EYE AM, the new hard rock band featuring former TYPE O NEGATIVE members Kenny Hickey on guitar/vocals, Johnny Kelly banging the drums along with Kirk Windstein (CROWBAR, DOWN, KINGDOM OF SORROW) adding guitar and vocals and Todd Strange (CROWBAR, DOWN) on bass have entered OCD Recording And Production in New Orleans, Louisiana to begin recording their (as of now) unnamed debut album set for an early April release. I will be reviewing the first two singles that have been released so far, “Dreams Always Die with the Sun” and “Cryptomnesia”. With the Goth/Sludge metal resume of the band members, I will be curious to see what musical road we are led down and this perspective from drummer Johnny Kelly who says that, with other bands he has played with, he often noticed a lot of overthinking, but with EYE AM, he has seen an incredible amount of spontaneity. He appreciates all the input he gets from his band members. "They're not short on ideas," he says. "So, we'll be working on something, and then somebody will come across something else in a sidebar, and say, 'Hey, try this.' And then it works." The music video for "Dreams Always Die With The Sun" was filmed by Mike Holderbeast at Joy Theater in New Orleans.

Right off the bat on “Dreams Always Die with the Sun” I hear and feel a blend of all of the former bands mentioned above minus the darkened passage of doom and gloom but with a more powerful melodic structure as the crisp vocals radiate over the excellent bass guitar and drums arrangements on the rhythms that sustain a somber yet hulking perspective brought all together while incorporating enough modern tendencies to keep things fresh without completely losing their identity in the process. “Cryptomnesia” gets back to the “horror movie” soundtrack vibe that I knew would show up as the demonic, bone chilling tempo rears up with the ever so slight descending BLACK SABBATH riff paired with the piercing vocal delivery of unusually short two-line verses that hammer home the evil, twisted message: “Resist the truth and the truth will win, you’re just a broken desperate child with a down-turned smile, you crown yourself with empty success, the fool pays out, I wish you knew your future to see where you are now, and into your arms, I commend my life and after you’re death I take back what’s mine.”

EYE AM certainly did not rest of the laurels of their former bands with these two releases as the perfect kickoff to the upcoming album with these compelling and diverse efforts giving us a peak into the aggressive and raw approach we will be hearing when we anxiously await the album to drop in April.

Check out our Creativity Talkin Podcast on YouTube with drummer Johnny Kelly on Saturday February 24th at 9 PM (CST) to hear more on this upcoming album and some memorable stories from his incredible career.