System Overload

Artist: System Overload
Album: From The Shadows
Label: None
Genre: Metal

Four Stars (out of 4)

While I was walking around campus this week, I ran into a member of a local band from Greenville named Andrew Penland. He plays for A&M-Commerce’s own System Overload. The next day a random person handed me the album and told me to review it…so I did.
I have been on the local music scene for almost 5 years now and this is most definitely one of the best bands I have ever listened to on a national or local scale.
Their CD, From The Shadows, is a first release and hopefully will not be the last in this bands career.
Track three, Breakdown, starts off pulling you in with a beautiful guitar riff and smooth drums that include musicality and steady beats. After starting to sing you will hear lead singer, Travis Buck, and his addictive voice pull you in further.
The chorus states, “Confusion, Regret, Anger and Hate, All the emotion that I will face, Running and hiding is all I do, All of my pain is because of you.” Breakdown emulates how all of us have felt about people in our lives. Coming from a local band it just happens to be on a personal level this time.
I was also very impressed with the style of metal and Bucks style of singing and screaming. Buck has a very melodic voice, which you would not normally hear from most metal bands. However, when he screams you can understand everything he says. For example in track four Buck screams, “Trust no one, damage has been done”, with perfect ease and obviously without hurting his voice.
As for the rest of the band duel guitarists, Dustin Baugh and David Comejo, as well as bassist Penland make the sound full and deep. They do not miss a beat and make transitions as smooth as possible.
Drummer, Corey Gann, who plays on this album has good rhythm and displays a talent for keeping a steady pace. However, recently Gann was replaced by Freddy Barrett. According to an anonymous fan Freddy, “adds more to the music.”
These musicians show more heart in their music then bands who have record deals, and somehow they manage to tour while achieving good grades in their classes on this campus
I logged onto their website, www.systemoverloadmusic.com, or for you myspacers, www.myspace.com/systemoverlaodmetal, their CD will be re-released in a month or two and be sold nationwide at Best Buy and Target. You can also buy their CD on Cdfuse.com/systemoverload. Their next show is this Saturday, September 30th, 2006, at the Neon Moon in Greenville, TX. For information see their websites.
For all you local music lovers out there…See ya’ll Saturday!!!!
- Rene' Caldwell-The East Texan/Harder Beat Magazine

Who are the members of System Overload, and how did you guys get together to form the band?

Travis Buck-Vocals
Dustin Baugh-Guitar
David Cornejo-Guitar
Paul Brown- Drums
Andrew Penland-Bass
DAVID: A merger of two different bands is what brought myself, Andrew, Dustin, and Travis together. Paul was a good friend of the band and agreed to be a fill-in for us when we were without a drummer. Eventually, he joined the line-up because things were going so well.

How long have you been playing together?
Since 2003. 5 years strong.

If someone had never heard your music, how would you describe your sound to them?

DAVID: Melodic heavy music, with an excellent mix of singing and screaming. No girl pants though.
DUSTIN: Take sevendust, mudvayne, killswitch engage, avenged sevenfold, metallica and put it in a bowl, mix it up. Top it off with a little bit of creed, ozzy, and pantera. Finally, sprinkle with chevelle, tool, and a perfect circle.
ANDREW: What Dustin said, but add Element Eighty to the equaton.
PAUL: Catchy and Unique. It is familiar enough to every rock fan to catch their attention but unique enough that you will know it is System Overload.
TRAVIS: Melodic Metal.

You've performed with quite a few national acts... Which one was your favorite to play with, and why?

DUSTIN: I think we would all agree that our favorite national band to play with was Element Eighty. They helped us out so much by getting us in front of a lot of new people in the early days and they were a big influence on our music. Take listen to "Roadblock" off of our first cd "From the Shadows" and you can hear it for yourself.

DAVID: I would have to say Element Eighty, because they are just cool dudes and they would always give us the opportunity to play their packed out shows, plus I dig their sound.

