Jason and Matt both love writing, practicing and performing with ZeroSynthetic, but sometimes, hard rock and alternative metal don't appease the voracious creative appetites of these two musicians. So over the months, they have embarked on a number of other musical journeys outside ZeroSynthetic.
Matt's Various Solo Projects "Tragedy Of Eve"
Almost Found Innocent Almost Found Innocent demo album
blank.slate (changed from blankface...there already is one) blank.slate "The Eclipsing Of Solitude EP"
Pieced Together
Mourning Daybreak
Prophecy Of Destruction
Genre: Experimental Prog/Death Metal
Sounds like: Extol, Crutch, Death
History: After purchasing and listening to the album "Burial" by Extol, guitarist Matt was captivated and set out to unleash his experimental metal side. This side was brilliantly poured into the masterpiece album "Tragedy Of Eve", Matt's first recorded cassette. He first recorded the album's eight songs with just guitar parts, then added in vocals by playing the guitar parts from one stereo into another recording unit and screaming along. These eight songs are bursting at the seams with technicality, so much so that not even their writer has the ability to play them! Matt improvised well over 90% of the guitar parts after the record button had been pressed, and now has no idea how to play the amazing songs. "Every time I listen to this album again even now, I still can't believe I came up with all those parts on the spot," says Matt. In a later attempt to recapture the force of his metal side, Matt recorded another album under the band name CrucifiXeD. This album included one thing its predecessor did not: guitar solos, and lots of them. The high point of this effort was its final track, "A Song For My Love", which was an acoustic death metal song...electric solos and deep throaty growls, but all acoustic rhythm guitar. An interesting and appealing song. However, the album came nowhere close to replicating the complex riffs of "Tragedy Of Eve". Later, Matt would record four songs for another product of his imagination, Killtime, which was less experimental and more straight death metal. This EP was the worst death metal offering Matt has created so far though, and therefore he has stayed away from his harder side as far as recording goes for a while. But be sure the same power that inspired "Tragedy Of Eve" will strike again...
1-Revival
2-Waiting For Death
3-Black Whole
4-Snap
5-Scarred
6-Curse Of The Flesh
7-Jeremiah's Cry
8-Burn This World
CrucifiXeD untitled album
1-No Self
2-Alone
3-Body Entombed/Spirit Alive
4-Split
5-A Seed Among Thorns
6-Thief In The Night
7-Plagues
8-A Song For My Love
Killtime "One Final Death EP"
1-Crucifix
2-Devil Crush
3-Rebellion
4-Gallows
Genre: Acoustic Emo
Sounds like: Dashboard Confessional
One day Jason and Matt were fooling around in Matt's office where almost all music-related activity for the duo takes place. Jason was strumming Matt's acoustic guitar while Matt was jamming along on his drum set. Okay, Matt does not own a drum set...but he does have a couch. This couch is his percussive outlet, and with a snare-ish sounding practice pad added, it doesn't sound too bad. So the bandmates started playing some of the material that would later become Almost Found Innocent. After mutually deciding that the style was cool-sounding, three demo songs were taped and played back. Enjoying this new creative outlet, Jason and Matt agreed to record their full-length acoustic debut the next day. This untitled album (or maybe it was titled "Demo"—that's what's written on the case) consisting of seven guitar and percussion tracks turned out to be one of the best recordings ever made in Matt's office, but sadly, the Almost Found Innocent style has not been used by the two since. A follow-up to their first album will come someday, though.
1-Why Does Everything...
