Notes
'Strange Land are a three piece who certainly like to make a lot of noise with their cerebral progressive rock/metal ... well, I said noise? Yes, but I meant it in a good way, as the Wisconsin-based band pays a lot of attention also to melody, not only to the complexity of guitar riffs.' - Igor Italiani, progressiveworld.net As with many original bands the sound of Strange Land is difficult to describe. In the most generic sense the band falls into the progressive rock/metal category, along with such bands as Fates Warning, Savatage, Rush, Zero Hour, Pain of Salvation, and Galactic Cowboys. Strange Land, however, prefers not to wear it's influences on it's sleeve. Rather, the members blend all of their past experiences and outside musical influences into one unique musical vision. Each member of Strange Land takes an equal part in the writing and arranging of it's music. Strange Land was established in November of 1998 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin joining together former members of Labyrinth and Fishboy. The group was united to write and perform their brand of original neo-progressive metal. The members of Strange Land currently include Chad Novell on bass, keyboards and vocals, (former member of Labyrinth, May 1993 - November 1998), Sean Gill on guitar (former member of Fishboy, May 1993 - June 1995), and newest member Pete Schwarzenbacher (ex-Binky Tunny and the Farmland Chokehold) on drums. Within the first six months of it's existence, Strange Land had written and arranged eleven original songs, four of which appeared on the Foundation demo, whose title track reached #12 on MP3.com's progressive metal chart. Gabor Kleinbloesem of Strutter Magazine said of Foundation: 'Some more of these catchy and progressive tunes and this Strange Land may be counted as one of the latest sensations from the USA.' The band has self-released it's first full-length album, Anomaly, with 12 tracks and almost 70 minutes of material. The album was recorded with former drummer Brad Klotz, who left to pursue other career interests in the fall of 2001. Strange Land has performed with fellow prog/metal acts Leviathin Recording Artist Joe Stump, Quark Quintet, Ka, and Battlestar Cadillactica. Strange Land looks forward to expanding it's fan and touring base with the release of Anomaly. The band also played the first Wisconsin P.R.O.G. (Progressive Rock and Other Groups) show with Battlestar Cadillactica, Shadowcaster, and Dimension X on January 12th, 2002. This mini-fest has the potential of becoming a semi-annual showcase for regional and national prog/metal bands, and Strange Land is honored to be participating in the inaugural event.
