Driving the Effect

Pacheco Community Center --

Driving the Effect celebrated its CD's release at Pacheco's Community Center on Friday night. The band followed other locals Eightfold Path, Domeshots and 3rdrail. For the $7 admission, attendees even got a copy of the band's new self-titled, six-track CD.

"Lastly, Driving the Effect performed. With very grinding riffs and great bass tone, the crowd was very receptive. Drummer Robert Canchola utilizes everything on his kit while bassist Matt Howell feeds a resonating tone that tickles at the rib cage. The crowd formed a semi-circle around the band and simultaneously bobbed along to the beats of the songs. You can hear a metal influence, but also with great funk-like undertones that creates an interesting combo. The lyrics are intense and emotionally grueling judging by the veins in singer Nino De La Rosa's neck. The double bass drumming is phenomenal and the crowd begged for one more at the end of the set. The band obliged with a great technical song that had classic metal-like growls on vocals and fast-paced riffs where I noticed the singer had a jar of honey at his feet instead of the usual bottled water. At the end, the guys finished their set with exhausted looks on their face and their clothes drenched in sweat to an applauding audience."

Despite the hall having relatively poor acoustics because of its simple rectangular structure with vaulted ceilings, and a soundman that left his post periodically, all four bands sounded pretty well. As the crowd thickened, they gave the sound a general warmth and depth to the music and provided a good, hearty ambiance.

- Melissa Evett - September 27, 2003

Hard to imagine this is pretty much the same band that had a decidedly hip-hop oriented direction just a scant few years ago, but Driving The Effect and their new disc have obviously made their statement here. There’s quite a bit going on here musically which stakes it as a cool second and third listen, with some obvious highlights.

Right off the top, vocalist Nino De La Rosa has made some big strides with his voice, alternating between the growl and high end melody, even soaring in some places to some up-to-now unheard ranges.

The backline, laid out by guitarist Jeremiah Baldwin, drummer Robert Canchola, and bassist Matt Howell, works at a heavy strum feel for the most part, with a lot of breakdowns (some in very predictable places and some not so much).

While De La Rosa does grate his voice into a scream at times, this is melodic music all the way, with a lot of cleaner feels (and subsequently giving them quite a bit of range), with the biggest surprise coming in the track “Slip”.

This is emotionally driven all the way, with some hard hitting spots that amplify some pseudo aggression, but it’s the overall deeper (and bordering on depressed in places) feel that drives this entire disc.

Some tracks are not as strong as others, but put together on the whole, this disc does its job well, presenting Driving The Effect with a killer production job and a strong music sense.

Such a change from De La Rosa that really gives this one an edge.
- Powerslave.com