Artist description Eclectic Industrial Rock/Metal from Toronto Canada

Music Style Experimental Industrial Electronic Rock

Musical Influences Joy Division, New Order, Ministry, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Chemical Brothers, The Birthday Massacre, ATP (Adenosine Tri-Phosphate)

Similar Artists Killing Joke

Artist History Distant Sun, formed mid 2001, is dedicated to writing intelligent original industrial melodic trance/techno tracks. Songs are heavily guitar oriented with roots in alternative pop, rock and metal. All tracks are written and produced by Distant Sun.

Group Members Kris Leeson Michael Mas

Instruments Les Paul Std, Fender Stat Std, MAGIX Music Maker V2000, Boss digital effects, Zoom digital effects

Albums Blinding Sun

Press Reviews www.freakzofrock.com Band: Distant Sun Website: www.metalforums.com/~distantsun Reviewed by: Ashley (ashley@freakzofrock.com) Kris Leeson--Guitars, Synths and Sequencers When I first got this CD in the mail, I had no idea what to expect to hear, but when I put Distant Sun in my stereo I was completely and utterly blown away. Why? It's the fact that the music is produced by one guy. Every song on the CD is composed beautifuly and no song sounds the same. Not only that, but with a techno feel and hard hitting alternative rock/metal vibe its hard not to feel the rhythm of the music. The tracks that I enjoyed listening to the most were, 'Descent' which sounded more like A Flock Of Seagulls from the '80's (if you heard of them then you'll know what I'm talking about) and 'Sanctuary' has relentless, but melodic beats. I can't say much, but the only thing I can say is this guy kickass. Overall: If your into raving then this is the album to get and listen too. Also check out Distant Sun new album release on Hexagon Records . __________________________________________________ www.sleazegrinder.com REVIEW: Distant Sun - "Blinding Sun" Cyber-metal duo from Toronto, with a wild new vision of a world where rave-baiting techno and digital heavy metal swirl around together like two tongues in a cosmic make-out scene. They sound kind of like a dancefloor Skrew with Ian Curtis on vocals, which is, of course, completely insane. At times, however, as on "Siege", it works perfectly, the logical progression of Shotgun Messiah's machine metal music. It's significant, too, that it's an instrumental track, as Distant Sun work best when the metal does the talking, spinning through a cyberpunk maze like some kind of fiber-optic Silver Surfer in a bullet belt. I imagine that "Blinding Sun" would probably spook E'd out ravers into slack-jawed, stand still silence, but who knows? Maybe the time for techno-metal is upon us. If so, here's the blueprint. Perhaps there is a chance for beer swilling headbanger dudes to score with those touchy-feely dosed-out techno chicks after all. __________________________________________________ www.legendsmagazine.net REVIEW: Distant Sun - "Blinding Sun" By J. 'Hirez' H-R Is it possible to have too many bands that sound like Joy Division? In the early 80s, it was. It seemed that Factory Records had trawled the dingy clubs and bedrooms of a thousand grey, rain-washed towns and signed all the angst-ridden and long-coated youth they could find. The best of the set were proto-goths from Leeds - Red Lorry Yellow Lorry. A fine combination of muscular tribal drums, earthy bass and dour-seeming vocals which are still played by the discerning to this day. Then the Smiths came along and the angst-ridden moped in their bedrooms to the sound of arch lyrics and jangly guitars, which pretty much set the indie music tone until ecstasy arrived to save us. The Joy Division meme next surfaced in the early 90s with the remarkably under-rated Disco Inferno. The band would probably not thank me for calling them 'Shoegazing Joy Division,' but that's the closest description I can manage. Again, fine stuff that's well worth digging out. I should note that there's a special hell reserved for all the slack bastards who perpetrate JD covers. (And that definitely includes the Swans.) Ian & Co. got it right the first time, y'all don't bring anything