Ashkira

We are proud to announce our partnership with Monlith Management. - Ashkira

With over 5 million views on youtube with our previous work with Shaun White, we have another one to call our own! We are honored to support this amazing athlete! - Burton Snowboards

Video: http://www.youtube.com/bamcsf#p/u/3/kxMI-FiKh80 - Bay Area Metal Scen

What is the meaning behind the band’s name?
The word, “Ashkira” is an Americanized version of the Basque word, Askurra, meaning “Loud Strength”.

How did the band start?
The band began in February of 2002, when Peter, Thomas, David, Nick, and Ryan (former lead singer) decided to form a band that was modeled on our similar love of heavy-metal music. Still in high school when the band began, we have emerged 8 years later with almost the exact same line-up, except that David Minhondo took over lead vocals in May of 2007.

What’s the message we hope to convey with our music.
Although we cycle through a large variety of topics in our lyrics, the primary message the band portrays is one of overcoming of struggle, in its various forms.

What is your method to writing songs.
Generally, someone will come in with a line or series of riffs and, if it is agreed upon by everyone in the band, we will begin using those lines as a foundation to a song. However, we generally compose music in a collaborative process where everyone’s ideas are expressed and attempted.

What are your musical influences?
Though we have done a large amount of growing, musically, since the band started, we still share many of the same influences. These include:
· Darkest Hour
· Parkway Drive
· Lamb of God
· Machine Head

What is the funniest prank you have every pulled on a bandmate?
The funniest prank ever pulled was about two year ago, we were playing a show in Alameda (CA) and our guitarist, Nick, created a tab at the bar. Thomas and David, as well as some other friends, discovered this welcome secret and proceeded to buy as much booze as possible that night…compliments of Nick. Cut to a couple hours later, Nick got his bar tab and was none too happy that we charged a large sum of money to his tab. Nor was his anger quelled when David and Thomas’s response was to fall over laughing. Luckily, Nick was raging drunk and his anger quickly turned to laughter… Kinda boring, but we don’t prank much…we’re just a bunch of funny-ass dudes.

If you were stranded on a bus after a tour, who would you send for help? Who would you eat first?
Thomas would go look for help, to avoid getting eaten if we weren’t discovered. If he failed in his mission, however, Thomas would be the first to be eaten. (Thomas, “You can eat me…if you catch me!)

What countries would you love to play in?
· Anywhere in Europe/Scandinavia
· The States (North America)
· Japan
· Mexico City
· Russia

With which bands would you love to share the stage with?
· Parkway Drive
· Darkest Hour
· Machine Head
· Metallica
· Lamb of God

Are you okay with the direction of the band?
Wow! You guys are trying to stir the spot. The answer is yes and no. Yes, we are happy with our writing style and the new songs we are writing, which is a big deal because we made a lot of changes to our song structure and the way we go about writing music. No, because the bay area is a tough scene to get well known in metal. There is a lot of competition, but more than that the market for metal in this area is minimal at best. Sad for an area where bay area born bands like Metallica and Machine Head have claimed their stake as heavy metal icons…you’d never know it living here.

Check out more: http://www.myspace.com/ashkira - Vents Magazine

Heavy metal activists and their foundation of "The Bay Area Metal Coaltion" are out to re-create the metal scene here on our home the SF Bay Area. We're happy to announce that we are now being recognized by this movement. It is being supported by 107.7 The Bone and various other websites that are dedicated to the metal scene locally. This opportunity will provide interviews, reviews, shows and radio exposure. - The Bay Area Metal Coalition

Our song "Life Like" will be featured on a metal/rock compilation with a release date of early 2011. The compilation will be distributed internationally and there are some other promising opportunities that come along with this venture. 2 bands will be signed, royalties and promotional shows will be done on a international scale. Here in US, we will be invited to play in New York City. - Hollow Nations/Riot Radio

Throwing together bits and pieces of metalcore, thrash, and melodic death metal, Bay Area metal quartet Ashkira bring a rock solid offering in the way of their debut album, The Honor Of Defeat.

Ashkira actually means “loud strength” (in what language though, I couldn’t tell you). Their sound is reminiscent of Darkest Hour, Lamb of God, and Machine Head, all of which are influences. The album is actually fairly straightforward in it’s intentions. Ashkira want to showcase their blend of old school thrash brutality with the darker melodic sensibilities of melodic death metal and metalcore, and they do this fairly well.

The riffs and guitar leads provided by guitarists Thomas Armitage and Nick Bagley are pretty catchy. When combined with Peter Aregger’s bursts of double bass blasts and bassist/vocalist David Minhondo’s throaty screams, there’s a an ongoing mood of struggle, as depicted in the album’s artwork and foreshadowed in the album’s title. The mood is portrayed very well in the song “Life Like”, particularly in the chorus.

