NYS Music 20​13

Tag: loveanddeath

  • Review: LOVE AND DEATH at Rock on the Range

    Friday, May 17th was the beginning of the memorable event known as Rock on the Range. Starting on the main stage, aka The Monster Stage, was Love and Death. Let’s just say, they started the Fest right.

    After waiting for hours on end in the late afternoon warm, bright, and sunny weather of Columbus, OH, the eager Rangers entered Crew Stadium, immediately making their way to the Monster Stage’s two sided barricades, one on the left and one on the right. The music played in the overhead speakers and the mixed chatter of the Rangers intensified the anticipation. Finally, the music was cutoff and the loud cheering commenced, this was the beginning of one hell of a weekend. Eerie music began to play in the overhead speakers, then one by one, the band members entered the stage, starting with Dan Johnson (drums), Michael Valentine (bass), JR Bareis (guitar), and last but not least, a man with long dreads in his face, head down and arms crossed his torso, walked slowly onto the stage, Brian “Head” Welch. Rangers threw up their horns and cheered excitedly at the sight of Korn’s guitarist.

    “ROCK ON THE RANGE! ARE YOU READY?!” he shouted in his metal growl, grabbing the mic stand roughly, after Johnson began to bang on his drums, starting the beat of the song. “Paralyzed” was the first to be played, the first to start the moshing, and the first to have a concertgoer in a Spiderman suit crowd surf, other fans doing so as well. The familiar headbanging to the beat of the songs warmed up the crowd for the rest of the weekend. By the time “Meltdown” started, JR Bareis began to work his magic with the guitar and had the crowd jumping to the beat of the song. Next was “I W8 4 ‘U”, where Welch encouraged the fans to start circle pits, to which some of them started. Then Head pulled out traffic cone hat and his guitar, indicating their next song, the cover of Devo’s “Whip It”. The mosh pits continued, the crowd surfing intensified, the craziness known as Rock on the Range was in full effect. Next, Head put his guitar away and walked up to the mic. “Rangers…WAKE UP SLEEPY WIDE AWAKE!” he yelled, as the band played the next song, “The Abandoning”. Afterwards, he took the mic from the stand and asked the fans if they were ready for the upcoming bands, after listing each of their names, joked that they were all cancelled. Then he proceeded to pop out one last song, “Chemicals”. The crowd became crazier than usual because it was the song that they all knew since its release. By the end of the song, the band left the stage, but everyone knew it would not be the last time they would see Head on stage, hinting they will see him play with Korn.

    All in all, the setlist was fantastic, the vibe from the crowd and the band was out of control, and it was one hell of a way to start Rock on the Range. Love and Death certainly made their mark that day.

  • Interview: Brian “Head” Welch & JR Bareis of LOVE AND DEATH

    The lights dim down at the Upstate Concert Hall, only things really lit are the banners that represent the upcoming band.

    Three band members step onto the stage; a young man with long blonde hair and his eyes were decorated with zig-zag eyeliner, held a guitar, indicating his role in the band. The bassist wore whiteout contact lenses and a long sleeved striped shirt. The drummer, sat behind his kit in dark clothing, hair in front of his face, a bit difficult to see. Finally, the man we all knew from the band we all love, made his presence known when he stepped onto the stage with his arms crossed in front of him. Suddenly, a different kind of metal started to play from the speakers. Throughout the speedy setlist with the cover of Korn‘s “Blind”, a sea of bobbing bodies took over the venue mixed with head banging and fist pumping. The music was incredible and fresh, but the big question was: who is this band? Ladies and Gents, introducing the band combined with Korn and Pantera (“Korntera“, if you will), Love and Death, featuring Brian “Head” Welch from Korn as their lead singer.

    Upstate Metal’s Kate Drexel had the incredible opportunity to interview Brian and the band’s lead guitarist, JR Bareis, in one of the cozy backstage rooms with black leather couches. Among the many topics, the history behind Brian’s nickname came to light. “I was named it when I was a kid, my head grew before my body hit puberty and so they made fun of me.”

    After sharing a few laughs, the topic changed to Love and Death and how Brian recruited the members through YouTube auditions. “To save time, ’cause I didn’t want to fly people out because everybody lived in different states, so I was like, ‘I’m not gonna fly no one out, I don’t got that cash nowadays’ and I can tell if they’re a good fit, like just listening to them and watching them play and just feeling their vibe.” However, JR felt very differently about the auditions, having to do it locked up in his room and rock out like he was on the stage “It’s awkward…it’s weird and I didn’t move around as much when I first joined but after playing a lot…I went from playing worship music to like this band so it was a big change.”

