Only a very limited amount of times in my life have I heard a band, seen them play, talked with them and thought “Wow, this band just gets it.” Irepress is certainly one of these bands. An incredibly streamlined and cohesive mix of more musical styles than I care to list, Irepress have the innate ability to appeal to nearly every sort of music lover under the sun. In some instances, you can clearly hear a Deftones influence, and at others you can hear Isis. Before you know it, they’ve switched gears and moved onto a Parliament Funkadelic section, then transitioned that into something more like Converge.
The easiest way to describe the sonic variability of Irepress would be to say that they certainly fit amongst their Translation Loss brethren such as Mouth of the Architect, Rosetta and East of the Wall with their eclectic mix of styles tied into one neat little progressive and experimental package. The only real difference is that a majority of Irepress’ music is without vocals; with the amount fantastic lead guitar parts, synth overlays, and texture changes the lack of vocals are never an issue.
If for some reason you’re not sold by any descriptions of the band or by hearing their wonderful records, you should still make a point to see them live. Irepress are consistently one of the best bands I’ve ever seen live. Every single second of every single set is played with 110% passion, it’s quite obvious that the guys love the music they make, and they love playing it for people. I joined Irepress for a pre-European tour practice to get some footage and check in with the band. Working to get their set tight for Europe I heard many a classic, but also a lot of fresh new stuff, including the new track, “Shaolin Knights” many times. The band released “Shaolin Knights” for free download via their Bandcamp page, so make sure you grab that song. It’s the first song since Irepress’ original albums that they’ve featured vocals heavily in a song, and it’s stellar.
I got some solid footage of the second half of of the leading track from the band’s latest release, Sol Eye Sea I, called “Diaspora” – a track that exemplifies pretty well what Irepress are really capable of. As an FYI, the drummer in this video is JR formerly of Big D and the Kids Table, he’s filling in for Sheel while his back heals up.
If you like what you hear, you should download this iPhone ringtone for the band’s song “Pah No” (which is the opening song from Samus Octology).
Download iPhone ringtone for “Pah No” by Irepress
So, for some actual useful information, here’s the bands extensive European tour schedule with Constants:
11.09.10 HAMBURG, GERMANY @ ASTRA STUBE
11.10.10 KARLSRUHE, GERMANY @ JUBEZ
11.11.10 OBERHAUSEN, GERMANY @ DRUCKLUFTHAUS
11.13.10 BILBAO, SPAIN @ SANTANA 27
11.14.10 LEON, SPAIN @ TBA
11.15.10 MADRID, SPAIN @ WURLITZER BALLROOM
11.16.10 DON BENITO, SPAIN @ THE RINCON PIO SOUND
11.17.10 ST FELIU DE CODINES, SPAIN @ INCIVIC ZONE
11.18.10 FRANCE @ TBA
11.19.10 NEUMARKT, ITALY @ POINT
11.20.10 BULLE, CZECH REPUBLIC @ EBULLLITION
11.21.10 DORNBIRN, AUSTRIA @ SCHLACHTHAUS
11.22.10 BOLOGNA, ITALY @ Xm24
11.23.10 LUCCA, ITALY @ BLU
11.26.10 MUNCHEN, GERMANY @ SUNNY RED
11.27.10 SIEMIANOWICE SLASKIE, POLAND @ CENTRUM KULTURY
11.28.10 CHORZOW, POLAND @ MDK BATORY
11.29.10 TARNOWSKIE GORY, POLAND @ TCK
11.30.10 POZNAN, POLAND @ POD MINOGA
12.01.10 NURNBERG, GERMANY @ MUZ
12.02.10 BERLIN, GERMANY @ COMET
12.03.10 CHEMNITZ, GERMANY @ AJZ TALSCHOCK
12.04.10 DRESDEN, GERMANY @ AZ CONNI
12.05.10 PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC @ TBA
12.06.10 VIENNA, AUSTRIA @ B72
12.07.10 BUDAPEST, HUNGARY @ TUNDERGYAR
12.08.10 CLUJ, ROMANIA @ IRISH & MUSIC PUB
12.09.10 TIMISOARA, ROMANIA @ DAOS CLUB
12.10.10 ROMANIA @ TBA
12.11.10 CONSTANTA, ROMANIA @ TBA
12.12.10 BUKAREST, ROMANIA @ CLUB CONTROL
12.16.10 BELGRADE, SERBIA @ KC GRAD
12.17.10 NOVO MESTO, SLOVENIA @ SOKOLSKI DOM
12.18.10 MARIBOR, SLOVENIA @ CHANNEL ZERO
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