MySpacea place for friends

"Destined to Be Damned" is available at cdbaby.com and iTunes.

The barren, distilled pictures that Asyst paints with their album "Destined to be Damned" would lead you to believe that the members are brooding, dark individuals with a lot of anger inside. "Well, that might apply to Vic." Mike Silva, drummer for the band, jokes. In reality, the members of Asyst – which includes Dipendra Bagchee and Neal Engelhaupt on guitars and Victor Rodriguez on bass – are just good friends that enjoy making music together. "We don't take ourselves too seriously, we like to have fun and joke around a lot. We're all big jokers." Dipendra says.

Why then, did they choose such a dark title? "We picked the album title after looking at what common themes the songs on the album had." Vic explains. "We've all been through a lot these past two years, so we've had a lot of personal experiences to pull from for inspiration." The anthem "Gone" speaks to the loss of a friend to other priorities. "Lilith" talks of that moment your life flashes before your eyes in a motorcycle crash. They also address other issues on the album, including alcoholism, war and infidelity.

Asyst takes their influences from a wide span of artists, from the classic thrash of Metallica to the electronic beats of The Prodigy to the country/blues of Johnny Cash and it shows in the diversity of their sound. The haunting title track is almost completely electronic while "Broken Glass" is razor edged metal. "We don't want to get pigeon-holed into one sound", Dipendra states, "our taste in music constantly changes, and the music we've been writing lately reflects that. We really concentrated on the lyrics and song writing this time."

Their versatility shows in their live show as well. Asyst has played with bands in all genres, from death and black metal to indie rock and punk, and gets a great response from all types of audiences. "We've even played a couple hip-hop shows where we were the only rock band", Vic grins, "it was great – we love getting people out of their comfort zones and turning them on to us. It's all about getting one fan at a time."

On stage, you may notice the distinct lack of a front man. In fact, all of them take turns on the lead vocals, with the other members often incorporating two and three part harmonies to the songs. "We typically write the song first, then we figure out who's going to get stuck singing it." Dipendra laughs. The chemistry is incendiary on stage, the fire is lit in their eyes as they ignite the audience. "Playing live is what we live for." Mike says, with the others nodding in agreement.

"Destined to be Damned" was written and recorded as a three piece, yet features the thick guitars usually associated with a four or five piece band. In January 2007, Asyst brought Neal Engelhaupt into the group to help bring the power of the recording to the stage. His signature guitar playing, song writing skills and vocals add a fourth dimension to Asyst's unique sound.

Asyst is already working on new material for their next recording. They will be playing shows throughout the year to promote "Destined to be Damned" and build on their growing fan base.