Underground Listening-- Driven Mad

Insanity permeates Driven Mad's musical persona. A quartet based out of New York City, their debut EP is entitled "Committed."

And, in a world where Metal has grown stale with predictable riffs and cookie-cutter breakdowns, Driven Mad stands as a psychotic beacon in the genre's underground.

Despite their vaunted lunacy, the folks from Driven Mad have greater musical sensibility than most of their contemporaries. Their current collection of five songs is one that--despite its brevity--is musically expansive.

Filled with frenetic riffs, Danzig-inspired vocals, and hissing guitars that can howl in a fashion reminiscent of Protest the Hero, Driven Mad also generates sludge-laden jams that echo Black Sabbath.

Moreover, the band's musical palette spans throughout the breakneck tempos of Thrash, the deep and guttural interludes of Death, and banshee-like howls of Classic Metal.

Performance-wise, Driven Mad's focal point is vocalist Sam Walters--a man who stands on stage in the fashion of a crazed gargoyle. Promising the attendees of the show that, "If you sweat for us, we will bleed for you," an immediate relationship is established between the band and the audience.

The result of this bond is more of the band's underlying theme--insanity. Driven Mad energizes venues with visceral energy from the engaging presence of every band member.

Still playing the Northeast circuit, Driven Mad is a band to follow in a Metal Underground that is slowly boiling to the surface.