    When asked about his biggest influences, Head gave off quite the list from AC/DC to Pantera. JR told Head that he was his biggest influence in both a joking yet serious manner, changing the subject to the release of the first Korn record in 1994, JR not born yet whilst Drexel was two years of age at the time, and mentioned that he was in college. After sharing a few more laughs, the influences topic returned, Head spoke of another big influence, Rage Against the Machine. “We took that passion and took it to a more darker, trippier place, but they are a huge influence. I’m surprised more people didn’t connect that… we all love that type of music and we did it right with his album, so we’re happy.” Head revealed that all of their songs come from JR (who he referred to as Gary) to which he responded that it comes to him randomly and all of the songs written were used on the album. “I think, back in Korn and stuff, I think God inspires all gifts for all different kinds and I think they all, like in Korn in back in the day, like corn came from Him, they got cloudy from all the drugs and stuff, and the drinking so we couldn’t write good stuff, anymore, like towards the last couple of years that I was there, so now I just believe that it all comes back from God, too because He’s the giver of all gifts,” explained Head. Drexel then told Welch that she currently attends a Catholic college where they have a bit of a conversation of the school’s environment.

    When asked about how the band became part of the In This Moment tour, Welch mentioned that it had something to do with the band’s management and was unsure on how they got to be part of this incredible opportunity. As for their downtime, “Sleep….I don’t have a lot of downtime lately, which is pretty cool because I’ve had a lot of downtime before but it just seems like…but I like to read and just get filled up spiritually in my catholic school…I read a lot of catholic books, that’s my high.”

    Love and Death is scheduled to play at this year’s Rock on the Range. Be sure to catch them on tour and check out their record, Between Here and Lost, because this is one you will not want to miss out on.

  • Preview: IN THIS MOMENT with LOVE AND DEATH, ALL HAIL THE YETI, and OWL

    After their tour in the UK with Grammy-winning band, Halestorm, In This Moment is performing at the Upstate Concert Hall in Clifton Park, NY on March 30. This will be the band’s first time performing at the venue since before the release of their new record, Blood. Opening for them is Love and Death, All Hail the Yeti, and Owl. This promises to be a killer show filled with high energy, excitement, and the familiar soothing sound of metal screaming.

    IN THIS MOMENT:

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    After the successful release of their fourth record, Blood, In This Moment began touring throughout the west coast as well as Australia with Adelitas Way. Known for her chilling death-metal scream, Maria Brink will most certainly give the onlookers the chills and excitement they’ve all been waiting for. Her voice will be haunting our dreams for the rest of the evening after giving a kick-ass performance. Band members consist of Chris Howorth (lead guitar), Travis Johnson (bass), Randy Weitzel (guitar), and Tom Hane (drums). This will be the main event that everyone will be buzzing about after ITM’s performance.

    LOVE AND DEATH:

    Korn’s ex-guitarist, Brian “Head” Welch, formed this hard rock band in February 2012 with a familiar metal twist. According to Welch, the band title “symbolizes everything we’ve been through as a band over the last few years. We love this band so much and we’ll go through hell to connect with our fans.” In 2009, Welch held band tryouts through YouTube, finally resulting with JR Bareis (lead guitar), Michael Valentine (bass), and Dan Johnson (drums). Love and Death signed with the label Tooth and Nails Record/EMI, and they are touring to support their debut record, Between Here & Lost, which was released January 22 of this year. This band is most definitely ready to share their new material with the ever-adoring fans.

    ALL HAIL THE YETI:

    This is the band that has forsaken their hometown to become something more, to revive metal. Lead vocalist Connor Garritty formed the band in 2006 with ex-guitarist K.J. Duval. After 2010, this band was no longer just a “local” band, they had transformed into something bigger. Garritty took action instead of waiting for the music industry to notice their success in music, and began recording their full-length debut record. Current band members, Nicholas Diltz (bass) and Craw NeQuent (guitar), joined the group in 2011. August 28, 2012, the band released their self-titled debut record. When asked to describe what AHTY’s sound was like, Connor described it as “capturing how it makes each individual feel…our songs touch on topics of death, life, love, love lost, the paranormal, crypto zoology, mythical creatures, partying, etc.” Fans look forward to what the band has in store for us.

    OWL:

    A band that strives to find the answer to an intriguing question: “Are we doing the right thing?” Through the music, the band has nothing to worry about because of their beneficial amount of experimentation and instrumental obscurity, as well as remarkable hooks and exciting delivery. Band members consist of Chris Wyse (lead vocals and bass), Jason Achilles Mezilis (guitar and vocals), and Dan Dinsmore (drums). After the 2009 release of their self-titled debut record, Wyse promises that the second one will be “more engaging and exhilarating on various levels.” Fans may either be haters or lovers of this band; it will be up to them to decide once Saturday night arrives.

    With the diversity of sounds that will surround the venue, this concert has just what we need: the energy to rock out!

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