Oddzar is an American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

band formed in 1999 in

Columbia, Maryland Columbia is a planned community in Howard County, Maryland, United States, consisting of 10 self-contained villages. With a population of 104,681 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the second-most-populous community in Maryland ...

. Their original line-up consisted of high school friends Russ Eckell (

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

), David Nenner (

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

), Travis Lockhart (

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

), and Blake Silvea (

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

). The four were heavily influenced by

funk metal Funk metal (also known as thrash-funk or punk-funk) is a subgenre of funk rock and alternative metal that infuses heavy metal music (often thrash metal) with elements of funk and punk rock. Funk metal was part of the alternative metal movement, ...

bands such as

Red Hot Chili Peppers The Red Hot Chili Peppers are an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1982, consisting of Anthony Kiedis (vocals), Flea (musician), Flea (bass), John Frusciante (guitar), and Chad Smith (drums). Their music incorporates elements of a ...

and

Rage Against the Machine Rage Against the Machine (often abbreviated as RATM or shortened to Rage) was an American Rock music, rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1991. It consisted of vocalist Zack de la Rocha, bassist and backing vocalist Tim ...

, as well as

Pearl Jam Pearl Jam is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. One of the key bands in the grunge, grunge movement of the early 1990s, Pearl Jam has outsold and outlasted many of its contemporaries from the early 1990s, ...

. Shortly after their formation, Nenner left the group to form Truth Be Told and was replaced by Greg Jung in 2000.Oddzar
/ref> The quartet reworked their style, drawing from influences such as

Tool A tool is an Physical object, object that can extend an individual's ability to modify features of the surrounding environment or help them accomplish a particular task. Although many Tool use by animals, animals use simple tools, only human bei ...

and

Muse In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, the Muses (, ) were the Artistic inspiration, inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the poetry, lyric p ...

. "We felt a need to avoid musical trends such as

pop-punk Pop-punk (also punk-pop, alternatively spelled without the hyphen) is a rock music fusion genre that combines elements of punk rock with power pop or pop music, pop. It is defined by its fast-paced, energetic tempos, and emphasis on classic pop s ...

emo Emo () is a genre of rock music characterized by emotional, often confessional lyrics. It emerged as a style of hardcore punk and from the Washington, D.C., hardcore scene, where it was known as emotional hardcore or emocore. The bands ...

, and

rap-metal Rap metal is a fusion genre that combines hip hop with heavy metal. It usually consists of heavy metal guitar riffs, funk metal elements, rapped vocals and sometimes turntables. History Origins and early development (1980s–early 1990s) ...

," said Eckell. In 2002, the band was signed to DCide Records of Nothingface fame. The group began working on their self-titled debut, produced and engineered by Drew Mazurek (

Linkin Park Linkin Park is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Agoura Hills, California, in 1996. The band's current lineup consists of vocalist/rhythm guitarist/keyboardist Mike Shinoda, lead guitarist Brad Delson, DJ/turntablist Joe Hahn, bass ...

). Oddzar was released in 2004, four months after Greg Jung’s departure from the band in May. He was replaced by Greg Loman. “Abandoned Road” and "Spell," songs from the first album were featured on MTV’s Road Rules in 2005. In 2005, Travis Lockhart left Oddzar to pursue other interests. The band used Ellis Tinsley as a stand-in bassist before settling on

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the Univ ...

student Trevor Olexy as their fourth member. On November 19, 2007, Oddzar released a demo from their then untitled second album. The song was entitled “Ready the Chariot” and explored more progressive terrain than their earlier work. In 2008 "Until it Does" a song from Oddzar's first album was used in the soundtrack of the eighth episode of The Real World: Hollywood, "Arrival and Departure." Oddzar recorded their second album, tentatively entitled 'Rise' in late April 2008 at

Mad Oak Studios Mad Oak Studios is a recording studio located in Allston, Massachusetts neighborhood of Boston, United States. It was established in the year 2000 by Craig Riggs and Frank Pagliughi, who were later joined by PK Pandey and long-time head enginee ...

Allston Allston is an officially recognized neighborhood in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It was named after the American painter and poet Washington Allston. It comprises the land covered by the zip code 02134. For the most part, Allston is ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

. The record was produced by Evan Anderson and engineered and mixed by Benny Grotto. The record was mastered in late September 2008 at Peerless Mastering (also in Boston, MA). It has been scheduled to be released on January 29, 2009 under the name Ready the Chariot. On October 1, 2008, Oddzar released a track from their forthcoming records called D.O.D. (Dogs of Demikhov) on their Myspace page.

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

has said the band is “well worth keeping an eye on. allmusic ((( Oddzar > Overview )))/ref>”

References

{{Reflist Heavy metal musical groups from Maryland