State of Illusion

Another Twitter find, the band State of Illusion is one I have found while searching my followers a few weeks ago. After hearing some of their singles off their Soundcloud page, I was deeply impressed with what they released, and felt compelled to mention them in this blog.

State of Illusion is collaboration between Jacob Porter on vocals/guitar/piano and Josh Breland on bass/drums/guitar. This band from Greenville, South Carolina is a mixture of many styles of contemporary rock and post-grunge, with hints of progressive rock and nu-metal. On July 22nd, State of Illusion released their newest album “Aphelion,” which I have anticipated for weeks. After several listens, I am more than happy with the result.

Consisting of 13 songs clocking in over an hour long, “Aphelion” has its share of harder and slower songs. The overall vibe is comparable to Staind’s albums “Chapter V” and “Break the Cycle,” Breaking Benjamin’s “We Are Not Alone,” and Cold’s “13 Ways to Bleed on Stage.” Using similar styles of harmonics, melodies, and chord progressions, I feel State of Illusion has found its niche of rock music, and has the ability to rise in the contemporary rock scene.

The album begins with a soft melody that slowly builds into heavy combination of bass pedals and electric guitar. Some other harder songs off this album include “Blind,” “So Here We Are,” and “Over.” My personal favorite song of this album is the song “Find Yourself,” one that can easily become the next radio hit if given the chance. Using melodic verses with heavy choruses, I always catch myself singing the words to this song. Mixed in amongst these songs I cannot help bobbing my head to are beautiful, ballad-like songs like “Casey” and “Wings and a Rose.” I love the melody of the clean guitar over the other instruments, which reminds me of some of the best slower songs from bands like A Perfect Circle and Chevelle. The album closes with the song “Open Your Eyes,” with a perfect mix of clean and dirty guitar riffs complemented with meaningful lyrics. Overall, the mix of hard hitting songs with softer acoustic songs should appeal to every fan of contemporary rock, offering a little bit of everything to the listener.

The best thing about this album? By far it is Jacob Porter’s vocals and lyrics. Strikingly similar to Aaron Lewis of Staind, I was in shock when I first heard their music. I could swear that Aaron Lewis was featured in the song, only to find out that that’s just how Porter sings. Being a huge fan of Aaron Lewis, I could not get enough of the three singles released on their website, and was anxious to hear more. The passion and movement behind Porter’s voice is unbelievable, easily shifting my mood based on the mood of the song playing. The down-to-earth lyrics with such emotion helps me feel for each song, almost as if I am the one going through heartbreak or solace. My favorite lyrics come from the song “Blind” with the lines:

“If you could only see through my eyes / If only you weren’t so blind / You’d see each step you take / Makes my heart break”

Porter’s stunning voice and lyrical ability gives me goose bumps every time I listen to “Aphelion.”

This album is perfect for fans of Staind, Breaking Benjamin, A Perfect Circle, Chevelle, and even some heavier bands like Disturbed and Lacuna Coil. I view “Aphelion” as the album Staind should have released, the album I’m waiting for Breaking Benjamin to release, and the album A Perfect Circle will never release. State of Illusion has beaten them to the punch, winning my heart with such an amazing performance. Please support this new album that has newly been released on iTunes.

Keno Approved. - Keno's Album Reviewer

Aaron Lewis, lead singer of Staind, pegged the mood of the crowd of approximately 4,500 Friday night at the Crown Coliseum.

“You folks are eager this evening,” Lewis, clad in a black T-shirt and blue jeans, with a guitar strapped around his neck, said shortly after his band took the stage to a tumultuous roar.

Bristling with ripping, heavy guitar riffs and pounding drums, Lewis led Staind through some of its most popular tunes, including “Open Your Eyes” and “So Far Away,” songs the band made a name for itself with, along with “Fade,” “It’s Been Awhile” and “Price To Play.”

Lewis’ observation was a no-brainer. The assembled masses had been rockin’ hard for two hours thanks to hard-chargin’ performances by State of Illusion, the evening’s opening act, and Chevelle, who almost stole the show on the strength of songs such as “Send the Pain Below” and “Forfeit.”

On a hot Friday night, the crowd got exactly what it wanted, and what Crown Center concert promoters desperately needed — a loud, sweaty, live rock show that brought equal amounts of praise and promise for the future.

“We’re so excited about the show — we’re definitely coming to the next one, whoever they bring,” said Michelle Nguyen, who came with Crystal Thompson, her best friend.

The pair’s appearance should please Windy Lawson, director of marketing and sales for the Crown Center — they heard about the show solely through the Crown’s Save Rock In Fayetteville Web site.

“I heard there was a rock show coming to the Crown, but I didn’t know it was Staind until, like, the last minute,” Thompson said.

In an effort to boost sluggish ticket sales for Staind’s performance, Lawson, with the blessing of Crown Center CEO Paul Beard, launched an Internet-meets-grassroots promotional effort, www.saverockinfayetteville.org, to bolster ticket sales for the show.

The effort seems to have paid off — to some degree.

Will Collier and his cousin Clarence Adams said they heard about the Staind concert but weren’t sure they would go — that is, until they visited the Save Rock Web site.

“It (the Web site) made it seem like live rock shows were never coming back to Fayetteville,” Collier said. “So that made us want to buy tickets more than anything.”

Adams agreed.

“We both went to see Hinder, and that show was kind of sad,” Adams said. “We didn’t want that to be our ‘last’ big concert at the Crown.”

While that sort of knee-jerk reaction may or may not have been what Lawson’s Web site was aiming for, it’s clearly a message that’s resonated with fans of live music in Fayetteville.

Chevelle fan Chris Dix said he had only heard about the concert after reading about it in The Observer on Friday.

“I just walked up tonight to get a ticket; I didn’t know about the show, but I’m glad I found out,” Dix said.

Dix said he also had attended the Hinder show, but was disappointed.

“It wasn’t that great; Papa Roach was, but not Hinder,” Dix said. “But tonight should freakin’ rock — Chevelle and Staind are both better bands.”

That seemed to be the unspoken consensus among the overwhelmingly younger crowd, composed mostly of soldiers, teens and 20- to 30-somethings.

It was the sort of crowd that spilled beer, crowd surfed, jumped in one of three mosh pits, yelled and cheered while standing in concession lines, and unapologetically released its pent-up energy.

But not everyone at the concert fell into that mold. There were, surprisingly, the occasional family groupings, such as Marc Hibbard and his son, Cody.

“This is his first concert,” Hibbard said. “But I didn’t want it to be his last.”

Marc said he and Cody, who recently turned 13, found out about the show at the Dogwood Festival, where Lawson was passing out $5 ticket coupons — which father and son redeemed.

“If you look around, people are having a great time on a Friday night,” Hibbard said. “It seems like the coupons and the Web site worked to me.” - Fayetteville Observer