1 NEW MUSIC: Seattle Band PRINCESS Debuts First Recordings

{2/18 - SRG Presents: Vultures 2012, Diesto, Princess, Curse of the North at Rendezvous, $6}

New Seattle band Princess played their 3rd ever show back on Jan. 29th at the Josephine. During their set, screamer Andrew Chapman climbed furniture, and in some cases the audience while doing his bidding as one of city’s most entertaining front men. All the while Rod, Violet, and Sam laid down a seriously sonic back drop for Andrew’s mayhem, showing off some newly minted tunes only heard by a handful of wise local folks thus far. Princess had their claws out at the Josephine show and I was blown away by their set on many levels, but musically speaking Princess was very impressive. Add the live antics and you have the makings for an exciting new addition to Seattle’s heavy music scene or in the case of these veteran players-- exciting new beginnings.

The duo of Rod Learmonth (they don’t call him Roddy Chops for nothing) and heavy handed drummer Violet Séverine Blanchard are a tight unit, steaming from their time as musical partners in Mobile Slaughter Unit. Rounding out the foursome is Sam Wilder of local rock band The Vexx. She not only joins Violet as part of the badass female presence in Princess, but holds down bass duties with gusto as well.

Princess is a heavy band no question, but their leanings toward faster more manic song structures put them more in the punk rock realm than true metal in my opinion. I can picture them rounding out a local heavy punk dream bill with the likes of Android Hero, Absolute Monarchs, and Deadkill, but that’s not to say they can’t hold their own in the metal realm also.

This Friday they will get their chance, as they take the stage as part of the next big SRG show at the Rendezvous with local metal titans Vultures 2012, Portland’s Diesto, and Curse of the North. The dichotomy of the bill will certainly keep attendees of the show on their feet, and no doubt Princess will be stirring the pot, extracting as much energy from the crowd as possible like they did at the Josephine.

Princess spent time in the studio a couple weekends ago and the product of that session are two ripping tracks, ‘Remember to Breath’ and ‘Let Her Rule’ available now on their bandcamp site and streaming below. The video is of another Princess tune “HOV” performed at the aforementioned Josephine show. The quality is decent, but you get the idea. Also, keep up with Princess at their killer new blog: princessismetal.blogspot.com.

Words and Video by Nik Christofferson