Obsidian Halo
BY PAUL SHEPROW
May 2005 - “Ineed to burn. This music makes me burn,”
says Matt, the drummer for local metal band Obsidian Halo. After sitting
in on one of their rehearsals, also “burned” — I played
air-drums shamelessly my whole walk home.
I was shocked to find out that Obsidian Halo has only been together since
September and that they’ve played only a handful of shows as a group.
Their musicianship exudes an organic confidence and a professionalism
that belies their recent formation. According to the band, the chemistry
is perfect. “If any of us were replaced, it wouldn’t be the
same,” says Coop, the bass player. When the members of Obsidian
Halo speak about their music, they focus on the magic quality of being
in the right band at the right time, of things adding up to more than
the sum of their parts.
Not that the individual parts aren’t worth mentioning, too. Krista
van Guilder’s vocals glide from plaintive to gut-wrenching and are
the perfect complement to Coop’s throbbing finger-picked bass. Chris
Drzal’s guitar-playing is focused and intense, bringing a remarkable
clarity to the band’s heavy, intricate riffing and acting as a counterbalance
to the wide-open, full-throttle (not to mention terrifyingly talented)
drumming of Matt Johnson.
And the talent doesn’t stop there. Van Guilder, former front woman
of WarHorse and Lucubro, designed the band’s impressive website
(www.obsidianhalo.com).
Drzal, formerly of Suckapunch, demonstrates demonstrates an experienced
hand at the console, unmistakable on the engineering of their recent two-song
demo. Coop handles most of O.H.’s promotional work and has also
started up his own label, Mega Moustache Records. Mega Moustache will
focus on promoting local bands in Massachusetts and elsewhere. He’s
currently working on two compilation discs, one in conjunction with the
Springfield Rockfest and the other with Spare-Change Records. And Johnson,
well, he’s rock and roll personified. Wielding an encyclopedic knowledge
of music and an explosive energy, he plays and talks about metal with
unmatched intensity. The appreciation of a wide variety of metal styles
is part of what makes Obsidian Halo’s music so good. “We all
listened to a lot of different kinds of metal growing up. It’s hard
to ignore styles when you’re listening to music,” Van Guilder
says. “They all come up when you play.” Obsidian Halo’s
music melds its many influences seamlessly, giving a smooth feel to the
variety that can be found even within individual songs. They’re
honest musicians, doing what they love for people who love it too. “You
channel the song the way you meant it to be. You all communicate. We’re
here to live and create,” says Drzal.
Whether you like metal or not, you’ve got to check out Obsidian
Halo. People who love their craft this much just make great music.
UPCOMING SHOWS
May 7
With Hyperslid, KOBALT,
12 Step Program at The Living
Room, 23 Rathbone Street,
Providence.
See www.lupos.com/LivingRoom.html
for more information.
May 14
With Face First, Dead
by Dawn at Bank Street Cafe,
639 Bank Street, New London.
See www.bankstreetcafe.com
for
more information.
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