Local band gets stamp of approval

They've got a fan in Australia who's going to be getting their band logo tattooed on his butt soon.

"It's like, 'Finally, we've made it,' " Aechoes bassist Chris Jones says to a round of guffaws from his bandmates, sitting around a kitchen table in one of their homes on a recent Wednesday evening, pretty much all of them covered in more ink than the newspaper some of you are holding.

On this night, Aechoes' debut CD, "The Human Condition," is being released, and this bunch has a reason to be in good spirits: Penned in off-the-cuff fashion just months after Aechoes' current lineup solidified last April, the disc leavens technical metallic flourishes (tricky string sweeps, algebraic drum patterns) with pop punk hooks and buoyancy in nimble yet ferocious fashion.

It's immediate yet intricate, progressive sans the instrumental navel gazing.

"We wanted to write music that had good musicianship and good songwriting, but we also wanted to be accessible," explains burly drummer Elden Ferris.

The group, rounded out by singer Kiernan McArdle and guitarists Rob Brown and Nathan Porteous, formed from the ashes of Vegas deathcore favorites Kill the Masses and the Severed Head Speaks and have quickly built some strong momentum for themselves. They've hooked up with up-and-coming indie Swimming with Sharks records, run by the Browning drummer Noah Robertson, to release "Condition" and also signed a deal with Salem Rose Publishing, which is owned by former Century Media records head Marco Barbieri, who manages national acts such as Warbringer, Abigail Williams and others.

"I was blown away by what they had accomplished and how they had matured, blending their varied influences with a take all their own," Barbieri says of his reaction to the band's debut. "I feel very comfortable with the band and have seen how hard they've worked not only building their name locally, but continually networking and getting regional tour dates in an effort to spread the awareness of their music."

As Barbieri alludes to, Aechoes is a blue-collar bunch, gigging steadily out of town and working the band like it's a full-time job.

And some day soon, it may very well become just that.

"Rob will eat peanut butter and jelly and save every penny he's got for two months to buy a new piece of equipment," McArdle says with a chuckle. "People may think that we're rich kids or something like that because we've got really good equipment. No, it's just 'cause we eat lots of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

"This is the most work we've ever put in a band," he adds, "but it's also the most fun."

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