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You cannot listen to one Euphoria jam and then think you know anything about Euphoria. One song might have you thinking their music is like Rage Against the Machine, but with another song you're ready to compare Euphoria to Dream Theatre. As you probably already know, Rage and Dream are completely different sounds. But Euphoria is diverse like that. A fairer sampling of at least three or four Euphoria songs will give you a much better idea of what the band is about.
Predominately Euphoria's music rides that line between Hard Rock and Metal, but there does exist a common element to the band's music. In nearly every song one can hear the flavors of the psychedelic. If I were to slap a label onto Euphoria, I might go with Progressive Psychedelic Power Trio -- or something like that.
Lyrically it is fair to compare Euphoria to Rage. Much of Euphoria's lyrics are political and meaningful during a period when most acts are singing about sex, partying, or nothing at all. Musically it is also fair to compare the band to Dream, as they are inventive, original, and do not confine themselves to a genre box.
Euphoria is based in Winston-Salem, but they are making a name for themselves at venues within a wide radius of home. But let's make sure we all know which band called Euphoria I'm talking about. Four other bands within a 100 miles of Mt. Airy have a MySpace site and call themselves Euphoria, and world-wide that number increases to about 120.
The Euphoria I refer to has over 5800 plays of of their MySpace music and just shy of 800 online fans. And they've generated this interest in their MySpace site in only a year! There are a few bands that seem to like that name, "Euphoria," but our Winston boys are the ones with a new CD release and is the band making waves across the region and beyond.
If you haven't witnessed this hurricane of a trio blowing across North Carolina and beyond, don't miss your chance. They will be blowing through The SoundVent in Thomasville NC on June 24th and then the storm moves onto Greensboro to Rock the Somewhere Else Tavern on June 30th. It won't be long before this typhoon moves on to sweep away the rest of the nation, so catch them here at home while you can.
Euphoria is made up of Steve on vocals and drums, Agonis on bass, and Quinn on guitar. Their new CD, "Phlegmthrower," is now available and can be purchased by credit card at the band's MySpace site. Anyone interested in powerful, meaningful, creative Rock could not be disappointed with this CD.
Euphoria's debut, "Phlegmthrower," was released in March of this year, and it's collection of songs shows that the band is all about diversity, both musically and lyrically. Some of the song are political in message, and others reveal a light-hearted side to the band. Overall the songs are heavy and aggressive, but individually songs from the CD range from Industrial to Country. But whatever the music, the lyrics fit.
The Country element is heard in "18 Wheels of Justice" while a Middle East sound comes through on "When I Get to Baghdad." These songs are not poems forced to an irrelavent sound -- they are whole, complete, single units developed by musicians who obviously care. Much like the Canadian Trio, Rush, their music makes you wonder how three very talented musicians, who were clearly meant to come together, ever did chance to meet.
In the case of Euphoria, the men met via the internet, by way of electronic classifieds such as we have here at MayberryMusic. Each came from a different path through life but quickly realized their like-minded approach to music. With this recognition, Euphoria was born.
The overall format of the band is as with most other power trios in a traditional sense, but their music also presents some original twists. Percussionist Steve Jones is also the band's lead singer. He is not just a heavy hitter with a fast double-bass rhythm and psychedelic fills, but goes beyond the traditional set to employ such percussion instruments as the gong and the djembe -- but only where such is called for.
And as much as his percussions are always tasteful and appropriate to the song, the same is true of Steve's vocal. He can be haunting, angry, or relax -- whatever is befitting of the lyrics and music, Steve has the vocal talent and range to do the piece complete justice. This alone is a feat, but doubly so that he can do this while performing on the drums. If he was just maintaining a steady beat while vocalizing, that would be one thing, but Steve is doing far more that tapping out a beat -- he's making music on those drums as he carefully executes his vocal performance.
