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"Toilsome... isn't a stranger to inciting a swirling mosh pit."

“Their emphasis lies clearly and entirely on melody, versatile and adroit guitar, and resounding rhythms.” - Christian Czerwinski, NOISE

“Heavy, yet not ear-bleeding, [their] absolute deep and dark music is something that drug me in” - Stacy, Angel Dust PR

“This band is going to draw a large number of audiences” - Holopain

First thing you need to know: Toilsome encourages the downloading and bootlegging of their music. They want as many people as possible to hear their recordings. If you’re at a show, buy something – but – they do sell out of CDs extremely fast, so feel free to rip the songs and BURN THEM ONTO MIXES. Show 'em off to all your friends and people who enjoy hearing new metal bands.

Secondly, Toilsome is an up-and-coming nationaltouring act, thus, are always open to suggestions on cities and venues to play. Any help you could lend the band (i.e. promotions, booking, labels, clothing, food) would always be appreciated. This is a motivated group that strives to be your favorite new band.

Welcome to the Official Toilsome Myspace Page!

Melody and Bruality are the key ingredients to Toilsome's unique sound. Blending heavy, riff-driven metal with lighter guitar harmonies, there is no clear stamp you can put on this group. Vocalist A.J. Salas may have one of the most versatile screams in the business. Musically, similarities can be made to As I Lay Dying or Still Remains, but there is also an element of uniqueness - no solid comparison you can pigeonhole Toilsome into. Give a listen to the band’s full-length debut, “The Point of Exhaustion” and you’ll hear a prominent talent within their musicianship and a broad range of songwriting, spanning a wide spectrum of metal subgenres. They have written a self-produced, self-recorded, self-mixed, self-mastered, self-released album that truly provokes the listener to question the validity of the band’s unsigned status. Overall, you’ll hear an honest effort from a dedicated Michigan band.

On the heels of three successful tours, they are simultaneously promoting the current CD and in the midst of the writing cycle for their next one.

Toilsome has come a long way, and yet, they feel they have so much further to go. Forming in 2002, this self-proclaimed "midwest melodic metal" band has the confidence they will become career musicians due to a genuine work ethic and honest songwriting. They play the music they feel, not what they think will make them big.

This Lansing-based six-piece has gained an incredible amount of momentum through hard work within the last few years alone. Toilsome literally means, "to labor." Upon rapid-succession of releasing the successful “Constant Comfort” (May, 2006), plus a live EP of pre-production demos (January, 2007) and their debut album, “The Point of Exhaustion” (August, 2007) Toilsome has garnered many awards.

They were selected to participate in the 2007 WKLQ Heavyweight Championship, as well as the honor to play the 2007 and 2006 Q106 Homegrown Throwdowns. They played their first-ever Ticketmaster event in mid-2006 at St. Andrews Hall in Detroit, and have opened for many hard-hitting nationals (see Peers list below). They have also won a Battle of the Bands and had their songs featured on radio stations in many states in the U.S. Internationally, they have been spun in the country of Chile on Radio Placeres 87.7 FM. During the first single from the new album (the charging piano ballad “The Grand Decleration”) singer A.J. Salas reminds the band to enjoy these admirable moments and opportunities with the line “Lets not forget this."

“The Point of Exhaustion” is the culmination of years of songwriting and two full months of recording. The result: over an hour’s worth of heavy metal that sometimes borders along black metal lines and at other times is reminiscent of hardcore. The - dare I say - catchy vocal delivery rides atop a crest of focused and fitting instrumentation. The 16-track CD boasts songs that intertwine between trippy interludes, making for a listenable album from start to finish. The band’s varied sound allows them to avoid falling into any repetitious groove throughout the disc.

While the latest album showcases the group improving upon their hard-earned, professional-level musicianship, their previous three EP’s display a regular shift in Toilsome’s sound. Earlier in 2006, the band decided to go on without the dual female/male vocals that had been ever-present in their music since inception. Vocalist A.J. Salas and lead guitarist Ben G. Robinson have had a long tenure in the group; they are now the only two original members. With the resurgence of today's metal music, they figured that focusing on Salas' voice was what needed to be done in order to connect more with their core audience.

Salas blends his piercing, multi-faceted screams with clean vocals, yet the band manages to avoid being a direct rip-off of today’s popular metal. The flexibility of his screams are unparalleled, but if you had to make comparisons, Salas possesses both the shrieks of frontman Dez Fafara and growls of Max Cavalera. Toilsome’s songs are dark, layered with roaring axe-work from lead guitarists Robinson and Jason Roedel. They are a great duo on the strings and produce a dominant harmony to the band’s music. Longtime drummer Chris Purves holds down the songs with his notable artistry behind the kit, adding speedy double bass and intricate rhythm patterns. His evident inspiration is Mudvayne’s Matt McDonough. The bassist, John Calo, dials in his parts with creative authority and accuracy. Natasha Marie adds a spooky element to the already heavy table with her timely keyboard tones, allowing Toilsome to stand apart from your average metal band.

