Fading Faith

Aside from the roaring engines of motorcycles rolling thru Sturgis in mid-August, there's very little that comes from the Black Hills. The gold mined from the hills out there is unique and in a spacious studio garage in Neosho, Wi, the sound mined amidst a light haze of cigarette smoke and the static pop hum of Marshall amplifiers is something unique as the bass and riffs seem to ring familiar in the ears of a passing listener."Is this Zombie?" I ask, but the music crescendos over the volume of my own voice and the band plays on dressing their rehearsal for their audience of three just as they would for an audience of 600 back in Rapid City.As I listen I wait to hear the haunting vocals of an Amy Lee or possibly the deep rasp of Chester Bennington, but the riff plays on and it's neither of those musicians bands music. It's something similar but definitely not the same.The guitar begins to wail and the hint of Metallica resonates in the air, but again I am wrong; when the drums flare and the bass digs, the sound is entirely Fading Faiths.This is a band that upon first listen anyone will try and search for the familiar comparisons of the metal that has rocked them before.This is an entirely different rocking; where some sounds make you tap your foot or pump your arms, bang your head or do an air solo on an imaginary drum set, Fading Faith pulses a sound that bleeds into you and begins to beat your heart for you.Yet, it wasn't just beating my blood thru my body it was rocking it.Every pulse and throb of the rhythm shuttled its cathartic sound thru me.As an objective bystander to all things musical and artistic I don't fancy myself a metal fan by any means, I came here to just humor the band after they asked me to stop by and "Just Listen", so I have and I am and it's good, it is very good.I found my humoring turned to humbled as I found myself really enjoying and feeling fortunate to have had the invite extended to me. As I sat there listening to the band play on I wondered as I was moved by the music if this was to me what any other journalist may have experienced in the past when they saw Hendrix play the small London gigs or Clapton and his Birds as they chanted out their harmonies. To the modern era it could be akin to having been privileged to see U2 when Bono still had two names or when Metallica was a little less outspoken or when Pearl Jam still felt like raw preserves.Yet after all the comparisons are made listening to the polished emotional sound I can no longer question the verge that this group from Rapid City rocks on; and as the music breaks with an emotional heart seizing stop, one doesn't question if Fading Faith is ready for something far bigger than this spacious garage.These guys are seducing destiny, and as the electric vibe of the amps hums behind them their frontman turns to me and asks how it was. "That was pretty good" but it wasn't, it was something great.

Brian Rose is a freelance writer, we thank him for covering our band and helping us gain a new audience here in Wisconsin

Aprill 11th 2008- Up and Under Pub, 1216 E. Brady St.

This is our first wisconsin show and it's a battle of the bands so we hope to have strong support to help us make a name for ourselves here in the midwest!

May 10th 2008- Venue Tentative so stay tuned

another battle of the bands so once we know the locale, come big come strong and be ready to rock

June 4th-8th 2008- Taste of Summer Festival, Henry W. Maier Festival Park (Summerfest Grounds)

This is the opener for Summerfest, so again we hope to have a big impact to set the stage for the World's Largest Music Festival. Come big, come loud.

(Article by Brian Rose)

Dateline April 11th 2008,

Outside the air felt of an early spring chill, inside at the up and under pub the licks of the instruments were searing hot and the humidity of close bodies watching tonight's battle of the bands filled the air with electric fever.

The three bands in contest tonight were Blonde on Blonde, Punch and Pie and lastly Fading Faith drew the late set for the battle. Blonde on Blonde was a local duo of songstressess who play a mix of original material and harmonic covers of popular music. With a steady line up of shows they brought a good handful of supporters along to this audience vote only battle. Punch and Pie brought along a heavy following that made the Milwaukee Pub feel like the waupaca fanfare they typically are used to playing to. Last and not least was Fading Faith, a new local band I had covered before, looked around nervously with only a few close supporters at hand to help cheer them on.

The battle was eased into slowly with a soft set list played by Blonde on Blonde, the songs were well performed but the audience seemed sleepy by the end, not a testament to their talent but one could definitely tell that tonights audience was waiting for far more.

Up next came Punch and Pie, with a few loopy strums of guitars the four set displayed original songwriting talent until the rest of the set proved that their music was pretty much more of the same repeated over and over and it was hard to tell if they were on a new song or if it was more of the last song just made longer. The younger college aged set of erratic dancers they brought in their "Hippie Mobile" enthusiastically shouted their praises of the band as they played to their favor and extended their set by one song and played off a slower number to cross into the midnight hour.

Lastly and not leastly was Fading Faith. This was their first public performance in Wisconsin and my first time seeing them since I last had a chance at catching a practice session back in January at their frontman's home studio. After a slow setup and a few sound checks they opened up their forray into the Battle with an ear blasting number called Drift Away. It took but a few chords and the small open floor in front of the stage was flooded with entranced listeners swaying and pounding theirs fists and driving their bodies to the music. Song after song kept raising the bar on the talent meter and as I looked around the far back entrance of the bar was empty as almost everyone in the bar save for a few bartenders had moved towards the stage to see what was making the crowd...well crowd. Song after song that carried well past one in the morning kept the crowed enthused and energetic and chanting the bands name after each song. Worried expressions crossed the faces of the two other bands as they also looked on, one band listening to the music, the other yelling for them to be booed off stage, perhaps as a vain effort to keep a few remaining votes in the sway of their favor. Fading Faith didn't fade and they only got louder and stronger as their set list dwindled down but their energy didn't. When the final riffs echoed out of the speakers the owner of the bar made a last call for votes and a few stray ballots came floating in from around the room and off they went into conclave to tally the votes. What felt like a tense few days the announcement was made that things were taking a little longer than expected as there was a three way tie in votes. After one more call for votes everyone scrambled to find any ballots anywhere and then the final call was made and again they went to retabulate the votes. Just past 2 am Brody, the bar patron, came back up to the mic and announced the voting tabulations as verified by the most sober person in the bar went as follows, 29 votes went to Blonde on Blonde, 30 went to Punch and Pie and 32 votes fell in favor of Fading Faith. A roar of energy and screams came from the band and remaining supporters with congratulations being shared by some members of the losing bands.

With their first impression leaving a stomping footprint on the Milwaukee music scene, Fading Faith faces their second hurdle in the semi-final Battle on April 25th at the Up and Under Pub again. They had enough support to make it by this time, but if they can keep their machine like output the same and if not with more energy than their first performance, it won't be long before they take the rest of the city, and soon the country by a storm you couldn't predict.