hundred year storm

Beautiful and ambient with layer upon layer of lush instrumentation. They could put you to sleep or, at the same time, make your mind race at a million miles an hour trying to solve a musical puzzle by keeping track of where each instrument is and where it's going. Not new or innovative, per se, but truly brilliant, nonetheless. - HM MAGAZINE

Texas’s Hundred Year Storm is ready to shoulder the responsibility for leading the crowded Austin scene to further greatness. Coupled with angular guitar chords and interesting progressions is a harmonic vocal attack that digs its well deep. The roots were formed with montages of Sunny Day Real Estate, Death Cab for Cutie and the great Mineral. Their songs erupt with sweat-stained emotional guitar-centric indie rock announcements while deep inside is a new fangled concept of renewed faith to writing not just catchy tunes but opuses that will stand the test of time. - Smother.net

How is it possible that there has never been a band called Hundred Year Storm – it’s such a great name. Anyway, Bill McCharen formed the band – then titled Shady Angels – in the summer of 2002 in the always bustling music scene of Austin, TX. Combining bassist Ben Beach, guitarist Mike D, drummer Brandon Johnson and guitarist David Kiesel, McCharen has taken this group to the next level. In several respects, Hundred Year Storm is an excellent combination of some of the best bands and sounds out there. In other respects, they have the potential to be special. That specialness can be traced backward by listening to the last song “Pilot’s Last Broadcast” first, as Hundred Year Storm flurry an instrumental number in the vein of Austin-mates Explosions in the Sky. - Exoduster.com

The track, which clocks in at 7:55, is an instrumental where the only speaking is scratchy radio signals of the final seconds before a plane crashes and the operator's responses. The song, which is so simple, is extremely moving and delicate. Its the type of song they would play during the climax of a sad plane crash movie, when all hope is fizzling out. Its hard to explain, but this track is quite simply phenomenal. If only the rest of the album had followed suit. - The Punk Site

Hundred Year Storm is one of those rare bands that is capable of achieving a harmonious balance between well crafted, emotional instrumentation and a powerful vocal presence. Their 2004 self-titled debut EP showcases a ethereal and artistic half hour of music displayed over six tracks that not only create a sonic environment where the listener feels compelled to absorb the richness and fullness of the band's collective talent, but also attracts attention to the wide display of compositions contained therein. The band may draw influences to Explosions In The Sky, Mogwai, and Theta due to their post-rock and space rock tendencies, but it would be a crime to write them off as another clone band in a quickly growing scene of post-rock instrumental bands. As the name suggests, Hundred Year Storm has staying power.

There is a subtle intensity about "Hundred Year Storm" that underlies every track of the EP. Those familiar with the work of Explosions in the Sky will be quick to spot this upon the opening of 'Someday You'll See'. Very soft, simple guitar work carries the track along to the choruses where it breaks down into a harder foray of crashing drums, more complicated compositions from the rhythm section, and a nice transition into Bill McCharen's angelic voice. Anchored by a strong drumming performance by Brandon Johnson, 'Deep Inside' begins again with a strong feeling of intensity and continues to weave this thread throughout the length of the track. Yet where 'Someday You'll See' presented the mellow side of Hundred Year Storm, 'Deep Inside' shows a harder, edgier side, but it still paints a serene portrait the entire way throughout. Continuing to showcase their diversity with the third track, 'Mental', Hundred Year Storm ventures off into a complete instrumental voyage, much reminiscent of Explosions In The Sky but in a condensed form. 'Consider This' starts the cycle over again, calling back to the simple, subdued stylings of 'Someday You'll See' and building up to an cathartic release of energy as the song closes.

Two-thirds of the way into the album Hundred Year Storm have established themselves as musicians with an ear for subtlety and precision, but the best is yet to come. 'Arms' enters the picture and shows the band gelling like never before. This largely instrumental piece shows a focus and a coherency all too absent in bands exploring the confines of spacey compositions. Hundred Year Storm stays the course and creates the most beautiful track on the EP with 'Arms'. 'Pilot's Last Broadcast' can only be described as the most moving album closer in recent history. As the band plays over sound bits of -- you guessed it -– a pilot's last broadcast, the emotional build up is incredible. They pull out all the tricks as they throw in some teases, relapse into a calm, steady build up, and really make the listener wait for the release. But when it comes, it is absolutely stunning. It is rare that an instrumental piece can convey so much honesty and sincerity, but there is no doubt about the power of 'Pilot’s Last Broadcast'. Even if you disregard the rest of the album, the closing track is a reason why you cannot ignore this band.

