Powered by Google
Home
Listings
Editors' Picks
News
Music
Movies
Food
Life
Arts + Books
Rec Room
Moonsigns
- - - - - - - - - - - -
Personals
Adult Personals
Classifieds
Adult Classifieds
- - - - - - - - - - - -
stuff@night
FNX Radio
Band Guide
MassWeb Printing
- - - - - - - - - - - -
About Us
Contact Us
Advertise With Us
Work For Us
Newsletter
RSS Feeds
- - - - - - - - - - - -
Webmaster
Archives



sponsored links
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
PassionShop.com
Sex Toys - Adult  DVDs - Sexy  Lingerie


   
  E-Mail This Article to a Friend

Not dead yet
Can E.Town Concrete spark a rap-metal Renaissance?
BY SEAN RICHARDSON

With their punishing new album, The Renaissance (Razor & Tie), Jersey ruffians E.Town Concrete are making the tough transition from DIY hardcore to mainstream metal look easy. They recently played OzzFest for the first time, and next month they’re doing select dates on the Slayer-headlined Jägermeister Music Tour. Before that, E.Town are headlining clubs with openers God Forbid and Zao on a month-long tour that stops by Axis next Sunday, October 12.

Like fellow metal upstarts Shadows Fall and Killswitch Engage, E.Town are getting a big boost from MTV’s resurrected Headbangers Ball. Their latest video, "Punch the Walls," has just gone into rotation on the program, and the album’s first single, "Mandibles," is on the forthcoming double-disc compilation Headbangers Ball (Roadrunner). "It’s a show that anyone who likes hard music grew up watching," says E.Town frontman Anthony Martini. "I remember seeing the video for Metallica’s ‘Enter Sandman’ when I was like 12. It’s kind of crazy that now I’m in a band that’s actually getting played on the show."

Along with fellow Northeast all-ages faves Brand New, E.Town are the new face of rock at Razor & Tie, the BMG-distributed label best known for the compilation albums Monsters of Rock and Monster Ballads. Thanks to the success of The Renaissance, the label plans on reissuing the band’s first two independent albums next month. "When Razor & Tie first made us an offer, we were like, ‘Who the hell are they? I think we’ll pass on this one,’ " laughs Martini. "But the more we looked into things the more we were like, ‘Wow, this might not be a bad thing.’ All the other labels that were talking to us were like, ‘Maybe you should change your sound.’ Razor & Tie gave us the freedom we wanted."

The timing of E.Town’s rise is somewhat ironic, since much of The Renaissance (including "Mandibles") falls under the umbrella of rap-metal, a genre that’s been out of favor at rock radio for the past few years. "That’s been the real struggle — trying to get people to listen to us and not group us in with Limp Bizkit," says Martini. "Where we grew up is a real culturally diverse area, and it just naturally influenced what we do. Then all the sudden rap-rock blew up, but the labels didn’t want to sign us because we were too hard. Now that the whole thing is dead, I’d feel like a sellout if we stopped doing it."

A thunderous ode to Martini’s hardscrabble youth, "Mandibles" is rap-metal at its most authentic. But E.Town are no one-trick pony: "Punch the Walls" splits the difference between melodic brooding and guttural hardcore, and "So Many Nights" is a soul-baring monster ballad that Martini originally wrote on piano. In other words, the dude can actually sing. "When we first started, I was afraid to do shit like that," he admits. "You know, what are people going to think? We’re this hard band, people like to kill each other at our shows. But after being in the same band for so long, you want to do new things to keep it fresh."

Martini is excited about the Jägermeister Music Tour, especially since kindred spirits Hatebreed are also on the bill. But he knows what to expect opening for Slayer, whose fans will probably go down in rock history for their harsh treatment of opening bands. "If anything, we’ll just make the crowd hate us," he deadpans. "Then we can say, ‘We played with Slayer and everyone threw shit at us.’"

E.Town Concrete play an all-ages show at Axis, 13 Lansdowne Street in Boston, next Sunday, October 12. Tickets are $10. Call (617) 262-2437.

 


Issue Date: October 3 - 9, 2003
Back to the Editor's Picks table of contents
  E-Mail This Article to a Friend
 









about the phoenix |  advertising info |  Webmaster |  work for us
Copyright © 2005 Phoenix Media/Communications Group