"The world revolves around people with minds shaped like mine." Salas bellows in "Drama King", one of the band's most oddly arranged songs. That sentiment could be in reference to the fact that Toilsome is a group of very good friends. Logical member additions over the past several years have led to a final, solid line-up. This is a blend of six different people that share the same goals. It is apparent they create the music they want to play and genuinely enjoy being together, especially on tour. Toilsome’s stage presence and chemistry catapults them above most unsigned bands, as it is not uncommon to see them moshing along with their fans. Toilsome is an energetic group to say the least. As “The Point of Exhaustion” continues to ship by the hundreds, it is only a matter of time before Toilsome is catapulted onto the world’s stage.

Constant touring and recording isToilsome’s way of staying in touch with their loyal fanbase. And each album will be their attempt to help metal stay at the forefront of cutting-edge music. This is a group who’s main goal is persevere further until they are considered among rock’s most elite.

[BANNERS:]

PUT THESE ON YOUR PAGES!!!!

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[VIDEO:]

[FLYERS:]

[MUSIC: "The Point of Exhaustion" is now available for download at online stores.]



[T-SHIRTS:]
We've sold out of 3 designs, but we still have some Wolf design Tee's left! Get em by e-mail or shows!

[STICKERS: 2 for a buck!] Get em at shows!

Toilsome gets on their AIM every once and a while, so if you want to chat with the band add the s/n toilsometalk.

ALL booking is done exclusively by John Calo of HM Touring. You can send an e-mail to jcalo@hmtouring.com or toilsomeband@hotmail.com or directly here on myspace. Make the subject line "BOOKING TOILSOME". For reference, the band is presently on a strictly touring schedule, with exceptions only for national opening slots and select festivals.

Family / Toilsome’s sister bands are: Seizure Lake, Reigning Ash, Ashes of Serenity, Only The Ashes Remain, Brasky, and Beyond All Reckoning.

Friends / Toilsome highly endorses: The Burial (Sancrosanct), Dagon (Bombworks), Under One, Sin Theorem, Silence The Witness, A Red Embrace, Internalize, My Friend Rudra, Forgotten Forgiveness, Genetic Drift, Know Lyfe, GabrielSix, Nothing Is Sacred, Ill Hollow Chamber, Atrium, Whore's Bath, Colasi’s Omen, With Wings of Lead, Tomorrow Has Arrived, Still Remains (R.I.P.) and of course 20ft. Neon Jesus.

Peers / Toilsome has also had the honor to play with: Whitechapel (Metal Blade), Carnifex (Victory), Liferuiner (Uprising), Impending Doom (Facedown), With Dead Hands Rising (Mediaskare), Dance Club Massacre (Black Market/Metal Blade), The Breathing Process (Ferret/SOAR), With Faith Or Flames (Stand & Deliver), The Analyst (Innerstrength), From Graves of Valor (Relapse), KillWhitneyDead (Tribunal), Within Chaos (Koch), The Demonstration (Mediaskare), Sons of Azrael (Ironclad/Metal Blade), Through The Fire (Innerstrength), Today I Wait (Friction), Crackjaw (I Scream), Remembrance (Sancrosanct), Summer Dying, The Orphan, The Nain Rouge, Woden, Level C, The Arcane Design, And The Sky Went Red, If He Dies He Dies, Scalera, Re-inventing Yesterday, Ares Letum, From Under The Gallows, Aeternal, Doc Holiday, Oshtemo, Carnage, Decades, The Doomsday Catalyst, The Gepetto Files, From All Within, Choose, Stupid Children With Hammers, Nerve Damage, Seeing Eye God, Nailed Shut, Agatha, Psychomancer, Adrenachrome, Sleeping With A Corpse, Sheiskrieg, Vera, Seneca Falls, Red Letter Day, May This Day Perish, A Beautiful Nightmare, Castigate, Beyond All Hope, Timeless Memory, Cellbound, Bound By One, Nothing's Short of Everything, Conquest, Twitch, Incarta, The Fight Scene, Avitus, Brink Of Oblivion, Under1Condition, Construkt, In Cynthia’s Diary, Mindvent, Reverend Sharpton, Beyond This Day, Finish The Job, And The Angels Fell Silent, Suffering Not Silenced, Dirtknap, Endo-Method, The Envy League, I Eat Glue, One Against, Havelock, Magenta6, Sullivyn, Blackened Earth, With Broken Rank, Rise, Sedated Monkey, The Autumn Prophet, Cholera, Act of Confession, Russett Burbank, Sleeping With A Corpse, Human Wick Effect, The Breed, Inferaneon, Five Bolt Main, Moth, Send The Dawn, The Skies Revolt, and many more.

Affiliates /