new, or worthwhile, to the party. What has any of this to do with Messrs. Distant Sun, though? Well, they (he) sounds a lot like New Order might have done had they continued in the same vein as Movement and 1981-1882, rather than going off (on one matey, as it turned out) to play with Arthur Baker and a rack of mad synthesizers. There are, of course, later influences - a certain amount of late-model chunky guitar rather than the authentic-80s-style weedy-jangly recorded-for-sixpence noise, and a wedge of odd noises that sound like old-style NIN. Only significantly better. So what we do have here is a lot of tribal drumming, which is very much in the relentless, pounding and steamhammer style; unobtrusive bass - there is only one Peter Hook, after all; and a guitar that lurches from Rammstein-style chunky handfuls to widdly-widdly stadium-rock malarkey. Sometimes there are words. Descent comes across all gruffly lovelorn the same way Ceremony does (and if I have to explain who wrote Ceremony and which the best version is, I shall be Very Cross Indeed.). Most of the rest of the tracks that have words in sound more like someone mumbling darkly in the back room of an over-loud pub. The ones that don't fall into those categories sound like an angry robot gargling used sump-oil. Is it any good though? Of course it is - there's plenty of old-school post punk goodness here to keep sad old gimmers like myself happy, which is going to be New and Exciting as far as The Kids are concerned. Meantime, while the 'thud-crash-gront!' that seems to be de rigueur for modern 'industrial' music is thankfully absent, there's plenty of loud things going on for people to easily do the Shouty Robot Dance along to. Go and buy this. Get it played in clubs. Annoy the people who think they know what's 'going on.' __________________________________________________ Cyberpunk review. Hi-speed paranoia packed into 12 tracks, adrenaline flowing under skin blisters, disillusionment with full force, funeral music for a street gang of Sprawl urchins, they ate biohazard, that's why they look like as they look like. Toronto-based Distant Sun got me hooked with the fact that however strong metal-industrial sound they have (which after several listening can't be paralleled with the Rammstein-Die Krupps- 16 Volt-name-your-fave-industrial-guitar-band-here axis), they depict a wonderful gothic atmosphere, expecially with No Mercy, vocals float on the surface (similar to what Rosetta Stone did back in the old days) and some tracks have so much power (like Descent) that if a DJ played that in a Gruftie party, the floor would get redwashed in a shower of razor cuts. Umm, in the positive sense. Sanctuary - with its video clip - makes me remember my childhood with the MTV 120 Minutes shows, that's it, lo-fi, lo-scale, hi tech, lo life. That's it, even Side-Line said that these guys have "it", they know the Edge. Reviewed by damage. __________________________________________________ Radio Stream Uranus Review Blinding Sun A faint bit of feedback swells up and explodes into a fury of screaming guitars, computerized rhythms, heavily distorted vocals, and keyboard riffs. It goes on for a little over two minutes and then ends suddenly, leaving the listener in awe. This is just the first song (the title track) of Distant Sun's debut, Blinding Sun. Although combining metal guitars with drum machines and synthesizers is nothing new, Distant Sun does something with it that is very new and different. Distant Sun songs are very energetic and to the point, often hypnotically repetitive, and sometimes bizarre. Guitarist/programmer Kris Leeson is both an accomplished guitarist and an aural mad professor who likes to chop up and distort singer Michael Mas' vocals, sometimes beyond recognition. Although the percussion is all done by machine, the result often sounds less like dance beats and more like a virtual Lars Ulrich pumping out metal rhythms. The album blitzes through high-energy tracks such as the Orbital-like techno track "Siren," the powerful yet melodic "Descent" and the twin assaults of "I Am" and "Hazmat" before finally winding down with the