So here’s the thing about post-metal bands like Alesana—who, by the way, are performing live in Buffalo on Monday, Oct. 17 at Xtreme Wheels (356 Hertel Ave., Buffalo)—it’s easy to dismiss them because they dress like suburban mall kids, wear eyeliner, play expensive equipment and do that annoying devil-voice thing in all of their songs.  There’s something suspiciously corporate about the whole endeavor.  They aren’t REALLY hardcore, right? 

Well, I’m not sure.  Here’s the thing: despite their pretty-boy looks, Alesana mixes genuinely sweet melodies with metal breakdowns that are way heavier than the stuff most of us were listening to in high school.  The musicianship is very solid.  The dark, Gothic aspects of the band are excitingly creepy.  The lyrics and stories are more accessible—more real— than the quasi-occult tales or dime-store horror poetry woven by earlier generations of headbangers.  And dammit, if you listen to it enough, that devil-voice actually starts to sound appropriate (it’s symbolic of the inner turmoil expressing itself, get it?).

Alesana is currently supporting their latest album, A Place Where The Sun Is Silent, which will actually hit stores on Tuesday, Oct. 18—which makes the Buffalo show a kind of celebration of the new record.  The band is the headliner on the Motel 6 (interesting) - sponsored Rock Yourself To Sleep Tour along with A Skylit Drive, Sleeping With Sirens and Attila.  The North Carolina natives are signed to seminal West Coast punk label Epitaph and are buoyed by core members Shawn Milke (rhythm guitar, vocals), Dennis Lee (vocals) and Pat Thompson (guitar).  Drummer Jeremy Bryan has been with the band since 2005 and bassist Shane Crump joined Alesana in 2008.

So yes, Alesana is good.  Worth checking out after work, if you don’t mind mingling with a crowd of alternately hyper-aggressive and shockingly introverted high school kids.  And we don’t!  Tickets are $18.  If you want to hear some more of what Alesana is all about before committing, however, Alternative Press is streaming the new album for free.

  The Emptiness by Alesana

(Photo by Flickr/eastscene)