Artist of the day: Light Yourself On Fire
(This week, in celebration of Metallica's concert Saturday at the St. Pete Times Forum, we're taking a look at some of Tampa Bay's top metal bands. Today: Light Yourself On Fire.)
If Tampa ever returns to death-metal capital status, Light Yourself On Fire could certainly act as a strong governing body. The band burns through visceral, aggressive metal as if clothed in Rayon. (Careful if you Google the band name, though, you'll get plenty of instructions on how to light yourself on fire.)
The band -- vocalist Matt Coplon, guitarist John Allen, bassist Robert Winslow and drummer Ken Karg -- play a wildly intense brand of metalcore as heated and freakish as the name implies -- machine gun beats, chunky bass lines, Latin touches and soundbites like train whistles and movie and commercial quotes. It's arty (think the Mars Volta), but incredibly passionate.
The band is gearing up for a European tour with New Jersey's Fight Amp in March. But first, they'll play The Fest in Gainesville on Oct. 30.
Click here for Soundcheck's review of a Light Yourself On Fire show at the Brass Mug in July.
Photo by Allison Michael Ornstein.
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Our 2010 Ultimate Local Music Guide was our biggest to date, featuring 180 bands, singers, rappers, DJs and artists across all genres.
In 2009, our Ultimate Local Music Guide spotlighted 150 of Tampa's Bay's top artists. To celebrate, we launched Soundcheck -- the blog you're reading now!
Our 2008 Ultimate Music Guide featured the 10 best local bands, 130 more artists that we love, a SXSW photo gallery by Giddy Up Helicopter and more.
In 2007, we profiled nearly 100 of the Bay Area's best music acts. See who was hot back then. Chances are, you're still rocking out to them today!
Why would anyone voluntarily attempt to see 50 concerts at 50 different venues in a single summer? Jay Cridlin shrugged and thought: