Описание
Verse began as the side project of What Feeds the Fire front man
Sean Murphy. The original line up featured Sean on drums, Eric
Lepine on guitar, Mark Lennon on guitar and Matt Amore on bass
(the band had yet to find a singer). Following the demise of WFTF,
Sean moved over to vocals and Mike Hall of the Distance played
drums. It was with this lineup that Verse released the "Four
Songs" ep on Contrast/Double Down Records in the spring of 2003.
The record was received well, and has been described as "teetering
on the edge of desperation and anger, combining fast melodies with
intense breakdowns. The vocal delivery is emotional and heartfelt
with meaningful lyrics." In August Mark left the band to pursue
personal interests and in stepped Brian Wilcox who also plays
guitar in another RI band called Rampage. Shortly after, Mike left
the Distance, finally giving Verse the time and ability to tour
more. With numerous weekend trips and east coast touring under
their belt they are ready to enter the studio to record their
debut LP on Rival, tentatively titled "Rebuild". Expect to see the
band out on the road all over the U.S.A. in support of the record
during the months following its release.
We are proud to announce that Bridge Nine Records has signed Providence, RI’s long-running
hardcore band VERSE. The band will be entering God City Studios in Salem, MA & The Getaway
Group Studios in MA with engineer Jay Maas this week to being tracking what will become
their THIRD full-length album for Bridge Nine, titled Aggression, set to hit US stores June
10th and worldwide stores that same week.
In a day and age where hardcore bands have a shelf-life limited to a few years, and third
albums are rare and usually past the prescribed shelf-life, Verse is a band that has
retained the energy & purpose of a new band after five years and two monumental
full-lengths, 2004’s Rebuild and 2006’s From Anger And Rage, both released on California’s
Rivalry Records (who will still be handling the vinyl release of Aggression). Frontman Sean
Murphy clarified, “Kyle [Rivalry] has always been supportive of Verse and we’re excited to
be working with Bridge Nine with his blessing, but we still get to have a relationship &
connection to the label that helped get our band off the ground and that was very important
for us.”
Verse has hit the international road making a name for themselves as they shared the stage
with Bane, Have Heart, Comeback Kid, Evergreen Terrace & many, many more. But what makes
Verse a band with staying power and identity is that they take a powerful, dynamic, and
passionate performance both on record & tape and infuse it with a political and social
backbone that is all but lost in the hardcore scene. Punknews.org agreed when reviewing From
Anger And Rage, saying, “Hardcore, plain and simple, needs more bands like Verse- More bands
that can match their own passion and intensity with the skill to parlay it into something
memorable.”
Murphy continued on, "You used to go to shows and you couldn't escape the tables with animal
rights and leftist literature, the different flyers, distros, and a strong sense of action &
interest as a scene. It's almost like kids choose to avoid reality. It seems like very few
are compassionate anymore. No one says anything on the stage. We don't beat the message over
anyone's heads, but it's very important to us that we provide reading lists in our records &
other outlets for information because it's that same thing I had growing up, that level of
awareness was there and undeniable."
Aggression will be unleashed June 10th. Expect Verse to stay out of Rhode Island as much of
this year as possible.