This Texan quintet creates an impressively strong debut with "Hundred Year Storm" and shows that they have a strong source of creativity and a humanistic drive behind their music. An absolutely beautiful debut effort from the band not only shows that they have staying power, but also that they are one of the best kept secrets in the music world. - IAteYourMicrophone.com

Hundred Year Storm...really captured an atmospheric style with lots of layers and cool dreamy vocals with a touch of aggression that keeps the audience unsettled at just the right times. They are...like maybe “Mineral meets Starflyer.” Brandon Johnson...drums for the emo-flavored Fairfax, but has also just lent his mad skills to HYS, as did Fairfax guitarist David Kiesel. “If push comes to shove, my priority is definitely Hundred Year Storm,” admits Johnson. With the syndicated rock radio show Red Letter Rock 20 (who also happen to be in Austin) spinning Fairfax like they’re the next big thing, these two guys might be faced with that difficult position of which band to stay in. - HM Magazine (May-June 2005)

Hundred Year Storms debut EP brings alot of different influences to the table. Influences ranging from Starflyer 59 to U2 because of the overall musicianship
and quality put into each song, but also the power and punch of such groups as Stavesacre and Skillet. The Cd unfortunatley is only 6 songs long and already has me longing for more after the first full listen. Beautiful guitar work with an almost abstract feel which breathes life into each song and gives each a vibrant life of it's own. Songs such as Someday You'll See and Arms will keep you entranced with their melodramatic qualities and then they'll quench your pallete with a sonic blast of modern rock. In my opinion Pilot's Last Broadcast is the epitome of what Hundred Year Storm is all about. The blending of all of the ingredients including both sensitivity and intensity to make a brilliant recipe
come to life. I definitely recommend this Cd to anyone who enjoys the overall
quality of music and is open to a little experimentation. - Christianxtreme.com

It seems every musical genre is being exhausted recently, even the exemplary ambient/post-rock family has seen its share of duplication within the ranks as timid amateurs let their fragile musical compositions become influenced by their older siblings to the point of imitation. Will there ever be a new arrival that doesn't draw too much from Sigur Ros or Radiohead?

Enter Hundred Year Storm, an inventive Christian band who performs an invigorating combination of enchanting, fluttering vocals over a captivating musical soundscape. Vocalist/Guitarist Bill Mccharen is responsible for the hypnotic croons while the rest of the band synthesizes their efforts to create a tranquilizing environment to accompany Bill's sincere harmonics.

Their self-titled EP is to accompany their tour across the midwestern United States with The Knockout Kings. Songs "Someday You'll See" and "Deep Inside" really demonstrate the musical mastery of this 5-piece band, while the closer "Pilot's Last Broadcast" reveals a harsher side to their otherwise fluffy release.

Although this band is still very new to the professional world and they still have their whole future ahead of them to make mistakes and become sell-outs to ancient fans, for now Hundred Year Storm is a diamond in a pile of cubic zirconium. Only the trained ear will pick up on the mesmerizing and breathtaking presence that this band has shown. - Decoymusic.com

Hundred Year Storm claim that their influences are "varied artists" like Sunny Day Real Estate, Jimmy Eat World and Mineral, and beg fans via their Myspace page to vote them into this year's edition of Warped, so it seems like a safe and natural assumption that they'll be about the most emo thing imaginable. However, that's the wrong place to start when you're listening to their self-titled debut. These six songs are about as far removed from emo as you could possibly imagine -- more like an instrumental version of fellow Austinites ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead than anything their supposed artistic forefathers have ever created. Rather than performing straightforward rock music driven by straightforward emotions, Hundred Year Storm create music that's all about establishing and sustaining a certain mood, and they do it exceptionally well.

This isn't entirely apparent at first. For one thing, there's the band's self-description. Then there's the fact that opener "Someday You'll See" begins with a guitar riff that sounds like U2's The Edge trying his hand at Trail of Dead-style post-rock, while frontman Bill McCharen's overly hushed vocals are best described as inconsequential. Under the circumstances, it isn't hard to believe that Hundred Year Storm are another emo act desperate to sound different from their contemporaries, but unsure of how to do so. It's only as the album progresses that you begin to get a more complete sense of what they're aiming for. While the songs are still built around soaring, anthemic riffs, with less time devoted to McCharen's vocals, you're given the opportunity to pay greater attention to the music and you notice what his bandmates are doing. Drummer Brandon Johnson's stuttering beat in "Deep Inside", for example, does as much to keep up the song's sense of majesty as the guitars do. Then there's Ben Beach's bass work in "Consider This", which plays a central role in maintaining the song's lingering melancholy air. By the time the vocals return, near the end of fifth song "Arms", the music has hit its peak and McCharen's voice is relegated to the background. It's a role he fills perfectly well, giving the song a sense of humanity and vulnerability that it otherwise may have lacked.

Nothing in the first five song serves as adequate preparation for "Pilot's Last Broadcast". The song features recordings of pilots' mayday calls; nowhere in the album's liner notes or on the band's site do Hundred Year Storm indicate whether the recordings are real or borrowed from other media. In either case, they certainly sound real enough to be effective, and it's hard not to have an emotional response to the terror and fatalistic acceptance in each pilot's voice. There's certainly room for argument as to whether this constitutes emotional exploitation or is a legitimate artistic exploration, but the fact is, the music underscores the emotional responses perfectly: the song slowly builds to an emotional crescendo, then quite literally crashes. Few songs, instrumental post-rock or otherwise, pack that sort of emotional wallop, and for Hundred Year Storm to do this without adding any words of their own shows the extent of their talent and restraint.

Of course, the rest of their self-titled debut shows that, too. About the only thing it doesn't show, in fact, is an obvious emo influence, which makes you wonder if McCharen is even aware of what he's done here. That potentially odd fact notwithstanding, Hundred Year Storm are far more promising than your initial response may suggest. - Splendidezine.com