This is one band that has been doing the hard roads since forming in 2005 by bothers Matt (guitars) and Dave (vocals) Nadolski in Charlottesville, Virginia.   The band is rounded out by Brandon Sidebottom on guitar, Ken Davis on bass and Russell Lee on drums.   Fun fact here, Ken Davis shared the stage with American Idol’s own Chris Daughtry in the popular band Cadence.

Before their first album The Witness was released in May 2008 the band had been out on the road paying their dues and building a fan base for the past 3 years.  It was released on Koch Records.  You can hear the Red, Breaking Benjamin, Daughtry and Shinedown influence on this album.

The anticipated sophomore album Alive In The Fire was released in June 2010 on Join Or Die Records.  It followed in the same musical style as the debut album with a little bit of Deftones thrown into the mix.  Wake Up and Believe are good examples of the Deftones influence and the opening single Gravity also merges these influences.

‘I found another one who’s infected by greed,
Such a lazy one, i think i know what we need’

Do you reckon they are pissed at the rich fat cats who get bailed out while the world and its workers pay for their mistakes.  Or the fat cats who make billions from exploiting the artists.

The third album A Different Light was released in February 2012 on Join Or Die Records.  It continues the tradition of the previous efforts before it, focusing on radio friendly formula driven rock songs.  That is not a bad thing if it is done with substance and integrity.  As the songs are written within the band, you will get a touch of humanity to the songs, that songs written by committees cannot never offer.  A heavier version of Daughtry.

Stand out tracks are the heavy Fly

‘These complicated times
We’re facing painful realities
But underneath the blame you’ll find
You’re another casualty of your hypocrisy’

The thing i like about lyrics is the interpretation.  The You can be a loved one,  a political institution, an enemy that used to be a friend.

‘I never wanted this design
I hope you open your eyes’.

Isn’t it funny how we call certain situations in life a design.

The title track, A Different Light

‘Fragile and hollow
Leaving the things you want the most
On top of the world
But you still know you didn’t want it’

I remember that i wanted to travel, tour the world and playing music i created.  But i also  wanted the family, the wife and the kids.  I got the family first, and in the end that is what i wanted the most and the one thing i will never leave behind.

Wait follows next and to me that is three in a row of good rock songs.

‘If you could only wait
Another moment with me
Because I only ever wanted you to stay
And I can’t imagine you leaving
And watching you walk away
I was never enough for you to lean on
I’d give anything up if you could hold on
Wait another moment with me’

Drive makes it four in a row, which in this day and age is rare.

‘ Because tonight we’re coming alive again
Open your eyes
It’s do or die
Will you toe the line or take the wheel and drive
You got once in a lifetime
To stand up and shine
You won’t be denied
Will you fall behind or take the wheel and drive
We’ll tear down the walls
We’re unstoppable’

7 years into their journey and three albums deep.  A few things are clear here;

1. Vocalist Matt Nadolski has the pipes to lead the band into the stratosphere.
2. The band still hasn’t written their classic album.
3. They tour like crazy
4. They have active radio campaigns (which too me is not what they should be focusing on)
5. The band still hasn’t written their classic album.
6. Remember, the internet is breaking the old models apart, Under The Flood need to embrace what it can offer them.
7. Get the fans involved and make them super fans.

Peace…