Vulgarrity

The Toughcats

Three Day Threshold

Three Day Threshold

The From Dark team

From Dark Review from Metal Minute
Ray Van Horn, Jr.
From Dark hails from Phoenix and for a band that initially released their debut album allegedly through their own means, this is a band with serious backing, solid recording equipment and graphics design (much less a clothing line endorsement), plus, most importantly, substantial musicianship which equates into a largely stand-up contemporary metal record with a few revelatory graces and finishes to elevate this band above many of their scraping and clamoring peers.

At first, The Answer to Infection comes out with a standard metalcore yelpfest with the title track, which nearly gives the illusion that From Dark is sadly a one-trick pony. However, immediately thereafter, they dispel such preconceptions and prove there's some substance beneath the agro abuse of their step-heavy rhythm section and the manic wails of vocalist Dustin Bolin, using for example the incorporation of a chamber fugue violin melody (courtesy of guitarist Nelson Land) at the end of the otherwise Filter-esque "Blowtorch and a Pair of Pliers."

While Land also issues Bolin an alter ego clean vocal foil, which presents a bit of a stereotype for this particular genus, they nonetheless work agreeably together on the claustrophobic yet tuneful "The Damned" and the melancholic "A Final Farewell," both well-written songs with a risky stride towards the mainstream. In fact, much of The Answer to Infection has the ingredients for eventual transition to a format hard rock station--if not satellite radio--using songs like "Haunting Eyes" or "Civilization Lost" as a gauge. Perhaps Bolin's raspy bellowing is too over-the-top for FM, but at least From Dark has some heart underneath their rage, which gives their songs a necessary conscience.

Despite the fact From Dark operates in a manner not unlike much of what you've heard before, and while there's but a meager handful of spotty timing squibs or out-of-key notes, The Answer to Infection is a largely-professional debut that implies something commercially viable in their future. Fortunately, From Dark writes their songs outside the box despite a fleeting capacity to adhere to the modern code of the rhythm-disrupting breakdown.
Still, the varying dynamics of "Departed" that whip the song from a monster stomp to a more imploring sense of desperation with drifty syncopation in the song's final third is pretty impressive, as is the gritty and melodic closer, "A Walk Through Madness," co-written by (and presumedly dueted with) Jenna Slate. Gothic at its core, the soaring despondency of "A Walk Through Madness" in which all three voices chime in shows some thoughtfulness into what From Dark is doing, which thankfully makes The Answer to Infection an aptly-named antidote to a wildly-coursing metalcore virus germinating the genre.
Rating: ***1/2

Red Car Toons is a subsidiary of Red Car Records that provides marketing and publishing services to clients. Services include radio promotion, publicity, licensing,
and publishing.

LATEST NEWS:

• New RCT clients: Vulgarrity from Rhode Island and The Toughcats from North Haven, ME
  
  
• Red Car's Steev Riccardo is currently working as Music Supervisor for the short film "Killing Dinner", which will be released in 2009.
  
  
• From Hard Radio:
  The latest SHOCKWAVES/HARDRADIO podcast is now posted and features FROM DARK. Be sure to have everyone you know vote as the winning band will get rotation on HardRadio.com. We are also giving away a brand new PEAVEY ZODIAC DE Bass Guitar on this episode. The Episode Summary, a listing of all 30 bands featured, and links to the podcast are provided below.
  Thanks for your support!
  Bob Nalbandian
  
  
• -Phoenix based indie rockers Fatigo and VulGarrity, which features Shawn and Tracy Garrity formerly of Rebecca Nurse, are now part of the RCT licensing family!
  
  
• Red Car Toons is now working with Three Day Threshold
  
  
• Red Car Toons lands blanket licensing deal with FUEL TV for Taang! Records Artists Everybody Out!
  
  
• The Charms “So Romantic” featured in a
  national ad spot for TRADING SPACES on TLC
  
  
• Red Car client Ted Atkatz of NYCO plays the Hollywood Bowl with Randy Newman
  
  
• Upcoming From Dark tour dates
  -Aug 9 2008 9:00P
  The Sets Tempe, AZ
  -Aug 24 2008 6:30P
  The Joint Flagstaff, Arizona
  -Aug 29 2008 7:00P
  The Jumping Turtle San Marcos,, California
  -Sep 13 2008 5:00P
  The Sets Tempe, Arizona
  -Oct 11 2008 7:00P
  ROCK CITY ICEHOUSE Austin, Texas
  -Nov 15 2008 7:00P
  The Jumping Turtle San Marcos, California
  
  
  
• Listen to the latest cdbaby Podcast, featuring
  Red Car Label Manager Steev Riccardo speaking
  about music licensing. Alsofeatures Microsoft Game Studios' Xbox music director, Peter Davenport
  
  
• Red Car's Steev Riccardo will be working as music supervisor on two film in 2009 with Producer Mark Constance
  

NYCO's Ted Atkatz loves LA.: Ted played with with Randy Newman at the Hollywood Bowl July, 2008

Everybody Out! on their 2008 tour with the Dropkick Murphys

Red Car Records and Red Car Toons licenses songs for commercials, fiim, TV and Video games.
Some of our most recent licensing includes:

• Red Car Toons landsblanket deal with FUEL for Taang! Records Artists Everybody Out!
• The Charms “So Romantic” featured in a national ad spot for TRADING SPACES on TLC
• Red Car recently did a catalogue deal with Touchtunes for admission to digital jukeboxes nationwide.
• MTV's MADE recently used Chilly Kurtz' "Revenge" and Flexie's "My Rider"
• a recent My Super Sweet Sixteen features "Hyacinth" by Flexie
• The Charms' "Life In Movies" was on My Super Sweet Sixteen

Other licensing includes:

The Charms, "Saturday", Trailer, The Ice Princess
The Charms, "Frosty The Snowman", Christmas with the Kranks (also on OST)
The Charms, "Pussycat", Broken Flowers TV spots
The Charms, "Action", Mary Lou's Coffee TV commercial
The Charms, several songs on skiing documentary, The Longest Run
The Charms, "Believe", MTV MADE
The Charms, "Candy", MTV MADE, 3 episodes
The Charms, "Waiting For You", MTV MADE
The Charms, "I Want You Back", MTV MADE
The Charms, "So Pretty", MTV MADE
The Charms, "Top Down", MTV MADE
Caged Heat, "Animal", MTV MADE, 2 episodes
Caged Heat, "Betty", MTV MADE, 2 episodes
Caged Heat, "Alone In This World", MTV MADE
Caged Heat, "Out Of", MTV MADE
Rosie Huntress, "Brokenhearted", MTV MADE
Rosie Huntress, "Velvet", MTV MADE
Rebecca Nurse, "Energy", MTV MADE
Rebecca Nurse, "Sasquatch", MTV MADE
Joe Mazzari "Rescue Me" MTV MADE
Smorgasbord "One of Unkind" MTV MADE
Caged Heat "Jennifer" MTV MADE