Glass of Dirt: Bisrock metalheads

Rockumentaries documented how psychedelic rock, European classical music and British blues, as stylistic origins, led to the creation of various subgenres of heavy metal from death to doom, from folk to trash; as well as paved way to the fusion of Christian and funk, and industrial and nu metal.

The 1970s music style exemplified by the likes of Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Iron Maiden, Led Zeppelin, among a host of metal maniacs, went on to influence the brown race-and had inspired the evolution of Bisrock metal.

Heavy metal music has constantly been in the heads of hardcore metaller Lawrence "Loloy" Amante (vocals and guitars), headbanger Great "Gege" Englis (drums), and metalhead Warren Martinez (bass) of Bisrock metal band "Glass of Dirt."

With the influences of Alice in Chains, Sound Garden, Metallica and Black Sabbath, the trio gave birth to the sound of Glass of Dirt, the only heavy metallers of their kind in the Bisaya rock music scene.

"Malipayon kaayo mi nga naapil mi sa line-up sa mga bandang Bisrockers. Based on feedbacks sa among mga performances, duna nay nahinangop ug nakadayeg sa kabug-at sa among music nga impluwensiya sa death metal," Loloy expressed.

Glass of Dirt is labeled "bug-at" for their thick, heavy, guitar-and-drums-centered sound typical of metal music that is characterized by the use of highly amplified distortion of guitars, like that of Warren's, with the playing of repeated riffs and pounding rhythms matched by the typical intentional gruff sounding vocals provided by Loloy, capped by Gege's drumplay.

According to Loloy, their "bug-at" sound becomes their edge as they don't have a musical match yet with other bands in the Bisrock world. This he likes because it is part of his desire to be known for their musicality and the accompanying sentiments of their songs, and not having to be pressured on satifying an audience.

"Ang among gusto nga masakyan nila among mga kanta, dili kay mo play mi para masatisfy sila or ang ilang mga requests because that defeats the purpose of our being an indie band," Gege added.

Sometime in 2005, at such a time when Bisrock has been there already but hasn't yet reached this so-called state of renaissance, the group was able to release independently an album entitled "Digest" with 12 songs, seven of which are written in English, four in Tagalog and only one in the vernacular entitled "Dragon."

This was after Gege of "Onion Glass" merged with Loloy and Warren of "Men on Patrol." Said bands were part of the Scream of Cebu Underground Music scene back in the late 90s.

"Digest" was submitted to 93.1 Smash FM in the hope that if not all songs would be played, "Dragon" being delivered in Cebuano would create some pyromaniacal stirs over the airwaves. Unfortunately, Dragon wasn't able to make it to the playlist. Though the song doesn't contain any offensive or explicit lyrics, the notion on drugs was said to have been labeled by the station as "somewhat bothering."

With words woven by Loloy himself, Dragon is an attack on the physical physique of a person hooked on substance abuse. "Didto sa imong kuwarto/naglikit ka ug tissue/foil sinaw kaayo/pagbubo mo way yabo/Dagway nimo mura ug dragon/Ang imong lawas kabungkagon/Siga na kaayo, kalimutaw nimo/Hait na kaayo, tinutukan nimo..."

Though Dragon failed to make it to the airwaves, other tracks "Burns Inside" with its light-at-the-end-of-tunnel sort of message and "Nalilito" which Loloy described to be a kick-ass song got the approval of Ram "Milby" Dizon and Bré Ambungan-two disc jockeys who anchor "YourVoice, YourChoice Tingog Kabataan" program.

"Ang naka-ironic lang gyud kay during our live performances, mas dali matiman-an sa mga tawo ang Dragon nga walay airplay sa radio kaysa kadtong mga kanta nga gipatukar sa radio. Duna man gyud gani mopalit sa among CD aron lang gyud madungog ang Dragon," Loloy recounted.

It was then that Glass of Dirt realized the impact of songs in the vernacular.

"Mao gyud na ang nag-propel namo karon nga mo-prioritize gyud mi ug Binisaya nga kanta unya last option na lang nang English ug Tagalog," Warren said.

Now what's with the glass? The group explained that they chose the name as the properties of glass stood for their kind of music and mind frame.

"Like the hard material that can be made into many shapes, and like its being often clear but can also be made in colors, such speaks for the members of Glass and the songs we have written-transparent, relatively strong, heard-wearing, essentially inert, and biologically inactive material which can be formed with very smooth and impervious surfaces. These desirable properties lead to a great many uses of glass," Loloy explained.

"However, here comes our being brittle that when we break we become sharp shards, our weaknesses and the world's impurities all contribute to the making of a glass of dirt," he added.

"But these properties can be modified or even changed entirely with the addition of other compounds and the application of heat treatment. Our mistakes in the past we would like to share to our listeners because we would want our heavy metal influences to induce life-changing decisions," Loloy summed up.

Glass of Dirt thanks Smash FM and other Bisrock bands-like Jimmycycle which Loloy said was the first Bisrock band he heard with "Lansiao" for a start-and those supporters because although majority of their songs are in English and Tagalog, they are already recognized as part of the Bisrock community.

Right now, Glass of Dirt is preoccupied with writing new materials for a CD they are planning to release third quarter of this year. The 5-song Extended Play album would include "Basol" written by Gege and an unrecorded song "Kuyaig" penned by Loloy.

"Surprisingly, nahibaw-an na sa mga tawo during our live gigs unya wala pa gani namo na record sa studio nang Kuyaig," Loloy noted.

"Kuyaig" is another attack on how drug abuse would reduce one into another laughing stock, looks-wise, "nakuyaig na ka, nakuyaig na ka/pirti na gyung dauta/nakuyaig na ka/pirti na gyung niwanga/nadaut sa bisyo, natay-og ang ulo/undangi na ninyo/bisyo nga way ayo.

Meanwhile, Gege penned "Basol" based on what a relative had went through. "Naa na sad sila, wala'y laing mahimo kung di basolon ka/naa na sad sila/walay laing mahimo kung di paluhaon ka...O dulot sa bukog ang insulto, duot sa bukog ang pagtunto, sakto na."

Also, Glass of Dirt was tasked to write "Tingog sa Mamumuo" with help from the studio Vann Aznar, of another Bisrock band, "Gangrene," runs. The song was to become a theme song for dyLA's May 1 Labor Day celebration, it being associated with a labor group.

"Digest" was mixed at the Backyard Studio Project, while their EP album will be done at Zzubu Records. For more info, e-mail [email protected], or visit http://glassofdirt.multiply.com. Get a copy of their "Digest" album at Manu-Ent at Elizabeth Mall and JB Music at SM City.