Heavy metal group energizes crowd with not-so-heavy sound

Last Chance to Reason was finishing up the end of its tour of the Northeast in Massachusetts last week when things got a little out of hand.

“Our guitarist AJ, hit Mike, who’s our vocalist, in the head with his guitar during the show when he was jumping around,” said Evan Sammons, drummer for the Augusta-area metal band. “He was trying to finish the set, but he couldn’t. He was gonna pass out. We had to take him to the hospital. He got two staples in his head. He was OK, though. He’s doing fine.”

The thing that makes that story even crazier is that the threat of personal injury is a regular part of the job for the members of Last Chance to Reason.

“We put so much energy into our stage show,” said Sammons. “Even if you don’t like the music, you’ll be entertained. We’re so into it we have people hanging upside down from the ceiling, getting up on high places and jumping into the crowd. We’ve come dangerously close to hitting people before.”

While it might be a stretch to, say, wear a football helmet to the band’s show at Ushuaia in Orono tonight, it would behoove you to be prepared for a wild time.

It’s also a safe bet to say that Last Chance to Reason don’t sound like your typical metal band. Guitarist AJ Harvey studies jazz at the University of Maine at Augusta, and Sammons also says he’s influenced by jazz, as well as experimental metal band Mr. Bungle and progressive hardcore favorites Between the Buried and Me.

Complicated chord changes and complex harmonies make them stand out from the fold, though lead singer Mike Levenseller excels at growling out more traditional metal vocals.

“We go for that sound that surprises people,” said Sammons. “We actually got pulled over by a police officer on our way back from Massachusetts, and he asked if we were in a musical group because he saw we were in a van. He asked what we play, and we said we play heavy metal that’s really hard to play. Technical metal is what we usually call it.”

They also insert elements of electronic music, using samples of dialogue in several songs. Live, they run DVD audio through a pedal, which loops the samples and can be controlled by band members.

Rounded out by bass player Chris Corey and co-guitarist Dustin Bordeaux, the band tries not to take themselves quite as seriously as some of their peers.

“We try to put humorous stuff in there,” said Sammons. “We try to reflect our personalities in the music and lyrics, and we’re just weird, goofy guys. We don’t want to give off that overly dark vibe. We want to get away from that and make it kind of fun. Our lyrics are very tongue in cheek and sarcastic and not overly serious.”

Last Chance to Reason formed in early 2005, and the band has already been on three tours of the Northeast, and one tour of the Midwest. The road warriors have made one recording, the “Dreamt of an Angel, Woke With a Nightmare” EP that came out last summer, though they plan to enter the studio at the end of the year with renowned metal producer Jamie King to record a follow-up LP. The band is also courting record deals with several national metal labels, though it currently works with the local Abaddon Records.

Sammons credits their early success to two things.

“The Internet is a wonderful thing,” he said. “Everywhere we played there was someone who knew us, and it’s because of our MySpace page, where we have our video and songs. It’s just word of mouth.”

“We’re surprised by the amount of success we’ve had, because we’re so weird,” Sammons continued. “But that’s a blessing and a curse, because even though some say we’re too weird, that’s also been the key to our success. People like it cause we’re different.”

Last Chance to Reason will play at Ushuaia tonight with local favorites the Killing Moon and Zebuesk. Doors open at 8 p.m., and tickets are $10 and can be purchased at Bull Moose Music locations. For information, visit www.myspace.com/lastchancetoreason. Emily Burnham can be reached at eburnham@bangordailynews.net.