Article By: Pat ‘Riot’ Whitaker ‡ Edited By: Leanne Ridgeway
Imagine the thrill and pride that the musicians within the legendary, reformed southern metal band EXHORDER must feel [news article].
Now, try to imagine the excitement that two of those musicians – guitarist Marzi Montazeri (The Uprising, ex-Superjoint Ritual) and vocalist Kyle Thomas (Floodgate, Trouble) – must be experiencing about another musical entity involving them. The pair recently announced their new aggressive groove metal project, HEAVY AS TEXAS, and its forthcoming freshman effort. The eponymous titled full length is set to arrive April 19th from the Montazeri-owned Crunchy Western Records and today, we are excited to share further details of the release.
For the recent recording, Chris Collier (Prong, Korn) handled bass, as well as mixing and mastering of the album. In addition, Maryland progressive drummer Anup Sastry, whose resumé includes Jeff Loomis (studio/touring drummer) and Marty Friedman (studio), provided all drumming on the Montazeri-produced album.
Marzi offered the following insight about these events:
“I started this project simply because I wanted to perform new music but wasn’t able to sing and play complex rhythms at the same time. So I thought, I’ll stick to my strengths – the guitar and writing songs! I brought in a vocalist that would fit it perfectly – the one and only Kyle Thomas! As soon as Kyle joined everything musically fell into place.“
Discover this for yourselves as we present the second single, “Blind“, to surface from ‘Heavy As Texas‘, by means of a lyric video. Accompanying today’s song share is the new album details, along with a previously released official video for the song “To Keep A Promise“.
The self-titled introduction to HEAVY AS TEXAS arrives on April 19th from Crunchy Western Records. Pre-orders are available on iTunes and the band’s website.
Tracklist:
01. To Keep A Promise
02. It’s On
03. Death Of A Prodigy
04. Blind
05. Reality Check
06. King Of Fools
07. From This Day On
08. Love Gets Us All
Kyle had this to say about the new song “Blind“:
“Inside of even the best people is an avenue of darkness. We drown our sorrows. It fuels bad decisions. The spectacle draws us to it like a moth to the flame. When the slippery slope between good and bad becomes a blurred line, it is our challenge to do what is right – otherwise we are all blind. ‘Blind’ is a pounding, anthemic blend of harmonic unease. Cycling rhythms and chants with a standard rock approach, strings grace the foundation to provide a melodic overlap leading into a runaway locomotive. ‘Blind’ is the consummate example of everything Heavy As Texas has to offer both musically and lyrically.”
After the album drops, HEAVY AS TEXAS plans to begin writing their next effort and to hit the road in support of both. For live shows and touring, the band has enlisted fellow Texan, bassist Lenwood Sonnier, and drummer James Goetz from Ohio.
Marzi adds this in closing:
“I want to play our music for everyone all over this planet. We have stayed true to our art through complete artistic integrity and we display that live, so it is our duty to get it out to the people and celebrate our own brand of music!”
