DEAD SEASON

Dead Season
When Everything's Lost ... Independent

by Derric Miller
Staff Writer

Comments: One of the surprise successes of the past year is Five Finger Death Punch. It's not that they didn't deserve outrageous success, but it's surprising people were smart enough to "get it." If you want to throw around the term "New Wave of American Heavy Metal," please don't point to the pointless Shadows Fall -- that title belongs to Five Finger Death Punch. And because of their success, bands around the nation should be able to find their own level of success, and Maine's Dead Season might beat them all to the "punch."

These intense, heavy yet melodic guys hail from a place not entirely known for Metal, Maine. The Truman brothers (Ian/vocals and Matt/guitar), along with Steve Church on bass and Andy Hackett on drums, create a stunning blend of rabid, shredding modern metal that can at once become melodic, introspective and insightful.

The CD opens with "Never Decide," and the comparisons to Five Finger Death Punch become a bit obvious as Ian flows from throaty, guttural yelling to a strong and sincere clean vocal passage. Like Hatebreed of late, Dead Season creates an anthem that is uplifting and based on self-belief and perseverance.

Up next is "Cancer," and it's somehow better than "Never Decide." Hackett becomes a machine during the second verse, leading the onslaught with impressive blasts and leads. During the chorus, Ian sings two-part disharmony with himself as at the front his clean vocals launch the chorus with backing vocals of the metal core type shrieking along. The lyrics are odd yet believable, with the line, "If only our anger, could cure all the cancer, someone you love would still be right here with you."

"Hero" is one of the times on the CD where the band slows it down a bit, showing a facet to their overall sound thus far unheard. This is one of the edgiest tracks, with a bit of Tool weirdness and malice. The song, like "Mother" late on the CD, is inspired by a family member. One thing that would make this song and a few of the others better is some type of guitar solo; for the most part, the songs go through breakdowns, tempo changes and musical passages, but Matt is rarely afforded the opportunity to prove his prowess on solos.

The title track is another unique composition, with a slower intro leading into ballistic heaviness and switching back into a bass-led groove that is nearly tribal in its rhythms. It's all damn strong. One of the best parts about Ian's voice is that when he engages his metal core screams, you can understand everything he says, which is the only way those type of vocals are ever effective.

Dead Season also placed a hidden track on the CD, song number 50, and titled both "I'm Free" and "Sacrifice." They placed it at number 50 to represent America's 50 states. This song is about the Iraq War, and like many of the politically-charged tracks in Metal today, it's not agenda-based but purely to show support for the troops.

Dead Season should be able to generate massive amounts of momentum considering that radio stations (mostly satellite) are actually taking the underground and pulling it into mainstream awareness again, like radio used to do when it was relevant. These guys are as good or better than most of those bands breaking today, and would make an incredible bill with Five Finger Death Punch. If you like that type of music, Dead Season is going to be your next favorite band.

www.myspace.com/deadseason1

Track Listing:
1. Never Decide
2. Cancer
3. Break the Silence
4. You Keep Me Alive
6. Revelation 6
7. Hero
8. When Everything's Lost
9. Mother
10. Homeless
11. The End
50. Sacrifice