PAUL: Hellyeah! Biggest crowd biggest band we have ever played with. We all got fulfill a personal dream that night of sharing the same stage as Vinnie Paul.

TRAVIS: Element Eighty. They helped us out quite a bit. They were like older brothers to our band. They always put us on shows and we always had a great reaction from their fans.

ANDREW: I have 2 national acts that were my favorites to play with. First would be HELLYEAH. It has always been my dream to play the same stage as Vinnie Paul in the same night. I'm a Pantera freak and that was a dream come true for me.
Secondly would be Element Eighty. Those guys were one of my favorite bands growing up and they also were really cool guys. They took us under their wing and really taught us what to do to take it to the next level. If it were not for their help we definitely would not be as far along today as we are. We got to play with those guys quite a few times and it exposed System Overload to a lot of new fans that we would probably have never gotten to play to otherwise.

What was the craziest thing that's happened during a show?

DUSTIN: A couple of years ago we played with DryKill Logic at the "New" Galaxy Club. We outdrew them at the show. Supposedly we went a few minutes (and i mean a few) over our set time. The band's crew started unplugging our shit for no apparent reason. Next, when DKL hit the stage the crowd started booing.. In response to the crowd the singer said "If anybody here as a problem with Dry Kill Logic come up to the front!" In response to that A LOT of our people went up front! DKL then jumped off the stage and a big brawl ensued between band members, fans, crew, staff, etc…. it was awesome! We have the best fans in the world. Also, Everything is cool now between DKL and SO. Apologies have been made on both sides but we both agree it did make for a fun night!

ANDREW: I agree with Dustin! The DKL brawl was a memorable night! Our fans truly have our back!

DAVID: Travis jumping off the top of the PA system into the crowd at the Curtain Club after the James the sound man told him not to. James was pissed.


What has been your most memorable performance so far?

DUSTIN: We played with Hellyeah a few weeks ago and the crowd was just amazing! I don't think they knew we were a local band. As we took the stage the crowd of 1100 people was screaming. It was an amazing feeling. We really felt like rockstars that night.

DAVID: For me, it would be the "Turn the Hourglass" cd release show. It felt amazing how well Paul fit in with us just after playing only one show.

PAUL: The first show I played with System Overload. It was the cd release show for "Turn the Hourglass." That night several of my personal friends described it as being a "concert" not just another local show!

TRAVIS: The "From the Shadows" cd release show at Hard Rock Café. That was the first time I really realized the blood, sweat, and tears we had poured into this band was really starting to pay off.

ANDREW: Both of the Cd Release Shows! They were amazing! The crowds were huge and it really was apparent how much we have made an impact!

What is the ha - DFW Noise

Turn the Hourglass" is an album that will simply leave you breathless. It's absolutely amazing to see just how developed and mature System Overload has become since the release of their last CD, "From the Shadows" in 2005.

Being one of the highest drawing bands in the Dallas area, System Overload was faced with the pressure of releasing an amazing CD that would back up their success and hopefully earn them a record deal. They have certainly done that with, "Turn the Hourglass".

This "melodic-hardcore" mixture of screaming and heartfelt lyrics and amazingly talent-filled instrumentals is sure to be in your CD players for days!

It is rare to find an album that contains more than two songs that could be released on their own as singles. Well, "Turn the Hourglass", according to me, has five. Those being "Disease", "Shattered", Decomposing Memories", Hollow" and "Acid Rain"

I believe the reason I like the music of System Overload so much is that it appeals to so many different types of rock crowds. With Travis Buck on vocals, you get the screaming that makes your hair stand on end and leave your parents asking "What is that noise you're listening to?" as well as sing-alongable (that's right I just made up a word) lyrics. The choruses are those that you can leave the club repeating to yourself or singing in the car with the stereo blasting.

Dustin Baugh and David Cornejo offer up some, in my opinion, of the best guitar playing around. Whether it is the riffs that make your eyes widen or the bridge that makes your blood run cold, these guys know how to play and leave you wanting more.

