“The job of the human being is to radiate through the finite self the infinite light.”
In a time where generative hard rock music has become an endangered species, rap/metal and nu-metal still hauntingly linger, the next big thing sounds identical to the last and musical icons come in the form of pre-packaged boy bands. One cannot help but feel debilitated and ready to throw in the towel. Fortunately, all hope is not lost yet.
In rare instances, overly replicated material leads and encourages the acute into a new realm of experimentation. Enter Radiate. Manifesting in a glowing matter from the Brooklyn/New Jersey area, these four emissions of light have concocted a blend of music so innovative and fierce that music has become pleasurable to listen to again.
Radiate fuses every element of sound and then some to consummate with an outcome that is utterly unique. With each consecutive listen, one unexpectingly uncovers a new modulation entering freely into an alternate realm where your senses are awakened and your spirit is ignited.
The listener becomes rapidly immersed in a sound that has enough electronics to vigorously keep you dancing, enough rock and metal to keep your head banging and enough Middle Eastern sound and experimentation to keep you in a stupefied trance.
Radiate is as sonically innovative as the likes of Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails and at times as menacing as Filter and the Deftones, ultimately unable to be categorized. And, they wouldn’t have it any other way.
In a little less than two years time, Radiate has accomplished something that many bands are unable to do in a lifetime – have an original style. Flawless vocals that genuinely ooze with passion, fierce drumming, innovative and smoldering guitars, alongside ramped percussion bongos and a didgeridoo, all mesh together as one to form the pioneering sound. Another differentiating factor is that the band strays away from using the typical verse/chorus/verse format and instead creates a format all their own.
Radiate first exploded onto the scene in January, 2002 with the release of their mind-expanding Transmission EP. The enthralling “Open Mouth” kicks off the disk in a tantrum of grinding yet synthetic guitars, gut-wrenching vocals that are not only sung but delivered and a bridge that awakens with its ability to differentiate from the norm.
“Viral” entices the listener to the brink of exhaustion with its powerful rising percussion and steady bass rhythms.
“Skin” concludes the journey with its Middle Eastern vibe, spiked with an electric sitar and melodic undertones.
As 2002 progressed, so did Radiate. Before the year’s end, the band would emancipate their most simmering sound thus far, with the dispensing of their Halo EP. The instrumental expansion heard on Halo is mind-blowing, showing that the band has an ever-tighter grip on their sound. “Halo,” the title track, has that raw, stripped down New York City feel with its exploding verses and a chorus of strength.
“Perfect,” the true diamond of the album, begins with eluding sequencing, backboned by an ever-creative drum loop, only to progress to a chorus that pushes the body to movement and a frenzied bridge of controlled chaos.
“Insect Herd” begins a bit mellower with emotionally touching lyrics that gradually transcend into a musical mayhem of the most welcomed kind.
Radiate last overtook the masses when they played New York City’s Downtime. Clad in zippered jumpsuits and ready for battle, the musical messiahs succeeded in opening each and every eye of the normally jaded show-goers, unifying and intellectually stimulating them song after song.
The members of Radiate are four visionaries who produce music that not only mystifies, but challenges, composing a sound that never grows tiresome, but rather more and more intriguing.
Radiate has transcended upon us a light so bright that no matter how hard you try to shade it, it still burns through your veins like liquid fire. So, I ask you, do you radiate?
For more information, check out www.doyouradiate.com.
