Vegas rockers building following

They're from the desert, so black ice is new to them.

And yet, it has already grown old.

About two weeks into a recent tour with New England metalcore bruisers All That Remains, fast rising Vegas hard rockers Taking Dawn hit a patch of the stuff while driving through Canada.

The result was a nasty crash that left their trailer full of gear demolished.

Nobody was hurt and their instruments were OK, but the band was predictably shaken.

"It was scary," guitarist Mikey Cross says of hitting the slick patch. "When you're not used to driving in it, you don't know how to drive in it."

The accident capped off an eventful year for these dudes on the road.

After going out with melodic metal favorites Trivium in the spring, the band, which used to be known as 7th Son, completed successive tours with heavy hitters Drowning Pool, Dragonforce and the aforementioned All That Remains, spending more than fourth months in a van.

Along the way, they began to slowly build up their following, culminating with a packed show of more than 1,000 with Dragonforce in Montreal.

"By the end of our set, they were doing the Taking Dawn chant, which was crazy, because we're practically nonexistent," singer/guitarist Chris Babbitt recalls. "We're a nonentity, because our record's not even out yet. It was a killer, killer response."

That record, "Time To Burn," the band's debut for Roadrunner Records, is due out on Jan. 26. It's a total rager, a brash, over-the-top bear hug of just about every hard rock conceit imaginable. "Can't keep me quiet, I'm a riot ripping through your head," Babbitt howls on "Like a Revolution," setting the tone for an album of huge gang vocal choruses, slobbering guitars and one cocksure come-on after the next that drive winking, self-aware rippers such as "So Loud" and "Rock Fighter."

"I'm not to afraid to write songs like that," Babbitt says of the band's tongue-in-cheek tendencies. "I want people to be in on the joke with us. We're not a tough guy band."

In spirit, if not sound, the disc is reminiscent of the larger-than-life excesses of '80s hard rock, with economy-sized hooks and an allergic reaction to subtlety. It's all packaged in a modern, submetal crunch, but it does recall the days when the bangs were as big as the guitars.

"A lot of the '80s sound is resurging in modern acts, but it's not really getting nailed," Babbitt says. "I don't think we overdo it. I think it's a nice blend. But whatever. It's just our sound."

Contact reporter Jason Bracelin at jbracelin@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0476.