STRATA — Strata (review)

Album · 2004 · Alternative Metal

3/5 · 2024-02-07
siLLy puPPy

One of the San Francisco Bay Area’s alternative rock / metal bands that got a late start formed in the year 2000 in the city of Campbell next to San Jose beginning as Downside with vocalist Eric Victorino, guitarist Ryan Hernandez, bassist Hrag Chanchanian and drummer Adrian Robison before changing its name to STRATA and releasing the “Sleep EP” in 2001. The band never rose to the top of the alt rock / metal world but found good company on tours with other local bands like Alien Ant Farm and Dredg. STRATA was just one of many California bands that jumped on this downer alt metal style that began in the 90s and continued into the 2000s.

Similar to post-grunge bands like Trapt, Hoobastank, Stone Temple Pilots and a gazillion others, STRATA added a heavier alt metal heft in the vein of Deftones, Incubus, A Perfect Circle, Team Sleep and even Tool with a groove-based mix of heavy alternative metal, fuzzy shoegaze and a less aggressive form of alternative rock more in the vein of grunge. Also a bit of nu metal in the vein of Korn can be detected. This band officially released a self-titled full-length in 2004 which featured 12 tracks and clocked in just over 44 minutes.

If you ask me, STRATA was most going for the Sacramento based Deftones sound and in that regard succeeded quite well. The tracks are somewhat lazy with a nonchalant drummer keeping up with fuzzed out guitar chords turned up to 11 along with Eric Victorino’s passionate vocal style breaking through the noisy din. The tracks are really right out fo the Deftones playbook and that’s probably why the band never really took flight due to the fact they never really achieved the originality factor unlike local homeboys Dredg which did find a larger audience beyond the local scene.

This is a decent album if you like that really laid back grungy alternative metal style where the guitars are distorted as much as possible and the lazy beat keeps it all humming along in a nonchalant manner. The strongest aspect of STRATA is the singing style of Victorino who nailed it with his near Stone Temple Pilots perfection however the problem with STRATA is that despite going through the motions and crafting listenable alt rock / metal tracks, none of them are very memorable either. It’s all rather sterile and middle of the road songwriting skills at hand here. These guys get the job done but never really pull out any surprises or take the tracks into new moods or styles. It’s pretty much a rewriting of one style of track with the focus on differentiating the melodies.

STRATA only lasted until 2008 with another album to follow but this debut exemplifies what was missing in STRATA’s sound, namely songs that actually invite you to revisit them. Not a bad beginning but unfortunately this band never really developed the style into its own and considering this style was the hottest thing in 1995-99, the band arrived just a little too late to the alt metal party for the world to pay attention. If this would’ve come out a decade prior, STRATA would’ve really gained some momentum but unfortunately too little too late. Too bad because the band really had potential but even living in the Bay Area for most of my life, i’d never heard of these guys until rather recently so obviously they are a mere footnote in history rather than a memorable contributor to the Bay Area metal scene.