Judgement Day (band)

Infobox musical artist
Name = Judgement Day
Background = group_or_band
Origin = Oakland, California, USA
Genre = Metal, Classical, Progressive rock, East Bay punk
Years_active = 2002–present
Label = Independent
URL = [http://www.stringmetal.com/ Official site]
Current_members = Anton Patzner - Violin Lewis Patzner - Cello Jon Bush - Drums

Judgement Day is a three piece "string metal" band from Oakland, California.

Influences

History

Brothers Anton and Lewis Patzner started off playing metal violin and cello duets on the streets in Berkeley, California in 2002. They quickly released a 7 song acoustic ep and began playing rock shows as Judgement Day. The Acoustic EP was self recorded and about 500 copies were made and sold at shows and on the street. It is now out of print.

Shortly after the release of the Acoustic EP the brothers recruited their friend Jon Bush to play drums and began playing fully amplified shows in Santa Cruz and Oakland with bands like The Botticellis, Minkus, Desa and The Matches. Many of these early shows, while entertaining for some were plagued with sound problems, mostly because of the feedback that comes from amplifying and distorting acoustic instruments. Eventually the band refined their techniques, bought the right kind of gear and figured out how to make their sound work on stage.

In November 2004 Judgement Day released their debut full length record, "Dark Opus". The record immediately gained praise in local and online press. Entirely self recorded and released, the half-hour album includes mostly tracks of heavy metal and hardcore with drums and distorted violin and cello but also includes some slower interlude tracks with string orchestras. One metal song features a full choir.

Unfortunately, soon after the release of "Dark Opus" Judgement Day was put on hold as Lewis Patzner began to concentrate heavily on receiving his cello performance degree from the The Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore. Adding to the hiatus, Anton Patzner was recuited to play violin for notable indie-rock band Bright Eyes and began to tour heavily with them. For the next three years Judgement Day released no new recordings and only played a few scattered shows. They did manage to play their first tour in May of 2006, which included dates in Los Angeles, San Diego and Santa Barbara in addition to northern California.

Also in 2006 the band joined Myspace and started a YouTube Channel, posting live footage of street performances, club shows and webcasts as well as music videos and a promotional video called "December 29th is Judgement Day" which became a minor hit with over 30,000 views.

On May 9th, 2008 Judgement Day released a 6-song EP title "".

Future Plans

Judgement Day is currently working on their second full length record. They recently recorded drums at Nu-Tone Studios with Engineer Riki Feldman in Pittsburg, CA and are finishing overdubs and Anton's home studio. They hope to release the record some time this year.

Members

*Anton Patzner - Violin
*Lewis Patzner - Cello
*Jon Bush - Drums

Discography

*2003 - Acoustic Ep (out of print)
*2004 - Dark Opus
*2005 - Norcal Comp '05
*2006 -

Trivia

*Judgement Day was recently featured on the track "My Blue Heaven" on Taking Back Sunday's latest record Louder Now. [ [http://music.barnesandnoble.com/search/product.asp?z=y&EAN=93624942429&ITM=2 Barnes & Noble.com - Music: Louder Now, Taking Back Sunday, CD ] ]

*Anton Patzner met the band Cursive when Judgement Day was playing an acoustic set outside of one of their shows at The Great American Music Hall in San Francisco, which eventually led to his job with Bright Eyes. [ [http://www.eastbayexpress.com/2005-08-10/music/violin-apocalypse-now/ East Bay Express | Music | Violin Apocalypse Now ] ]

References

External links

* [http://stringmetal.com/ Band website]
*myspace|stringmetal
* [http://www.youtube.com/user/judgementdayband/ YouTube channel]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0JixOTrVTE/ Promotional YouTube video]
* [http://www.eastbayexpress.com/2005-08-10/music/violin-apocalypse-now/ East Bay Express article 8.10.05]
* [http://independent.com/artsandentertainment/2006/05/cello_of_the_gods.html Santa Barbara Independent article 5.25.06]
* [http://www.punknews.org/reviews.php?op=albumreview&id=4333 Dark Opus review at punknews.org]