Cincinnati Scene Report

Hello ! Hello! My name is Chris Lee and I run the booking agency, Devil Saint Booking. I am here to give you a little insight on the Cincinnati music scene. Being a big fan of heavy metal, I decided it was time to give some light to Cincinnati's heavy rock scene. Here are five bands from the area that, in my opinion, are at the top of the scene and deserve national attention.

*Drop Shadow -Drop Shadow are my favorite local heavy band. They are the tightest band around and are one of the more original bands also. Their style is hard to pigeonhole and brings to mind a vast majority of bands including Tool, Helmet, Pist*On, Sevendust, and more. And live they are extremely intense rocking the crowd with their whirlwind sound of guitar, bass, keyboards, and drums. This band deserves to be signed yesterday. Check out their website at or email the band at dropshadow@email.com.

*Red Herring -This quartet takes from the death/thrash genre of metal, sounding like they are influenced by bands like Sepultura and Slayer. They are gaining a generous following in the area through their intense live performances and those interested should check out their 6-song CD "Deception of the Senses" by contacting the band at 724 Riddle #206, Cincinnati, OH 45220.

*Bloodline 4:20 -Bloodline, like Red Herring , have the Sepultura/Slayer influence. Add a little 80s era Metallica and you get an idea of where these guys come from. I have only seen them live twice but they were killer both times. They have opened for Slayer, Flotsam&Jetsam, and Overkill, played a prime spot at the 1999 Milwaukee Metal Fest, and are contributing a song to an upcoming Metal Church Tribute album. Check their website out. To grab a copy of their CD, "A New Beginning", or to just contact the band wite to 724 West 9th St., Covington, KY 41011 or email them at Bloodline420@fuse.net.

*Broken -These guys are a trio that bring to mind Victory Records styled hardcore and provide their listeners with screaming vocals, heavy guitar, and a tight rhythm section. They have a three-song sampler CD out right now that is definitely worth checking out. Contact them at 1398 Southern Hills Blvd., Hamilton, OH 45013 or by email at brokenhc@aol.com.

*V-Mob -Finally, the V-Mob, are a 9-person band (that's right 9 people) consisting of two rapper/screamer/singers, a couple of guitarists, keyboards, bass , DJ , and drummer. The obvious comparison is Limp Bizkit but the V-MOB play the hip hop hardcore ten times better than tame Limp Bizkit could ever dream to play. They were the recent winners of the Bogart's Band Blitz and seem to be heading down a path that should lead to bigger and better things. Check out their website and email the band at vmob@mailexcite.net.

Well their you have it. Five bands in the Cincinnati area that stick out above the rest, in my opinion. Also, I'd like to mention that the heavy scene here has loaded with good bands. Along with the above mentioned, you should check out 21A, After All, Dandelion Death, Dispute, Full Circle, In Black, Inflicted, Level Nine, Maelstrom, Pagan Holiday, Pale Shebah, and alot more.

Also helping promote the local scene Gary Horn and Jeff 'O.J.' Barnes. Gary runs the 'Saturday Night Loud' radio show on WVXU from 11pm-3am Saturday nights, spinning local bands regularly mixed in with nationals. He does ticket giveaways for local shows, tickets and CD giveawys for national bands and pass been spreading the local word for a number of years now. You can check out his really cool site and email him at ghorn@saturdaynightloud.freeservers.com.

O.J. runs the cable access video show "The Metal Zone" , which airs at various times throughout the week, showing local bands live at the various venus around town as well as a few nationals here and there. O.J. and his Metal Zone crew also put on Metal Zone shows , usually featuring five bands on a bill, many of which consist of the above mentioned bands, that are always a good time to attend.

That concludes the insight into the heavy scene edition of the Cincinnati Scene Report. Any questions or comments regarding this scene report can be directed to Devil Saint Booking, P.O. Box 19930, Cincinnati, OH 45219. Leebrome@aol.com. Check out the Devil Saint website at www.cincinnati-atlas.com/devilsaint/