A dream Asleep, We Are The Juggernauts

To not know of A dream Asleep means that you are either not completely tapped into Houston’s music scene or you’ve been living in a sulphur glacier on one of Jupiter’s farthest moons eating vegan Taco Bell. They’ve been tearing up the underground circuit and crushing venue after venue with their insane live shows and their brand of progressive hardcore.

Their new EP, We Are The Juggernauts, is a crushing seven-song assault of sex, violence, and introspection. For a hardcore band, their versatily and scope is daring, but this is a band that once brought down the house at Röcbar with a Pat Benatar cover. What’s most impressive about We Are The Juggernauts, though, is that it reveals the band’s progressive nature, exploring musical territorities with a daring and fuck-all attitude as to how anyone may judge what they’re creating. Yet while the EP branches into various musical waters, it still maintains the band’s raw, unabashed energy and aggression, coupled with Mike Seal’s searing vocals and the band’s chest-caving percussive chops.

What also strikes me about We Are The Juggernauts is that even though the vocals are often tortured, aggressive, and confrontational, Mike often sings about redemption, sex, love, and even introspection. The two standout tracks are “Horus -vs- The Juggernauts,” which was written after the death of their beloved bong Horus when it fell to the ground due to the vibrations from a band in the next practice room, and “March Of The Bears,” which deals with releasing baggage and personal demons and not leaving things up to fate.

Without a doubt — and brace yourself for what I’m about to say next — A dream Asleep is one band not to “sleep” on. Yes, I did. I did go there.