2-Wait Is Over
3-Unbroken (remake)
4-Sleeper Awakened
5-Untrue
6-Away From Home
7-Childlike
Genre: chaotic metalcore
Sounds Like: Training For Utopia, Norma Jean, Evelynn, Dillinger Escape Plan
Recently Matt wanted to return to his metal-loving creative energy in a different form. He proceeded to create two fake albums for a band whose sound was to replicate the energy and power of Norma Jean while adding the chaos and insanity of Eso-Charis. Jason agreed that such a sound would be a fitting new task for the two to undertake, and thus started the short-lived era of blank.slate. The only existing blank.slate recording is a four-song EP, "The Eclipsing Of Solitude", that featured Jason and Matt switching guitar and vocal duties back and forth throughout each song. Each member individually improvised his own guitar parts, and that fact combined with the difference in volume and tone on the separate guitars made the transitions unworthy of anyone's ears. The songs may be good, but if they ever resurface, they will NOT be improvised, but will instead be actually written and practiced. The EP went on to be hailed by no one as one of the best albums ever.
UPDATE: Blank.slate will soon be revived to record their first full length album, "THE : BLANK.SLATE : ANTHOLOGY Disc One". Rather than mix Norma Jean and Eso-Charis, Matt hopes to this time draw his guitarwork from Norma Jean, Evelynn, and secular technical metal masters The Dillinger Escape Plan. Matt will handle almost all the guitars in the full length while Jason will focus on delivering the vocals.
1-...
2-The Deleterious Price Of Ignorance
3-A Horse In A Hearse
4-Under Cerulean Skies Fall The Birds Of Prey
Genre: Punk
Sounds Like: AFI, Likeminded, Dogwood, Slick Shoes, MxPx
Matt has always been wary of incorporating punk music and beats into ZeroSynthetic material; not because he doesn't enjoy punk, but just because he'd rather have them stick to hard rock and alternative metal. Pieced Together, Jason and Matt's latest side project, is a way for the punk-loving Jason and some-punk-loving Matt to create exactly what they want to hear out of a punk band. Songs have not been written and recordings have not been made, but titles have been tossed around and guitar parts have been played with, so an album is assuredly on its way!
UPDATE: An album is not on its way. Pieced Together is not broken up, but they are dormant for now until Matt gets another surge of punk.
Genre: Melodic Emo/Rock
Sounds Like: Further Seems Forever, Dashboard Confessional
Mourning Daybreak is the latest in the long line of side projects by the dual guitarists of ZeroSynthetic. This is a spinoff of Almost Found Innocent, blending Jason's rhythmic acoustic and sometimes clean electric strumming, Matt's melodic leads, and emo lyrics. Much Mourning Daybreak material will likely surface at future ZeroSynthetic live shows.
Genre: Ambient Gothic/Doom Metal
Sounds like: Paramaecium, My Dying Bride
The duo got their first taste of true doom metal by listening to a song by Paramaecium recently. Hey, why not make another side project of this genre? Ok, sure. Thus was born the band that became Prophecy Of Destruction. The lyrics are taken straight from scripture, in places such as Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel...you get the idea...PROPHECIES. Jason will be handling guitar and screaming duties for the project, while Matt will express himself for the first time through the keyboard and clean vocals. An album is in the works.
Matt and Garrett's humorously original band
Genre: "Geek metal"
Sounds like: Nothing you've ever heard.
Matt has a flair for starting new bands, with even the slightest purpose. On a van ride home from a trip to a theme park, Garrett, a good friend of Matt and Jason's, started singing something with a voice reminiscent of brainiac scientist Professor Frink from popular television program "The Simpsons". Matt raved at the possibility of using such an interesting and odd vocal in a metal band. The two decided to create the genre of "geek metal", but the band is yet unnamed and an album is not planned.
Beast Ravager
Genre: Grindcore
Sounds like: Vomitorial Corpulence
Matt likes grindcore. Jason does not like grindcore. Garrett outright detests grindcore. So who likes grindcore? Why, former band member from long ago Nick likes grindcore! You know what that means...another side project! The Beast Ravager full-length is surely soon on its way, and will contain a vast plethora of relatively short songs guitared by Matt and vocalized in typical low-pitched grindcore fashion by Nick.
If you are interested in owning a copy of any of these fine (or not-so fine) cassette recordings, please click here.