Songwriting duties are shared by the entire band and the finished product is refreshingly diverse. Euphoria has an exceptional knack for telling a good story, bringing you right into the very minds of the various characters presented. Give the entire Phlegmthrower CD a listen, and when you are finished you will have journey - www.musiciansofmayberry.net
Discography
Phlegmthrower (2006)
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Bio
www.myspace.com/u4eaonline
Euphoria’s debut album, the enigmatically entitled Phlegmthrower, was released after much anticipation in March, 2006. Obviously, this North Carolina rock/metal trio has a sense of humor. But what is most striking about Phlegmthrower is the versatility of both the music and the songwriting. While most songs can definitely be described as aggressive, heavy, and mosh-pit inducing, the album contains elements of country (18 Wheels of Justice- a hard-core spin on Convoy), industrial (Raging Epididymitis), psychedelia (Crawl), and Middle Eastern music (When I Get To Baghdad). Truly a product of the internet era, the three members of Euphoria met through computerized want ads. Coming from different walks of life, the three recognized a commonality in their music and Euphoria was born. While Euphoria has a traditional power trio format, there are several unusual twists. The drummer, Steve Jones is the lead singer. Jones is a heavy hitter and displays huge versatility employing fast double bass rhythms, colorful fills, and percussion not often found on a rock or metal album such as gongs (When I Get To Baghdad) and a djembe (The Difference In U & Me). The fact that he provides such a rhythmic foundation for the band while simultaneously delivering a vocal performance as good or better than most stand-alone frontmen is nothing short of amazing. His vocals, reminiscent of Ozzy Osbourne, conjure a wide range of emotions in the listener, pulling him or her into the mental state of each song. Haunting one minute, angry the next, and sometimes just out there, Jones’ vocals mesh amazingly well with the band’s songwriting. This songwriting, shared by all three members of Euphoria, covers a wide range of topics from political corruption (Injustice) to marriages fallen apart (What You Did) to a descent into the depths of insanity (Oblivion). Phlegmthrower often places the listener inside the head of an unusual cast of characters from a sleep-deprived, dope-running vigilante trucker (18 Wheels of Justice), to a gung-ho American infantryman during the first days of the Iraqi invasion (When I Get To Baghdad), to a deranged drifter hitchhiking across the country (Raging Epidydimitis). Bassist Agonis Thorn “The Lord of the Low End” employs a straightforward technique that is anything but straightforward. He plays all songs in standard tuning (unusual for most metal bassists these days) and uses minimal effects. By report, when asked by a fan of the band why he didn’t use effects, he held up his fingers and stated “THESE ARE my effects!” What distinguishes Thorn is the way his unique sense of timing and note choice provide counterpoint to guitarist Quinn McCutchen’s rhythms. Unlike most rock/metal bassists, Thorn is not content to ride the bottom string and ape the guitar riffs. While McCutchen plays in one time signature on I Am, Thorn plays in a different one creating a bass rhythm that phases in and out with the guitar. The two play the same chord progression in a round on Crawl. Thorn does his backing vocals in Arabic on “Baghdad.” If Thorn employs a minimalist’s approach, guitarist McCutchen utilizes a “maximalist’s” approach to his instrument. While several songs have the detuned “wall of sound” riffing, his effects produce some very unusual guitar parts with endless repeats setting the rhythm on I Am, stratospheric soloing on Torn Away, and shimmering, droning sitar sounds on Crawl. Phlegmthrower as a whole is structured quite well, holding the listener’s attention throughout. The album starts with a bang, transitioning from the samples on Phlegmthrower directly into Lockjaw where bass, drums, guitar, and vocals all explode from the first note. From there, the album is a roller coaster of sound all the way to the end on Crawl, a wistful song about failure. And for some who keep listening, there is more. Their goal is not to "take over the world," rather to share the music that is in their heads with as many rock and metal fans as possible. Euphoria will be touring the Southeast this spring and summer promoting Phlegmthrower. I highly recommend checking these guys out live and picking up a copy of their new album.
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