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Biography
Taking their name from a comment Gary Busey made while being interviewed on Comedy Central, Iwrestledabearonce came together in 2007, and gelled as a band so well that they recorded their first EP together before singer Krysta Cameron, guitarist Steven Bradley, bassist Brian Dozier and guitarist John Ganey had even found themselves a drummer. While it's not the done thing for a metal band to debut with a drum machine in favour of and actual, breathing drummer, for this particular band, it must've been something of a blessing. At the start, the band's music was so ferociously technical and esoteric, jumping from genre to genre at least three times within the space of each song, that to find a drummer able to keep up with it all was nigh on impossible.
However, that self-titled debut EP got them signed to Tragic Hero Records, and once it was released, the band built up enough of a devoted cult following to begin playing live, finding themselves a drummer in the form of Ryan Pearson. After touring all over the world in support of their EP, the band signed to Century Media in 2008, and released “It's All Happening”, their debut album, the following year. The album secured the band's position as one of the hottest new metal acts around, to the extent that they were even able to weather Cameron leaving the band in 2012, shortly after the release of their second album “Ruining It For Everyone”.
With new vocalist Courtney LaPlante safely in the fold, and a further two hugely acclaimed albums to their name, the sky is very much the limit for Iwrestledabearonce. They also have one of the most intense and accomplished live shows in extreme metal, and for that, they come highly recommended.
Live reviews
How could I ever forget the first time I saw "iwrestledabearonce". It was one of the most insane shows I have attended. I had to go to the pits of hell to see them. Maybe not in the context your thinking; however I did seem them perform in a multilayered concert venue featuring the stages heaven, purgatory and hell (which is of course where they would be playing).
I initially did not plan on seeing "iwrestledabearonce" in fact I am not even sure I knew that they were playing at the time. I was a floor above them at the purgatory stage and heard this ungodly noise coming from below me. Naturally I was curious what was going on. Considering the bathrooms were in the hell section I had a legitimate excuse to sneak in to see the performance. I absolutely have no regrets. The band had the hyperactivity of an ADHD child moments after downing a liter of coke and a package of pixie sticks. Before seeing that show I had never seen a female singer in a metal screamo band and I was absolutely astonished by her diverse vocal performance. She could be letting out a forceful scream one moment, growling deeply the next, and then singing in beautiful harmonization to some sci-fi like synth pop melody.
Given the novel name of the band and dadaist themed song titles such as "Corey Feldman Holocaust" and "Taste Like Kevin Bacon" one might expect their sound to be overly gimmicky to the extent that their music loses its appeal after one listen. This is not at all true. The group has a bizarre sense of humor and are practical jokers, but they are also some of the most talented and innovated musicians you can find. Their sound is fresh and constantly interesting. They are one of the few acts maybe next to Beck who can shift from completely disparate genres within a matter of seconds and make it sound cohesive. They shift from synth pop to math core, progressive metal and even sometime to early sounding country music. There sound comes across as contradictory, but also expresses technical skill and ingenuity in finding commonality in seemingly disjointed genres.
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