KALIBAS
Kalibas, Rochester NYs premier grind band, was formed in December of 1999 from the ashes of As the World Burns, Lethargy, A Death between Seasons, and Shodokan. Drummer Erik Burke, guitarist Jody Roberts, bassist Paul Pieramico and vocalist Pat Murphy began writing material for a demo. Guitarist Greg Hermann of Inertia was added, the writing completed, and the demo, which would later become Eyes Forever Red, on Howling Bull America, was recorded. After playing a few shows Greg decided to leave the band for personal reasons, later going on to play drums for Psyopus.
Kalibas recorded three songs in a second session with Jody handling both guitar tracks, and the band aquired Aaron Nichols on second guitar, formerly of Golgotha and Slave One. The three tracks from these sessions ended up on compilations, one on the Lifeless Records label of Matt from Shadows Fall, and the other two appearing on Max of Spazzs 625 grind attack comp. The band also made a split cdr demo with the three songs and three farewell tracks of Jody and Pauls previous band As The World Burns. Kalibas then commenced on an 11 date east coast tour with Creation is Crucifixion in may of 2001.
After the taste of the road, Kalibas entered the studio for a third time, recording a three track demo to garner label attention which was beginning to show itself. The three tracks were sent to various labels and became half of a tour cdr demo, Struggling Through Life a Minute and a Half at a Time which also included several live tracks from a Rochester show with The Flying Luttenbachers. Shortly after, they hit the road again with Creation is Crucifixion, this time for 35 shows in the winter of 2001 around the entire US.
After the two tours, Kalibas geared up for the recording of a full length, hooking up with Willowtip records. The ten song disc Product of Hard Living was released in June of 2002, and the band followed up with a short 11 show east coast tour with label mates Hara Kiri and Commit Suicide. The band decided to take a break, and begin work on a second full length later in the year. Several shows were played locally.
By the end of the year, Eriks growing commitment to guitar project Sulaco and his joining Nuclear Assault left little time for writing, and Aaron decided to concentrate on school. Jody and Pat began working with drummer Kurt Lancaster and guitarist Matt Colbert, started working on new material, and began setting up a tour for the summer of 2003. After deciding to relocate to Austin, TX at the end of the tour, Paul was replaced with Ryan Horwath on bass.