You Must Learn to Shine

I love music. So does Dash. We love music a whoooooole bunch. When I hear a song or an album that I really like, I'll listen to it over and over and over again. I bet a lot of you out there do the same. Whenever I go to a local or smaller show (concert), I try to get there when doors open because you never know when a band you don't know might blow you away.

I went to a local NJ show a few years ago that my friends set up that had a bunch of bands with friends of mine in them. There was also a band I had never heard/seen before. People have told me I saw them once before, but I think I was outside of the venue when they played. The band played and I was completely blown away. That doesn't happen too often to any of I think, so right away I bought a cd and talked to one of the guitarists and the keyboardist.

That band was The Green Evening Requiem. That cd I bought was two demos and quickly became one of my all time favorites. Now, years later, the drummer is one of my best friends and the band has gone through a billion changes. Until recently, the line-up was, to put it simply, wack-a-doo. A guitarist left, one of the founding members left, another guitarist joined, and then the keyboardist, who became the lead guitarist, left as well. Now the line-up is solid. It's made up of the brothers Evan (drums) and Shane Madden (bass) and Woe mastermind Chris Grigg (guitar).

And on the 14th of March, they released their first "real" album. This is in no way disparaging to their first release, all I mean is that this is an ALBUM. Not two amazing demos put together. It was a long road to get it finished, with tons of obstacles and bumps along the way. But it is finally available.

I'm biased about TGER. Evan, Shane and Chris have all been awesome to me. And the inner circle consists of awesome people as well. I've felt nothing but love coming from them to their fans. However, listening to the album objectively, I can honestly say it's great. I think the way I knew it was when I was trying to compare a song to another metal band, and I couldn't. I mean, they have influences definitely: Katatonia, Agalloch, Enslaved, Pink Floyd, Neurosis, etc. But they have a very unique sound and they deserve all the praise they get.

The album is available online as a "Pay what you want" digital download. It has two reworked songs from the original demos cd and 5 others. I really recommend it. If you want great, heavy, melodic, and all together original metal, pick up the new album.

It's called "Bastards of Atlas" and is available HERE.

Chris Grigg, Shane Madden and Evan Madden

-James

Now playing: British Sea Power - No Lucifer

PS They're also streaming the album on Last.fm, so if you want to listen before buying it, here you go. Click here.