Hardrock Haven rating: 7.8/10
- hardrockhaven.net

Dead Season: When Everything's Lost
Submitted by Erik Archambault
Thursday, 29 May 2008
Dead Season
When Everything’s Lost
2008
Independent
May 20th, 2008 marked the two year long wait for Maine
Dead Season, to release their next full length release. The wait has anticipated and filled with highs and lows for the band. After listening over 10 times before even sitting down to write this review, I must turned tragedy and success into one amazing new release.
Before getting into what Dead Season is known for, I would like to first
something totally new to the band. Steve Church, the newest member of the band has added stand out bass guitar Season arsenal. For everything that Dead Season has given to their fans over the past four years with the heavy hitting (2004), The Fight (2005), and Rise( 2006), there has never been a stand out bass guitar.
That is not to say that the musicians that filled the position before Church were hacks in any light but they were not is on When Everything’s Lost. Steve adds a flow and a texture that pushes this release over all other Dead Season past. His expertise can be heard on several tracks of this release such as: “Break the Silence” and “Mother
exciting and dynamic addition to an already incredible local band.
Now to the release: When Everything’s lost marks the second full length release by Dead Season and the first release material since 2006’s Rise. This release is ripe with the signature guitar driven, hard pounding music that we have love from Dead Season over the past 4 years.
The disk opens with the recent single “Never Decide”. With the first verse, you realize the message Dead Season sets with this release: “This is my life/This is my only/Chance to be myself/Can’t take it away”. We are set to hear a disk from a band built off of that very drive and desire.
The next track on the disk is the aptly titled “Cancer”. The Truman brothers have recently suffered a personal tragedy their mother Margaret to cancer earlier this year. This disk is wrought with emotion that seems to have been drawn and transferred into their music. Other tracks affected by this tragedy are the emotional “Mother”, “Cancer” is a catchy, single-worthy track that shows how Dead Season is growing as entertainers and not just
seems to have been written with live show audience participation in mind with a unanimous “HEY” patched in right that just begs fans to join in live.
“Break the Silence”, track 3, is a stand out and another first in a disk full of firsts for Dead Season. On their
band has never focused much attention on the back up vocal talents of guitarist Matt Truman. On When Everything
uses this ability to its finest. “Break the Silence” is the first track that demonstrates Matt’s ability with a catchy run track that will put Dead Season above being just a metal band to being a radio friendly metal band.
When Everything’s Lost is an amazing disk released by one of Maine’s greatest bands. The band has never sounded Truman’s lightning quick, heavy hitting, and heartfelt guitar work drive the band through each and every track. To progression of Matt’s playing, check out the guitar solo on track 6 – “Revelation 6”. Ian Truman’s destructive, melodic, vocals along with his outstanding lyrical ability have given When Everything’s Lost a professional feel.
Andy Hackett again makes every track a lesson for all up and coming drummers. Listening to When Everything
all technical aspects of percussions, from break neck blast beats to changing kick drum signatures. Together with Steve bass, Dead Season are now poised to become what they have been destined to be, the breakout sensation of Maine kid on the national metal block.
When Everything’s Lost IS the release that all Dead Season fans have been waiting for. Every track on the disk displays that the band has experienced over the past four years. If I declared Rise to be their best achievement to
then their latest release is the one that will take them over the edge. Pick up a copy, listen to it 50 times, learn the live, share the experience. They may only be a local band for a limited time. - mainemusiciansexchange.org

Something Lost, something gained
Dead Season ramp things up yet again
By SAM PFEIFLE | May 21, 2008 | Recommended By 2 People

It would be nice if everything were as great as it seems for Dead Season. The best-selling and best-drawing band in Maine released this week When Everything’s Lost..., their second full-length disc — with their last, Rise, still occupying the top-selling slot on Bull Moose’s local charts — and have everything in the world to celebrate. Yet the birth of their album can do nothing but remind you of the ironies of modern life. Tracks like “Mother,” “Hero,” and “The End” are dedicated to family members recently passed and the album as a whole is as dark as the album art, full of a little girl with dirty fingernails caressing a skull.
So delicate and so menacing.

They carry it through their music, songs that are by far the band’s most intricate and best crafted, alternatingly melodically inviting and sonically punishing. Frontman Ian Truman’s vocals have more range and nuance than ever, carrying balladic verses and a primal-screamed chorus from measure to measure. Brother Matt Truman matches that range with his guitar, ripping off machine-gun, staccato runs and distorted solos with equal aplomb. Backed by a gelling rhythm section of drummer Andy Hackett and bassist Steve Church, the result is a collection of 11 songs (there’s no track five, but there is a track 50, so it can be hard to count) that are accessibly heavy, if largely depressing.

