THEY SAY: Gretchen’s sound has a somewhat ethereal but upbeat rock sound described as a cross between several different artists. However, they excel with a style all their own, balancing heavy guitar tones and ethereal melodic melodies with mature song writing and catchy hooks.
THE THRESHOLD: Hailing from Tennessee, Gretchen is basically a x-tian variant of Evanescence with a small hint of Nashville’s softer side thrown in. When the songs are heavy, they are of the typical gothier hard rock genre; when they are light, they are anchored in honky-tonk progressions. Trivia: Gretchen is actually the name of the band, not the lead vocalist (which could lead the uninformed to ask, “Which one’s Pink?”). Noteables: “Fading”, “Daisy Chain”.
THEY SAY: Spineflesh is a project conceived in summer 2006 by the minds of Noras [synth and programming] & Phemtis [vocals and lyrics]. Its aim is to express the research of the most aggressive side of electronic music combined with dark atmospheres and screaming vocals.
THE THRESHOLD: Fans of Hocico or Psyclon Nine may enjoy this band from Italy. The one thing that their brand of dark electro suffers from is the Cradle of Filth-like vocal style, which can get overly repetitive. However, the arrangements of the songs are quite refreshing to hear for a change. Noteables: “The Sense of Flesh”, “Destructive Logik”.
THEY SAY: Havok in Hollywood is theatrical, sleazy, in your face arena rock with enough power to keep a room shaking all night long! They have surged to the forefront of the east coast’s heavy rock bands, building a large, cult-like following through DIY promotion and delivering a live show reminiscent of rock gods Guns-N-Roses and Motley Crüe.
THE THRESHOLD: Emulating their heroes proudly noted in their bio, Maryland’s Havok in Hollywood modernize their sound with the sounds of more recent bands such as Good Charlotte and AFI, making sure to include sing-a-long choruses. A dirty fun little time. Noteables: “AntiScene Posterchild”, “Bonnie and Clyde”.
