Editorial: 25 More Unsigned Bands To Know
Posted: May 1st, 2008
Contributed By: Nick
For weeks, I spent countless hours sifting through every unsigned band I could get my hands on, not only from the United States but from a multitude of countries from around the globe as well. I came across hundreds of really, really good bands, many of which I will use for my future lists. But for now, and as difficult as it was, I narrowed it down to 25. Is this the best 25 from the lot?-No. Instead, I picked the 25 bands which I enjoyed listening to the most, who had music that stood out, got my attention, and kept me coming back for more. So, with that out of the way, here is my latest compilation of 25 unsigned bands from around the world who I feel you all deserve to hear and enjoy…
1. BulletProof Messenger
(www.myspace.com/bulletproofmessenger)
Location: New York, NY
For Fans Of: Thousand Foot Krutch, Blowsight, Trapt
2. 16Stitch
(www.myspace.com/16stitch)
Location: Johannesburg, South Africa
For Fans Of: Onesidezero, Glassjaw, Blindside
3. Bleak
(www.myspace.com/bleakmusic)
Location: Finland
For Fans Of: Fightstar, 10 Years, Crossfade
4. 3AMProject
(www.myspace.com/3amproject)
Location: Peoria, IL
For Fans Of: Seemless, The End, Trigger Point
5. Dead By April
(www.myspace.com/dbaswe)
Location: Sweden
For Fans Of: Soilwork, Still Remains, Dry Kill Logic
6. Dead Letter Circus
(www.myspace.com/deadlettercircus)
Location: Brisbane, Australia
For Fans Of: Karnivool, A Perfect Circle, Evans Blue
7. Cromwell
(www.myspace.com/cromwell)
Location: Inland Empire, CA
For Fans Of: Deftones, TRUSTcompany, Gatsby’s American Dream
8. Social Ghost
(www.myspace.com/socialghost)
Location: Orlando, FL
For Fans Of: Thornley, Kutless, Oleander
9. Parmalee
(www.myspace.com/parmalee)
Location: Greenville, NC
For Fans Of: Daughtry, Course of Nature, Shinedown
10. Serenade for June
(www.myspace.com/serenadeforjune)
Location: Sweden
For Fans Of: Chevelle, Far, Lostprophets
11. Fear Zero
(www.myspace.com/fearzero)
Location: British Columbia, Canada
For Fans Of: Staind, 12 Stones, Tonic
12. Major Label
(www.myspace.com/majorlabelband)
Location: Finland
For Fans Of: Deftones, Flaw, Relative Ash
13. Nothing More
(www.myspace.com/nothingmoremusic)
Location: San Antonio, TX
For Fans Of: Atomship, Our Lady Peace, 10 Years
14. Irrational
(www.myspace.com/irrational)
Location: Orlando, FL
For Fans Of: Sick Puppies, Burn Season, Lo-Pro
15. Bitune
(www.myspace.com/bitune)
Location: Germany
For Fans Of: Incubus, Seven Wiser, Liquid Gang
16. Everything at Once
(www.myspace.com/everythingatonce)
Location: Toronto, Canada
For Fans Of: Breaking Benjamin, Injected, Seether
17. Drowning Me
(www.myspace.com/drowningme)
Location: Stockholm, Sweden
For Fans Of: Five Bolt Main, Spineshank, Dope
18. Rides Again
(www.myspace.com/ridesagain)
Location: Ontario, Canada
For Fans Of: Breaking Point, Sugarcult, Skillet
19. Burning Borders
(www.myspace.com/burningbordersmusic)
Location: British Columbia, Canada
For Fans Of: Pillar, Bloodsimple, Killswitch Engage
20. The Adio Sequence
(www.myspace.com/theadiosequence)
Location: Portland, OR
For Fans Of: Project 86, Failure, Dead Poetic
21. Black Water Rising
(www.myspace.com/blackwaterrising)
Location: Brooklyn, NY
For Fans Of: Down, Stereomud, Black Stone Cherry
22. Tupelo Honey
(www.myspace.com/tupelohoney)
Location: Alberta, Canada
For Fans Of: Shinedown, doubleDrive, Dark new Day
23. It’s Alive
(www.myspace.com/itsalive)
Location: Lake Mary, FL
For Fans Of: Saosin, 30 Seconds to Mars, The Used
24. Palmerston
(www.myspace.com/palmerston)
Location: Hollywood, CA
For Fans Of: Foo Fighters, Simon Says, U.P.O.