There’s a lot to digest in these tracks. “Break the Silence” opens with a spacey take on a Latin beat and hyper-quick vocals, then moves into a call-and-response organization, with Church riding the high hat and an echoing guitar like a ’Til Tuesday synthesizer. “You Keep Me Alive” is full of a metallic vibe paired with a pop-infused vocal melody, like Depeche Mode’s “People Are People” met Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On” in a mosh pit. “Revelation 6” opens menacing and then moves to double time, with a languid guitar solo as a counterpoint and a cool sustained all-stop with 30 seconds left. It feels like an eternity of silence after the mania that preceded it.

But it’s impossible to ignore the words of “Mother,” which might remind you of “Bohemian Rhapsody” for half a measure, but is crushing in its sentiment. The Truman brothers combine for the song’s heart, the one calling out, “Mother,” the second filling in with, “hold me,” then both combining for “I will write my story for you.” Finally, Ian delivers a truly tortured, “I want you back, mama/We can’t save you.”

It’s a helplessness anyone can relate to and it’s just one example of the naked emotion that infuses this disc. Like a number of heavy bands, Dead Season’s heart is as soft as their music is hard. What do you do when everything’s lost? Buckle down and make a great album.

On the Web
Dead Season: www.deadseasonmusic.com

- portlandphoenix.com

Metal band rages against cancer

By Mark LaFlamme , Staff Writer
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Who: Dead Season

What: Oxford band playing in Lewiston

Where: Bull Moose at the Lewiston Mall on Lisbon Street

When: 5:30 p.m. Wednesday

Metal band rages against cancer

LEWISTON - When a metal band starts to do its thing, you often wonder what motivates the words behind the screaming guitars and angry drum punches.

For Dead Season, cancer plays a role.

A day before they play at Bull Moose in Lewiston, the band from Oxford revealed that much of their new CD focuses on the deadly disease and the victims it carries away.

"The writing, recording of this new album was very hard on me and Ian because we had to deal with some extremely hard losses in our family due to cancer," said Matt Truman, who with his brother Ian forms the nucleus of Dead Season.

Their favorite uncle died last year, a victim of cancer. The band wrote a song about it called "The End."

In February, their mother, Margaret Truman, succumbed after a five-year battle with ovarian cancer.

"Cancer eventually overtook her digestive system and we had to watch her starve to death over her last couple months, something that will haunt us forever," Matt Truman said in a prepared statement. "Me and Ian find that music is the best way for us to deal with our grief, so we wrote the song 'Mother' and actually were able to play it for her acoustically before she passed away, and played it acoustically at her funeral."

They also wrote the song "Cancer" to round out the new album and to further express their pain and rage. Then there is the song "Hero," which they wrote for their father.


Not that Dead Season is all gloom. Their music is described as heavy but melodic enough to attract interest from the biggest radio stations.

"They're super nice guys, too," said Amanda Flanagan, of gBritt Public Relations in Portland.

The new CD, "When Everything's Lost," is due out next week. On Wednesday, Dead Season will perform for free at Bull Moose at the Lewiston Mall on Lisbon Street. The show gets under way at 5:30 p.m.
- Lewiston Sun Journal

A Bullish performance

By Tony Reaves , Staff Writer
Thursday, May 22, 2008 PHOTO GALLERY
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Oxford metal band thrills fans in Lewiston CD-release show

LEWISTON - Dead Season singer Ian Truman describes the band as a "the product of hard work and attrition."

The past year has demanded plenty of both from the band. They've toured the East Coast to Miami and back, and Ian recently finished a master's degree in teaching and learning at the University of Southern Maine. In February, Ian and his brother, guitarist Matt Truman, lost their mother to cancer. Some of their music addresses that loss.

But Wednesday night at Bull Moose in Lewiston, hard work and hard times gave way to a great night. About 150 fans packed the Bull Moose for a surprisingly heavy "acoustic" set, complete with distorted acoustic guitar, hard drums and Ian's screaming vocals.

Matt said they had been rehearsing for their acoustic sets, trying to figure out how to translate the music, when he turned on the distortion pedal and decided they'd play the acoustic guitar that way. "I guess we cheated a little," Matt said.

