| Bio |
|---|
|
Old Lineup circa 2001 The creation of Burning Shadows centers around two individuals: Tim Regan and Brian Knesel, who, along with a mutual friend, Tedd Babich, formed a grunge/punk band in late 1997 (Tim was only 13 at the time, Brian was 12, and Tedd 11), by the name of Overcast. The line-up was Tim Regan on guitar, Brian Knesel on bass and "vocals," if you can call them that, and Tedd Babich on drums. Back in the punk days, Overcast covered many Green Day songs along with a few Metallica songs arranged for one guitar. A few originals were written: "Gash" was simple, grungy; "On & Off Girlfriend" was punk to the bone; "Go Away" was kind of depressing, but looking back we realized how stupid the lyrics are; "Traveling Man" was about the hitchhiker we'd see on our street from time to time.... With a few gigs here and there (mainly at parties), Overcast reached its heyday a year after it formed in October 1998 when they finally got a public gig -- at Victor Litz, a guitar store about 30 minutes away from our houses. That was the last anyone would hear of Overcast. "Creative differences" separated the band and caused Tedd to quit in the summer of 1999. Tim and Brian went off on their own little thing for a while, learning Metallica songs and searching for new musicians. Tim got into metal, but was limited to new Metallica, as he was not that skilled. As the New Year approached, Brian and Tim got in to the real local metal scene, and the search for new band mates had begun. Tony was found in late 1999 through an online musician ad service. A few practices ensued. Tony left a few months later (he was way way way too good for us). In February 2000, Tim met Greg Jones at a Cannibal Corpse show at Phantasmagoria, a club in Wheaton, MD, and was invited to play for the band. A few practices later, and Vincent Vinh was picked up off the street to play drums. Marcel Tirado soon joined and thrown out, and the band changed its name to Revenant. Revenant had a trio of songs, "Vain Attempt at Life," "Shadow from the Steeple," and the precursor to Force of Fire. "Vain Attempt at Life," written by Brian, was comprised of riffs dating back to the late Overcast days with lyrics inspired by The Picture of Dorian Grey by Oscar Wilde. "Shadow from the Steeple" was written by Tim, showing that he has been a Lovecraft fan for a while. This new band attempted to get shows at high school Battle of the Bands and venues of the like, but lack of talent prevented it. The band managed to get two gigs in June of 2000, one at a party, the other at a talent show at Greg's Unitarian church. The band's first live performances, like all first performances, proved that they were not very tight and lacked experience. Short periods of stagnation arose when work would be halted in order to find a more capable singer. The searches produced people who were not committed to our genre, or those who simply lacked talent. Mid to late 2000 brought a new wave of songs, like "Force of Fire" in it's new complete version, "Forest of the Dead," "Cannibal," (later renamed to "The Human in Me"), and a preliminary form of "Darkest Winter." Revenant, on discovering the existence of several bands by the name of "Revenant" changed its name to Ad Noctum, which stuck for about three weeks. Brian suggested the name Burning Shadows, which to us sounded more suitable to our music. In December, the band got a spot in a talent show at Tim's high school. The energy of this show sparked the band into action. They committed to getting a demo out. After many failed attempts, a short demo including "Whisper Suffering" (Greg's brand new song) and "Forest of the Dead" was recorded. This demo actually had a negative affect on the band. Though it was obvious a lot of potential was there, vocal talent wasn't. A long period of new vocals coming and going only frustrated the members. By the summer, few of the members really cared about the band. The November 20th show at UMBC's Battle of the Bands marked a new beginning in the band. Brian had been working diligently on improving his singing when no vocalist could be found, and the band got to work rehearsing old material and fixed up Darkest Winter to be unveiled at the show. Shortly after the show, Tim scheduled studio time at Chicken Coop Studios to lay down tracks for The Darkest Winter EP.  Burning Shadows c. 2002: Brian, Greg, Tim, Vince The Darkest Winter EP was subsequently released with welcome reception. A second EP was recorded, but never released, as funds were insufficient at the time. All was well until shortly before the Classic Metal Fest 3 Burning Shadows was to play in Chicago of 2003. Brian has lost his interest and not but a month prior to the show, left the band. Vince also could not do the fest due to mistaken priorities. Without a singer and a bassist the band still did a few shows to popular demand until Vince was removed in early 2004. Greg and Tim concentrated on other projects from that time on. Greg toured with Strong Intention, who opened across the map for DRI. Tim wrote and released the debut Recently Vacated Graves: True Zombie Metal album and toured with it shortly thereafter. Once September hit, the tours were finished yet the fires were not extinguished. Burning Shadows recruited Matt and Trevor to fill the shoes of those departed with Greg filling in on vocal duties. New life was brought to Burning Shadows.  Burning Shadows c. 2004: Tim, Trevor, Greg, Matt |