25. Sleep Parade
(www.myspace.com/sleepparade)
Location: Melbourne, Australia
For Fans Of: Dredg, Strata, A Perfect Circle
Below, I have included two Honorable Mentions-these two bands would have made the cut if they had not already disbanded…
Honorable Mentions:
1. Fourth Element (BROKEN UP)
(www.myspace.com/fourthelement)
Location: Baltimore, MD
2. The Loving Loss (BROKEN UP)
(www.myspace.com/thelovingloss)
Location: Los Angeles, CA
pen said:
I love Everything At Once and Bulletproof Messenger.
May 1st, 2008 at 9:38 am
Jason said:
Everyone listen to Tupelo Honey. I’ve been raving about them to Chris for awhile. They just released a new EP and the song Morphine is tearing it up in Canada.
May 1st, 2008 at 9:50 am
Nate said:
Sweet! These posts are the best! And more lists to come!
May 1st, 2008 at 9:56 am
Nick said:
hope you all dig
May 1st, 2008 at 10:05 am
Nick said:
oh and i just found out 3amproject is no more…thats a shame cuz theyre effin amazing
May 1st, 2008 at 10:25 am
Deuce said:
Everything At Once got a ton of love from WJJO in Madison, and I cant find mention of them anywhere. Hopefully they put out a follow up to their S/T soon.
May 1st, 2008 at 12:24 pm
Lucas said:
The link for Fear Zero is messed up. Nice list of bands. Going to check ‘em out. Some of them I’ve heard of (Bulletproof Messenger) and are pretty good.
May 1st, 2008 at 12:51 pm
Lucas said:
Link for Irrational isn’t working either.
May 1st, 2008 at 12:53 pm
Chris said:
It appears Irrational’s MySpace page has been deleted.
May 1st, 2008 at 12:54 pm
Nick said:
Irrational:
profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=1884409
May 1st, 2008 at 1:25 pm
Chris said:
Thanks Nick.
Thats strange that myspace.com/irrational comes up as an invalid ID, but the profile.myspace.com address works
May 1st, 2008 at 1:29 pm
Lucas said:
Looks like they’re some random numbers after the slash instead of their actual name… Kinda stupid. I posted the link w/ the numbers, but it was hidden (spam filter I presume).
May 1st, 2008 at 1:47 pm
Jason said:
Fear Zero is pretty good. Good call on these guys Nick.
May 1st, 2008 at 2:14 pm
RaNight said:
damn… who do I need to pay-off around here to get on a list?
haha
May 1st, 2008 at 2:41 pm
salastna said:
Wow a mention for my boys, Palmeston.
May 1st, 2008 at 3:00 pm
airtas said:
bulletproof owns, HAS ANY1 heard anything by WAKING SEASON?
May 1st, 2008 at 5:06 pm
mattjames1708 said:
ROYAL BLISS!!!!!!check them out.
May 1st, 2008 at 8:36 pm
Lucas said:
Tourist (http://www.myspace.com/touristband)
May 1st, 2008 at 8:54 pm
Nick said:
hey mattjames1708, i remember u telling me about royal bliss awhile ago and i bought the cd and its really good
May 1st, 2008 at 10:39 pm
ohgreat said:
Rides Again and Tupelo Honey BOTH have made the cut, I see. That’s a good sign since I hear them both played on rock radio extensively based on where I live (Give a nod to Edmonton, AB, CANADA, respectively).
