ECHOCAST

Echocast’s “Where The Future Ends” has everything you would expect from the mixture of post grunge and metal acts that have influenced today’s hard rock. Churning and crunching riffs, thumping bass intros and a unique voice. These guys have obviously been paying attention to the rock scene through the past decade.

With a strong opening in “Four Words,” Echocast follow the general hard rock structure, including a memorable hook in “Afraid of dying/On a holiday,” a mellower part that builds back up, and, of course, a catchy melody. Heavy drums and screeching guitars on “Ignite” combined the vocals of the band’s lead singer, David Mast, create a song that, aside from some guitar and vocal intensiveness, could easily be mistaken for a song by Ours. The band fall back to a more mainstream sound (if you can call it that) on “Freezer Burn,” with its mildly annoying riff, and the familiar sounding, “Cancer.” “Stay,” meanwhile, soars by on power chords.

“Wasted Me” suggests, again, the band were heavily influenced by Jimmy Gnecco and his band, Ours, as does “Downstairs” before the chorus comes in. The quieter sing-song lull of “Catch Your Breathe” offers a strong pick up to the chorus while the band show more of an edge on “Rearview” and a brooding heaviness on “Redline” as Mast sings “Now I’ll follow/What I’m searching for/Will never leave me like you did/Forward forever forward.” Blending a clockwork sound into the album’s untitled final track, the band offer a musically lighter song and a more tender but still bitter side – “Tonight my soul is opened up/Your arms around me comfort/This dream of you is strong enough/Be still my heart its bleeding/Don’t ever fall in love again.”

By avoiding some of the hard rock clichés, the band can show their range of the hardest hard rock to the softer acoustic side.

- Corrine

Echocast has written and recorded a collection of muscular rock songs with heavy guitars and lots of emotion. Think Soundgarden, Blink 182, and you will appreciate their sound. They all look appropriately thoughtful and serious on all the CD photos and they all are nice looking fellows. They have all the elements of the sound and even the look in their personas and CD artwork that’s all over alternative radio right now. The songs are melodic, powerful, played well and recorded with top quality production.

The 12th track is given no name, but its my favorite. It uses the ticking of a clock, simple acoustic guitar work and wrap around vocals. It stands out as the most unique idea they used in their songs. My only criticism of the CD is that I wish they would take a few more chances creatively and not so closely follow the formula of everyone else.

They have cathartic, angst ridden lyrics, so everyone dealing with the same feelings will completely relate to them. The songs include power tempo changes and well layered guitars and vocal work. If these gentlemen are working towards a major record deal, they are on exactly the right track. It seems only a matter of time and a bit of luck before some A&R person taps them on the shoulder.

- Stacey Board

There’s a new band in town. It’s increasingly difficult to find excellent talent that meshes well. That difficulty is highlighted by the cautious behaviour of the big labels with their distribution and marketing muscle, and makes them unwilling to dive too deep into the talent pool given the current climate of deflated sales numbers. I’ve got news to tell you, folks. Somebody screwed up somewhere. Not only does the lucky recipient, XS Records, have a ‘ready to go’ band on their roster, they have a legitimate ‘charter’ on their hands. Echocast, formed from a nucleus that contains the combined talents of David Mast and Adam Redding, has presented a surprisingly strong debut effort with the release of “Where The Future Ends”.


This album has 12 highly polished songs, many of them which are good enough to present as single material, with masterful production by Colson of HBO’s Reverb series. David Mast’s vocals, reminiscent of Elvis Costello deep tones but in keeping with the vocal styles of Creed or POD, supply perfect harmonies as his mates join him on their backups, is full bodied and able to effectively deliver intelligent lyrics. He is complemented by the rhythmic precision of his brother, Adam Redding, on guitar. Redding’s playing is accomplished here and speaks of wisdom far older than his debut appearance would have you believe. His influences are heard throughout but mixed well with his own creations; a very original and exciting individual. This kid can play guitar. You can detect a bit of The Edge, from U2, on “Cancer”, a superb little powerhouse of a song that is easily single material. But picking songs off this effort was not at all easy. They all are very good.


Sean Clark, who comes to the band from Valid where he had the duties of lead guitarist, provides talented bass that gives Echocast more than the usual accompaniment. He supplies heart. But if he supplies the heart, than the exceptional drumming of Jaren Johnston provides the heartbeat that powers the band. Together, as a unit, the cohesiveness of Echocast is in a rank up there with many of the top echelon bands. And I’m not kidding you. As a debut effort, we have a CD that is pumped full of experiential sound to rival 3rd and 4th efforts by better known bands. The songwriting is smart and powerful, with hooks that stick in your mind; a dynamic that translates into sales as more and more fans join the ride.


Standout songs on this release are Ignite, Cancer, Catch your Breath, and Candlelight but I tell you now, I’m not being fair. The fine line between extraordinary songs and good songs on this album is very very thin, almost non-existent. That is what we’re talking about. Great music. Rock and Roll. This band is the real deal. We’re gonna hear great things from this band.




- Matt Rowe

Lined with hard rock anthems, this album doesn’t necessarily present anything that bands like Nickelback haven’t already, although in Echocast’s case, it still distances enough from its modern-rock peers to at least claim some dignity, even if David Mast’s vocals are too reminiscent of Alien Ant Farm at times, especially on tracks like “Freezer Burn.” Still, the band’s polished sound and musical clarity emerges on songs like “The More We Think We Feel,” where a reverberated ambiance simmers in an arena rock haven. The melodic hook of “Catch Your Breath” evolves around a steady guitar progression, blossoming into a full-on melodic arrangements by mid-song. - Omar Perez