Bassist, Andrew Penland, knows how to add the melodious heartbeat to the hardest of songs such as "Parasite" as well as keep the deep mood of the ballad, "Disease". His addition to those eye-widening riffs and blood curdling bridges make this album that much more complete.

With Travis Turner on drums, you receive some blasts that will knock your socks off. The drum solos and incorporated drum fills will leave your bass-filled speakers begging for mercy.

With songs like "Decomposing Memories", "Shattered", "Acid Rain", Subside", and "Parasite" blowing away your ear drums and causing you to raise your horns in salute, put together with more melodic tunes such as "Hollow" and "Disease", this album is sure to be one that is not easily looked over by the rock world.

Whether you are looking for hardcore, head-slamming, scream filled music, or from-the-soul sang lyrics, which can be contagiously memorized, this album has it all.

System Overload will be releasing "Turn the Hourglass" very soon. Be watching bulletins to find out the date of the CD release show.

You can go and preview a group of the songs from "Turn the Hourglass" and read more about System Overload at www.myspace.com/systemoverloadmetal.


Thanks,

Rockstar Magazine
- Cody Giles-Rockstar Magazine/The East Texan

Artist: System Overload
Album: From The Shadows
Label: None
Genre: Metal

Four Stars (out of 4)

While I was walking around campus this week, I ran into a member of a local band from Greenville named Andrew Penland. He plays for A&M-Commerce’s own System Overload. The next day a random person handed me the album and told me to review it…so I did.
I have been on the local music scene for almost 5 years now and this is most definitely one of the best bands I have ever listened to on a national or local scale.
Their CD, From The Shadows, is a first release and hopefully will not be the last in this bands career.
Track three, Breakdown, starts off pulling you in with a beautiful guitar riff and smooth drums that include musicality and steady beats. After starting to sing you will hear lead singer, Travis Buck, and his addictive voice pull you in further.
The chorus states, “Confusion, Regret, Anger and Hate, All the emotion that I will face, Running and hiding is all I do, All of my pain is because of you.” Breakdown emulates how all of us have felt about people in our lives. Coming from a local band it just happens to be on a personal level this time.
I was also very impressed with the style of metal and Bucks style of singing and screaming. Buck has a very melodic voice, which you would not normally hear from most metal bands. However, when he screams you can understand everything he says. For example in track four Buck screams, “Trust no one, damage has been done”, with perfect ease and obviously without hurting his voice.
As for the rest of the band duel guitarists, Dustin Baugh and David Comejo, as well as bassist Penland make the sound full and deep. They do not miss a beat and make transitions as smooth as possible.
Drummer, Corey Gann, who plays on this album has good rhythm and displays a talent for keeping a steady pace. However, recently Gann was replaced by Freddy Barrett. According to an anonymous fan Freddy, “adds more to the music.”
These musicians show more heart in their music then bands who have record deals, and somehow they manage to tour while achieving good grades in their classes on this campus
I logged onto their website, www.systemoverloadmusic.com, or for you myspacers, www.myspace.com/systemoverlaodmetal, their CD will be re-released in a month or two and be sold nationwide at Best Buy and Target. You can also buy their CD on Cdfuse.com/systemoverload. Their next show is this Saturday, September 30th, 2006, at the Neon Moon in Greenville, TX. For information see their websites.
For all you local music lovers out there…See ya’ll Saturday!!!!
- Rene' Caldwell-The East Texan/Harder Beat Magazine

System Overload at Curtain got their crowd singing and moving to their first song/radio single “Acid Rain.” They ended their fun and high-energy show with a cover of Drowning Pool’s “Tearing Away.” - Harder Beat Magazine-Rene Caldwell

