Founded In: 2006
Genre: Gothic symphonic metal
Location: Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (USA)
Current Members:
- Julia Flansburg – Lead Vocals
- Glenn Flansburg – Bass
- Steven Bittle – Guitars/Vocals
- Robby Ray – Keyboards
- Jeremy “JC” Clifton – Percussion/Vocals
Discography:
Angelical Tears (EP – 2010, BlueFreya)
TBA (Album – 2012, BlueFreya)
Biography:
“Since forming in October of 2006, Angelical Tears has stood as a unique musical voice in the Oklahoma music scene. The band’s heavy but melodic sound is the result of a variety of musical influences such as Goth, Classical, Metal, and Electronica. These elements all combine to create a powerful metal sound with strong symphonic/electronic Goth elements.
The combination of the ethereal vocals of Julia Flansburg, pounding bass of Glenn Flansburg, heavy guitars of Steven Bittle, and thundering drums/melodic keys of JC give Angelical Tears a style and sound that sets them apart from their peers in the Oklahoma music scene.
The band’s first show was in the March Bandness, a battle of the bands contest organized by one of Oklahoma City’s biggest radio stations, 94.7FM “The Buzz”. The band quickly proved itself by placing in the top four final bands. Fueled by this initial success, the band sought further opportunities to perform, refine their sound, and develop a fan base. Performances at regional/national venues like The Samurai, Reggies, and The Rave/Eagles Ballroom; at festivals such as Dame-Nation, Rose State College’s Festival of Modern Music, and The Oklahoma State Fair; appearances on KSBI-TV’s “Oklahoma Live”, The Oklahoma Gazette’s Annual Ghouls Gone Wild Halloween Parade, and The All-Stars Tour have helped propel Angelical Tears into the top tier of bands in Oklahoma. These successes have also allowed Angelical Tears to share the stage with numerous local/regional artists while opening for national acts like Emmure, In This Moment, After the Burial, Alesana, I Wrestled A Bear Once, Bless The Fall, Born of Osiris, The Ghost Inside, For Today, 80’s-rockers Bang Tango and serving as direct support for the internationally-reknown Japanese metal band, Loudness.
Angelical Tears released their debut, self-titled E.P. in August of 2010. Music from this CD has gained local/regional airplay on stations like The KATT 100.5, Oklahoma City’s most popular rock radio station as well numerious domestic, international, and independent terrestrial and internet radio stations. The EP has received glowing reviews both domestically and internationally by Femme Metal Webzine, Sonic Cathedral, as well as numerous others, and the track “No More” was featured on Australian record label Blue Freya’s compilation CD Born of Sand and Snow.
With their sights now set on national and international tours, the band has branched out beyond the Oklahoma area playing shows in Wisconsin, Ohio, Indiana, Colorado, Illinois, Kansas, Nevada, New Mexico, Tennessee, and Texas. The band is also gearing up to tour Scandinavia and Russia in 2012. In addition to actively touring, Angelical Tears is in the process of writing material for a full-length album set to be released in early 2012.”
- From Angelical Tears’ various websites
Our Thoughts on Angelical Tears:
“Angelical Tears first came to our attention last year with the release of their self-titled EP, which offers six tracks of angelic vocals with demonic guitars. In the band’s own words: ‘The combination of the ethereal vocals of [Russian-born] Julia Flansburg, pounding bass of Glenn Flansburg, heavy guitars of Steven Bittle, thundering drums of Jeremy ‘JC’ Clifton, and the melodic keyboards of Robby Ray, give Angelical Tears a style and sound that sets them apart from their peers[.]’ True words. Take the guitar-driven intensity of American melodic metal, temper it with the dark melancholy of Russian gothic metal, and you have a pretty good idea of what is in store for you. And it’s good.” – Robin
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