Music Style Prograssive Metal

Artist History August '85: Renegade was born unto Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Opportunity abound, they gathered a community of local fans by playing melodic yet powerful heavy metal. Still young and naive to "the real world", Renegade began to realize a pressure from within, pushing to release a full-length tape in 1989, appropiately titled "Social Pressure". It sold well locally and received strong airplay on regional college stations, also garnering much interest and support from European radio and press. Four years later, they loosened their belts - and changed their name, looking to something fresh and new as the world of metal gets boring. An original band by trade, diversity and style is Mas Optica, expanding well beyond their beginnings, breeding the musical form with emotion. Now largely acoustic, Mas Optica is grabbing the attention of listeners, using as many techniques as possible to enhance the color and moods of their overall sound. Considering the rather extreme trend in hard rock to "go acoustic" (ie Tesla, Extreme, Mr. Big, etc.), Mas Optica throws a curve ball, escaping just the blues scale, molding a sound that is totally original and undescribable. Mas Optica's debut album for Red Decibel, entitled "Choose to See More" (which ultimately defines the words Mas Optica), encompasses their history, including their NWOBHM-influenced past to their self-inspired present. Their technical ability is immediately apparent, making for incredibly musical instrumental interplay, though it does not over-shadow the hooks and melodies or the strength of the lyrics and vocals. Maintaining the same lineup from the onset has given Mas Optica a growing ability to read each other's musical mind.

Group Members Vocals, Guitar: Randy Diderrich Guitar: Paul Finley Bass: Rick Diderrich Drums: A. Brad Hazelton

Instruments acoustic/electric guitar, piano, Arabic tabla, bass, alto saxophone, drums, percussion

Albums Choose to See More

Press Reviews Hit Parader : Indie Reviews Mas Optica, Choose To See More Despite the Spanish connotations of their name, Mas Optica actually hail from Milwaukee. Their debut album Choose To See More (you see, in Spanish "mas optica" means "choose to see more." Oh, how clever those Mid-westerners are!) presents vocalist Randy Diderrich, guitarist Paul Finley, drummer Brad Hazelton and bassist Rick Diderrich in fine form. Songs such as Trust, The Feeling and Dying Season mix such unusual metal instrumentation as saxophones, pianos, and Arabic tabla with more conventional fare to create music with a certain degree of eclectic appeal. While Mas Optica's songs need work, they obviously possess the musical talent to attain big things in the years ahead.

Location Austin, TX - USA

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