"No," Ian corrected. "We give the fans what they want."

Fans came from as far as Oxford and Augusta to see the band play and get autographs.

Miles Hafner, 28, drove down from Augusta for the show. Hafner said he's seen the group at least five times, and calls its product "good driving music. It makes me want to throw down." He said he'll be back in Lewiston Saturday night when they headline WCYY's Rave n' Rage, at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee.

They didn't play Hafner's favorite Dead Season song, "Pain Brings Me Life," which Hafner said may have been for the best in the record store setting. "It would be a little rowdy, I think."

They even picked up at least one new fan. Blake Chung, 14, of Lewiston, said his friends told him about the show earlier today. Chung listened to the Dead Season songs on myspace.com before the show. "They're just awesome." He said he'll probably see them in Saturday as well.

People sang along and screamed when Ian prompted them. The band has sold more than 10,000 copies of their previous albums and gets heavy rotation on WTOS.

The band's new CD, "When Everything's Lost," was released Tuesday, and much of their set came from the melodic new release, which deals heavily with the band's losses.


"If my wife was still living, she'd like this CD," said Edward Truman, Ian and Matt's father. "But of course she didn't get a chance to see it."

Truman, 60, is the subject of "Hero," a song from the new album. Asked what he thought of having a song written for him, Truman joked, "They ought to. I spent megabucks raising them."

Truman said he's proud of the work his sons have put into their band and their lives. Both went to college. Ian Truman teaches at Poland Regional High School, and Matt Truman is a mechanical engineer in Raymond.

Despite their popularity, Dead Season doesn't have a record contract - yet - and they all work full-time jobs between touring and practicing.

Matt and Ian Truman say they might leave their day jobs and do the band full-time, if the right conditions come along.

"If we're going to tour, we need a real record deal," Matt said. "Give us something so we can take care of our families, then we'll leave." Matt said Atlantic and Roadrunner Records have contacted the band, asking for copies of their new CD. "They're noticing us."

As they balance their jobs and the band, they're also balancing taking care of their Maine fans with branching out to New England and beyond. The upcoming tour for "When Everything's Lost" takes them to Rumford, Orono, Dover-Foxcroft and Old Orchard Beach, but they're also hitting Rhode Island, Vermont and Montreal.

"I think we're advantaged to be in Maine," Ian said. "We have grassroots." Even so, he's confident they can take their success national. "If we could bring this to millions of people, I think we'd have the same effect. I mean, why wouldn't we?"

Until they get their contract, Dead Season can handle the workload of touring, practicing and working.

Last Friday, the band were in Augusta for a live interview on WTOS. After the interview ended, Ian drove home, finished his master's thesis, slept for two hours, then drove to Portland to present it.

How did it go? "I rocked it," said Ian, no stranger to adversity.
- Lewiston Sun Journal

The Beauty of Metal
Written by Matt Kanner
Thursday, 29 January 2009
Dead Season rises to the top of Maine’s metal scene

Last year did not start off well for Matt and Ian Truman, founding members of Maine-based metal band Dead Season. A year after losing an uncle to cancer, they watched helplessly as their mother’s five-year battle with ovarian cancer took a turn for the worse. The brothers lost their mother in February.

So when you hear Ian Truman screeching ferociously about black tumors and chemotherapy in “Cancer,” the second track on Dead Season’s 2008 album “When Everything’s Lost,” it’s not just a morbid goth-metal anthem. Nor is Matt Truman just going through the motions when he rakes a pick over his guitar strings.

Both performers unleash their emotions in an anguished but inspired display of heavy metal catharsis throughout their sophomore album, much of which was written shortly before their mother died.

“We were still finishing up the album when she was really having a hard time,” Matt Truman said. “There’s a lot of our emotions and what we were going through definitely tied up in the album.”

