BAND
KULTUR
By Christine R. Walsh
Somewhere ~ deep within the confines of a Framingham basement practice space ~ a dark and dangerous musical force is at work. Their electric, darkly seductive riffs and gut-twisting lyrics pull you in. The songs force you to surrender to the beat. But this black magic wasn't perfected overnight. The boys of Kultur (pronounced Kull-ter) are slaves to their musical passion, practicing three nights a week for four hours at a time and getting ready for their first full-length studio album.
Lead vocalist Adam Sloan, 25, had a few minutes before another grueling practice to speak with Pulse. He revealed that although the first album is scheduled to be released in Spring '08, the band has been honing their skills with fierce dedication for four years.
"We started in Oct. '04," said Sloan. "Our former bass player and I were in Worcester, looking for band members. We were trying to find people but we couldn't find anyone in Worcester who we met eye-to-eye with. From there, we went to Guitar Centers and malls looking for ads from musicians."
In a stroke of heavy metal serendipity, Sloan found Tyson DeBrito (28 and the lead guitarist) and Jeff Belcher (24 and the drummer.) DeBrito and Belcher were brothers looking to start a band, so the four musicians got together. When the bass player decided to pursue other ventures, the remaining three found 21 year-old Joe Harasyko. Thus, Kultur was conceived.
"Jeff came up with the [band] name," Sloan said. "We wanted to get something that was a little vague that would let people could come up with their own meaning. The translation in German is literally 'culture.'"
In addition to their first album, Kultur has released two well-received EPs. The first, a self-titled EP, was released in 2005, followed by "One Must Decide Chaos" released in 2006. The band has been getting airplay on WAAF, too, to rave reviews.
Despite the long hours the members of Kultur spend together, there is no feuding between the personalities, reported Sloan. "We just click. Tyson will write a riff and Jeff will present a drum beat on the spot. Joe and I watch them just create. Then I write the all of the lyrics. There's no one that is the exclusive number one song writer but that's why we work well together. We all listen to each other."
Sloan says he uses his own life experiences to fuel his lyrical fires, but he does so with the utmost humility.
"Like anyone else, I've been through a few hard times in my life," Sloan revealed. "I like to peel away the veil of life that people have in front of their eyes. I'm not very happy with how selfish the world is. It seems in today's world that people are much more interested in speaking rather than listening. If there is any message in my lyrics it's to listen to other people. "
The fans love Kultur. At concerts, they go crazy in circle pits, dancing wildly to the driving guitar riffs and deep, raw undulations of Sloan's vocals. They lose themselves in songs like "Legion" or "Broken Fist." And nothing could make the members of Kultur happier.
"The last show we played was at the Palladium upstairs," said Sloan. "There were like 30 kids in a circle pit, just flailing arms and going crazy. But it's great because if someone falls down, the person next to them helps them right up. It's a release. Even if it's 'bout something like the bills you can't pay, for 30 or 45 minutes you can get all the BS, the frustration out."