Bear Vs. Shark

Introduction

In an era currently saddled neck-deep in genre-dictated complacency, it's often hard for discriminating music fans to find bands imbued with a sense of originality. The gentlemen behind Bear Vs Shark (BVS), one of Equal Vision's most dizzyingly talented and diverse outfits, feel the exact same way. After all, these Michigan natives are, above everything, music fans themselves, which seems like something of an oddity when the majority of modern musical success is predominantly based upon purely financial and corporate themed goals. BVS, however, has much more refreshing intentions.

Musical Intentions

According to amiable frontman Marc Paffi, "We want our records and shows to be as vibrant and exciting for us as they might be for our fans. We're all fans of older music and take influence from a lot of the stuff we grew up listening to. I think that helps us have a unique slant on things, especially during a time when so much music seems to be mass-produced."

Terrorhawk: A Unique Sound

With originality as a template, BVS took its layered, grooving cabin-fever creations into producer Matt Ellard's (Motorhead, Morphine, Converge) studio to put together Terrorhawk, the group's most accomplished record to date. Building on the Fugazi meets Motown rhythms and grooves associated with the group's debut LP (Right Now, You're in the Best of Hands), Terrorhawk contains fifteen tracks of a weathered and harrowing mixture of post-hardcore and rollicking rock fused tight with gut-wrenching soul, which further defines BVS as a group of individuals that is greater than the sum of its parts.

Collective Musical Passions

While the sound on the new record will be fairly familiar to BVS's ever-increasing devoted fan base, Terrorhawk is an amalgam of the group's collective musical passions and obsessions, ranging from Black Sabbath to The Commodores. "We feel that Terrorhawk is a diverse musical experience and the whole album should be viewed as a single entity, as opposed to having a string of singles," guitarist/bassist John Gaviglio insists. "We still have the high energy ethic that our first record had, but we've tried to change up the tempos a bit; we wanted to explore new sounds and moods in our musicianship. We never really try to go for a certain sound. I think the mood dictates the songs for us as opposed to us trying to dictate the mood."

Unique Writing Process

But experimentation and inspiration aren't the only things that make this five-piece so unique. Case in point: how many other bands would have the gumption to spend two weeks in a shanty located within the confines of the upper peninsula of Michigan to focus on the writing of a record? "We wrote 60 percent of our new album (Terrorhawk) in a cabin with four-wheelers and crossbows," Paffi fondly remembers. "This is honestly one of the most important components of the album because we really took this time alone with each other to put all of our influences in the songs. I think it's an honest document that we really put our hearts into."

Event Information

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