SAGE4

FEMALE-FRONTED BAND SAGE4 ROCKS 4 REAL!

Don’t you love discovering the next big thing? Well, if you love hard rock, you must check out the band who is poised to be the next big thing in music: SAGE4. This killer female-fronted ultra-original band from Chicago has a musical style all its own, breathing fresh air into the underground music scene with their own blend of metal, alternative, progressive and gothic hard rock. If I could describe it, I would say it’s kind of like Tool, Alice in Chains and Metallica were put into a blender with a hot female lead singer (that sounds kind of crazy, right?).

SAGE4, who is the national winner of the Hot Topic Battle of the Bands has been touring various Hot Topic stores, performing acoustic sets in support of their new CD Graves. I got the inside scoop from lead singer Tracey Sage, who said to be on the lookout for the band and their music to be featured in an upcoming horror flick with Ving Rhames, as well as on CDs included with upcoming Alice in Chains and Ozzy Osbourne books. Also posted on their website forum (the SAGE4UM, get it?) is that a music video is in the works for their first single Everyone’s a Hypocrite, which should be released in the upcoming months.

Check them out and see what everyone is buzzing about: www.sage4.com and www.myspace.com/sage4 - Style Me Fabulous

"The CD features Tracey Sage4's powerful emotive vocals, amazing guitar playing from Mike Walsh and one of the more solid rhythm sections in the genre. They tap into sounds of bands such as Tool, Dream Theater and A Perfect Circle but with their own unique style. As I said in the Lightening Strikes review, "Look out for these guys and girl for they will be the talk of most prog metal circles to come.."
- Prognaut

"With the vocal strength of Tracey Sage and the musical talent of Mike, Rob, and Eric, expect big things, and be listening for a lot of clatter in the Industry regarding the band! They’ve got the look, the talent, and the will to make it big! Their music is the stuff of virtuosos, tapping into sounds similar to bands like Tool, Dream Theater and A Perfect Circle. Their music is refreshing, and it’s awesome to hear music that is living, breathing, and intelligent!"
- MidwestBands.com

Sage4 isn’t a clone of something else...I don’t know a lot of bands that play this kind of music. Sage4 is really original. Plus, Tracey, the singer has a really original voice, strong and heavy and not so high for a girl, she has a real “rock” voice and it’s really cool believe me. So if you like strong Metal, if you like female singers who rock, don’t miss this EP. No doubt that we will hear about this band soon...
- Metal Storm

"Sage4's "In Vain" is an example of that rare band that does music their way and leaves all conventions behind them. At times sounding like 80s metal, at others like modern progressive metal and still at others sounding like international rock'n'roll, 'In Vain" keeps the listener guessing while never alienating them by going too far one way or the other."
- Roughedge.com

"Overall I was totally blown away by the presentation. The
mastery of craftsmanship was evident in every element
from the solid rhythmic foundation provided by the drummer
and prodigious guitar playing to the technically perfect
vocal performance that tied a conceptual bow around all
that lay beneath it." - Taxi

SAGE4
Graves

This is really far from your average Neoretroprogmelodic AOR Band that claims the term "Progressive Metal“ for their efforts, this is outstanding, unique, mystical, magical and utterly beautiful. The female singer has an enchanting voice, hot and naughty here, angelic there and full of desperate passion in the next moment. She's charismatic to the bone and gives most female singers in the so called "progressive“ genre a run for their money. As outstanding as her voice is the instrumental background that unleashes twisted, yet whipping guitar attacks, hypnotic harmony rolls and rhythms that flash around you like little sparks. It is still metal, a very special kind of metal, far from every mainstream approach. Fans of latter day DREAM THEATER, their heaviest or more psychedelic compositions, fans of MADDER MORTEM, INDUKTI and INTO ETERNITY will phreak out on SAGE4. The music leads you through bewitched soundscapes, draws very colourful, yet dark and gloomy pictures that will suck your spirit in and swallow your dreams like a black hole. The leadguitars are always wild and wicked, they show an axeman on the border of obsession and insanity, which he even touches but never crosses. This is a giant sound movie that demands your time. It is not only one spin that will make you fully understand this album, it needs quite a few rounds in your player to unfold it's complete magick. And then you cannot return to your grey and cold reality anymore. Awesome and hot progressive metal!
Sir Lord Doom - Hellion Records

http://metal101.ning.com/

After releasing the 5-Track E.P. ‘In Vain’ and their 2nd 5-track E.P. entitled ‘Lightning Strikes’ Female fronted ‘Sage4' (formerly Sage) bring a huge 1st album to the table, ‘Graves’ in both digital download and hard copy versions.

‘Sage4' have really done the business here with a Sound and Style that will separate them from many others who have tried and failed. Gothic, Alternative, Melodic and Heavy from the outset, there is massive potential for an full album of good music and ‘Sage4' don’t disappoint.

Impressive from outset track ‘Steal My Thunder’ it’s clear there is a lot of talent here with a fabulous twin drone Guitar intro to the chugging and regularly complex Guitar work of Mike Walsh further in, this teamed with the perfectly tuned Vocals of Tracey Sage, not to mention the Bass abilities of Vito Marchese and Drumming skills of Eric Ganci, It’s a perfect opener to the album and leaves you wanting to hear more.

‘Graves’ already boasts 1 single and accompanying video ‘Everyone’s a Hypocrite’ which is the 2nd track on the album, it gives a great showcase to the ability of the musicians involved and should be heard to understand the attitude this band can show without compramising their music for the purposes of making a point.

The album contains 12 tracks and every song is well worth hearing, and after more listens than I would normally grace a band with on a review, I have to tip ‘Sage4' for big things to come, Sage4’s current accolades vary from a movie appearance and tracks in “Evil Angel” Starring “Ving Rhames” to being featured on Ozzy Osbournes ‘Studio Book’ CD Sampler and upcoming Alice in chains ‘in the studio’ book CD sampler also.

I won’t make comparisons to other bands here as I don’t think in this case it gives a fair comment to how good ‘Sage4' are. I would merely say if you like your music played with talent and would like to hear an album with few if NO weak points in my opinion, you must hear ‘Graves’. - Metal 101