This Obsession

      This Obsession, the punk band from Chicago formed over 2 years ago in July 2009. Mark Kronenberg (vocals/guitar) was in a heavy metal band called Poi Poi Poi, and was in desperate need of bandmates after his band members quit to play punk rock. Mark was interested in playing heavy metal and soon recruited Jessica Otto (bass). Then, they recruited Jordon Otto on the drums even though he had no prior drumming experience. "We pulled Jordan into the band because he was able to play a basic beat on his electric drum set he bought off of eBay. After that, we jammed with Jordan and it kind of just worked." Says Mark.
      After a few jamming sessions, the band decided to start playing punk rock. "I was losing so much interest in metal that I couldn’t keep doing it. The lyrics we wrote were cheesy and funny, and that also had to end. There was no way this band would make it anywhere with these kind of lyrics." In turn, the band decided to change their name to This Obsession.

      In the last two years, the band has matured in a way, they aim for a bigger sound and their musical abilties have definitely improved. They're playing bigger shows with bigger bands, and Jordan can even keep on time with his drumming.
      The songs are fairly straight forward and stay away from being too whiny and sappy. With such songs like "The Girl That I Work With" and "My Chevy Impala" the band isn't expected to be winning any Nobel prizes. Occasionally, the band will write something personal like "The Easy Way Out" which touches base on touchy subjects like suicide.
      "All the messages are just everyday things that I deal with." Says Mark.

      The band is influenced by some bands like Jimmy Pop, Alkaline Trio, NoFX, Green Day and Blink 182. Mark is especially influenced by the support of his sister, who has always kept his spirits high and attends as many shows as she can. "My sister has always been my number one supporter, coming to shows, and promoting my band. She has always told me I will make it."
      The band enjoys jumping into the middle of a show's lineup to insure they will get people listening. "we know bands bring their friends, and their friends only stay for the bands they come to see. Every show we play is always energetic. We always see people jumping around, going nuts, and having a great time."

Miles From Exile

      If Slayer, Iron Maiden, and Metallica had a baby in 2010, that baby would be Miles From Exile. The Chicago progressive thrash metal band came together after years of talking about forming a band. After several mishaps, delays, and member relocation, the band was ready to conquer the metal scene by late 2010.
      The band takes elements from classic metal bands and adds a little modern spin to it. "We're progressive, we have thrashy parts, we have epic parts, we have melodic parts, we have singing, we have screaming, we have complex riffs, we have simple riffs. We're all over the place, and yet, it just feels so cohesive and right to us. We're not necessarily doing things that no other bands has done, but we feel that everything combined is what few other bands are doing." says the band.
      The current band line-up consists of D'andre Payne (vocals), Justin Lesko (guitar/vocals), Tony Notardonato (guitar/vocals), Mike Ludwig (bass), and Edirin Ibru (drums)

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      Miles From Exile lists a wide range of influences from classic metal bands like Slayer and Iron Maiden to contemporary bands like Trivium, Protest The Hero and As I Lay Dying. The band even lists a few non-musical influences such as literature, mathematics and even astronomy.
      "The most important lesson we have learned is that, in Chicago, you can book a show every weekend because there are so many bars that offer live music, but you must space out your shows in the city or your draw dwindles to nothing." Another important thing for the band is to always try and outdo themselves at ever show. Whether it be their sound or stage presence, maybe most importantly, their writing. "We're always challenging ourselves with each new song, and we're not going to write one just to add another song to our set, it's gotta make the cut by our standards."

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      Miles From Exile, their self-title EP is something the band is very proud of. "We recorded it with Nick Nativo at The Nook Recording Studio, and we really loved the whole process. We contacted an artist named Chris Noble in California to do our artwork and he was really cool about it. We just gave him the tracks and said "listen and draw" and that's exactly what he did. We feel like the whole package turned out really well. It's funny because our 5-song EP is about as long as a lot of LPs, coming in at around 33 minutes."
      The EP's heavy crisp sound has been recieved well online and the band feels like it's a great representation of the band and their capabilities. Of course, unsurprisingly, they will try to outdo themselves during their sophmore attempt.
      To support the release, the band has the EP streaming on Facebook and Myspace, and even have a limited number of hard copies for sale at some Chicago music stores. "We are also trying to get in touch with as many people who, like you, are supportive of local music or at least open minded enough to give our tracks a listen and review." You can get the EP on iTunes, Amazon, or Bandcamp!

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      The band is focusing on spreading out through the Midwest, hoping to book shows throughout Wisconsin, Indiana, Michigan, and southern Illinois in the next few months. "The next step is to make Miles From Exile national and set up tours."
      Although the band enjoys playing shows, they are somewhat selective when booking. "if you flood the market with shows, then people feel no urgency to watch you play ?What you can expect from our shows is all of us just losing our mind. We love being on stage, and it shows. We have such a great band chemistry, we don't need to "try" to do anything, it just all comes out. We make fun of each other, have some laughs, and do everything we can to involve the crowd. It's all over the place, and we just have a great time....and we sweat a lot."

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      The Summer Slaughter Tour is full of bands like The Black Dahlia Murder, Whitechapel, Darkest Hour, Six Feet Under, Dying Fetus, Fleshgod Apocalypse, Oceano, As Blood Runs Black, Within the Ruins, and several other bands. "We're just stoked to be a part of it, and we can't wait to show Milwaukee what we're capable of. We were trying to book in Milwaukee with some locals, and then this came up, and we were like, yeah, that'll work."

