Brute Force Metal

By Jenna Croyle

Heavy metal is a major subspecies of hard rock, the breed with less syncopation, less blues, with more showmanship and more brute force. In Erie, Metal is more than a very popular style of music, with a huge fan base and musicians that perform for sheer love of the music they play, it is its own culture.

This week’s featured band, Sudden Impulse is at the forefront of the Erie Metal scene, creating music that is not only innovative and talent rich, but true to the metal roots with a thick, massive sound.

Started in 2006, Sudden Impulse features Cody Hoepfl on Drums and vocals, Tay Gorman on Bass and Johnzo Cipriani on Lead Guitar and vocals.

With influences of Sabbath, Nirvana, Lamb of God, Guns and Roses, Down and Dethklok, Sudden Impulse blends the classic Hard Rock and Metal sound with an original and modern style that is on the cutting edge of Erie Metal music.
The sonic sound waves pumping from their amps unleash a mind-scrambling, fist pounding metal frenzy that captivates their fans and acts as a musical beacon to anyone in earshot.

Among their many accomplishments, Sudden Impulse has released three CDs, along with several Live DVD releases. The band is also featured on the sound track of two national and internationally distributed films, House of Bedlam and Virgin Pockets, both independently produced in Erie.

Lead Guitarist and Sudden Impulse front man Johnzo Cipriani releases the sonic power of his electric guitar masterfully creating a musical tension and harmony with an explicit display of emotion that flows fluently throw every riff of every song.

Johnzo’s classic Metal shrieking vocals are not only powerful and energy driven, but are very versatile ranging from the multioctave and almost theatrical to the gruff and growling style that that is reminiscent of Motörhead’s Lemmy.

The Sudden Impulse Bassist Tay Gorman plays a prominent role in the sound of this band, the low-end sound of Tay’s licks are wide both in complexity and rhythmic diversity. From doubling complex riffs and licks to keeping perfect rhythm and time with the lead guitar, Tay personifies what a Metal Bassist should be.

With an amazingly perfect trifecta of speed, power, and precision the Sudden Impulse Drummer Cody Hoepfl demonstrates an exceptional amount of endurance and talent maintaining considerable speed, coordination, and dexterity throughout each show, flawlessly playing the intricate patterns that the band’s music demands.

When it comes to extreme, Heavy Alternative Metal, Sudden Impulse represents the best the genre has to offer in Erie. With talented and versatile musicians that make up Sudden Impulse, this is the perfect band to listen to if you even like Metal at all.

Sudden Impulse is an energy driven brute force power Metal band, whose cryptic lyrics, unhinged music and shrieking vocals which unleashes their own brand of Metal mayhem that blow your mind and give new meaning to what a Metal band should be, all in their one of a kind, in-your-face style.

For more information on Sudden Impulse, show dates and CD’s, please visit their Facebook Page