1134

Walking through the door unsure and unaware of what i was getting myself into, on March 11th, 2005 I attended a concert featuring 1134 and Rigid at Soprano's Bar in Griffith, IN. The poster on the door said "Nothing butt Metal," and as images of dead, headless bats flew through my mind's eye, I took my first small steps into the world of metal music.
I left a few hours later feeling a bit drained, as if it took all of my energy simply to keep up with the energy of the bands on stage. Looking around one last time to soak up the atmosphere as Rigid continued to rock into early Saturday morning. I saw some young faces in the crowd, but many older ones as well; people who looked like they were mentally transforming their surroundings to their younger days, where they head-banged to the just-released Iron Maiden LP in their parents' basement.
The same could be said of 1134 (the word "hell" upside-down), and their lead singer Teddy D. When he vaguely told me after the show that he's been in a metal band "for about 10 years", I realized that he was old school. In the world of metal, this means that 1134 tossed out intricate guitar riffs, bass solos, and long, uninterrupted screams that harkened back to classic metal like candy at a Fourth of July parade. In short, they played excellent metal that could appeal to both hardcore fans and, well, me.
The band is influenced largely by the Metal Gods who reigned supreme in the 70s. Both thier own words and their tagline - Real Metal Music - exemplify this fact.
"I would say the classic stuff, Maiden, and Priest mostly," Teddy D. said. But the band also rattled off band names like Dead Kennedys, King Diamond, and, strangly enough, The Beatles, as other major influences on thier music. "Lyrically, I would say The Beatles, because of their song-writing ability and their lyrics," Teddy D. added. "They can tell a story, it all makes for a great song."
And 1134 does have some excellent orginal songs, the best of which is "Pain," which has enough hooks that you can almost dance to the song, without losing the rage and power that is metal. The song embodies their style, which goes beyond the constant rapid-fire guitar and bass drum beats of some metal bands.
1134 has purposefully decided to move in this stylistic direction. Bassist Mike Motto wants their songs to reach out to a larger audience. "We want to have radio-friendly grooves," he said.
But it seems that the current metal music scene, especially in terms of mainstream success, has left the classic learnings of 1134 and moved towards the rap-metal or a more electronic sound. After the alternitive revolution of the 90s, the popular metal scene reeemerged with a different sound as the Linkin Park's of the world took over radio.
Thankfully in 2005 there are new bands, such as Atreyu, which are growing in popularity with a distinct, but distinctly metal sound. But in a genre where the founders of the metal revolution, like Ozzy and Judas Priest (with their just released reunion CD), are still leading it, new bands may find it difficult to achieve that classic sound without sounding like a cheap rip-off.
In Northwest Indiana, however, on a snowy March evening at a local bar, no one was thinking about the future of heavy metal. We wanted to knock off a few weeks of our hearing when we're eighty in favor of the pursuit of happiness now. We wanted to scream obscenities on the weekend after a week of nine to five. And, finally, we wanted to cause severe damage to our necks from two hours of head banging. But, of course, I left my long hair at home. Cut me some slack; I'm new to this metal thing. I'll just have to remember it the next time 1134 hits town. - Matt Arroyo (Editor-In-Chief)

June 28th, 2006

If you search 1134 with google you'll get info about the year 1134 after Christ. But you'll also find 1134, (written in stylized letters and turned around is the word Hell) a brand new metal band from the suburbs of Chicago. You'll find them at www.1134music.com. Based on the name you shouldn't dimiss this four-piece's demo, the five songs; SOS, Splinter, Insanity, War Cry and Pain. The guys have combined thrash with nu-metal influences in a very good way. No matter their very successful rap-part intergrated in the opener or Insanity being introduced with acoustical guitars, the sons of Al Capone know how to thrash. At least Hell exists based off a lot more then influences from Anthrax, Mudhavayne, Godsmack to Drowning Pool. As vocalist Teddy D not optical with his hair-style in the nu-metal age but his vocals stay very methodical, even if he's shouting, the songs have a pounding bass and lots of groove and even the audio production is fine, Hell is a refreshing affair. - Stephan....Dortmund, Germany