System Overload was releasing their long awaited CD / EP and I was one of the first in line to get it. Although, now was the time to hear it all live. These guys put on a show for the fans that's for sure. From the minute they took the stage, a pit started in front, bodies were getting thrown around and the mayhem ensues. Now this is a party in my book. The fans were absolutely eating this up and the band seem to play harder and harder with the energy from the fans. Travis was belting out the words, one after another in perfect harmony and showing the fans there, why they want to make it big. Andrew, Cory, David & Dustin were all pumped on stage and giving the fans the energy they were feeling on the night they had been waiting for. This band is a soon to be success story and would not surprise me at all if they took the Billboard charts by storm one day. Be prepared, System Overload is definitely coming and coming strong. -Tim - Tim Vasquez-www.myspace.com/Txbandsonline

System Overload Rocks Curtain Club

By: Renee Caldwell

System Overload (SO) celebrated their five year anniversary at Curtain Club on Feb. 23 by re-releasing their first CD. SO is a perfect mixture of metal and rock. Travis Buck (vocals) impressed us all by switching between screaming and lyrically singing with ease. They not only play heavy driving metal like "Acid Rain"? and "Stay Away"? but have some beautiful ballads like "Breakdown"? (my personal favorite).

This finely tuned machine is composed of Paul Brown (Drums), Dustin Baugh (guitar), David Cornejo (guitar), Andrew Penland (bass) and of course the vocal stylings of Buck. These career minded men wont let anything get in their way. "Right now we're just workin on a record deal, recording new shit, trying to get a new album out and just trying to take our career further. We are trying to play more national shows, score some good tours and get in front of as many people as we possible can," Penland said.
"The thing about this next album is we're really trying to branch out a little bit with our music. We're not trying to sound like any particular genre. We're not really to worried about time limits, ya know the standard three and half minute songs. We're just trying to play what we wanna play but still make it catchy enough to where it can end up on the radio. Catch a lot of new fans," Baugh said.

SO, based out of Greenville, TX, also knows how to work a crowd well. Buck not only speaks to the crowd to get them riled up he also sings to the fans. Some bands are extremely introverted while onstage. Not this band, they rock out to and for their fans playing and paying attention to audience members. At points through their set there was nothing but firey guitar riffs, heads banging, and devil horns as the guys in the band electrified the crowd.

The hard work and discipline that these guys have has definitely started to pay off. "I get to fulfill a personal dream. We get to share the stage with Mr. Vinnie Paul. It's gunna be really cool,"? Brown said. SO opens for HellYeah on March 2 at the Ridgley Theatre in Ft. Worth, TX. They also open for Red on March 25 at the Ridgley. But don't worry they will be back in Dallas soon with a show at Curtain Club on April 5.
If you're into metal and want to rock out I recommend seeing these guys ASAP. To check these guys out sooner you can visit www.myspace.com/systemoverloadmetal. - Lit Magazine

Another weekend down...another club conquered.
System Overload is truly coming into their own
as I actually only heard ONE person ask, "System who?"
Friday night.
For those who weren't there the kids in SO along
w Necrogazm and Loaded Moses supported the mighty
Element 80 at the Curtain Club for the Dallas CD
release show. System took the stage about 11:30p
and for 35 minutes rocked the house from front to
back. The Pit was in full effect and reminded me
a little of the crowds Pimpadelic, Slow Roosevelt
and Pornlab were bringing 5 to 6 years ago. Mark
my words, if I do my job System Overload will soon
become a household name. Then David, Dustin, Andrew,
Cory and Travis may wind up (pun intended)
being Dallas' next set of rock stars.
-Anthony Streeter

- Anthony Streeter-Strong Arm Entertainment

Another weekend down...another club conquered.
System Overload is truly coming into their own
as I actually only heard ONE person ask, "System who?"
Friday night.
For those who weren't there the kids in SO along
w Necrogazm and Loaded Moses supported the mighty
Element 80 at the Curtain Club for the Dallas CD
release show. System took the stage about 11:30p
and for 35 minutes rocked the house from front to
back. The Pit was in full effect and reminded me
a little of the crowds Pimpadelic, Slow Roosevelt
and Pornlab were bringing 5 to 6 years ago. Mark
my words, if I do my job System Overload will soon
become a household name. Then David, Dustin, Andrew,
Cory and Travis may wind up (pun intended)
being Dallas' next set of rock stars.
-Anthony Streeter

- Anthony Streeter-Strong Arm Entertainment

Five to see live

09:52 AM CDT on Thursday, April 12, 2007

With Ayo 1. KNUCKLE DEEP: Ballsy, three-chord, drinkin' rock 'n' roll songs from Beaumont.

