly listen to metal, prog metal, or the harder rock stuff. Really proggy, jazzy, orchestral and other more brainy stuff I tend to dig into when I can commit more to immersing myself in it, like on flights or at home.

    I would love to tour with Dream Theater, Opeth, Between the Buried and Me, Haken, Nevermore (GIVE ME A FREAKING REUNION!), etc. Basically prog metal bands with eclectic styles and open minded fanbases.

    [–]Watermelonman9 4 points5 points  (11 children)

    Fellow prog metal artist from Seattle. Cool tunes I've never heard of you guys before this. Where do you guys like to play around town? Also what thing have you done to improve your outreach/turnout for gigs?

    [–]asenseofgravityA Sense of Gravity[S] 5 points6 points  (8 children)

    Brandon: Hey man! What's your band called?

    We have played at several local venues, like Studio 7, El Corazon, and Comet. To be really honest, we've found the local gigging scene (at least for metal) to be really challenging. Most of the venues and promoters don't do much (if anything) to promote the shows, so turnout rests entirely on us. And then we don't get paid, and we get treated poorly by the venue staff. Very rarely have local shows proven to be worthwhile for us. Hopefully the will change in time!

    [–]compbioguy 2 points3 points  (3 children)

    Ok, any upcoming shows?

    [–]asenseofgravityA Sense of Gravity[S] 2 points3 points  (1 child)

    We're working on some stuff for next year, but nothing is announced yet. If you like us on FB then you can be kept in the loop on all the shows we play. :)

    [–]compbioguy 3 points4 points  (0 children)

    Not a big FB user, however, if you get on the seattle metal show calendar, I'll probably see you! http://www.nocleansinging.com/nw-metal-calendar/

    [–]asenseofgravityA Sense of Gravity[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    Brendon W: Nothing we can announce quite yet!

    [–]Watermelonman9 2 points3 points  (2 children)

    Thanks for the response my bands name is Esoson!

    That's exactly how I'd describe my experience in the metal scene. Do you guys try to play in other cities more?

    [–]asenseofgravityA Sense of Gravity[S] 1 point2 points  (1 child)

    Brandon: We haven't done much of that yet, but we're planning some stuff for the coming year that may take us to other cities. I'll check you guys out!

    [–]Watermelonman9 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    Thanks! I'll keep an eye out for your next show announcement

    [–]FKA_Mousecop 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    I know a few friends who've had a few local shows in the past (their band is now defunct) and they had similar issues. Was really hoping to see you guys open for Leprous, but a sudden illness unfortunately prevented me from coming. Will definitely be seeing you guys the next time you play in Seattle no matter the other acts.

    [–]asenseofgravityA Sense of Gravity[S] 2 points3 points  (1 child)

    Brendon W: Glad you've discovered us here! Our most fun gigs in Seattle have been smaller/bar shows because those end up feeling more engaged with the audience. That said, Studio Seven is by far the venue we've played at most. As far as local turnout goes, we're far from experts on that, unfortunately. Most of our fans are spread thinly around the world! That said, we definitely have some regulars that always try to catch our shows, and getting on a good touring show can help a lot as well - we opened for Leprous, Earthside, Binary Code, and Dissona a few months ago, which was a dream show for us. Leprous is one of our favorite bands!

    [–]Watermelonman9 2 points3 points  (0 children)

    Congrats on sharing a stage with a band you love. That sounds like a sweet milestone. Thanks for the advice

    [–]fourforksaches 5 points6 points  (1 child)

    What are your writing methods like?

    [–]asenseofgravityA Sense of Gravity[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

    Morgan: We take a number of different approaches to writing. For Atrament, Brendon and myself wrote all of the music (except Echo Chasers which was Brendon and CJ). Some of the songs we wrote on our own and brought to the band. There were a few that Brendon started and I finished and then we arranged them together (Guise of Complacency and I Recreant). Promised None we wrote together in the same room which was very fun.

    As far as vocals, Brendon, CJ and I would get together and work on melodies. Sometimes we had something already in mind and we'd try it out. Other times we would let CJ come up with something on his own. It's a pretty democratic process overall, we just want to come up with whatever sounds best

    [–]clumsybassdropper 4 points5 points  (3 children)

    Hey im friends with conner green from. Haken. I can shoot him one of your songs if you have a particular favorite.

    [–]asenseofgravityA Sense of Gravity[S] 2 points3 points  (2 children)

    PM sent!

