If you're a regular visitor to this site then you've almost definitely seen one of Brass Against's horns-heavy covers of hard-rocking classics from Tool, Rage Against the Machine, Deftones, Pantera and others. Not content with reinventing other artists' music, however, the NYC-based collective has made the massive step of writing and recording their own original compositions, joined by powerhouse vocalist Sophia Urista, who has crooned and roared on many of their viral covers. The first of those originals, "Umbra," "Pull the Trigger" and "Blood on the Other," appear on the group's forthcoming self-titled EP, due out this Friday, April 10th. (You can pre-save it here.) On the eve of the big drop, Brass Against have teamed with Revolver to give you the early listen to the whole damn thing. Blast it below.
"This EP represents the beginning of our own creative expression and evolution as a band," comments Brad Hammonds, who leads and curates the collective. "We obviously wear our influences — Tool, Deftones, RATM, etc. — and build on them with these songs, hopefully creating something new and unique."
Producer Chris Davies adds, "The EP, to me, is ultimately about self-empowerment. External things will always remain outside of your control, and none of the results of your actions are guaranteed, so the EP is a call to action to, for lack of a less trite phrase, be the person you want to see more of in the world. Challenge the things you don't like, and let what discourages you go about its course without altering yours. The challenging of things that are fucked up is its own victory and reward. And things right now are certainly fucked up."
As of right now, Brass Against are scheduled to play a string of festivals in Europe this summer before embarking on a major tour of the continent in the fall and winter. See those dates below.
Brass Against tour dates:
7/3 – Werchter, Belgium @ Rock Werchter
7/4 – Arras, France @ Main Square Festival
8/6-8/9 – Darrington, WA @ Summer Meltdown Festival
8/21-8/23 – Chillicothe, IL @ Summer Camp Music Festival
11/19 – Madrid, Spain @ Caracol
11/20 –Barcelona, Spain @ Wolf
11/21 – Lausanne, Switzerland @ Les Docks
11/23 – Birmingham, UK @ The Mill
11/24 – Bristol, UK @ The Fleece
11/25 – Glasgow, UK @ St. Luke's
11/26 – Manchester, UK @ Academy 3
11/27 – Leeds, UK @ Brudenell Social Club
11/29 – London, UK Islington @ Assembly Hall
11/30 – Sint-Niklaas, Belgium @ De Casino
12/1 – Nijmegen, Holland @ Doornroosje
12/2 – Tilburg, Holland @ Poppodium 013
12/3 – Paris, France @ FVTVR
12/4 – Courtrai, Belgium @ De Kreun
12/6 – Cologne, Germany @ Kantine
12/7 – Leipzig, Germany @ Werk2 Halle D
12/8 – Graz, Austria @ PPC
12/9 – Budapest, Hungary @ Durer Kert
12/10 – Vienna, Austria @ Grelle Forelle
12/13 – Warsaw, Poland @ Proxima
12/14 – Berlin, Germany @ Columbia
12/15 – Aarhus, Denmark @ Train
12/16 – Gothenburg, Sweden @ Valand
12/17 – Malmo, Sweden @ KB
12/19 – Hamburg, Germany @ Bahnhof Pauli
12/20 – Munich, Germany @ Backstage