Sunday night at Hot Rodds and Hoggs in Arlington

2. SYSTEM OVERLOAD: They rock hard while incorporating melody, and seem to take a lot of pride in their production.

CD release show Saturday night at Curtain Club.

3. SLICK LADY SIX: Former Trendkill Clinic frontgirl Elle Chaos belts dark hard-rock goth marches in lots of black leather.

Saturday night at the Darkside Lounge

4. THE FARSTAR: Your emo girlfriend digs them, and so do I. Because they do emo the old way, when it was quirky, smartly sarcastic and more atmospheric.

Tomorrow night at O'Riley's Bar and Grill

5. BACK IN BLACK: Cooler than most tribute bands, because they pull AC/DC off well and incorporate some cool original songs.

Tonight at the Glass Cactus in Grapevine

Ayo hosts The Edge of Night on KDGE-FM (102.1), weeknights from 6 to 10. - Quick DFW by Ayo

System Overload - Turn The Hourglass (Review)

Turn The Hourglass, the latest CD from System
Overload is a monster. I have been one of System
Overload's biggest critics in the past, I now
feel I have nothing to criticize.

Starting from the begining of this CD in the Prelude
I could hear a difference in what I heard in the past
from these guys. This is where I felt like music has
finally returned to a world in severe need of it. This
beginning song alone left me wanting more and very anxious
to hear what could be next. Well I found out it was a
mixture of intense songs that I could only compare to
a Texas style version of Stone Sour. Don't let yourself
think these guys only sound like Stone Sour, that is not
the case, this CD has a feel for several bands styles all
rolled into one, making a very versitile and unique combination.

If you have not had a chance to get this CD yet, In my opinion,
this is one for the CD Collection and one that I would imagine
gets wore out, making you get a second one to replace it with.
This CD has not left my CD player yet because it has so much to
enjoy. I see very big things for System Overload in the future
when you start out with a full-length CD such as this one.

Produced by: Alex Gerst & System Overload
Engineered & Recorded at: Indian Trails Studios by Alex Gerst
Mixed at: Empire Sound Studios by Alex Gerst
Mastered at Milo Studios by Derek Taylor

System Overload Management: Morgan Neff at Greenhausen Management
System Overload Booking: Anthony Streeter at Strong Arm Entertainment


SYSTEM OVERLOAD

Reviewed By: Tim V
TX BANDS ONLINE - Tim Vasquez-www.myspace.com/Txbandsonline

Five to see live

09:52 AM CDT on Thursday, April 12, 2007

With Ayo 1. KNUCKLE DEEP: Ballsy, three-chord, drinkin' rock 'n' roll songs from Beaumont.

Sunday night at Hot Rodds and Hoggs in Arlington

2. SYSTEM OVERLOAD: They rock hard while incorporating melody, and seem to take a lot of pride in their production.

CD release show Saturday night at Curtain Club.

3. SLICK LADY SIX: Former Trendkill Clinic frontgirl Elle Chaos belts dark hard-rock goth marches in lots of black leather.

Saturday night at the Darkside Lounge

4. THE FARSTAR: Your emo girlfriend digs them, and so do I. Because they do emo the old way, when it was quirky, smartly sarcastic and more atmospheric.

Tomorrow night at O'Riley's Bar and Grill

5. BACK IN BLACK: Cooler than most tribute bands, because they pull AC/DC off well and incorporate some cool original songs.

Tonight at the Glass Cactus in Grapevine

Ayo hosts The Edge of Night on KDGE-FM (102.1), weeknights from 6 to 10. - Quick DFW by Ayo