Rise of Gabriels Fallen

by Jeff Vincent

DirtyHippieRadio.com

It’s a curious process to watch a young band mature. Much like the maturation of an adolescent human, the young band comes on hot, eager, naive, and a bit crazed; it’s quite fun, and potentially self-destructive. The ensuing phase benefits from a little education and refinement, calming the torrential seas to a more stable, yet still precarious state – like trying to maintain position within the eye of a hurricane without touching the inner edges of that stormed ring for fear of being sucked back out of the placid waters. The next stage is the Metallica “Black Album,” The Doors’ “L.A. Woman,” The Beatles’ “Abbey Road,” the talent + knowledge + experience = wisdom = blossoming band in full bloom (which all too often is unfortunately succeeded by a significantly lesser album, or none at all). With the long-awaited release of their sophomore album, “Liquid Courage Love,” it appears that local band Gabriels Fallen has entered its Metallica “…And Justice For All,” Doors’ “Soft Parade,” Beatles’ “White Album” stage: matured from the long, fun adventures and battles with adolescence to a more creative exploratory stage; yet, not quite ascended to that pure state of wisdom which teeters on the brink of decadence, decline, defeat.

Gabriels Fallen is a four-piece heavy rock band comprised entirely of RUHS graduates: Steve Huante on lead guitar and lead vocals, Chris Saunders on rhythm guitar and vocals, Dave Gray on bass, and Victor Braden on drums and vocals. They actually formulated their name from biblical myth and a movie starring Christopher Walken.

“…he was the archangel Gabriel, roaming earth and wreaking hell on humans. With that sense of rebellion and perseverance in mind we conjured up Gabriels Fallen… not a religious band by any stretch, but the correlation between the concept of the story and the sound of the band seemed to make sense at the time and it stuck,” recounts Gray.

From their onset in 2004, Gabriels Fallen shot onto the scene with a fiery determination to rock the faces off anyone who had a face to give, and they didn’t mind telling the audience “F you!” from their authoritative vantage point on stage. They were never just simple-minded screamers who couldn’t play a lick, though. With their blend of punk and metal, they’ve shared stages with Ignite, Strung Out, Circle Jerks, Hell Within, Reel Big Fish, and Violent Femmes, as well as myriad local groups. Their long-awaited debut album, “Hell Is For Heroes,” hit in 2006, and now, four years later, we see a long(er)-awaited follow-up album from a more mature band.

“This album marks our new direction in hard rock ‘n’ roll and the old school. It’s the metal your mother would like,” says the members of Gabriels Fallen. “And hopefully it won’t take us four years to make another one.”

“We crossed a lot of genres on this one – like country, doo-wop, and good ol’ fashion rock ‘n’ roll,” says Gray.

“We looked to our roots and inspirations, like Johnny Cash, Misfits, Metallica, and Volbeat. They really fueled the style of this album,” adds Huante.

“Liquid Courage Love” still retains Gabriels Fallen’s foundational sound, but they’ve been building on it. Aside from pulling from various (new) genres, this album wears a deeper texture with the advent of synthesizer, keys, and more background vocals (nope, not more cowbell).  Speaking of vocals…

“Buddy Harris (The Darlings) was huge on this. He not only produced and recorded our entire album, with a lot of really helpful insight, but also provides guest vocals throughout,” says Gray.

In fact, “Liquid Courage Love” was recorded in its entirety in Redondo Beach. A Redondo Beach-based band, a Redondo Beach album, a Redondo Beach lifestyle.

“It’s really all about drinkin’ beer and havin’ fun… good times, good tunes, good brew… we wanna make you party!” says Gray jokingly.

More seriously, the band concedes that their new album deals with the buildups and letdowns of life experience, their experience from two tours, severing ties from their first label, and personal relationships. But the presiding ideal is to “not sweat the small stuff… it’s all about keeping your family and friends close and just rolling with the punches – that’s why it’s called rock ‘n’ roll,” says Gray.

Gabriels Fallen is looking to hit the road as soon as possible to promote their new album anywhere and everywhere possible, but they’re having a CD Release Party at Brixton this Friday, July 23. They’re pumped on the new album and excited to share it with their hometown.

Sharing the stage at Brixton will be Vox Capita, The Bourbon Saints, Boy Hits Car, and Bloodline. Be advised that Gabriels Fallen is headlining, but Bloodline is closing the show. For tickets go to www.brixtonsouthbay.com. ER

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