My lovely daughter took me to The Big Ticket festival here in Jacksonville, FL a couple of months ago. The line, of course, was blocks long to get in and not moving. As is typical in the festival atmosphere, everyone was friendly and socializing with those around them in line, discussing who they were waiting to see, who they had seen before and finding out who was going to future concerts in the area. There were also many out-of-towners with so many bands playing at one venue. After waiting for about five minutes, we were approached by Jack White, promoting his band: Hall of the Elders. We struck up and easy conversation about his band and music in general. Of course, I am always on the lookout for new tunes and emerging bands to throw my support behind! Jack is a very cool guy with a wide variety of tastes in music. We exchanged information and eventually got back in touch so that I could take a closer listen to Hall of the Elders. Consider me very impressed…
Originating in Valdosta, GA in 2013, Hall of the Elders quickly got a loyal following which enabled them to sell their band merchandise on dates of the Vans Warped Tour in 2014. There they garnered much respect and hundreds of CD sales and allowed them to release Bioacoustic on iTunes and a number of other music distribution sites. Shortly following the tour, they moved to Atlanta to allow for better exposure in a bigger city. They had simply outgrown their small town success. They play almost constantly in and around Atlanta and Augusta, often hosting other bands as their way of promoting and supporting their local music scene and reviving Metal from the inside, out. Calling their music Electronic Hardcore and comparing their sound to the likes of I See Stars, (assuming older) Bring Me the Horizon and We Came As Romans, Hall of the Elders has a bit of something for everyone. Cool, down-tuned duel guitar breakdowns, interesting electronic atmosphere tracking, 808 hits, acoustic interludes, always coherent clean and barked out vocals along with choral background voicings, Hard Rock overtones with a Punk feel and attitude are just a few surprises from this group of talented musicians. Experimenting with this wide range of sound would spell absolute disaster and risk sounding disjointed for most, but these guys have it down to an art-form. Pieces from 20 different puzzles that somehow fuse into a cohesive and unique picture of their class of Metal. Hall of the Elders is comprised of Mark Jackson on vocals, Will James and JP Lambert on the guitars, Jack White on bass and Nick McLendon on the drums. There is certainly no weak link hear and the recordings are engineered very well and very professionally. They definitely have a sound that will attract the younger crowd but still be heavy enough to satisfy all but the most staunch, old-school Metalheads.
Along with their their full-length release of Bioacoustic, Hall of the Elders has a new, self-titled EP which will be released and sold exclusively on all of the East Coast dates of the Vans Warped Tour 2016. If you are planning to attend, be sure to give them a listen and pick up a CD or four. These guys are young and hungry with a strong support of the bands that surround them, trying to revive the scene. Support them, because bands like this may just be the key to the future perpetuation of our genre. Nice to see younger guys understanding that it is not just about them. Real grass roots with the big picture in mind…
Hall of the Elders can be found at: Web Facebook Soundcloud and Instagram @halloftheelders