But look under ‘Honorable Mentions’. That’s a great add to be looking at. Whoa. Cool
May 1st, 2008 at 11:16 pm
pen said:
The only thing is that in no way does Everything At Once resemble Injected at all. I almost wonder if you guys are just trying to choose three random better known bands just to compare these guys to something. I mean, a band that sounds like Chevelle, Far, and Lostprophets? I mean, that’s inconceivable.
May 2nd, 2008 at 12:59 am
harty3113 said:
social ghost is good. i saw them back in november.
May 2nd, 2008 at 9:23 am
beyondthesun said:
Hey Nick, nice list! I’ve just got one question.. why isn’t Broken Iris on it??
May 2nd, 2008 at 12:41 pm
Cfw828 said:
I know they were mentioned in the last one…don’t think they made the top 25, but they did get mentioned somewhere.
May 2nd, 2008 at 2:20 pm
Lucas said:
I agree, Pen. I don’t agree with very many of the “for fans of” comparison bands either. I didn’t really see similarities in any of them much at all to be perfectly honest with you. Just listen to it, if you like it great, if you don’t that’s too bad and move on.
May 2nd, 2008 at 3:04 pm
Nick said:
haha its funny cuz broken iris was on the list but then i saw you had posted something about them in another post so it kinda fouled the nest so to say hah
and the ‘for fans of’…i do it based off random songs i pick from the band and list what those songs remind me off…good way of mixing it up IMO
can’t remember which everything at once song sounds like injected but yea even that one made me scratch myhead this time around ha
May 2nd, 2008 at 10:42 pm
beyondthesun said:
Yeah Nick we talked about them in the Ashes Divide review, but still.. they deserve a place here too!
May 3rd, 2008 at 4:23 am
mattjames1708 said:
i thought you would have forgot about that nick lol but thats awesome that you like them its hard to believe that they haven’t got signed yet devils and angels i believe would be a huge hit on the radio
May 3rd, 2008 at 3:36 pm
Nick said:
yea actually the first song called “brave” is phenomenal and my favorite from the cd by far and again thank you for the recommendation bro
May 4th, 2008 at 12:05 pm
Nick said:
oh and for the record 3amproject IS NOT BROKEN UP
sorry for the misquote and stupid ASSumption
May 4th, 2008 at 12:13 pm
Cfw828 said:
May I have the link to the first one in case I wanted to listen to the bands before?
May 6th, 2008 at 11:33 am
Chris said:
25 Unsigned Bands to Know
May 6th, 2008 at 11:43 am
lateralus said:
http://www.myspace.com/subtleshot
May 6th, 2008 at 5:31 pm
Nick said:
subtle shot is good stuff, i remember checking them out once
May 6th, 2008 at 8:35 pm
Nate said:
I posted this at the end of the original Unsigned Bands post, but I doubt many saw it.
Wide Eye Panic - http://www.myspace.com/wideeyepanic
Shovelhook - http://www.myspace.com/shovelhook
Trip9 - http://www.myspace.com/trip9rock
Albino Fly - http://www.myspace.com/albinofly
Oral - http://www.myspace.com/oraltheband
Mammal - http://www.myspace.com/mammaltheband
May 7th, 2008 at 6:11 am
harty3113 said:
Thaxton Ward- http://www.myspace.com/thaxtonward
City Sleeps- http://www.myspace.com/citysleeps
Dawn Over Zero- http://www.myspace.com/citysleeps
I tihnk those bands should be in the top 25
May 9th, 2008 at 9:06 am
Chris said:
The title of the editorial is “25 More Unsigned Bands to Know”. City Sleeps is signed.
May 9th, 2008 at 10:38 am
Lucas said:
That Broken Iris band is awesome, and simply amazing. They’re quickly becoming a favorite of mine. The album is one of the better I’ve heard in awhile especially from such a relatively less well known band.
Another band I just found out about is Joan Red - http://www.myspace.com/joanred
Pretty good stuff
May 13th, 2008 at 10:14 pm
Nate said:
Joan Red is good, nice find Lucas. Also like Thaxton Ward and Dawn Over Zero. I actually first heard Dawn Over Zero on Pandora a few years ago.
