Hour of Lead is a band based out of Albany, NY that got No Echo's attention via their label, Fuzz Records. This happened before we even heard a single note from the group. How? Well, in the initial intro email about them, it listed Crowbar, Neurosis, and Ringworm among their prime influences. Who could resist checking that out?
Anyway, Hour of Lead features musicians who have also played in such groups as Born Low, Hellkeeper, and Age of Apocalypse, and listening to their self-titled debut EP, one can certainly hear elements of their aforementioned influences, but the sonic and songwriting twists are all their own. "[Guitarist] Adam [Merendino] and I got together in 2015 to try and work on some material we both had sitting around with no outlet," guitarist/vocalist Joseph Cammarere tells No Echo.
"The focus and direction of that was more hardcore-driven and less on the metal side, with him on drums and me on guitar. We wrote a few songs and had a few shells of ideas, but life got in the way and we shelved what we had. A few years later, we got in the room with Pat [Dwyer] on drums and Justin [Louden] on bass and me and Adam on guitar. The songs we wrote before got put aside and something newer and heavier came about. I decided to sing and play guitar and everything else came about from there. We recorded the 5 songs last year and in that time Pat left and we have Jack [Xiques] from Age of Apocalypse playing drums now."
Check out the Hour of Lead EP below in this No Echo exclusive:
No Echo asks Joseph about where he thinks the Albany scene has received Hour of Lead so far. "The local scene has been supportive and people seem to be enjoying it when we play. Bands that have supported around here include Maggot Brain, Spell Runner and Prize. The new Maggot Brain record should be coming out soon, Spell Runner just put out a really amazing album on Fuzz Records, and Prize is Pat's (our original drummer) new band and they're doing a cassette on Fuzz as well. Fuzz Records isn’t a band but Josh [Cotrona] is a real one and doing some awesome shit this year."
As far as Hour of Lead's future, Joseph is direct, albeit sarcastic, in his answer: "The goal is to not die before the end of the year, and hopefully write a record in that time as well."
Fuzz Records will be releasing the Hour of Lead EP on Feb. 21. Hit this link to get a copy.
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