WAR OF THE BANDS - TAMPA, FLORIDA -
JUNE 15, 2013

Written by Sergio Cesario
Published July 8, 2013

For years Tampa, FL has been known as the home of music for many Heavy Metal bands. Musical genres of all types have found that the Tampa Scene has a loyal following that shows up to support local and national acts alike, and The War of the Bands was no exception.
 
Ten bands ranging from Orlando, St Petersburg, and as far South as Ft Lauderdale gathered at Tampa’s premier Rock/Metal Bar the Brass Mug to battle amongst Florida’s premiere acts. Not only did you have some of the best within the state of Florida, but the icing on the cake by far was the celebrity guest judging panel. We were honored to have Rob Barrett (Cannibal Corpse), Steve Asheim (Deicide), and Lee Harrison (Monstrosity). All three are not only legends to the Tampa Bay Metal scene, but on a worldwide platform as well. With Cannibal on tour, Deicide rumored to be hitting the road again, and Monstrosity returning to the studio to release new material for the first time in nearly a decade, the War of The Bands was set to be the perfect setting for up and coming Florida bands to showcase their talents.

With an event like this there is usually a mastermind behind the scenes making it happen and in this case the man behind scenes is none other than Sick Ross.

We were able to catch up with Ross and ask him a few questions on what lead to this and how events such as these are uniting the scene.

SPECIAL GUEST JUDGES:
STEVE ASHEIM (DEICIDE)
https://www.facebook.com/SteveAsheimofficial?fref=ts
LEE HARRISON (MONSTROSITY/ LAVOIZEN / TARDY BROTHERS & MIDNIGHT)
https://www.facebook.com/MonstrosityOfficial?fref=ts
ROB BARRETT (CANNIBAL CORPSE)
https://www.facebook.com/cannibalcorpse?fref=ts

Venue: BRASS MUG
14811 N Florida Ave, Tampa, Florida 33613

Tell our readers just a little bit about what you have been doing to build the scene in Florida?

The same thing for 25 years. I owned The Pit it in West Palm Beach in the late 80's, early 90's and gave many bands their first gigs ever, like Monstrosity.. I gave them their first 3 gigs they had and last week they played Hellfest. Kinda makes me feel like I started them off, and today I am still giving bands a shot. I also did Sepultura’s first show in America and just had a 25 yr. reunion with Max (Soulfly). Wow, how time flies.

 Sick Ross Productions has been making quite the impression in Florida with major and local acts getting incredible opportunities to play many unique venues. Tell us more about that.

Yo, I’ve been playing drums since the stone ages. Hmm, I might have invented the drum... and I know tons of people in the biz (network=net worth) not what, but who.

 So how did the concept for the War Of The Bands concept come about?

Everybody was doing battles and I always do shit different so figured I would do a War, knowing (Lee & Rob) from Malevolent Creation.. I opened for them with my band at the Treehouse in 1989 and played with Deicide in 1990 so I hit ‘em up and they all agreed, giving back to the scene that once gave to them.

 Give us your thoughts on the war of the bands and what does Sick Ross Productions have planned for the future?

Thoughts on the War? Well, it’s kinda like this. Some great bands played under some pretty messed up circumstances. Just imagine not being able to use your own equipment, having to set up in ten minutes while another band is getting off stage, and to add insult to injury playing in front of a celebrity guest panel of judges may not be the easiest gig in town. With all that being said it was a lot of fun, the bands did a great job and we will have another War very soon.

As for my plans… Enjoy life! Continue to help those in the industry that have that fire, love & passion for music , but just need to be sent on the right path, just continuing the butterfly effect as those who have changed my life. Now I do thy will or at least I am trying. (Next national act we have booked is Morbid Angel )

The Archetypes from West Palm Beach quickly impressed the crowd with their heavy breakdown grooves and dual vocalists. Watching them work off each other reminded me of an older Florida band Impulsive Disgorgence. None the less a terrific performance by The Archetypes
 
Orlando’s Kill the Sound struck first blood in the competition; the female fronted five-piece won the crowd over with their punk/rock/metal crossover sound. Lead singer Kim Acoustic was not only able to entertain the crowd, but displayed tremendous vocal ability. From the moment they left the stage it was clear that they were the front runners.
 
From St Petersburg, Deadlift, and man I tell you just you wait to see them live! Donny Hamilton showed off the bat what they can do, bad ass vocals, dueling guitar solos, and just shear intensity. Clearly Deadlift had quite the memorable performance.
 
Modern Day Outlaw from Ft Lauderdale was by far no exception.  The five piece led by the Wildman on the mic Ron Brown had a unique sound kind of a country/metal/blues ensemble mixed in with just sheer aggression and rawness.  That smooth Southern Metal sound with just the right amount of Kick ass Rock N’ Roll.
 
Now out of Port Richey, The Hate Tank Band. Nice heavy guitars, strange lyrics, and a lot of attitude. Songs were heavy, but not aggressive. A more tone down Rock/Blues approach to heavy metal, but were a great live band. Nice stage show and some catchy tunes.
 
Last but not least Orlando heavyweights (N)Ception. I have heard a lot about this outfit and couldn’t wait to see them. And of course they did not disappoint. They had a great, tight sound, some really good song structure mixed in with some solid vocals by energetic frontman Alexander Sipp.
 
But the night can only belong to one winner. The judges had their work cut out for them, and believe it or not, only 10 points separated the first through fifth place winners. So there can be only one, and that title was given to St Petersburg powerhouse Deadlift! A victory well deserved! For the most part EVERY band that played that night did an incredible job, the judges had a difficult challenge ahead of them, and by far the real winners were the fans.
 
Thank you Sick Ross for putting the War together, Thank you to the judges for taking times out of your lives to support the scene, and thank you Tampa for doing what you do best.

Click on the links below to learn more about the participants:
THE HATE TANK BAND
MODERN DAY OUTLAW
VOICES
DEADLIFT
(N)CEPTION
KILL THE SOUND
ARCHETYPES
FORGIVING SILENCE

Event page can be viewed here.