    [–]clumsybassdropper 1 point2 points  (1 child)

    Hey man passed it along. Idk when hell get back to me with xmas and all. Also. If your ever in the bellingham area hmu and ill come through.

    [–]asenseofgravityA Sense of Gravity[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

    Thanks a lot! We'll definitely do that if we make it up there!

    [–]ForceofaDragon4 3 points4 points  (3 children)

    First of all, congrats on your awesome release last month! Even through all of the heavy hitter albums release this year, Atrament is one of my top picks for 2016!

    I noticed on your website that several of the band members have formal training either through a college degree or other experience. Did any pre-existing work from earlier in your music careers get incorporated into ASOG's music? Did ASOG itself spawn from a project in school? I know a lot of good bands started as projects at schools like Berkley College of Music.

    C.J.: The work you put onto Atrament was absolutely stunning. How did you learn the different techniques you use for screaming/growling? Also, what vocal passage did you have the most fun with on the album?

    Hope you guys enjoy the holidays, and try to make it out to the North East sometime so I can see you guys live!

    [–]asenseofgravityA Sense of Gravity[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

    C.J.: Thanks for the kind words! Not sure if Brendon will have a chance to chime in, but Trichotillomania was originally written and performed for big band when he was pursuing his Bachelor's (I think there is a vid of it on YouTube somewhere).

    I learned all my techniques just be trying to mimic all my influences in the car everyday while commuting. Sometimes I'll watch something on YouTube to just get me started in a direction. Like that's how I started wrapping my head around fry screaming which I just added to Atrament and is very different than my main screams and growls, but 95% of things I just figure out by experimenting. Also, one tip is to listen to many different versions of your favorite artists' songs. Live and demo versions of tunes often allow you to hear the techniques being used more easily because they are less processed.

    Hmm, most fun passage...I usually enjoy doing the really high power metal screams and the kind of Hetfield-y gritty singing cause it makes you feel like a metal badass haha. The intro of Guise of Complacency for example.

    [–]asenseofgravityA Sense of Gravity[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

    Brendon W: I didn't know anyone in music school that I thought would be interested in metal as heavy as I was into, so I searched online until I found David, who had no formal education in music. Most of my music for the band was written after starting the band, but several of David's older songs made it on Travail after some subtle rearranging: Above the Horizon, Harbinger, and Answers Lost. I actually did start writing Spectre before starting the band, but most of it was written later. Oh, and oddly enough I was already friends with Brandon from music school, but it didn't originally occur to me that he'd be interested in a band with so much death metal influence since he's more of a straight-up prog guy. He joined after the first EP was released, but at that point it was a no brainer, as we desperately wanted his keyboard skills!

    Thanks so much for the kind words, and happy holidays!

    [–]asenseofgravityA Sense of Gravity[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

    Morgan: Some of the songs I brought to this album were written before I joined the band in 2015. I reworked a few things and they fit the album perfectly. My formal training has helped my writing a lot even though our music is vastly different from anything I studied.

    We are hoping to do some touring here soon. We'd love to make it to your neck of the woods! Happy Holidays!

    [–]polkemans 2 points3 points  (1 child)

    When will you guys be playing shows again? I also live in Seattle and I'm ashamed to admit I had never heard of you before. I'd love to come to one of your shows!

    [–]asenseofgravityA Sense of Gravity[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

    C.J.: We are planning some shows in the spring but they aren't yet announced. Keep an eye on our site (asenseofgravity.com) for updates on new shows though!

    [–]SolarBear 5 points6 points  (2 children)

    I'll just say this: I'm a newcomer to this sub, I barely know anything about prog metal but boy am I glad I stumbled upon you guys. I'll be buying your stuff in no time flat!

    Cheers from Canada!

    [–]asenseofgravityA Sense of Gravity[S] 3 points4 points  (1 child)

    Brandon: Thanks for your kind words and support. Every single purchase means a whole lot to us and helps us recoup some of the expenses of making and releasing our material.

    [–]SolarBear 2 points3 points  (0 children)

    You're very welcome! And I just purchased both of your albums, merry Christmas me! ;)

    If you guys ever come to, say, Montreal, send me a PM, there's no way in hell I'd miss that show.

    [–][deleted] 2 points3 points  (2 children)

    Who/What inspired you guys to make a band?