May 14th, 2008 at 6:54 am
Jason said:
I’ve mentioned Joan Red in various threads atleast 3 times. I frigging love that band.
May 14th, 2008 at 9:02 am
Nate said:
http://www.myspace.com/solidsix
May 15th, 2008 at 5:53 pm
Cfw828 said:
http://www.myspace.com/fallofenvy
May 16th, 2008 at 9:17 pm
Meagan said:
Lucas can give me the credit for “finding” Joan Red… I actually was the one to tell him about the band.
You’re welcome… 
May 19th, 2008 at 4:37 am
Nate said:
Fall Of Envy is really good. Wow, I just bought the album and was blown away by it.
May 22nd, 2008 at 9:01 am
Ang said:
Check out Mothers anthem from Dallas/austin
These guys are awesome
http://www.myspace.com/mothersanthem
June 1st, 2008 at 10:14 pm
double_c said:
Those are alot of good Bands! Another new band that i haven’t seen on here before and i think yal would like is
Broka’s Bliss out of Ft Worth, Tx. check them out!
http://www.myspace.com/brokasbliss
June 2nd, 2008 at 2:58 pm
Ryan said:
Check out the band Jonin. They have an album on I-tunes named “the secret”. It’s def worth it. I had to have it as soon as I heard it. It’s amazing stuff.
http://www.myspace.com/jonin.
June 2nd, 2008 at 7:17 pm
Cfw828 said:
The Finalist
They had been signed to Maverick and recorded an album, but they left the label and it was shelved.
June 13th, 2008 at 5:59 pm
Jason said:
Of Broken
http://www.myspace.com/ofbrokenband
Just previewed their new CD and it’s pretty good stuff. Check it out.
June 17th, 2008 at 6:41 pm
scionchick said:
I really like Bulletproof messenger but one unsigned band I think should be added to the list is Adire they are from my hometown Greeneville, TN and they are awesome. They have a myspace page if anyone would like to check them out!
June 19th, 2008 at 8:40 am
Jason said:
Just checked out Adire, pretty damn good band. Nice recommendation. Heres the link for anyone that needs it….
http://www.myspace.com/adireband
June 19th, 2008 at 4:32 pm
Nate said:
http://www.myspace.com/emberaustin
June 24th, 2008 at 11:31 am
Nate said:
For Flyleaf fans,
http://www.myspace.com/myownsin
June 24th, 2008 at 1:04 pm
Nate said:
For Breaking Benjamin fans
http://www.myspace.com/signsofbetrayal
June 26th, 2008 at 10:04 am
Defbizkit said:
Hey guys,
you really must check out the band 4LYN from Germany http://www.myspace.com/4lyn
they already released 5 records, 3 of them over a major label. the first 3 records are more rap/rock/hardcore style. and the last 2 more alternative. the last record isnt the best, and on the myspace page are only songs from the last one…so try to check out older stuff somewhere in the net
June 28th, 2008 at 4:35 pm
Defbizkit said:
also http://www.myspace.com/etchedinred
they are from san diego
June 28th, 2008 at 4:37 pm
scionchick said:
I checked out Joan Red from Memphis, TN and they are an awesome band! Thanks Lucas.
June 28th, 2008 at 9:19 pm
scionchick said:
I checked out Thaxton Ward they’re pretty good. Thanks harty3113!
June 28th, 2008 at 9:27 pm
scionchick said:
Everyone needs to check out Adire from Greeneville, TN they are awesome and should definitely been added to the list!
June 28th, 2008 at 9:28 pm
scionchick said:
Check out Echovalve, Thornley, Adelayda, Digital Summer, Mainstay, Since October, Revis, Modern Day Zero, and Kids in the Way… They all are awesome bands!
June 28th, 2008 at 9:37 pm
Nate said:
http://www.myspace.com/44down
July 11th, 2008 at 11:54 am