Young guys rocking like it's 1984? Holy David Lee Roth! Well, in this case, maybe more like Vivian Campbell during his Dio years. Bands like Endeverafter and Archer are embracing retro hard rock and classic metal-esque sounds to bring today's rock back down to basics. This article is from MetroSantaCruz.com.
(Santa Cruz - By Garrett Wheeler) Sporting leather pants, black boots and long blond hair, Dylan Rosenberg of Archer is the quintessential heavy metal frontman. Before any given show, there's an unmistakable gleam in his eye that warns audiences of what they are about to witness: the relentless force of the world's loudest, fastest and arguably most difficult genre of rock & roll. Classic metal--not to be confused with classic rock--exists as the apex of shreddage, the ultimate showcase for the electric guitar. No other genre demands such mastery of the instrument, from screaming harmonics to thundering power chords. And like the pioneers of the trade who were intent on creating the most technically complex sounds possible (see Yngwie Malmsteen), Dylan Rosenberg plays at a level most guitarists can only dream of. And he does it in style, banging his head in methodical twists and twirls, and crouching during solos, and approaching the microphone to deliver an impressive barrage of James Hetfield-like vocals.
At 22, Rosenberg is already a highly accomplished musician. He teaches at Musicscool Santa Cruz, and he's the winner of the 2008 Metro Santa Cruz Goldies Award for Best Local Musician. Archer, a trio made up of Rosenberg, bassist Isaiah Black and drummer Jimmy Giovacchini, won Best Local Band. Recently, Archer flew to Sweden to play a four-day festival larger in scale than any concert of its kind in the United States. Headliners at the Sweden Rock Festival included Judas Priest, Def Leppard, Coheed & Cambria, Blue Oyster Cult, Disturbed, Joe Satriani--the list goes on.
"It was the kind of show I would go to even if we weren't playing in it, just to see all those bands," says Rosenberg. "It was four days of rocking."
So how did a young up-and-coming trio from Santa Cruz land onstage alongside legendary rockers like Ace Frehley (the Kiss guitarist performed with his new band) and Warren DeMartini of Ratt?
Read more of Archer: Big In Sweden...
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