Terror In His Presence

      Chicago death metal/melodic thrash band, Terror in His Presence, was very much like most bands when they started. They had members and an idea, they just needed a name. "We wanted something that would stick out in your head. So after many trial and error names, we decided to sit in our old guitarist's basement and start looking through books for inspiration." Since the band's from the 708 area, they decided to look in the bible and turn to the page, in hopes of finding something interesting. Terror in His Presence stuck.

      The band has been through several line-up changes, but Ed Messina (lead guitar) and Kevin Gecan (bass) have stuck around since the beggining. They came across current singer, Zack Hnat, while searching for a new guitarist. The band's then drummer had suggested they ask Zack to play guitar. They taught him one of the songs on guitar and since they had a PA, he tried vocals as well. "When I heard his voice I knew he was our singer. " Recalls Ed.

      After the departure of their drummer, the band recruited Dan Valente, who they had known for a long time. "Originally, he was only a fill-in because he was in another band. Then after a while we asked him to play full-time and he said yes." Through a friend, Ed got into contact with former Calignosity band mate, Joe Sperlak, whom they recruited on rhythm guitar after clicking well with his attitude and abilities.

      The band tries to combine the sound of The Black Dahlia Murder with their "old school heroes" like At the Gates and Carcass. Then, the band takes the aggressive fast thrash sounds of Metallica and Anthrax and mixes it into the band's own unique leads, harmonies and vocal patterns to create Terror in His Presence.

      You can typically find the band playing death metal shows, but the band does enjoy playing for hardcore crowds because they enjoy the challenge and feel as if they can earn their spot. "We have to play harder and put on an amazing show so that we stand out from everyone else" The band's performance is fairly active. "We all do our own crazy things to get the crowd into the show, whether it be Kevin running around in the crowd and making people mosh, or Dan throwing his sticks up and doing crazy stuff on the skins, or Joe and Ed making funny gestures at each other and trying to one up each other on stage, and I definitely like to move around the stage and scream at the crowd to get moving and get into it" Says vocalist, Zack Hnat.

      The band's new EP, No Saviors was produced by Armando Terrazas and Jim Nicademus. "They have both been a huge help in making this EP sound amazing and have both been a pleasure working with" says the band. A lot has changed since the bands first EP, Quarantinatorium. "No Saviors features 2 tracks off of Quarantinatorium, No Saviors and Crucifixion, but are very different in sound (and) our writing has changed. We are a lot more technical and aggressive and have more hooks to bring the listener in and wanting more. The No Saviors EP is our current Golden Achievement and we are very proud to have had the chance to work with the people we did."

      Chicago-based heavy metal and tattoo culture magazine, Rock Scars Magazine, featured the band in an issue after the band was voted by their fans to make the magazine's cover.

Message from the band: If anyone wants to check us out, send us a hello, or set up a show with us, then go to our Facebook page, www.facebook.com/TIHP1

New Clear Threat

      Representing Chicago, IL, hardcore punk/thrash band, New Clear Threat doesn't quite fit in. With so many genres in the Chicago area and each with their own respective scenes, the lack of a pure, raw punk scene makes the band that much more interesting. "We have punk rock, but it's usually watered down to the point where it's almost embarrassing to call it punk.  I guess that's true for most music nowadays though. We've never been a band about being in your face just for the f**k of it, but I think we do pride ourselves in being a bit louder or faster than people would like." Says band vocalist, Eric Williams.

      The current line-up consists of Aaron Jaramillo (bass/vocals), Charlie Medina (guitar/vocals), Eric Williams (vocals), James Kolasinski (drums/vocals) and Warren Mendoza (guitar/vocals).

      The band, influenced by Minor Threat, Bad Brains, and other D.C. hardcore bands, has always been politically charged. Although they stay away from getting down to specifics, only occasionally mentioning issues by name, the band often criticizes politics in general. The band's sound has been compared to Suicidal Tendencies, Municipal Waste, and Exodus. "I think it's refreshing to be a band that is as hard as punk is supposed to be and metal enough that we're not just a bunch of punks. We're not doing anything new, but somehow I think we have a sound that can't easily be compared to any other band." Says Eric.

      The band has been around since 2001, a lifetime when compared to the average unsigned band lifespan. When asked about what keeps the band motivated, Eric's reply was unexpected. "The band isn't motivated. I think that's what keeps us going. 10 years of working to make it big would be exhausting. 10 years of making music and having a good time is just that, good times.  If we make it big, we'd like it to be because people like what we're doing. Not because we've successfully marketed ourselves."

      With over 200 shows, the word 'experienced' would be an understatement. The band has played small locals shows, as well as, large shows, like the Chicago Peace Fest in 2010, with Genral Patton & His Privates, where over 600 people were in attendance. Most bands would find it hard to play small shows after playing a huge crowd, but the band had this to say, "The size of the show doesn't seem to make much of a difference. What really makes a good show is a crowd of any size that gives and takes just as much energy as we do."

      The band will be at the Chicago Peace Fest Camp-Out in Elgin, IL on Friday, July 29th through Sundy, July 31st. They're currently recording a new EP that is due out in late July.

~joeEFFINGmayo