Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada’s trio Seven Nines and Tens‘ debut album “Habitat 67” alerts the listener by way of sound that the time is upon them to leave their mortal body for 45 minutes of calculated guitar driven space aged motifs and thoroughly enveloping tides of melodic grandiosity.
It wasn’t long after songwriter / guitarist David Cotton transplanted himself to western Canada from his home in Ontario, that he began writing music that would become Seven Nines and Tens songs. Cotton didn’t have a definite vision for the actual music he was writing in 2006 but after playing in a small handful of on the verge acts in his native province that disbanded prematurely, he had a rough idea of how much work creative realization was going to demand. Although Cotton hadn’t yet fully committed to an exact audio aesthetic for the music he was feverishly writing, in the back of his mind there were no question that 4 friends from Methuen Mass., a once dreadlocked Oxford native with a tendency to write about fast cars, and a prolific tastemaker who enjoys referencing deities in his band names were going to be often referenced in his songwriting.
He spent the next two years writing and recording as much music as he could. In 2008, after auditioning many potential members to try and flesh out a live band, Cotton met drummer Earl Heath. It quickly became apparent that there was undeniable musical chemistry between the two, with Heath’s technical and fluid playing complimenting Cotton’s songs. The pair spent countless hours assembling and re assembling their music with Heath not only creating exceptional and calculated drum parts but also writing dense and shape shifting arrangements on 6 string fretted and 6 fretless bass’s.
The pair performed extensively for the next year and a half and were told a couple of times that they had to meet a local drummer and were introduced to Riley Roukema on St.Patricks day 2010. Roukema joined the line up as drummer with Heath shifting to Bass for a majority of Their songs. A couple of months and an amateur rehearsal video of their music on Youtube later, Top 5 Metal site Metalunderground.com advised that “Seven Nines and Tens is one of the most underrated progressive/experimental acts in the city and is still looking for it’s big break. With a strong live performance and exceptional song writing ability, it is without doubt that Seven Nines and Tens will become one of Vancouver’s top experimental acts.”
In February 2011 the band recorded their debut album “Habitat 67” with engineer Hayz Fisher at the Factory studios. The reception to the record has been exceptional with Discorder.ca saying “The amount of innovation and talent that this trio brings to their compositions is simply staggering. Habitat 67 is eclectic, challenging, and at times strikingly beautiful. With this latest effort, Seven Nines and Tens prove without a doubt, that they are a force to be reckoned with, in this, or any other galaxy.”
Seven Nines and Tens‘ music offers multiple approaches for the listener to enjoy. The band, not content on drawing influence from one or even a few genres, explores the obvious hallmarks of Post Rock, Post Metal, Shoegaze and Indie Rock, but also dabbles in the sounds of Math Rock, Sludge rock, Doom Rock, Hardcore, Pop Punk, Jazz, Classical, and Black Metal.
Recommended if you like Mogwai, Red Sparowes, Isis, Jesu, Alchest, Rosetta, Russian Circles, Kayo Dot, Cult of Luna, Neurosis, Nadja, Pelican, Explosions In The Sky, Hammock, Saxon Shore, This Will Destroy You, World’s End Girlfriend, Port-Royal, God Is an Astronaut, Godspeed You! Black Emperor.
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