The Picture Of...

I am listening to the Dorian Gray debut EP once again, with a sense of pride knowing that this originated right here in New England.  While their Facebook page claims they hail out of Boston, they have no real home base - the members are scattered between New Hampshire and Massachusetts.  Dorian Gray play a blend of traditional melodic metal and hook-laiden modern metal...and they play it well.  They have also been doing quite well with bookings, opening for Paul Dianno, Death Angel, and Apocalyptica.  Not bad, right?

Their EP is impressive.  The six songs are well conceived, and refined to a point that one might not expect from a band's first do-it-yourself record.  The variety of song style on the EP is a bit more broad than one would anticipate as well, which is refreshing coming from a local start-up metal project.  This variety is likely due to a wealth of varied influences and the fact that the songs were penned by different band members.  Being a young band, Dorian Gray have not had the time to write much as whole, and though the songs vary in heaviness and form they never stray to the point where you're wondering if you're still listening to the same band.  All the tracks have an strong element of melody and thoughtful lyrics, and save for the last track the audio mix is pretty consistent.  In a interview with singer and songwriter Myke Havoc I got a peak into the beginnings of Dorian Gray and what they're all about...at least so far.

Openeing for Apocalyptica (photo from DG's Facebook)

Back in 2008 Myke was trying to get his project Straight Razor Halo off the ground when he was asked by a Guitar Center coworker to front the band Zero Point.  "I ended up kind of falling in love with it (Zero Point), and sticking with it for a while.  We (Zero Point) found Tony (Gravell), the bassist, from Townsend where the other two guys were from.  ...He and I wanted to do something different after a while, after about a year and a half of playing same, you know, 8, 10, 12 songs over and over again.  We weren't writing enough.  We weren't practicing enough.  We weren't striving for better shows and we weren't recording anything to the quality that I thought we deserved. ...We wanted different things...I didn't feel that they were focused on the same sort of things that we were.  So me and Tony sort of bonded and we decided to start demoing new songs and...that's what (Dorian Gray) kind of came about." (Myke Havoc)

Though Myke had written and reformatted much of Zero Point's material, he left it behind when he and Tony started writing for Dorian Gray.  Instead Myke resurrected songs and motifs from his own personal past into which Dorian Gray would breathe new life.  Mouth Of Madness, I Cannot Sleep, and Memento were penned by Myke and brought to the band.  Similarly, guitarist Axxe Ferrero brought in Strength Within and In Waiting, rounding out the other side of the Dorian Gray sound...the somewhat poppy, catchy side.  From there the band acted as a melting pot, blending ideas and influences.  "Axxe loves...hairy traditional ragged fighting power metal.  That is his thing.  He's in Shadows Sanctuary, one of the more long standing local traditional metal bands that still kind of fight the fight.  Tony and Tyler, ...they're more into modern (metal)core music...the tech/core stuff...Derek...he comes from more of a classic rock background. ...He and Tyler were forming a more -core sort of band so he got into that stuff.  ...He kinda likes rock/metal stuff.  Those guys like the harder stuff, I like the more melodic stuff....dark suff.  Axxe likes the more happy stuff.  Each band member kind of takes artistic license (with their part)...but whoever writes like 90% of it gets credit.  Axxe especially loves adding little bits...that kind of sways the direction of riffs.  I don't want to be closed off to those ideas." (Myke Havoc)  The one song on the EP that was a collaborative writing effort is the first track, Lair Of The White Worm.  If it is any sort of sign post as to where they are headed I would no doubt expect to see them on a national tour sometime in the next couple of years.

Bryce Kariger, Myke's former band mate, eventually went on to form Forever The Fallen, and also produced the Dorian Gray EP.  Production-wise the EP sounds good but suffers from some minor issues - the most obvious being the programmed drums.  Many bands now are using virtual drums in the studio to save time and/or money, or to get a desired sound more easily.  However, it does take a considerable amount of time to tweak and "humanization" to end up with something that's not only good, but also unique.  The drums on the Dorian Gray EP are certainly not bad; they just sound a bit mechanical and could have been mixed better.  When you hear Dorian Gray play live Maskalenko really fills the gap; his live drumming adds a tremendous amount of energy and feeling to the songs that just isn't found on the record.  I hope their next recording captures more of a live sound as Dorian Gray absolutely shine on stage.  Their live show compared to their EP is like organic homemade soup versus Campbell's in a can.  I don't say this to keep you from buying their EP (because you should), but rather to make sure you go out and catch them playing somewhere.  Speaking of which, check out the band's Facebok page for upcoming shows, including Wake Up Fest this Saturday in Lowell, MA.

According to Myke the next EP will have fewer songs, but they will be more focused and probably written by the whole band.  And Myke, if you're reading...a few more screams here and there please!  Just too few on the EP...without going overboard, show us what you can do, brother!  ...and let's hear the bass this time!  I am really looking forward to seeing where these guys go.

Dorian Gray is:
Myke Havoc - Vocals
Axxe Ferrero - Guitar
Tyler Olausen - Guitar
Tony Gravell - Bass
Derek Maskalenko - Drums

Listen to their EP for free, or please buy it for only $1 here.