Total Assault - Black Tide

Gabriel Garcia - vocals, lead guitar
Zakk Sandler - bass
Steven Spence - drums
Austin Diaz - guitar

Black Tide come out of the gate with all guns blazing. Their Interscope Records debut, Light from Above, is a loaded salvo of fret-burning, hyper-charged riffs. The Florida quartet churns out fist-pumping, fast-paced metallic anthems with no remorse. Their sound channels the forefathers of heavy metal, but with a dose of 21st century attitude. Cuts like "Shockwave," "Warriors of Time" and "Show Me The Way" pack enough explosive energy to ignite any crowd. Drummer Steven Spence lays down a propulsive percussive backdrop for Zakk Sandler's volatile bass lines. Meanwhile, guitarist Austin Diaz rips mean leads across the rhythmic battlefield, picking each note with an unmatched fury. At the eye of the storm is vocalist and guitarist Gabriel Garcia. Leading the charge, his voice carries hooks to Hell and back, while he scorches his strings. He fires off every chorus with conviction and charisma.

Gabriel started singing and playing guitar at eight-years-old, and he knew that's what he was meant to do the second he donned an axe. "When I started playing, I was like, 'This is what I have to do.' I don't want to be a fucking lawyer or some shit like that. I told my family I wanted to play heavy metal. My parents have supported my decision the whole time. Anyone else would've been like, 'Shut up! Go to school!'"

Gabriel's intense immersion into music has paid off. He formed Black Tide along with Zakk in 2003. Steven joined the ranks in 2006, and after an incendiary performance at that year's Florida Music Festival, Interscope signed the band. Black Tide recorded their debut, Light from Above, at Groovemaster Studios, with Johnny K (Disturbred, Staind). Johnny K has since garnered the venerable “Producer Of The Year” 2008 Grammy-nomination for his recent body of work including Black Tide’s album.

Upon completion of Light From Above, the four lads hit the road on OZZfest 2007's main stage alongside Ozzy Osbourne, Lamb of God and Static-X. Immediately, they began to build a buzz because of their no-holds barred approach to infectious, arena-ready heavy metal.

Zakk sums up the band's sound: "Black Tide sounds like four pissed off teenagers who listen to too much good music. When we come together, we make something special. We love Iron Maiden, Pantera, Metallica and Guns 'N' Roses, but we don't try to be anything we're not. We just get up on stage and do what we love."

Leading up to album release on March 18, 2008 release, the band toured with the likes of Avenged Sevenfold, Bullet for My Valentine and All that Remains. Garnering instant acclaim, Light From Above sent a "shockwave" of its own through the scene. Rolling Stone named Black Tide one of the “Best Rookies of 2008” and “Metal’s New Teen Titans,” Spin tapped them as one of the “Next Big Things,” while Revolver featured them as a “Band To Watch” and included them on the cover of the August 2008 Mayhem issue, and Kerrang! proclaimed them “Best International Newcomer.” The band followed its release with a main stage appearance on the inaugural Rockstar Energy Mayhem Festival alongside Slipknot and Disturbed. The tour was a massive success, and inspired them to start composing new songs.

"We've grown up and changed," Gabriel elaborates. "The new material sounds different, but fans are going to like it. We try to write epic songs. We learned from watching all of the bands we've toured with. The next record's definitely going to be a lot more musical. The songs are more intense and complicated for guitar players. We want to feel it just as much as we want the fans to feel it."

Steven describes an important moment for the band internationally. "One real milestone for us was when we played Download Festival 2008. It's such a prestigious rock event, and we had the honor of playing on the main stage. It was insane." The band left a big impression on the Donnington crowd, solidifying their presence overseas. Steven continues, "We want to build a hardcore fan base that grows with us. We want to make strong, powerful meaningful music that affects people. Fans can rely on us to be consistent. This is what we're here to do, and there's no time for complaining. People would kill to be where we're at. We just appreciate it."

After Download, the band added guitarist Austin Diaz to the fold, and he's been the perfect fret foil for Gabriel. "Austin is awesome. He learned all of our songs in two days, before the first date of Mayhem. We played the show, and he killed it. On Mayhem, Austin and I started coming up with riff and song ideas for the next album," Gabriel says. About joining the band and composing new tunes, Austin excitedly exclaims, "This band stands out, and I am honored to join. It's a breath of fresh air for heavy metal, and it's going to keep escalating. The music that we've been writing is really technical, but it's still Black Tide."

In the end, Black Tide are ready for anything. Gabriel comments, "The band is so united now. We've never been together like this before. Black Tide's stronger than ever." That strength will only lead to bigger and better things. Zakk concludes, "The kids want more, and I want more out of us everyday. We're like that arena rock band who just hasn't made it to the arenas, yet." It's only a matter of time until they do.