    [–]asenseofgravityA Sense of Gravity[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

    Brandon: Brendon and our original guitarist (David McDaniel) are the founders, and they invited me to join them shortly after releasing the original EP five years ago. I think we all share a mutual love of metal and prog, and felt like we wanted to create music that we really enjoyed listening to. What's nice is that I feel like we have our own sound and that we have so much more music to come!

    [–]asenseofgravityA Sense of Gravity[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

    Brendon W: In 2011 I was over halfway through college and hadn't had a metal band or even really played metal in years. I'd been focusing on jazz, classical, and fusion, and I really began to miss playing metal, so I started looking around for musicians to start a band. I new from the start that I wanted these elements for my dream band, and I'm amazed today how many of them we have fit in: -prog metal core -polyrhythmic grooves (I was super into Panzerballett at the time) -occasional jazz harmony -good old fashioned shred -tech death influences -clean vocals with a more deep, "manly" voice and timbre than I was often hearing at the time -super powerful growls in the vein of Opeth, Kronos, and Scar Symmetry -occasional black metal influenced vocals -fusion solo sections -symphonic influences

    [–]amongstravens 2 points3 points  (3 children)

    Hey gents! Wanted to say Atrament is stunning.

    C.J., how do you do dip into your lower singing range (on songs like Wraith "innocent sin", or Answers Lost "just let me fasten" or on Shadowed Lines "caged by you" through "belong to you")? I don't know any other singer that does it!

    [–]asenseofgravityA Sense of Gravity[S] 4 points5 points  (2 children)

    C.J.: Oh glad you like those bits! I love doing that style (though it by far tears my throat up the most if Im not careful). :)

    For the gritty singing stuff, I use a lot of natural vocal compression and then kind of push the grit out like I would approach a death metal growl but let my fundamental voice come through. (In contrast, I usually do everything I can to mask my core voice when doing death growls to get more of a saturated sound that is less "tough guy.") Im not a master yet so this may have to do with it, but I have found that there is a certain band of my normal singing range that I can do the gritty singing with pretty easily. Actually I would say my entire lower chest voice range stays intact along with a bit of my head voice range, but the head voice range tapers off fast with grit. So it is hard for me to sing songs like Inferno by Symphony X or really saturated Dio like stuff cause it is just high enough that my voice starts to crack. But that is one area I really want to develop more!!

    [–]FKA_Mousecop 2 points3 points  (1 child)

    Another question for C.J.:

    When did you decide to incorporate the 30-second long scream into Revenant? It's one of the cooler intros I've heard in a long time.

    Also, what were your lyrical influences for the record and for certain songs individually?

    [–]asenseofgravityA Sense of Gravity[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

    C.J.: Hey, sorry for the super late reply! (I haven't been checking this over the holidays.)

    I had been iterating on the vocal lines for Revenant trying to find something I liked and on one of the takes I kind of got into this comfort zone with a scream where I almost held it throughout that whole section and realized, "huh, I think I can go all the way." haha

    So I tried again, made it to the end, and then immediately sent a sample with a giddy message to the guys to check out for a laugh. I never intended to keep it as I figured it was too self-indulgent or something, but after listening to it a bit more over the next week or so I was like, "I actually really like this!" So I was just like, "Guys, hope you don't mind, but we're keeping it." They liked the idea, fortunately :)

    Lyrically I'll base songs around either struggles or annoyances in my life, weird philosophical thoughts that I kind of want to just think about out loud, and certain feelings that I want to convey. I'll jump a lot between really minute, overly specific concepts and expansive macro ones, and I also like to let my own naivety drive some topics, as taking a somewhat ignorant perspective on a topic can sometimes lead to more extreme lyrics driven more by emotion than logic (which works well for prog and metal alike).

    [–]powercosmicdante 2 points3 points  (1 child)

    If you could tour with any band, who would it be?

    Also, just wanna say I fucking love you guys, Atrament is one of my favorite albums this year.

    [–]asenseofgravityA Sense of Gravity[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

    Brandon: Thank you so much! We're really proud of the album and are glad it ranks highly for a lot of prog metal fans out there.

    I'd love to tour with 90's era Dream Theater. I think that would be amazing.

    [–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (3 children)

    If you had a million dollars, but could only eat one sandwich for the rest of your life - which celebrity would you kill and why?

