Biography
Fans of Alabama sextet HASTE, the technically proficient, guitar-driven
rock outfit hailing from the festering region of Birmingham, will
no doubt be blown-away by the band's third offering, The Mercury
Lift. The album is the product of hard work and HASTE's inevitable
musical evolution, one that vocalist Chris Mosley says had been
a long time coming. "It just seems like a natural progression
- the same step we took from the first record to the second,"
Mosley explains. "There are a few songs on this record that
have no real aggressive screaming and then there are others where
that's all there is. It's a lot heavier than anything we've done.
It kind of broadens the whole spectrum a little bit this time,
more from one extreme to the other than kind of being up the middle,
as we were in the past."
The band was formed in 1993 by Kelly Reaves, Jason Burns, Jeff
Gardner and Brandon Thrasher. When Mosley entered the fold in
late 1995, the band's unique dual vocal assault was born. Guitarist
Nick Brunson joined a few years later - just in time to record
their debut album - and with that, HASTE was complete. After two
previous releases, Pursuit In The Face of Consequence (1999) and
When Reason Sleeps (2001), alongside tours with such notable genre
heavyweights as Boy Sets Fire, Glassjaw, Hopesfall, Shai Hulud
and Zao, in addition to monumental performances at the Furnace
Festival, Hellfest and The New England Metalfest, the group steadily
built a loyal fanbase. In the USA they also gained national recognition
from having “Engine” added to the Road Rules Soundtrack,
which led to the video receiving airplay on MTV2. The Mercury
Lift, the band's third full-length release, finally takes hold
of what the band has hinted at in the past. Fans both old and
new will quickly see this album for what it is - a brilliant,
emotional and captivating journey brought forth from the heart
of a band that won't stand still.
On The Mercury Lift, HASTE does much to illuminate the darkened
corners where aggressive music and thoughtful melodies conspire.
On one end of the spectrum, songs like "Revenge Tastes Like
Blood and Broken Teeth" and "A God Reclaims His Throne"
(featuring Lamb of God vocalist D. Randall Blythe) assail the
senses with thunderous screams that could raise the dead and make
angels weep. The band also brings to the plate several tracks
that display their patented hardcore-influenced rock ("The
Death of Stars Like the Sun", "Room One Thirty Four")
while finally, tracks like "Houdini Lost His Key" and
"The Rescued" (featuring Codeseven vocalist Jeff Jenkins)
unleash the band's ever-growing melodic brilliance and inter-weaving
sonic textures.
HASTE spreads its musical wings on this album. They've displayed
brief hints of things to come on previous efforts, but nothing
this dramatic. "Some of the songs on this record are much
more melodic and in some ways, more mellow," Reaves states.
"But other songs aren't - they're some of the heaviest material
we've written. We go in moods. One person brings something in,
and it clicks with everybody. The next thing you know, we're writing
something really pretty. At other times, we're writing something
that sounds totally pissed. We never sit down to write anything
a certain way, not with the music, the vocals... anything. We
just play and play until something sounds right and complete."
HASTE creates cutting-edge rock that's utterly brilliant not only
in its composition, but in its delivery. Hear it for yourself
with The Mercury Lift and experience a true musical revolution.
Cover artwork by Tom Bejgrowicz
Photos by Amy Weiser
Discography:
Pursuit In The Face Of Consequence – CD 1999
When Reason Sleeps – CD 2001
The Mercury Lift – CD 2003
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