Maybe that’s part of what has made “When Everything’s Lost” such a monumental success for this indie quartet based out of rural Oxford, Maine. Songs like “Hero,” “The End” and “Mother” all refer to family members the Truman brothers have relied on or lost since forming their band in 2003. The album’s tone and lyrical content reflect the pain the brothers have suffered at the hands of a merciless disease.

“We’re not gonna hide from that pain, and sometimes you need an outlet to get it out of your system,” Truman said. “I think a lot of people are able to relate to that.”

“When Everything’s Lost” topped the list of local CD bestsellers at Bull Moose locations in 2008, while Dead Season’s 2006 debut “Rise” finished at number two. Even more remarkable, “Lost” finished at number five among all new CDs sold at Bull Moose’s 10 locations last year, coming in just behind new albums by Metallica, Kid Rock, Coldplay and Jack Johnson.

The local boys’ disc sold more copies at Bull Moose than top ten sellers by Disturbed, Radiohead, Lil Wayne and others, all without the help of a record label. “Here we are, this band here in Maine doing it on our own,” Truman said. “To see that we beat them out is definitely very cool.”

The elder of the two brothers, Matt Truman picked up the guitar as a teen and convinced his younger brother to start singing along to some of his riffs. They developed a love for seminal metal groups like Metallica and Pantera, as well as grungier rock bands like Stone Temple Pilots, and started playing cover songs with friends at local gigs. Their first band, Never Trust, evolved into Dead Season in 2003 and released a five-song EP the following year.

That first EP sold well enough to earn the new band a slot at an annual battle of the bands hosted by Skowhegan’s 105.1 WTOS in 2004. Dead Season won the contest and went on to claim victory three years in a row. After “Rise” hit stores in 2006 and Dead Season began to harness a truly formidable following, the band was barred from participating. “We had gained such a fan base that it just wasn’t fair for us to be in it anymore,” Truman said.

With five- and six-string bass whiz Steve Church and heavy pounding drummer Andy Hackett rounding out the group, Dead Season began working on “When Everything’s Lost” while the Truman brothers were battling through painful family circumstances. They were able to play an acoustic version of “Mother” for their mom before she passed away in February, and they released the album in May 2008.

Much to the band members’ surprise, “Lost” landed on the Billboard Top Heatseekers (Northeast) chart in mid June and remained there for six weeks, climbing as high as number six. To date, Dead Season’s combined album sales have exceeded 12,000.

Although the latest album’s subject matter is dark, it speaks to a reality that most any listener has experienced. Truman hopes the songs offer inspiration to people struggling through hard times.

“Every song we have is not just fluff like the crap you hear on the radio, like Nickelback,” Truman said. “Everything we have means something and you can take something from it. … I think we connect to our fans on a lot of levels.”


Dead Season’s wide appeal has caught the eye of some national labels and promoters. Last year, the group signed on with Andon Artists Management, whose previous clients include Godsmack, Cyndi Lauper, Extreme, The Pet Shop Boys and Wilson Phillips. The band is in the hunt for a label that will help market their sound to a national audience without jeopardizing their artistic integrity.


Although several labels have expressed interest, some have balked at the group’s blend of hard rock and metal. While many of the songs have fiercely heavy guitar riffs, bass lines and drumbeats, the instrumentalists can also fluently transition into melodic segments. And Ian Truman’s vocals shift between vengeful, growling caterwauls and soaring, harmonious refrains. The sound presents a conundrum for labels hoping to box the group into a particular genre.


“To us, that’s what made us who we are. We don’t want to be one or the other. None of us just like rock, none of us just like metal,” Matt Truman said.

Dead Season already has a few songs in the bag for a new album, but they’re waiting to see what pans out with labels before heading into the studio. In the meantime, the band continues to focus its attentions on the burgeoning metal scene around Portland, where it consistently draws large crowds. Even shows in New York and Massachusetts seem tame compared to the energetic audiences in Maine, Truman said. “The scene that’s in Maine is incredible compared to other areas of the Northeast,” he said.

Despite the success of Dead Season’s two full-length albums, the live arena remains the band’s forte. Playing songs like “Cancer” allows the band members to channel all their pent-up rage and passion.

