Socionic is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

, progressive,

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...

band formed in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, California by singer and songwriter Michael Meinhart in 2008.

History

Origin

The band was originally formed as a multi-media studio side project in 2008 by Michael Meinhart while he was performing with other bands around Los Angeles. The project has since developed into a full band with the addition of members Matthew Denis (bass) and Lior Dar (drums) and has played shows all around Southern California and up the West Coast opening up for other acts such as

Fear Factory Fear Factory is an American heavy metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1989. Throughout the band's career, they have released ten full-length albums and have evolved through a succession of sounds, all in their main style of industrial metal. ...

and

Jonathan Davis Jonathan Howsmon Davis (born January 18, 1971), also known as JD or JDevil, is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. He is best known as the lead vocalist and frontman of nu metal band Korn, who are considered a pioneering act of the nu ...

. After the completion of a set of demos titled "The Ogden Project", the band enlisted the help of producer Rhys Fulber, known for work with Fear Factory,

Front Line Assembly Front Line Assembly (FLA) is a Canadian electro-industrial band formed by Bill Leeb in 1986 after leaving Skinny Puppy. FLA has developed its own sound incorporating elements of electronic body music and electro-industrial. The band's members ...

, Megadeth, Mudvayne, Delerium, Mindless Self Indulgence and Paradise Lost, to begin work on an EP. The album, entitled "Identity" was released on October 16, 2012. Fulber's experience with industrial and ambient music played a big role in shaping the production and sound of the album. In February 2013, the album received acclaim from Music Connection Magazine by receiving 8/10 stars and citing “Stellar performances, rich production and an ability to craft multi-level, Tool-like tunes that would improve any sci-fi/horror soundtrack.” The review would later qualify the album for the Top 25 New Music Critiques of 2013 in the publication's December, 2013 issue.

Music

The band approaches music with a style of progressive and layered arrangements, using instrumental dynamics, time changes and layered production. Their composition style ranges from tradition rock arrangements to longer less conventional arrangements containing ambient interludes. While mainly using guitars and drums they also integrate elements of

industrial music Industrial music is a genre of music that draws on harsh, mechanical, transgressive or provocative sounds and themes. AllMusic defines industrial music as the "most abrasive and aggressive fusion of rock and electronic music" that was "initiall ...

by adding electronic elements such as synthesizers and samples to song production. The vocal style is often dynamic, ranging from whispers to aggressive singing techniques.

Visual arts

"Identity" Concept Album

Emphasizing the use of visuals and multi medium art creation, Socionic partnered with artist Valp, Maciej Handrich (known for working on

Pendulum A pendulum is a weight suspended from a pivot so that it can swing freely. When a pendulum is displaced sideways from its resting, equilibrium position, it is subject to a restoring force due to gravity that will accelerate it back toward the ...

, Immersion and

Knife Party Knife Party are an Australian electronic music duo consisting of Rob Swire and Gareth McGrillen, two members of the drum and bass band Pendulum. The duo has worked with artists such as Swedish House Mafia, Steve Aoki, MistaJam, Foreign Beg ...

cover artwork), to develop of concept album of visual artworks to accompany each song on the "Identity" release. Two of the six song artworks, "Epiphany" and "Ignorant Idiot" were later featured in Advanced Photoshop Magazine issue 111, July 2013, and issue 116, November 2013 respectively.

"Identity" Artwork Videos

As an extension of the original concept artwork for the "Identity" song pieces, the band also created two animated music videos, one for the single "Epiphany", and another for "Stain Serenity", and published them to YouTube.

References

External links

Rhys Fulber Production Credits
* ttp://www.digitalartsonline.co.uk/tutorials/photoshop/create-an-underwater-artwork/ Valp Pendulum artworkbr>Valp Knife PartyIdentity Artwork Videos
{{Authority control American progressive metal musical groups American art rock groups Progressive rock musical groups from California