by I love music that goes beyond expectations, and I especially love it when heavy metal or hard rock bands stick it to the elite music snobs who say that our preferred genre is simplistic and not “really” music, or that our favorite musicians aren’t truly talented. Whether or not that’s all just a fabrication in my head, the latest release from New Haven’s Earthside, “Mob Mentality,” is a victory tick in our column. The nearly 10-minute track features guest vocals from Sevendust frontman, Lajon Witherspoon, and a full orchestral arrangement composed by guitarist Jamie van Dyck and performed by the Moscow Studio Symphony Orchestra (MSSO).
It’s a beautiful track and a must listen for any music lover, not just us metal heads.
van Dyck told Loudwire:
‘Mob Mentality’ was a four-year undertaking that became an epic journey that took us all over the world. It connected us with all sorts of collaborators and new friends. The song began as my senior composition to complete the undergrad music major at Yale, and has since led my bandmates and me to record the Earthside tracks in Stockholm, the Moscow Studio Symphony Orchestra in Russia, and Lajon’s vocals in Iowa with 3 Years Hollow vocalist Jose Urquiza at the helm engineering the vocals session and performing some of the backing vocals on the song. Working with LJ and composing for a full orchestra are each lifelong dreams that have been fulfilled, and I’m very grateful to the contributions from them, my bandmates, and so many others who allowed for such a stupidly ambitious vision to actually be realized.
“Mob Mentality” is the second song to be released from the band’s upcoming debut, A Dream in Static, which is due out later this year.
Rock Hard \m/
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