A Sense of Gravity (U.S.) for Progressive Metal

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Combining searing riffs with powerful melodies, contemporary jazz harmony, polyrhythmic grooves, and virtuosic solos, A Sense of Gravity is dedicated above all to strong, musical composition and moving songwriting. 
Founded in Seattle by guitarists David McDaniel and Brendon Williams in 2011, the two quickly began writing and recording their debut EP, which was released later that year. The EP w...as quick to attract attention both online and locally, and within a few months the band had filled its lineup with some of Seattle’s best metal musicians, including keyboardist/guitarist Brandon Morris (ex-Collibus), drummer Peter Breene (ex-Arisen from Nothing), and vocalist C.J. Jenkins. Shortly after, the band recorded its first full-lineup track - a jazz-fusion/groove-metal cover of White Christmas for the 2011 Djentlemen’s Club Christmas compilation. The musicians released their first single and most progressive track yet, Spectre, early the next year. 2012 saw A Sense of Gravity finalize their lineup by hiring Chance Unterseher (ex-Rowan) on bass and expand their presence in the local scene by playing shows all around Seattle, opening for numerous bands, including Threat Signal. 
 In November, they entered Fastback Studios (Jeff Loomis, 7 Horns 7 Eyes) to record drums for their debut full-length album, Travail, beginning the nearly year-long process of recording, mixing, and perfecting their most ambitious project to date. The rest of the instruments and vocals were recorded in the band members’ home studios and the album was mixed and produced by guitarist Brendon Williams before being sent off to Fascination Street Studios to be mastered by Jens Bogren (Opeth, Devin Townsend, Symphony X, Amon Amarth, Dark Tranquillity, James LaBrie (Dream Theater), Extol, Leprous, and more). With Travail, A Sense of Gravity are prepared to surprise and delight the ears of progressive metal connoisseurs all over the world. https://www.facebook.com/asenseofgravity

http://asenseofgravity.bandcamp.com/

released 21 February 2014 
C.J. Jenkins - vocals 
 David McDaniel - guitar 
 Brendon Williams - guitar, choir vocals, additional keyboard 
 Brandon Morris - keyboard, guitar 
 Chance Unterseher - bass 
 Peter Breene - drums 

 Produced by Brendon Williams 
 All compositions by Brendon Williams, David... McDaniel, and C.J. Jenkins 

http://got-djent.com/band/sense-gravity
http://www.last.fm/music/A+Sense+of+Gravity
http://www.reverbnation.com/asenseofgravity
https://soundcloud.com/a-sense-of-gravity/

http://www.youtube.com/user/ASenseofGravity

"A Sense of Gravity are a terrific band.  Composer and guitarist Brendon Williams has kept in touch with me for the last couple of years, allowing me to hear what they’ve been doing from their demo material onward.  I’ve loved everything he’s ever shared with me, yet I’ve refrained from mentioning them before, mainly because I wanted to see how they turned out. Finally they have completed a full-length.  Travail is brutal, dynamic, and full of twists and turns.  Imagine a cluster-f**k smattering of Meshuggah, Allan Holdsworth, Emerson Lake and Palmer, Scar Symmetry, and Extol, and you have A Sense of Gravity.
This album is diverse, with some songs driven by pneumatic ballet, some driven by pure caustic sprays of speed-powered hellfire, and some delivering pure, undiluted fusion-jam indulgences.  Travail has a great deal of fun contained within it, all while showcasing serious, intelligent musicianship at its core.  The twists and turns are many, producing a sonic labyrinth.  The album almost sounds like metal done by Jazz Fusion guys, as opposed to metal guys with jazz backgrounds, and that turnaround style-incorporation gives the music a unique vibe.
The vocals of C.J. Jenkins, both in his death metal sprays of hellfire and in his more mid-range power-metal timbre, are distinctive, particularly his clean vocals.  The guitar acrobatics of David McDaniel and Brendon Williams are technical yet hook-focused and their solos are absolutely drenched in an unadulterated love of fusion.  The cherry on top of Chance Unterseher’s bass gymnastics and Pete Breene’s dimension-shifting drum work only seals the deal.  It would also be a crime for me to neglect keyboardist Brandon Morris, who elevates the music’s fusion aspect with some wonderful solos and ambience.  He also delivers a few of the guitar solos on this record, usually approaching things from a faster, shreddier perspective.
The music within Travail just feels so thoroughly refined it’s ludicrous.  From the syncopated nuke that is the opener “Wraith”, to the spidery riff-driven dance of “Stormborn”, to the sonic meditation of “Trichotillomania”, Travail is truly an engrossing journey.
While some people nowadays will be automatically (and dare I say shallowly) turned off at the prospect of anything even slightly Meshuggah-influenced, A Sense of Gravity are up there with Textures or early Hacride in achieving success with polyrhythmic-driven prog metal.  The progressive groove metal elements combined with the more fusion-oriented and new-age schools of melodic death metal, in tandem with the straight prog metal incorporations, make Travail one of the best newcomer records of the year so far, if not one of the best 2014 has yet produced, period.
And so, with all that said, we have the privilege of streaming Travail for you all for today.  I hope you enjoy this record as much as I have.   I’m pretty much unable to resist heavily fusion-influenced metal of any kind, but this is a flawless record, with stellar musicianship and excellently crafted songs.  A Sense of Gravity has the “it” factor that produces great metal." - a review by The Madisraely at nocleansinging.com http://www.nocleansinging.com/2014/02/13/a-sense-of-gravity-travail-a-review-and-a-full-album-stream/

