Attack Attack! A metal-core band out of Ohio has a new album called This Means War that was just released January 17th and it debuted at number 11 on the Billboard 200. The band is currently headlining a tour to support this album and on January 28th that tour brought them to the Intersection in Grand Rapids. It was a sold out show with a very energetic audience of all ages.
The first band to hit the stage was Chunk! No, Captain Chunk!, a French pop/metal punkish band that mixes clean vocals with metal sounds and screams. From the name you can guess they have a sense of humor with the Goonies inspired title, and their biography on their Facebook reading one line “Five kids acting like idiots who just wanna have fun”. They put on a good set making me want to see them again after having a chance to get to know their music.
Next was a band out of Florida called Sleeping With Sirens. More of a pop/rock sound but still working the crowd into a frenzy, more of the younger part of the crowd really got into their set. Following them was Dream On, Dreamer from Australia. The six of them took the stage playing with enthusiasm and keeping the crowd into it with a well balanced mix of harmonies, clean vocals and hardcore metal. The other opener was Los Angeles California’s The Ghost Inside. Their hardcore sound making the mosh pit swell in size as bodies were flying everywhere, the energy flowing inside the packed Intersection.
As the first song of Attack Attack’s new album is aptly named, it was time to start ‘The Revolution’. This Means War is the first album with Caleb Shomo on lead vocals as well as keyboard. The band has had two other lead singers since forming in 2005. This is their third studio album and Shomo’s first that he produced out his home studio. Their other two albums were Somebody Came Suddenly in 2008 and the self titled Attack Attack! in 2010 which made it to 26 on the Billboard chart itself. They also had an EP in 2008 called If Guns Are Outlawed, Can We use Swords?.
Over the years the band has been thru several members with Andrew Wetzel on drums and Andrew Whiting on lead guitar as the only two original members. On the bass is John Holgado who replaced original member Nick White. Shomo had been on keyboards and vocals for all the albums but after losing the first two front men Austin Carlile and Nick Barham he took over as the lead singer as well. They’ve had success touring as an opening act, as well as headlining and also having a slot on the Warped Tour 2009, 2010 and 2011.
Songs like ‘The Wretched’ , ‘The Revolution’ and ‘The Motivation’ stood out both on the album and also live on stage. With a hardcore metal sound fused with a taste of techno Attack Attack! put on an amazing show and if you’re into that style of music the album is very much worth a listen. The current tour continues thru the end of February in the United States then jumps across the Atlantic for European dates thru the month of March.
If you get a chance the tour is worth the price of admission, otherwise you can find more information and listen to the band at http://www.attackattackoh.com. For more shows coming up at the Intersection you can go to http://www.sectionlive.com. The Ghost Inside ifo can be found at http://www.theghostinside.com and all the other bands can be found on Facebook.
By Brian Benn for HEARmag.com/Grand Rapids, MI