“It’s a chance to get it out of your system. Sometimes you want the pain, because if you feel the pain, you’re thinking of your loved one who’s no longer there,” Truman said. “It’s my chance to be angry about it and it’s our chance to go after it live … It’s therapy for us, really, every time.”

Truman confessed that playing songs like “Mother” can be acutely painful for him and his brother. But they cope with the pain by kicking their musical aggression up another notch. “That’s what’s great about metal: there’s always a fifth gear. You can go to another level of emotion,” Truman said. “That’s the beauty of metal.”

Dead Season has steady shows booked into April in Massachusetts, New York, Maine, Connecticut and Manchester, N.H. “When Everything’s Lost” and “Rise” can be found at Bull Moose, Newbury Comics or at www.deadseason.com.


- The Wire

Dead Season - Rise
Review author: Erik Archambault
Review location: ME
Review posted on: 08-16-2006

Dead Season RISE 2006 -Erik Archambault By all accounts, Dead Season are the reigning kings of Maine Hard Rock/Metal/Hardcore. There is no disputing their presence in the state and this area of the country. For the past three years they have remained at the top of the local CD sales charts with their first two EPs (2004?s Down Again and 2005's The Fight) and amassed a huge following called The Dead Season Army. Their Skeleton Soldiers have been awaiting this, the local music buying public has been awaiting this, and quite possibly the world has been waiting for this. Dead Season have released their first full length CD entitled "Rise" and that is just what it does, it rises to the hype and anticipation and blows it all away with every pummeling riff, rumble, blast, and growl.

"Rise" opens with a blast. The first track, This F**king Day, drives Dead Season's signature sound deep into your gut. Throughout this first song, you see all of the aspects of the band. Fast place riffing, slow grind, melodic breaks, hardcore grooves, they all show their face in the opening track. Now that is the way a good metal CD is supposed to open.

The title track is another DS groove oriented song that you will not be able to get out of your brain for a week. It pumps, and pumps along like a freight train roaring through town at full bore. Singer Ian Truman continues to amaze on this new disk by the venerable Maine band. He almost seamlessly changes from a strong melodic baritone singer to an all out manic madman, screaming into the mic as if trying to melt it from his own hand. Along with Guitarist (songwriting partner and brother) Matt Truman, Bassist Craig Chaisson, and drummer Andy Hackett, Dead Season has perfected the art of creating aggressive, groove oriented, metal with a melodic feel and emotion to it in every way. After one listen to this new disk, you will feel every emotion thrown into it's recording. This disk also sounds like a national recording thanks to the high production values of Jonathan Wyman and mastering from Adam Ayan of Gateway Studios. The guitars are full, the bass bumps through the floor and the drums snap and kick with a crispness normally reserved for iceberg lettuce.

Several tracks from the past have come back from the past EPs to grace this new full length. Driven, American Nothing, M.A.T.H., and The One have all been given new life by either being retuned for this release or by just being included. The One, Dead Season's 2004/2005 radio hit, has been given a faster more up-to-date makeover. M.A.T.H. has become the melodic metal masterpiece that it was intended to be. Driven and American Nothing remain untouched from their Down Again premiers. These tracks are destined to continue their run on the airwaves and don't be surprised if they become national singles in the future.

Track 11 is quite a surprise to the average Dead Season listener. The Thunder Rolls, yes.the Garth Brooks song appears at the end of "Rise". Amazingly, it works. They have been able to hold on to the original's country feel during the first verse but, also make it pure Dead Season during the choruses and adding breakdowns for their own feel. They even do the infamous third verse. This is what a cover song is supposed to be. Not since Limp Bizkit remade Faith by George Michael has there been two severely different styles of music mashed up so well. Dead Season didn't just cover a Garth Brooks classic, but, created a Dead Season track out of it, and did it perfectly.

