The beauty of working for the Daily Vault, aside from the friendly arguments over important topics such as how much we despise The Eagles, is getting to discover new indie bands. We see a lot of music cross our desks from bands trying to break into the scene, bands that have built up a small local following and are hoping to gain more exposure. On occasion, something will come across that makes us wonder why this band or artists isn’t already on a major label, and Eightfold is such a band.
This power trio from Connecticut draws on several strains of hard rock and infuses it into their own sound, an intoxicating blend of riffs, shifting time signatures, fat bottom-heavy bass, and Mike Davis-Penta’s soaring voice, which sounds like a mixture of Chris Cornell, Adam Lambert (that’s a compliment), and Muse’s Matthew Bellamy. 
The six songs require multiple listens to catch everything going on, such is the progressive complexity of the music, yet each song is under five minutes. “Robbed” and “Changes” are truly excellent, well-written pieces, updating the sounds of early ‘90s Soundgarden with a bit of Tool and Zeppelin influence, but with their own wholly original bent.
“Under Light” works along these same lines, although the “Show me what you will” section of the bridge is nearly identical to Audioslave’s “Show Me How To Live,” which undercuts the song and adds little to it anyway. My wife, who was upstairs while I listened to this, said it reminded her of older Pearl Jam, which to me is one of the highest compliments you can give a modern rock band.
“Vice” has a strong Alice In Chains vibe. Steve Errato’s ascending power chords and shredding solos are the star, but Andrew Nappo’s bass is Best Supporting Actor, both here and in the other five songs. Music like this can tend to favor guitar thunder over all else; perhaps because Eightfold’s three members all co-write the songs, everything is given equal opportunity to build the sound. Democracy works, see?
“Tibles Bridge” is modern rock of the best sort and would fit well on the radio. If Nickelback made music like this, we all wouldn’t hate them so much. “Rest Assured” closes things on a solid note –it’s a bit derivative of the better songs here, but still very good and probably a great number in concert.
Eightfold is, quite simply, a fantastic EP that makes you want to hear what’s coming next. Hopefully, a shot at radio play and some killer opening concerts are in the future for these guys, because they deserve it. Check out www.eightfoldband.com to download the songs and see for yourself the direction modern rock should be going.