Click here to bask in our musical glory

Hi folks, it has been a while. Please, help yourself to some free music below and like our Facebook page while you’re at it. In other news, the jamspace has been very noisy.

Hi folks,
Dan Costa here to present you with my brand spanking new artist page on Facebook. The tunes featured here are some ditties I recorded with a few friends earlier this year. These tunes were originally penned for The Under, but the band broke up before we really had a chance to work on them. You don’t have to be a facebook member to check out the songs.

To check out the tunes, click here and find the Music Player app player down on the left hand side of the page. You can also download these tracks by hitting the tracks tab and opening the Soundcloud file there. Please feel free to share these tracks with anyone you think might dig them. And I encourage you to leave comments on the page if the desire grips you. Feel free to friend me on Facebook here.
 
Keep your eyes and ears open for some other stuff I did with these guys as well as any other surprises that might float your way. I’m always on the lookout for new collaborators (especially drummers). So, feel free to point any daring musicians in my direction. Finally, I’d like to thank John Tyler (drums) and Sean Winbourne (bass and producer) for all their help and contributions. As you can hear on these tracks, these guys sure know what they’re doing.Enjoy!

Hi folks. Dan here to give you a little update on The Under.

Well, the search for a rhythm section continues. There was a fully functioning band for a few months, but New York City beckoned one of the guys, and thus, the search began anew. However, I am happy to report that a few songs were written and jammed during that short stint and I am in the midst of finalizing recordings of those tunes with this fine gentleman, who records very nicely and has done music such as this.

So, be on the lookout for that stuff which will be featured for download at out myspace and here on our website. In the meantime, for those have yet to include our previous recordings in their music catalogs, you can find said recordings here, and for those with iTunes, here.

I’m also happy to report that jams continue to go on with potential replacements and when it’s all up and running, that exciting news will break right here. However, if you just have to be one of the first people to know, drop a request in our comment box to be added to the maling list.

It’s been a while folks but I’m here to tell you that Jason (bass) and Randy (drums) have decided to take an extended break from making music. It was a very mutual parting as the guys just had too many other commitments to keep the music happening. I do want to say on my part that I have had nothing short of a total blast playing with these guys the last 3 years. I hope that they get back to rocking out as these dudes are some truly gifted musicians, not to mention really great guys. I’m a much better musician now than I was before I met them and I’ll miss playing with them lots.Now, it’s kinda hard to figure out just what to say about the future of a band that  has only one member. Right now all I can say is that I’ve been jamming with folks and getting good vibes. So,while I survey potential victims, consider The Under on a little bit of a hiatus. The early returns have been promising, so I’m confident the machine will be back up and running soon enough. It just might hum a little different is all. I’ll be sure to keep you posted on any other developments.Thanks to everyone who has been supporting the band the last few years by coming out to shows and buying our music. You guys are pretty alright.

Be sure to scroll down a wee bit. http://raysrealm.blogspot.com/2009_05_01_archive.html

Dig on our latest review at The Sleeping Shaman!

Mercurial is appearing on  The Noise’s Top 30 Radio Chart at number 3 for the month of March!

The chart is based on the amount of radio airplay that locally released recordings are receiving from Boston area radio stations. These stations are WAAF, WBCN, WFNX, WMBR, WMFO, WTCC, and WZBC.

The following review appears on Hellridemusic.com:

The bio for this Boston-trio of like-minded modern heavy prog trio The Under mentions Rush, Black Sabbath, Voivod, Baroness, The Obsessed and High on Fire as being musical kin. At first I think the band is playing it smart by covering all the alternative press bases. This is done by mentioning a key band representing every validated form of heavy music even if the band in question has no resemblance whatsoever except for a distorted guitar. The Under RIYL section is pretty accurate, but I swear to God I cannot help but think of Bruce Dickinson’s shamefully unknown Skunkworks project on almost every song. The Under has the same sort of genre-free quality that Skunkworks had aside from being a heavy music band with progressive tendencies.

These three guys do rock man, I have to say. They have a spatial way of arranging songs, so even the hyper-chug skull-splitter that is Anaximander contains ethereal, hypnotic passages. Dan the guitar player is frighteningly talented, reminds me a lot of Against Nature/Revelation guitarist John Brenner, both equally capable at both rhythm and solo. There is a definite Alex Lifeson-esque quality to Dan’s  playing and in fact, if you didn’t know better you’d think that Alex did a guest turn on the solo for Mercurial and the intro on The Only Path (which both are friggin’ phenomenal songs, btw). That being said, Dan’s own style only becomes apparent after listening to the whole album a couple of times as he borrows styles from here and there and everywhere, but he’s got the fundamental flow and style of an original. He’s also a very capable vocalist and as all capable vocalists should do, Dan sings clean, even hitting Halford-style highs on Boundless. That is territory where precious few should tread because it often only ends up in heartache, ridicule or, in extreme cases, polyps on your vocal cords. The Jason Walker/Randy Odierno rhythm section is a monster, but not the typical Heavy Metal Butler/Ward monster one would expect. Their style is much more technical and fluid, something you’d expect from those that have delved into the worlds of jazz or listened to shitloads of Rush and Voivod. Both musicians can be in complete sequence then go off and do their own thing, then seamlessly fall back into sequence again. So either they are that good, or thank God for Pro Tools.

I’d love to check out these guys live. The songs get so intricate and complicated at points that it must require a tremendous amount of focus let alone a lot of rehearsing to get through a gig. The fact that Guitar Player Dan sings at the same time as heâ’s playing would provide extra jaw-dropping and beer-raising impact. Next time I’m in Boston, hopefully I can catch these guys out live. I encourage you to check out their songs on their web pages (see links below) to get an idea of what they’re all about, I think it’d be worth your while.

Chris Barnes

Buy recordings from The Under at CD BABY, ITUNES (click on The Under to access both the EP and LP)