Amongst the Giants is bringing their dynamic metalcore sound and unapologetic message of hope to the world with Obscene, their Rockfest Records debut. Originating in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, the three piece rock group is on a mission to bring taboo struggles into the open, shedding light into the lives of their listeners.
Members Brian Boyd (lead vocals, keys), Marco Pera (backing vocals, guitar) and Blaise Rojas (drums) bring to bear years of heavy music experience honed in playing for bands like Seventh Day Slumber and Spoken. Led by songs like the scathing “Lost in Translation” and the weighty, haunting title track, Obscene promises to announce Amongst the Giants to the world with a debut of powerful proportions.
It’s that eponymous track “Obscene,” featuring label mate Zahna, that really sets the mood for what the album’s lyrics set out to accomplish. “It’s about porn, how it can affect you and how it affects all the people that struggle with it, including myself at some points,” explains drummer Blaise Rojas, who penned the track’s lyrics. Singer Brian Boyd agrees, adding “The album itself is about the things that we go through that we can’t come to the church with because they’re considered to be ‘obscene.’”
Another song that invites the listener into the hard conversations, “Too Late” explores what happens when we become desensitized to the tragedy and suffering in the world around us, punctuating its points with soaring gang vocals and Amongst the Giant’s trademark compelling guitar riffs. “Tomorrow” tackles the taboo of the unique feeling of betrayal that comes with being let down by spiritual leaders. The heavy, progressive metal influenced “Ex Nihilo” clocks in at over five minutes of aggressive experimentation.
Those melodies are woven throughout intense screaming and rapid-fire percussion, building a sound similar to post-hardcore giants like Memphis May Fire and August Burns Red. It’s a technically intense and vocally demanding musical space that few recent up-and-coming bands have chosen to fill, but Amongst the Giants takes on the challenge with a focused sound that makes it hard to believe this is their first album.
Amongst the Giants is able to display that level of maturity because the project has coalesced as the perfect right place, right time combination of three seasoned musicians. Brian Boyd and Marco Pera played in a variety of projects growing up together in their home of southern Florida, eventually ending with a stint in Submission Red. Marco Pera has spent the past few years filling in for bands like Spoken, Seventh Day Slumber, Random Hero and Zahna.
Meanwhile, Blaise Rojas was getting hands-on experience witnessing the touring world by traveling on the bus with his father Joseph Rojas (frontman of Seventh Day Slumber) from just 6 weeks old. By age 13, Blaise was playing drums for Seventh Day Slumber. By the time Amongst the Giants was beginning to take shape in late 2017, Blaise had also begun filling in for an impressive roster of bands that now includes Spoken, As We Ascend, Manic Drive, Shonlock, Zahna and The Persuaded. It was in this time of investing in the rock community that Boyd, Pera and Rojas’s paths all crossed.
That wide range of experiences fuels a special synergy for Amongst the Giants, whose formation was catalyzed by the involvement of producer and Seventh Day Slumber guitarist Jeremy Holderfield. When Marco Pera and Brian Boyd were beginning to consider starting a new project, it was Holderfield who fostered their ideas and ultimately connected them to Rockfest Records.
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