The rest of the tracks on the album carry a similar feel and pace, in varying dynamics in which this emotion is displayed. There are breakdowns, but they are most certainly not overdone and only help to build this small dynamic. Minhondo’s vocals do take a break from the screams every once in a while to do a more clean, hardcore type of yelling, as in the track “Beyond the Pale,” and this break is welcome when things are getting to be a bit too much.

The production on the album could be a bit better, particularly in the mixing. I’d love it if the vocals were higher up in the mix on some tracks. Ashkira could also use more audible bass presence. I just feel like more crunch could make their sound more powerful. My main drag with The Honor Of Defeat, however, is that there isn’t enough variance in the songs to justify the length of the record. The riffs are great, there just aren’t enough of them to really optimize the use of a 6+ minute song. In this regard, the album feels a bit lengthy and repetitive. As with anything though, on repeated listens these imperfections become less noticeable.

Overall, The Honor Of Defeat is a start off on the right foot for Ashkira. The album is aggressive, fast, and catchy, but seems to be held back by it’s own weight. This is still very much an enjoyable album, however, and will find itself right at home with fans of contemporary metalcore bands like Lamb of God, Parkway Drive, and Darkest Hour. I am eager to see what these guys can come up with next. - www.heavyblogisheavy.com

Metalcore hasn’t really ever been my thing. I’ve found a majority of it to be stale and repetitive, but I found something different in San Rafael band Ashkira. Their catchy and melodic tunes are enough to make any Lamb of God fan faint, and their heaviness could make any Parkway Drive fan weak in the knees. Even if you don’t identify yourself as a fan of Lamb of God or Parkway Drive, Ashkira are definitely worth checking out anyway.

Bassist/Vocalist David Minhondo’s delivers vocals that remind me of any other metalcore vocalist, but there’s something in them that makes it sound more real; it’s raw and relentless. They just released their debut, The Honor of Defeat, in 2009. Ashkira have created a unique offering, in a genre where several fans are drowning in a generic sea of core. Expect to see them playing some shows in the greater Bay Area for some time, including one at the Oakland Metro on May 21st. - Bay Area Metal Scene

Ashkira - The Honor Of Defeat
Independent - 2009
Hmmm… I actually didn’t know that there were still independently released metalcore bands floating around out there. I figured that Roadrunner and Century Media snatched them all up and were making a killing off of mallsters and kickmoshing kids… For those of you who were in the same boat as me, might I introduce Ashkira and their 2009 release, The Honor Of Defeat.
To start, there are glaring metalcore influences from the likes of At The Gates, Killswitch Engage and Darkest Hour. If you cringed at the mention of any of those three bands, then skip down to the next review for there is nothing of interest for you… are they gone? Good… now that the close minded assholes are gone, I can safely say that despite being part of a genre that gets pigeonholed as being cookie cutter, Ashkira manages to pummel the listener with infectious grooves, intense vocals that blast back and forth from traditional metalcore screams to harrowing shrieks and bone breakin’ breakdowns that feel fresh and not obviously ripped off. This album made me smile, since I was beginning to believe that one of the subgenres of metal (face it fuckers) that held my hand in my metal infancy was going the way of the dodo. But thanks to Askira, I know that there’s hope.
Overall: Hey, as far as a run of the mill genre (metalcore) goes, Ashkira sits fairly pretty as an extremely large fish in a small pond. But when relocated (to a all genres body of water), Ashkira becomes a midsized fish in an ocean of sharks and manowar (which is a fucking brutal jelly fish, F.Y.I.).
7.5/10 - E-Metal Space (www.myspace.com/emetalspace)

Hey all,
Just wanted to fill you in on some success we are having in our home of Northern California. This past weekend we were the most requested band in Sonoma County on 101.7 The Fox- The Rock of Sonoma County and their show The Northbay Underground hosted by Chris Callbalero-Enberg. As a result, we have been given the opportunity to open for two of the biggest bands we have ever played with, Evans Blue and Red Line Chemistry. We are also featured in the "Homegrown Highlight" . Both bands are nowhere near our genre but nontheless, they are international touring acts with a large following. This will be happening tomorrow, July 21 at The Last Day Saloon. So if you are from the area we need your support! Thank you to all who ever supported this band!!!!


Read more: http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.ListAll&friendID=5575886#ixzz0uI1rB0LW - 101.7 The Fox/The Northbay Underground/Ashkira

Hey all,
We were just informed that the infamous Shaun White and his video for his famous trick, "The Double Mctwist 1260" has used our song "Life Like"!!! It's been posted since before his record breaking performance in the 2010 Winter Olympics. Our song is the ONLY song on the video! We are truly honored to be part of such a gigantic piece of snowboarding history. Hopefully, with almost 1 million hits on youtube, that this could be exactly what we need to get to the next step in our ultimate goal. Thank you all for your support, especially Pierre Minhondo for making this opportunity a reality!



Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHUMoFcZgJ0&feature=related
- Burton Snowboards