Drew Simollardes: vocals, lyrics Steve Miloszewski: guitars, programming Chris Turner: guitars, backing vocals Justin Wilson: drums Carl Randolph: bass
rev·eil·le (re ve -le) n.: a signal for wakening
After rocking the second stage at Ozzfest last summer, Reveille made their way into an LA studio to record their long awaited album "bleed the sKY." The new album undoubtedly testifies to Reveille's growth as a band, while at the same time establishing them as a major driving force in the new wave of rap-metal. The 13 original tracks slam with an intensity that makes "bleed the sKY" an obvious choice among those who favor the sound of rapcore's heavier side.
Reveille was born from the basement of a Boston suburb called Chelmsford in northern Massachusetts. While still in high school, the five members met, formed, recorded their first demo, and sent it out to record companies; all within the time period of a few months. Label interest was sparked after only three showcases at New York City's legendary CbGb's club, and Reveille soon signed a three-album deal with Elektra Records. Immediately upon signing, the band headed to Longview Studios in Massachusetts to record their debut album, "laced," featuring 12 original songs, including one track with Cypress Hill's lead singer, B-Real. In support of the album release in June of 1999, Reveille toured extensively for well over a year. They played Woodstock 99 and toured with acts such as Static-X, Godsmack, Machinehead, and Powerman 5000 before closing the tour out with Ozzfest 2000.
Afterwards, Reveille began writing for the second album before taking to the studio in early 2001. Drummer Justin Wilson explains the writing process to be different than most bands. "A lot of them crank out 30 songs and eliminate 20. We'll write maybe 15, and focus on everyone, trying to make it the best it can be." So over a period of four months, the band carved out "bleed the sKY" with the help of producer Howard Benson (P.O.D.) and engineer/mixer Mike Plotnikoff (Fear Factory). Benson decided to work with Reveille after seeing them play at the Ozzfest in California. "We felt very confident going into the studio this time. We'd worked hard writing this album, we knew what we wanted, and we knew we'd have good people working with us. It was a tedious process but in the end we walked away very happy with the results," said vocalist Drew Simollardes.
The album, dropping at retail stores on September 18th, covers a wide variety of music but always manages to stay within the realms of the genre's taste. More traditional rapcore tracks such as "catarax" carry that familiar in your face sound that long time Reveille fans will crave, while songs like "comin back" and the title track, "bleed the sKY" display an all new side of Reveille's depth and darkness. The album's first single, a sarcastic hip-hoppy pit song called "what you got," will hit radio in August. As a bonus, vocalist Steve Richards from Taproot makes an appearance on a song called "Plastic," one of the album's later tracks. Guitarist Steve Miloszewski says, "I think the album is the best of both worlds. There are things on 'bleed the sKY' that are so much heavier than anything we did on 'laced.' But there are also some melodic things we've never touched on before, too."
Rap-rock has become much more accessible since the days when Reveille first formed, so Reveille's lyrical content serves as just one of the factors separating them from the other groups out there. "I don't rap about the kind of things typical rappers go on about. Our lyrics have more of a rock edge. There's a rock audience out there that respects us more because our language captures the feelings and interaction that are more associated with rock," explains Drew. "bleed the sKY," although intensified in sound, carries those same views that have always been true to Reveille. "We pride ourselves on making music that sounds dark and cynical, but if you really read into what the music is about, Reveille has a very positive underlying message. Now we just gotta get out there and drill it into people."
Much of Reveille's success can be attributed to the insanity of their live show. "We're all about getting out there in front of people and giving them everything we've got," says Drew. "Our fans have been amazing to us and we're always looking for new ways to be there and interact with them. With ticket prices as high as they are at concerts these days we feel the least we can do for our fans is kill ourselves on stage every night. We put as much aggression and energy into our live performance as we possibly can. This time around it's gonna be harder, heavier, and more explosive then ever."
