We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.

Lazer​/​Wulf - Beast Reality

from RPM Fest 2016 Compilation by RPM Fest

/

about

Formed in Athens, GA in 2006, the wulves began as a five-piece, including vocalist Jimmy Baldwin and guitarist Robert Sullivan. After recording and self-releasing their 2006 debut demo, "Demo-Lition!," the band enjoyed local success as a gleefully violent metal band in a skeptical microcosm of indie rock. The band's reputation as Athens' most fun, irreverent and evil circus had earned the nomination of "Best Up & Coming Band" by the city's Flagpole Magazine.

But L/W's buzz of positive critical reception was stricken by the departure of founding member Sullivan and the increasingly bleak prognosis of Baldwin's health. The vocalist's throat had become pocked with polyps, and while the looming reparative surgery saved his vocal cords, it effectively ended his tenure as the band's frontman. Thus, the ranks of L/W rapidly dwindled to three, leaving Aiken, Peiffer and then-drummer Mathius to fend for themselves without their chosen genre's staples of harsh vocals and dual guitars.

Ironically, this new instrumental approach to their existing material and to the writing process of their forthcoming full-length, "The Void That Isn't," added exciting new layers to their already diverse sound. Less had, essentially, become more. What could have been a void, wasn't, and made the remaining parts that much more substantial.

This trimmed lineup allows for a heartier imagination, better communication between its members, and more confident stints into uncomfortable stylistic territory. The lack of a regular vocal crutch opens the band's instrumentation to more diverse audiences and breaks previously troublesome language barriers, while allows for more abstract arrangements overall. In June of 2008, Lazer/Wulf's new identity was named "Band of the Year" by Athens' Flagpole Magazine, topping the reigning indie-rock and pop incumbents.

Once "The Void" had been released, however, the Lazer/Wulf ranks dwindled again, this time in a way that couldn't be ignored: they needed a new drummer, and the Void's advertorial cycle must fall aside while the line-up is secured. After two years (!) of active searching, jazz drummer Brad Rice was finally found and inducted in 2011.

Now, Lazer/Wulf has shed the security of genre conventions in favor of creative curiosity and more honest and emotional song-writing, growing increasingly toward the likes of Dysrhythmia, Don Caballero and Battles, while firmly rooted and informed by its thrash and prog-metal origins. Its music continues to expand in every direction, heavier and lighter, wider but more focused. The machine is varied, vicious and endlessly willing.

Lazer/Wulf's first recording with this new line-up, the vinyl/cassette/downloadable EP "There Was A Hole Here. It's Gone Now," will see independent and digital release on 4/24/2012.

credits

from RPM Fest 2016 Compilation, released May 21, 2016
Bryan Aiken - Lead Guitar
Sean Peiffer - Lead Bass
Brad Rice - Lead Drums

www.facebook.com/lazerwulves
lazerwulf.bandcamp.com
www.lazerwulf.com
twitter.com/lazerwulves

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

RPM Fest image

RPM Fest Greenfield, Massachusetts

contact / help

Contact RPM Fest

Streaming and
Download help

Redeem code

Report this track or account

If you like Beast Reality, you may also like:

Bandcamp Daily  your guide to the world of Bandcamp

On Bandcamp Radio

Beans joins the show to discuss his album release, "ZWAARD".

listen now