THE PROCESS

Heavy metal meets reggae on the debut release of THE PROCESS called BLOOD AND BONES (The Process). A flair for the dramatic grafts Freddy Mercury-style vocals, Police-era reggae and rootical lyrics into a sound not quite like any of the influences, or anything else you've ever heard for that matter. More pop or rock than reggae in sound, the songs, when their surface is scratched, aren't pop or rock at all--an interesting amalgam of influences that forges a sound straddling the world of hard rock and reggae the way Bad Brains straddled reggae and punk. If the elements seem inherently exclusive you might want to pass but if you're musically adventurous you might witness here the birth of a new style--perhaps the "dreadbanger" will be the wave of the future?
(www.theprocessonline.com)

Chuck Foster's comprehensive "Reggae Update" column has appeared in The Beat since 1989. He hosts "Reggae Central" on KPFK-FM in Los Angeles, and is the author of Roots Rock Reggae published by Billboard Books. - THE BEAT MAGAZINE

THE PROCESS® have been together, kicking out them high octane reggae/punk jams, for many a moon....'bout ten years or so. Can't imagine Michigan's music scene without 'em.

First heard about THE PROCESS® from Lukas, my son's best buddy. Seems that his cousin Arek was a member a few years back. Lukas would come back from rehearsals or a show and tell me all about this 'WEIRD' band. I didn't quite know what to make of this metallic rock outfit that wore WIGS and bastardized reggae music....it sounded W-A-Y over the top to me.

'Cos I LOVED reggae, especially Bob Marley (though my knowledge and understanding of Marley and reggae was limited). I saw Marley in the mid-seventies. And that man was surely righteous. His music wondrous and authentic. How dare THE PROCESS® corrupt this precious music... music so real, so important that it became Jamaica's clarion call for revolt - to STAND UP for cultural freedom and social justice. The power of the music transcends time, place, and person.

It was from that limited perspective that I first saw THE PROCESS® in concert two years ago
The show began dramatically with repetitive and EXPLOSIVE riffing with a fog machine kickin' it out, setting the stage for vocalist David Asher's entrance. MY GOD!!! I've never witnessed a better or more dramatic opening.
VERY COOL
And I hadn't heard music so good, yet so ear-shattering since I attended a Johnny Winter "sonic-blast" back in '72.
And it only got better...
I can't remember the song list (though "Jah Made the Herb" was a worthy and provocative tune), but let me tell you... this band is INTENSE. Asher is one of the most dynamic front men around. He's a great singer... a natural contralto with a voice that RESONATES - he MEANS what he sings.
Believe it.
THE PROCESS® made a believer out of me. They took an idiom - a form of music - and made it their own. Like Stevie Ray Vaughn with the blues, THE PROCESS® pays homage to reggae by staying true to the cultural/political current of the music while personalizing the message - in the best and purist way...honest emotions and thoughtful lyrics.

Blood & Bones was released around August of 2002...a few months later I had the good fortune and pleasure of meeting up with lead singer David Asher at White's Bar. We talked about music in general and Bob Marley in particular. Asher KNOWS. Anyway, he palmed me a copy of Blood & Bones.

And it was in this manner that I discovered this sonic wonder, this masterwork by THE PROCESS®....

Blood & Bones

The first track "Rising Up" opens with a brief syncopated beat with guitar/percussive noodlings that explodes in a funky bass and synthesizer attack that segues to Asher's foreboding couplet..." I'm rising out of the darkness again - like a flame to the wind"
"I'm rising up like a fire...like a flame to the wind"
The refrain threatens that "Bars cannot hold me, just can't control me"
"Spirit rise again".
The "hook" is Asher's compelling chorus... "This train's bound for glory, and it's riding through the night". Great track.

"Mist of Time" is a powerful rap about things that REALLY matter. Asher sings about seven seals, revelations, and the prophets of old - that freedom and peace are calling from across the sands of times. The WORD of love is spread by desert winds while Asher and THE PROCESS® warn that the by-products of war are bio-tech death and a blackened earth. Listen to the word!