keyboard-heavy "Twilight." "Twilight" is like the calm after the storm, and a very intense storm at that. __________________________________________________ Grave Concerns Webzine Distant Sun "Blinding Sun" (CD) Hexagon Records Distant Sun blinds you with massive guitar beats that dig deep. The band seems to put much emphasis on their guitar work, but most of all the push of the drumming. The guitar melodies have a mixture of metal and rock that really lead the music to different boundaries. The guitar is blended in with beat heavy drumming that is full throttle industrial rhythms. With the mix of guitar and the strong industrial sounds that repeat, it gives off a great industrial attack. "Descent," is a more melodic track that builds off the main guitar drive. I found that the vocals were melodic and fused well with the style of electronics. I felt this song had a lot of power and had something to say about the musical direction. "Sanctuary" has pounding beats, and guitar that soar. I like how the vocals are really twisted. An interesting sound, that gives the song a little edge and darkness. I like how the melody of the guitar rises out from the repetitive rhythms for a few seconds here and there. Songs like "No Mercy" are driven by the thick metal beats, and gliding vocals. Many of the beats could you remind you on bands such as Korn or Slipknot with, but not as heavy. You will find this CD repetitive, and full of driving rock progressions that keep the band pushing for more, but that is their thing, to have it very repetitive. Distant Sun is definitely not your typical industrial outfit who has made a distinctive format. __________________________________________________ www.elektronskizvuk.com "Blinding Sun" (CD) Hexagon Records Oformljen 2001. godine Distant Sun se oslanja na industrial electro okruženje s utjecajima iz rocka ili metala. Osnivaè projekta je Kris Leeson koji svoju ljubav prema glazbi i svom projektu izvlaèi iz uzora kao Å¡to su Joy Division, Depeche Mode, New Order i drugi. Kris se glazbom uglavnom bavio sviranjem gitare u nekim rock bendovim, ali je kod kuæe radio svoje pjesme na svom kuænom PC-u. U posljednje vrijeme na njega imaju utjecaj bendovi kao Å¡to su Korn ili Slipknot, Å¡to je definitivno vidljivo na albumu Blinding sun. Ovo je prvi album projekta Distant Sun iz kojeg se može zakljuèiti da Kanada ima potencijala kojeg je predstavila krajem 80-ih i poèetkom 90-ih na electro industrial sceni. Kanadskim bendovima treba samo viÅ¡e promocije. __________________________________________________ www.wrath.de REVIEW: Distant Sun - "Blinding Sun" Eine Frage vorweg: Habt ihr auch schon mal die Erfahrung gemacht, eine CD zu hören, aber nicht sagen zu können sie ist schlecht oder gut? Also rein vom subjektiven Standpunkt her gesehen? Will sagen ihr könnt einfach nix damit anfangen, ohne aber sagen zu müssen die Musik wäre schlecht. Nun so ein Fall ist definitiv diese hier vorliegende Demo CD der Ami-Formation Blinding Sun. Man versucht hier zwar Wege zu gehen um nicht den tiefen Trampelpfaden des Electro/Metal/Rock-Crossovers (oder wie immer man es bezeichnen will) folgen zu müssen. Heraus kommt aber eine ziemlich wirre Mischung aus (sich manchmal ziemlich willkürlich anhörenden) Sequencen aus Computer oder Synthies mit Gitarren-Geschraddel, dies alles mit unverzerrtem gar nicht mal üblem Gesang versehen, leider passen die instrumentale Geschichte und Vocals oftmals irgendwie nicht zusammen. Einige Stücke sind auch rein instrumental gehalten, die dann doch recht langweilig sind. Mhhh....experimentell in allen Ehren, mir fehlen allerdings 2-3 Tracks die einen mal aufhorchen lassen und aus der Lethargie erwecken, die dieser Sound zumindest bei mir verursacht. Man sollte das Konzept noch ein wenig ausfeilen und evtl. mal ein paar Strukturen einbauen, denen man folgen kann. Aber wie gesagt, es ist mal "was anderes" und wer Sinn für experimentelle , break-lastige Musik hat, kann es ruhig mal mit dieser Band versuchen...

Additional Info Blinding Sun now available at amazon.com and cdstreet.com

Location Toronto, Ontario - Canada

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