-Archon-

Walking down the streets of the cozy little town of Sparta, New Jersey, one gets a vivid view of the budding culture present. Highschoolers with shag haircuts occupy the streets pumping Dashboard Confessional through their walkmans while making their way to the monthly show held at the local church. Hundreds of kids from all over the Northern NJ area come to see their favorite local bands play; a miriad of pop punk, ska, emo, and artsy experimental, so long as the language remains unprofane in the house of God. Down at the local boardwalk, college students can be heard from the bar singing their favorite John Mayer tunes. At all hours of the night, one might hear over-priveleged upper-middleclass caucasian teens blasting the new 50 Cent single from their new stereo systems in their new cars. Things seem quite normal and sterile in Sparta, not the kind of place you'd expect to find someone morbidly insane. However, you might run across Alberto Novales, the singer and songwriter for the band known as Archon.

Archon began in 2004 as a three-piece, with Alberto Novales on guitar and vocals, Evil Scary Gary Hoffman on bass, and Sean Thoman on drums. It was this original incarnation where the idea of a band unafraid to cross the lines of decency and morality set by an ignorant society began to take form. After only a few months, line-up changes occured, namely the departure of Thoman, who was replaced by a drum machine, but it was during this time that creativity began taking new forms. Driven mad by their surroundings and fueled with their hatred for humanity, Alberto Novales and Evil Scary Gary Hoffman began to craft something brutal, heavy, fast, unforgiving, and unheard-of in the Sussex County area. They created the sound that Sparta would make if it was spray-painted with ebola, set on fire, nailed to a cross, and bulldozed to the ground. All this, and with only two people.

"I want to create something that will make people feel the same way I feel about them each day," says Alberto, "which is disgusted." And "disgusted" is one word that comes to mind after reading the lyrics of Archon's self-released 5 song demo. For the duration of the 20-minute disc, a chaotic onslaught of inhuman noises and crushing double bass assault the listener's ears, forcing them to question their definition of what the word "music" means. Heads are crushed, hymens are stabbed, and a little human feces is consumed in the colorful little world that Archon paints for their audience; a world that, more often than not, is covered in blood.

"When I write the music of Archon, I get to control another reality," says Alberto about his song-writing role in the band, "and in [Archon's] reality, I do the things I am not able to do in the real world. I create horror and what most people think of as 'evil' and I try to take that to the farthest extreme as I can, and in its own special way it is beautiful, because I am God." Right Alberto, whatever you say.

Witnessing Archon live is a phenomenon all its own. While most bands in this day and age take the stage wearing tight jeans and their favorite band t-shirt, Archon takes an extra step in performance art with an absurd wardrobe and lots of make-up. Evil Scary Gary is easy enough to spot in the crowd, just look for the gothic, skirt-wearing drag queen with fake breasts. Alberto is usually modeling his new Abercrombie and Fitch attire onstage, often covered in blood and with an ever changing hair color. To top it off, Marek Musolf, a 40-year old British veteran of Live Action Role-Playing, can sometimes be seen prancing around the stage wearing a ninja suit and dancing to his favorite Archon tunes. Watching these freaks throw themselves around to break-neck blast beats can be quite an eyeful for the average viewer, yet is always undeniably entertaining, and never fails to catch a scornful glance from the nearest conservative.

"We would not be true to ourselves without the theatrics and the makeup," says bassist Evil Scary Gary, "We are all freaks living in this superficial world just being ourselves on stage."

What's next for Archon? Who knows? In a constantly changing and evolving music scene, Archon strives to make an impression, perhaps even leave a scar. The music of Archon is a constant evolution and reinvention in heaviness and visceral brutality which is not often found in common every-day music. However, Archon is not your common every-day band.