Dead Season have risen to the top of the music scene in this state on the back of two powerful EPs. They are proving, with this full length release, that the top is never where you expect it to be. We will see Dead Season on tour, we will hear them on the radio, and we will see them on MTV real soon. Go out and pick this amazing new release up as soon as you can. Become a Skeleton Soldier in the Dead Season Army and help them "Rise" past the top
- newenglandrock.com

NEW ENGLAND SPOTLIGHT:

Dead Season Come Alive on
RiseDead Season, one of Maine’s hardest and most popular metal groups, is back with a vengeance this summer touring all over the state and promoting their latest full-
length, Rise.

Formed in the fall of 2002, Dead Season has had a considerable impact on the local music scene in such a short period of time. The band took home the top prize at the 105.1 WTOS-FM Battle of the Bands in 2004, which followed the success of their first disc, Down Again. They repeated as WTOS BOTB champions in 2005 and pulled off yet another victory this year, completing a remarkable three-year sweep of the festival.

In an interview with Good Times, Dead Season guitarist Matt Truman said that neither he nor the band expected the band’s meteoric success. “It’s cool to see it take off. Now we’re able to fund the band and be self-sufficient. But we put all the money towards the band, we’re not in it for personal gain.”

The group is fueled by the dynamic duo of brothers Ian and Matt Truman. While Ian’s powerful vocals and Matt’s scorching guitars have remained Dead Season’s core, the rhythm section has undergone a few renovations in the past. Original bassist John Patenaude departed in 2005, and then Craig Chaisson joined Dead Season and was thrown pretty quickly into the fray. His debut with the band included opening for Quiet Riot and in front of 3,000 people at WTOS Battle of the Bands in 2005. Andy Hackett joined the band in 2006 after hearing a deejay on WTOS mention that the group was looking for a new drummer.

Dead Season celebrated the release of Rise at Bull Moose Music in Bangor by performing an acoustic set. Although they had never attempted an acoustic set before, Matt Truman said that the crowd at the show enjoyed the performance: “Although we can’t play all of our songs acoustically, a
handful of them worked out.” This kind of versatility is shown on Rise, where Dead Season thinks outside the box on its cover of Garth Brooks “The Thunder Rolls.”

Longtime TOS listeners themselves, the group is thankful for the station because their presence on the station’s play lists has allowed them to build a legion of fans in Central and Northern Maine. However, Matt Truman said that it is a lot harder for metal bands in the “un-unified” Portland scene because there are few stations that will give airplay to metal groups.

What’s next for Dead Season? The group plans to continue to dominate the local metal scene as they have for the last few years, showing off the new songs from Rise to their growing fan base and hopefully attracting the attention of major labels.

To hear MP3s from Rise and for their latest tour info, visit Dead Season online at deadseasonmusic.com, or find them on MySpace at myspace.com/deadseason1. Their albums are available at all Bull Moose Music stores throughout Maine and New Hampshire. - Good Times Magazine

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 6, 2009

CONTACT:
Amanda Flanagan, (207) 775-2126 ext. 121
gBritt PR

BULL MOOSE STORES ANNOUNCE 2008 TOP-10 SALES LISTS

Some Surprises Top the Charts in 2008

PORTLAND, ME – Bull Moose’s sales this past holiday season topped the charts as shoppers this year looked for great lasting and affordable gifts for their loved ones.

Now the year’s sales figures of new and used CDs, DVDs and videogames from Bull Moose are in, and there are some interesting patterns(the top 10 used CDs purchased and top 10 sold back to Bull Moose are almost identical), funny tidbits (not one, but three Maine comedian Bob Marley CDs are in the top-10 local CDs sold) and unusual trends (a rising Oxford, ME metal band replaces Rustic Overtones for local music CDs sold) along with the unsurprising figures (Dark Knight and Ironman top the charts for DVD/Blu-ray sales). The complete Bull Moose 2008 top 10 sales lists are as follows:

2008 MUSIC SALES

Top 10 New CDs Sold:

1. Death Magnetic Metallica
2. Rock N Roll Jesus Kid Rock
3. Viva la Vida Coldplay
4. Sleep Through the Static
Jack Johnson
5. When Everything’s Lost Dead Season
6. Indestructible Disturbed
7. Tha Carter III Lil Wayne
8. In Rainbows Radiohead
9. Gossip in the Grain Ray LaMontagne
10. Paper Trail T.I.

