Every now and then someone’s got to give Toronto’s underground music scene a good looking at. Before it decides to make itself known that is. Because even if it is so far down that the tremors are hardly distinguishable; one day those small tremors may very well wreak havoc on us all. After all, Toronto is a city that harbours many multi-talented, passionate musicians gunning for their shot.
One such musician is Raw Zero who functions as a one-man band known as KornuCopia. Raw covers vocal and song writing duties as well as playing guitar, bass and drums. He uses his own independent label, Excess Zero, to release KornuCopia’s music and in October he put out Five an ambitious, EP-length effort that conceptually focuses “on greed and compassion in the human race”. More so than any other influence, KornuCopia’s sound beckons post-grunge and finds contemporaries in the likes of Buckcherry, Velvet Revolver and--who could’ve guessed, Korn.
Five opens with “Penetrate”; an infectious song that builds off of a U2-esque riff, which is befitting considering this is a decidedly outspoken record. To top it off, it has an infectious hook that really does follow through on the promise of the title. It gets stuck deep in your mind. Though the next track, “Exploit” seems perhaps cut from the same cloth; it is still tearing it to bits at that! When “Connect” comes along though, the pace changes entirely and demonstrates the versatility in KornuCopia’s repertoire. However, it is on album closer “Expose” that Raw really comes into his own. From the coursing, bass-driven intro, to the more experimental composition what with the seeming three-part movement of the song, this is clearly the mark not only of an evolving artist but of a highly promising rock composer.
Keep a look out for this rising artist!
by Laura Molinaro, Freelance Music Journalist
July 17, 2013
Twitter: @Laura_Molinaro5
Email: laura@livemusicTO.com