Edited by Svetonio - March 08 2014 at 05:43

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Svetonio Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Forum Senior Member Joined: September 20 2010 Location: Serbia Status: Offline Points: 10213	Topic: A Sense of Gravity (U.S.) for Progressive Metal Posted: March 08 2014 at 05:30
	Combining searing riffs with powerful melodies, contemporary jazz harmony, polyrhythmic grooves, and virtuosic solos, A Sense of Gravity is dedicated above all to strong, musical composition and moving songwriting. Founded in Seattle by guitarists David McDaniel and Brendon Williams in 2011, the two quickly began writing and recording their debut EP, which was released later that year. The EP w...as quick to attract attention both online and locally, and within a few months the band had filled its lineup with some of Seattle’s best metal musicians, including keyboardist/guitarist Brandon Morris (ex-Collibus), drummer Peter Breene (ex-Arisen from Nothing), and vocalist C.J. Jenkins. Shortly after, the band recorded its first full-lineup track - a jazz-fusion/groove-metal cover of White Christmas for the 2011 Djentlemen’s Club Christmas compilation. The musicians released their first single and most progressive track yet, Spectre, early the next year. 2012 saw A Sense of Gravity finalize their lineup by hiring Chance Unterseher (ex-Rowan) on bass and expand their presence in the local scene by playing shows all around Seattle, opening for numerous bands, including Threat Signal. In November, they entered Fastback Studios (Jeff Loomis, 7 Horns 7 Eyes) to record drums for their debut full-length album, Travail, beginning the nearly year-long process of recording, mixing, and perfecting their most ambitious project to date. The rest of the instruments and vocals were recorded in the band members’ home studios and the album was mixed and produced by guitarist Brendon Williams before being sent off to Fascination Street Studios to be mastered by Jens Bogren (Opeth, Devin Townsend, Symphony X, Amon Amarth, Dark Tranquillity, James LaBrie (Dream Theater), Extol, Leprous, and more). With Travail, A Sense of Gravity are prepared to surprise and delight the ears of progressive metal connoisseurs all over the world. https://www.facebook.com/asenseofgravity http://asenseofgravity.bandcamp.com/ released 21 February 2014 C.J. Jenkins - vocals David McDaniel - guitar Brendon Williams - guitar, choir vocals, additional keyboard Brandon Morris - keyboard, guitar Chance Unterseher - bass Peter Breene - drums Produced by Brendon Williams All compositions by Brendon Williams, David... McDaniel, and C.J. Jenkins http://got-djent.com/band/sense-gravity http://www.last.fm/music/A+Sense+of+Gravity http://www.reverbnation.com/asenseofgravity https://soundcloud.com/a-sense-of-gravity/ http://www.youtube.com/user/ASenseofGravity "A Sense of Gravity are a terrific band. Composer and guitarist Brendon Williams has kept in touch with me for the last couple of years, allowing me to hear what they’ve been doing from their demo material onward. I’ve loved everything he’s ever shared with me, yet I’ve refrained from mentioning them before, mainly because I wanted to see how they turned out. Finally they have completed a full-length. *Travail* is brutal, dynamic, and full of twists and turns. Imagine a cluster-fk smattering of Meshuggah, Allan Holdsworth, Emerson Lake and Palmer, Scar Symmetry, and Extol, and you have A Sense of Gravity. This album is diverse, with some songs driven by pneumatic ballet, some driven by pure caustic sprays of speed-powered hellfire, and some delivering pure, undiluted fusion-jam indulgences. Travail has a great deal of fun contained within it, all while showcasing serious, intelligent musicianship at its core. The twists and turns are many, producing a sonic labyrinth. The album almost sounds like metal done by Jazz Fusion guys, as opposed to metal guys with jazz backgrounds, and that turnaround style-incorporation gives the music a unique vibe. The vocals of C.J. Jenkins, both in his death metal sprays of hellfire and in his more mid-range power-metal timbre, are distinctive, particularly his clean vocals. The guitar acrobatics of David McDaniel and Brendon Williams are technical yet hook-focused and their solos are absolutely drenched in an unadulterated love of fusion. The cherry on top of Chance Unterseher’s bass gymnastics and Pete Breene’s dimension-shifting drum work only seals the deal. It would also be a crime for me to neglect keyboardist Brandon Morris, who elevates the music’s fusion aspect with some wonderful solos and ambience. He also delivers a few of the guitar solos on this record, usually approaching things from a faster, shreddier perspective. The music within Travail just feels so thoroughly refined it’s ludicrous. From the syncopated nuke that is the opener “Wraith”, to the spidery riff-driven dance of “Stormborn”, to the sonic meditation of “Trichotillomania”, Travail is truly an engrossing journey. While some people nowadays will be automatically (and dare I say shallowly) turned off at the prospect of anything even slightly Meshuggah-influenced, A Sense of Gravity are up there with Textures or early Hacride in achieving success with polyrhythmic-driven prog metal. The progressive groove metal elements combined with the more fusion-oriented and new-age schools of melodic death metal, in tandem with the straight prog metal incorporations, make Travail one of the best newcomer records of the year so far, if not one of the best 2014 has yet produced, period. And so, with all that said, we have the privilege of streaming Travail for you all for today. I hope you enjoy this record as much as I have. I’m pretty much unable to resist heavily fusion-influenced metal of any kind, but this is a flawless record, with stellar musicianship and excellently crafted songs. A Sense of Gravity** has the “it” factor that produces great metal." - a review by The Madisraely at nocleansinging.com http://www.nocleansinging.com/2014/02/13/a-sense-of-gravity-travail-a-review-and-a-full-album-stream/ Edited by Svetonio - March 08 2014 at 05:43

aapatsos Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator Joined: November 11 2005 Location: Manchester, UK Status: Offline Points: 9226	Posted: March 09 2014 at 04:13
	ok thanks