Top 10 Local CDs Sold:

1. When Everything’s Lost..
Dead Season

2. Rise Dead Season

3. Long Division Rustic Overtones

4. Light at the End Rustic Overtones

5. Destroy the Plastique Man As Fast As

6. To Heal The Cambiata

7. Maine-iac on the Loose Bob Marley

8. Big Mouth Bob Bob Marley

9. Greetings from Area Code 207, Vol. 7 Various Artists

10. Goin’ Up the Faya Bob Marley


About Bull Moose:
Bull Moose was started in 1989 in Brunswick, Maine by Bowdoin College junior Brett Wickard. What began as a makeshift store carrying only a few records is now the largest music retailer in Maine and Seacoast New Hampshire with ten stores and more than 100 employees. Its product line includes new and used records, CDs, DVDs and new and used video games. The stores also carry accessories including CD cases, “Magic: the Gathering Cards,” and incense. To allow its customers the ability to purchase new releases at the earliest possible time, Bull Moose stores in Brunswick, Bangor, Scarborough, Portsmouth and Salem are open until midnight every Monday. Bull Moose also recently opened its online store where customers can purchase new and used items from Bull Moose’s entire inventory. For more information, visit www.bullmoose.com.

# # #

Delivered by gBritt PR | 222 Saint John St., 1G, Portland, ME 04102 | (207) 775-2126 | gbritt.com
- gBritt PR

Hometown favorites rock their way to $10,000 in spotlight on Maine music

Submitted by Sun Journal on Mon, 12/21/2009 - 00:14
Andie Hannon

PORTLAND — The crowd thronged forward as Dead Season lead singer Ian Truman gave a shout-out and high-fives to the fans who showed up en masse to support the Oxford-based band as it rocked its way to $10,000 in the first-ever 106.7 Bone Bash at The Gold Room in Portland.

Saturday's event featured three Maine bands chosen by more than 2,000 listener votes. It was the culmination of the radio station's three-month-long Rock ME Project that produced a CD featuring 15 original tracks from 11 Maine bands. The two other top bands who performed for the judges Saturday were L-A-based Civil Disturbance and Portland-based Fifth Freedom.

"I feel fantastic about this. I just want to thank everybody — all the fans who've been there for us," Truman said.

Popular 106.7 DJ Bill "Bonedriver" Murphy called the Rock ME Project a great spotlight on local Maine talent. Murphy said that the idea for the project started with his interest in local music — which he said he feels doesn't get the attention it deserves. In an effort to increase exposure and air time for local musicians and bands, Murphy started a weekly show, Bone-A-Fide Local, which features a different Maine-based band every Wednesday.

"There's such a wealth of talent — original rock — in this state, and there's not enough venues for them to play at," Murphy said. "We're hoping that between the radio station show and the CD that we'll get them out there and get them the recognition they deserve."

The prize money was sponsored by the radio station's parent company, Nassau Broadcasting, based in Princeton, N.J., and Mainely Wireless was one of the major sponsors of the CD released this fall as part of the project. Murphy said that all the proceeds from the sale of the CD, as well as the $5 cover
charge for Saturday's event, goes back to local musicians.

"Just to be among the top three is an honor really," said Matt Elie, lead singer for Civil Disturbance. "Sharing the stage with these other local bands, it's a great time. There's a lot of great bands on that CD."

More than 200 people came out to support their favorite local musicians at this year's Bone Bash, which Murphy hopes to make an annual event aimed at shining the spotlight on up-and-coming Maine talent. Judges measured the bands on musicianship, crowd interaction, crowd response and overall performance.

"This is absolutely tremendous," said Matt Truman, guitarist for Dead Season. "We came out here
- Lewiston Sun Journal