Download Black Tide’s Album Light From Above on

Purchase Black Tide’s Album Light from Above on

Gabriel (lead vocals, lead/rhythm guitar)
Lex (lead/rhythm guitar)
Zakk (bass)
Steven (drums)

Ever since he was eight years old, Gabriel Garcia knew exactly what he wanted to do with his life — write songs, sing lead and play shredding guitar for a hard-rocking band. “My cousin used listen to Iron Maiden, Megadeth, Pantera and all that stuff,” Gabriel remembers. “He played it for me, and he taught me how to play guitar. And then I just practiced my ass off.” Gabriel learned fast; six years later, at an age when most budding guitarists are still getting their chops together and dreaming of future stardom, his band Black Tide has already opened for Ozzy Osbourne and Lamb of God on the mainstage of OZZfest 2007, and are preparing to unleash Light From Above, their debut record for Interscope.

Don’t let Black Tide’s youthfulness fool you; Gabriel may be only fourteen, and his three bandmates all under twenty, but this Miami-based band is unquestionably the real deal. Gabriel, guitarist Alex Nunez, bassist Zakk Sandler and drummer Steven Spence hit the stage with a street gang’s confident swagger, and back it up with a combination of raw power and highly developed chops that would easily shame bands ten years their senior. “We’re young, and we come from Florida,” says Zakk, “but that doesn’t mean we’re a boy band or a novelty. We rehearsed our album every day in our guitarist’s garage, in the middle of the summer in Miami. We weren’t working on our choreography, and we certainly weren’t waiting around for our next song to come in the mail!”

Though they’re too young to remember the Eighties, Black Tide’s music draws from the best hard rock and thrash from the era (think Guns N’ Roses, Megadeth, Metallica, Iron Maiden and Skid Row) while giving it a 21^st century kick up the ass. “Shockwave,” the band’s calling card and the album’s opening track, is an utter classic — all bloody-knuckled thrash riffs, squealing guitars, rampaging drums, in-your-face vocals and an instantly memorable chorus. The rest of Light From Above is up to the same impressive standard; anthemic, take-no-prisoners tracks like “Shout,” “Black Abyss,” “Let Me,” “Live Fast Die Young,” the Maiden-esque “Warriors of Time” and their spot-on cover of Metallica’s “Hit The Lights” will punch any metal fan squarely in their pleasure centers.

Despite the obvious influences, what makes Black Tide’s music sound so fresh is the fact that all four members harbor vastly different musical obsessions. “We all agree with the Iron Maiden, Pantera, Megadeth — everyone’s into ‘em — but we all kind of branch off from there,” Zakk explains. “Alex is really into grind and crust-punk, and he loves bands like Bad Brains, Dead Kennedys and Phobia. Steve is into Rush, Dream Theater and newer metal stuff like Killswitch Engage and All That Remains. Gabriel’s into Satriani. Vai and Death, all that shred kind of stuff; and I’m into Meatloaf, Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Doors. Things that really don’t make sense together, but it works for us!”

Black Tide first started playing Miami-area clubs about four years ago, shortly after Zakk — at the time, a lead guitarist for a rival group — agreed to fill in for a couple of gigs on bass. (“How quickly two shows become four years,” Zakk laughs.) Though Gabriel was only ten at the time, none of the older guys were remotely fazed by the idea of playing in a band with him. “We were all into skateboarding and music,” Alex explains. “All we would do is skate all day and jam all night — and since Gabe was so much into the same stuff we were, he never seemed like a little kid to me.”

After playing countless house parties and club gigs, Black Tide scored their big break when they talked their way onto the main showcase at the 2006 Florida Music Festival. “We did three songs in front of all these industry people, and everyone was like, ‘What the fuck was that? Who were those kids?’” Zakk recalls. “All of a sudden, we started getting all these calls from major labels.”

Interscope signed Black Tide and flew them to Chicago, where they recorded their debut album, Light From Above, at Groovemaster Studios, with Johnny K (Disturbed, Machine Head, Soil) producing. “They stuck us in Chicago in the roughest part of the winter,” Alex laughs. “There was one point where the heater broke, and we were all in there, watching movies and playing foosball with our gloves and winter jackets on!” After the album sessions wrapped, the band scored their coveted main stage slot on OZZfest 2007. “It was crazy, man,” says Gabriel. “Sharing the stage with Ozzy and Lamb of God, it was just an awesome feeling. I’ve been listening to Lamb of God constantly for the past two years; then we got to meet them, and they turned out to be really cool.” “We learned so much about touring on OZZfest,” adds Zakk. “We learned what the pros do. It was our first real tour, so it was like, ‘Okay — this is how you properly soundcheck; this is how you properly sing into a mic; this is what you should never say to a crowd in Detroit!’”

After ending 2007 on another high note — a six-week tour with Avenged Sevenfold — the band is ready to take it to a whole other level with the release of Light From Above.