Music
The best kept secret in music
Press
Is it any wonder these guys are so torqued off? The men of Sunder hail from Montana, land of broken promises. They didn't move here for the "landscape," or the "big sky," or any of that feel-good crap. They were born here, born to parents who eeked for a living, and they find themselves living that same workingman's life with the same meager rewards. Hence the grim faces; hence the lyrics as dark and cold as a winter storm; hence the vocals bitten and sharp; hence the music so relentless and strident it evokes winces in the first few seconds, a cacophony of metal and driving rhythms. What in the hell are you so happy about? A fistful of Sunder is sure to punch that vacuous grin off your face. Sunder is Derek Mascorella, Andy Sewrey, Matt Ranta, Brandon Zimmer and Tod Williams.
Find this online at:
http://www.missoulian.com/display/inn_entertainer/Nightlife/nite01.txt
- Sherry Jones
Sunder is five-pissed off dudes from Montana. What are they pissed off about? Well…being from Montana. According to their press release: “The experience of living in Montana is difficult and bleak, with nothing to look forward to, and little hope of escape. Each town is like the worst inner-city neighborhood, complete with rampant drug and alcohol abuse, ruined families, white gangs, wide-spread poverty and suicide, set under the extreme landscape of high plains desert and brutal mountain ranges, miles from any neighbors, the law, or a decent wage.”
So the story goes that Sunder was formed by Derek Mascorella and Tod Williams in 1998. Mascorella, guitar in hand, plugged in with chain-saw riffs while Williams, penned the story of struggle on the last of America’s great frontiers. Joined by bassist Andy Sewrey, drummer Brandon Zimmer and guitarist Matt Ranta the group set about turning Big Sky Country into a raging fire complete with urban legends (3-7-77) and murderous tales (Winter Sleet).
Five songs later we have “Burn All The Barns” a thick slab of post-grunge metal that will indeed burn your barn down. Churning a cesspool of grinding guitars and organic bass lines into a head-pounding fury is exactly what you’ll find in the title track, the guttural “Small Black Fly” and the hook-laden “The Deep Hit.” Standout cut “Long Dead Forever” shows real promise in songwriting as it winds it’s way around Sewrey’s bass before jumping into the arena with frenzied abandonment. The vocal prowess of Mascorella carries each song through manic convolutions equal in part to a number of European contemporaries. The production is rock solid and if Nuclear Blast is listening, this could be the next hot one.
http://www.thecutting-edge.net/review11.html
- thecutting-edge.net
Discography
"Burn All The Barns" - 5 song EP.
"Long Dead Forever" - radio single.
Photos
Feeling a bit camera shy
Bio
Barren prairies.
Dark mountains.
Oceans of wheat playing out for hundreds of miles in all directions.
Cowboys, farmers and blue collar workers intermingling with separatist militias, white gangs and redneck drug runners. A landscape peppered with forgotten towns, farm house meth labs, and Indian reservations with near third world living conditions.
This is the modern American West.
This is the great state of Montana.
This is the rock band Sunder.
Like a force of nature rising from the ancient prairie, Sunder is a band of men brought together by hard work, furious musicianship and backcountry common sense. Formed from the grandsons of railroaders, lawmen and blue-collar workers, Sunder is a true American band unlike any other.
Sunder’s lyrics are a mix of violent images of the prairie and dark loneliness of the Rocky Mountains. Like Montana, Sunder write desperate songs filled with aggression, raw beauty, and truth, songs that are both a graphic depiction of a life on the edge and an escape from it.
With a mix of metal, punk and heavy rock, Sunder pound out songs with the rage and introspection of a small town existence. Honesty, strength and anger from the sons of the working class, Sunder throw down an intense live show that is as tough as they come, making
a last stand to proclaim that all is not well in the American West.
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