North Carolina rock act He Is Legend are renowned for being much of what inspires them, a cult classic. The band formed in 2000, as its members were graduating from high school in Wilmington, North Carolina. Singer Schuylar Croom, lead guitarist Adam Tanbouz, rhythm guitarist McKenzie Bell, bassist Matt Williams, and drummer Steven Bache cycled through a variety of band names and musical approaches before establishing themselves as He Is Legend. After a self-released demo, A Kiss That Killed the One We Love (No One Wins), the band signed with the small indie label Tribunal Records to release their first EP, 91025, in the summer of 2004. Shortly after, He Is Legend signed with the more established Solid State Records to release their critically acclaimed full-length debut, I Am Hollywood, later the same year. After a two-year break, He Is Legend returned with their second full-length, Suck Out the Poison, in the fall of 2006. In May 2009 the band issued the single “The Primarily Blues,” in anticipation of the release of their third studio long-player It Hates You. By the end of that summer, the band had gone on an indefinite hiatus. In February 2014, they dropped “Something Witchy,” the first single from their next full-length, Heavy Fruit, which arrived later that August via Tragic Hero. Few, the band’s entirely crowd-funded fifth long-player, followed in April 2017 after the band signed with Spinefarm Records. Their forthcoming LP White Bat is expected in 2019.
Johnny Booth
Codeseven
Codeseven formed in 1995 in high school by brothers (James, Jon, and Matt Tuttle), Eric Weyer, Jeff Jenkins and David Owen. Their first demo Paper or Plastic was released in 1996. In 1998, Codeseven released A Sense of Coalition, a full-length that was catapulted by their daring rendition of “Boys of Summer,” thus putting the band on the map with a college radio Top 10. The band entered Godcity studios to record its Division of Labor EP which experimented with heavier sounds yet keeping the band’s melodic edge — which at the time was quite unconventional — Division of Labor hit the streets to rave reviews and interviews in Hit Parader, Metal Maniacs, Terrorizer, and Kerrang. It went on to top the CMJ metal charts and be featured on WWE’s Heat.
Seafloor Cinema
Since forming in Sacramento, CA, in 2016, THE SEAFLOOR CINEMA have been keeping both themselves and listeners guessing with a musical blend-o-matic of Midwestern emo, pop-punk and math rock, spinning unconventional song structures and dextrous, intricate guitar work into captivating underground anthems they’ve brought nationwide on the Emo Night Tour. Add to that a penchant for outrageously verbose song titles that would threaten a less-confident band with being pigeonholed as holdovers from Myspace’s glory days, and it’s clear the trio (vocalist/bassist Justin Murry, guitarist Seth Lawrenson and drummer Timothy Aldama) enjoy zigging where other acts might zag. This spirit of subversion is right there from the jump on their Pure Noise Records debut, IN CINEMASCOPE WITH STEREOPHONIC SOUND, as the band soup-up their sound with a hearty dose of unabashed pop charm. This pop element gives the songs a newfound warmth without losing an ounce of what made their 2018 album, A METAPHOR FOR HONESTY, so interesting. It’s all at one sophisticated and accessible, melodically replicable and musically ambitious.