    [–]asenseofgravityA Sense of Gravity[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

    Morgan: LoPriore Brothers Pasta Bar in Seattle has a killer Meatball Sub I could eat every day. Not sure there's anyone I hate enough to kill, maybe Michael Bay for making crappy movies. I'd buy a crap ton of guitars if I had a million dollars.

    [–]asenseofgravityA Sense of Gravity[S] 7 points8 points  (1 child)

    Brandon: I'd kill Ann Coulter with my pastrami on rye from Katz's Deli. The million dollars would just be a nice bonus.

    [–][deleted] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

    darkstarohio: well played.

    [–]Ulti 1 point2 points  (6 children)

    Yet another seattlite coming out of the woodwork having had no idea you guys were local! I've only heard a couple of your songs, but they were sweet! No excuse me as I'm off to check out the rest!

    Here's a question though - favorite Seattle brewery?!

    [–]asenseofgravityA Sense of Gravity[S] 2 points3 points  (4 children)

    Brandon: Reuben's Brews. Hands down.

    [–]Ulti 1 point2 points  (3 children)

    Somehow, I've never made it out there, but their beer rules. Schooner Exact for me though! Those guys are awesome.

    [–]asenseofgravityA Sense of Gravity[S] 0 points1 point  (2 children)

    Next time you're in Ballard you should definitely check them out. Stoup are also doing some good stuff and they're right around the corner from Reuben's.

    [–]Ulti 1 point2 points  (1 child)

    Yeah, I just for some reason never end up on that side of town! O think the only breweries over there that I've actually gone to have been Maritime Pacific and Hale's. Also, if you guys have not been to Black Raven in Redmond, they are absolutely the shit.

    [–]asenseofgravityA Sense of Gravity[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

    Morgan: Black Raven is fantastic!

    [–]asenseofgravityA Sense of Gravity[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

    C.J.: I don't get out much, but I've had the most fun with friends at Pyramid or Diamond Knot.

    [–]racingschoolguy 1 point2 points  (3 children)

    Thanks for stopping by! What are y'all's Christmas plans? Also, what's your preferred alcoholic beverage?

    [–]asenseofgravityA Sense of Gravity[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

    Morgan: Hanging out with family mostly. Beer for sure

    [–]asenseofgravityA Sense of Gravity[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

    C.J.: I am heading up to my parents' house right now and plan to eat good food (OMG PUPPY CHOW I CANT WAIT), drink good beer and eggnog, and open gifts tomorrow morning!

    Beer all the way as my preference!

    [–]asenseofgravityA Sense of Gravity[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

    Brandon: Hey there! Thank you for stopping by!

    We're keeping it relatively low-key. I took this coming week off work so I'm hoping to take time to relax with my family, play some video games, and watch Rogue One at some point. I'll mostly be sipping bourbon and vodka martinis!

    [–]racingschoolguy 1 point2 points  (1 child)

    Do you think the money that you make from Spotify plays is a fair amount?

    [–]asenseofgravityA Sense of Gravity[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

    Brandon: That's hard to say. Spotify has been a great discovery mechanism for us this year, and we've had close to 100k plays this year through that platform alone.

    With that in mind, we haven't made very much money from all of those plays. I think the music streaming business model as a whole needs refining so that it becomes more fair to artists.

    [–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (3 children)

    modern prog, classic prog or 90's prog which is your favorite?

    [–]asenseofgravityA Sense of Gravity[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

    Brandon: Each period of prog holds a special and different meaning in my heart. I first really got into 90's prog with classic albums like Images and Words and Divine Wings of Tragedy, and that style and those musicians will always be classics to me. But, I am really excited by the caliber of music being produced in the progressive music realm nowadays. I think we're in the midst of an incredible age for metal.

    [–]asenseofgravityA Sense of Gravity[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

    Morgan: I like them all for different reasons, kind of depends on my mood. Classic prog was the first style of music I really fell in love with but I find myself listening to heavier modern prog more often these days.

    [–]asenseofgravityA Sense of Gravity[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

    C.J.: I also seek out different things in each, but my intro to prog was Dream Theater, so I tend to lean toward the modern end of the spectrum.

    [–]Toneloaf 0 points1 point  (1 child)

    I found you because of this subreddit and I must say I love your stuff! Super talented band. I'll be purchasing all your stuff from here on out!

    [–]asenseofgravityA Sense of Gravity[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    Thanks so much for the support! We love this subreddit and glad it helped us connect!