"Run Them Down" is a warning to the warriors of Babylon. Jah's on the rise again...he's on the move and he's gonna take an accounting - "the valley of decision" for those whose "evil" is reflected by the wicked things they do to others...they way they "run them down". Great muscular guitar and drum riff with traditional reggae beat.

The title track "Blood & Bones" is a serious masterpiece. Dynamic, powerful. Asher's lyric universalizes the human experience - our struggle - and acknowledges Africa as the mother of all nations - that our spiritual origins and journeys are rooted "deeper than flesh, deep within your heart, deep like blood and bones". Amen.

"Spread The Money" is a "dance" song...but Asher still puts his message across
" "You were once a man, twice a child",
"it's a crime, the way you keep that money for yourself".
"GIVE IT UP RICH MAN"
- "You can't take it with you when you go"!!!"
Asher's great utopian vision.
If only....

"Rapdown" is another dance/reggae groove that mixes rap with more traditional singing. Asher warns that evildoers and devil governments are comin'..
"over the hills, across the seas"...
here they come say "Jah is dead"
( but don't believe it)
"Jah hold them in a big rain cloud,
Jah hold them in a lightning bolt
Jah hold them in the east
Rasta catch them in the west
fire burn them in the North and South".
Asher and THE PROCESS® bring it all home in celebration - "woogie, zoogie, zoogie, zoo....scooter - cool breeze"

The Bob Marley anthem, "Get Up, Stand Up" - Review Magazine

The Process is one of the freshest acts that I’ve run across in the time that we have been receiving band submissions at MidwestBands.com. When you receive info from a band located in Detroit, you don’t expect to hear what we heard! Detroit brings to mind Motown, Bob Seger, Ted Nugent; heck, I guess even Kid Rock makes sense--but, a reggae band?! I don’t know why my mind has a hard time comprehending that fact, but it does! I’m not prone to making generalizations, but this is one situation where I did! Shame on me! No matter where they hail from, this band is incredible!

I should back up just a little bit; this album is, for the most part, a reggae album. It is a bit limiting, though, to refer to the CD as strictly reggae, because The Process mixes other styles and sounds and feels to make this a truly unique project! The roots are definitely reggae, as is evident particularly with “Rapdown”, “Run Them Down”, “Spread the Money” and the covered version of “Get Up, Stand Up”; on the other tracks, however, reggae is mixed with varied sounds, and the results are very awesome! The first track on the CD, “Rising Up”, is a very professionally recorded, very catchy and very powerful tune. That track, and “Rapdown”, in my estimation, are the best two tracks on the CD! “Mists of Time” has a very middle-eastern feel to it that is very catchy and very memorable! The title track, “Blood and Bones”, and “Rasta Calling” both have very straight-on, driving beats different yet from all the other tracks!

Musically, this CD is superb; it seems like it loses a little steam after track 6 (I’m a fan of Bob Marley, and I really like his version of “Get Up Stand Up”, and as a rule, I’m not real crazy about club mixes like Track 9, “Rising Up (club mix)”), but the songs are still very solid. On top of that, they also contain very solid lyrical content! I was actually intrigued by the lyrics of this CD, so much so that I researched the Rastafarian religion and found a lot of facts that I hadn’t known before! The songs on this album come from a very spiritual place, and I feel that the focus and drive of the songwriters primarily David Asher (vocals) and Garrick Owen (guitars) create the energy that propels this project! You’ll have to check it out for yourself to see what I’m talking about, because I don’t think my words are sufficient to convey the emotion and power that the songs on this album contain. I am very impressed with Blood and Bones, and I’m very interested in hearing future work from this band! I think you will be impressed, as well!---Mark Lush, Midwestbands.com 5/5/03
- Midwestbands.com

One of the most stirring and pleasing surprises of 2002 came in the form
of Tri-City based artists, THE PROCESS®, who managed to crystallize the thematic
magnitude of their previous work in the form of eight new tracks that totally
re-defined the power of this group with the emphasis on their spectacular ability
to truly rock down the house.

- Review Magazine