Sulaco

Sulaco can be seen as an evolution from guitarist Erik Burke's previous band, Lethargy, who played a seminal role in shaping the musical climate of Rochester's underground metal scene. Lethargy was legendary in the Rochester area during the mid 90s for crafting an often imitated but never duplicated style of ridiculously intricate carnival-esque metal that showcased cross-eyed guitar antics and blistering jazz-fusion rhythms over 10 years before it became popular in the underground. With three demos, an album (It's Hard To Write With A Little Hand, 1996) and their final EP (Discography, 1999) recorded, 1999 marked the demise of Lethargy with drummer Brann Dailor and guitarist Bill Kelliher moving on to enlist in Today Is The Day and later form Mastodon. Wasting no time to regroup, the multi-talented Erik Burke assumed drumming duties in Kalibas until 2002, when he parted ways with Kalibas and recruited Golding and Hackett to form Sulaco. Like Lethargy, Sulaco's musical base takes its most significant cues from bands north of the Mason-Dixon line, citing Ripping Corpse, Damonacy, Breadwinner and Human Remains as a few of their key influences. However, Sulaco improves upon Lethargy's haphazard sense of structure and instead integrates the mesmerizing quirkiness into a devious songwriting regimen that is as spasmodically progressive as it is abrasively visceral. Sulaco's ability to seamlessly employ an explosively direct approach to such technical material is rare when most bands of this nature would rather noodle indiscriminately, consequently sacrificing memorable songwriting for aimless masturbation. Such intrinsic fluidity defines Sulaco as a shining example of world-class forward thinking metal.

Their debut self titled EP was released in 2003 by Relapse Records.
Featuring ex-members of Lethargy and Kalibas, Sulaco's debut mini-CD unveils a fluid fusion of futuristic, tech-metal chops, articulate song craft, and refined aggression. This high-impact debut is certain to turn heads, fry minds and introduce another progenitor in the 21st century metal lexicon. - Relapse


Their debut full length album, Tearing Through The Roots, was released in August 2006 by Willowtip Records.
Collectively accounting for over 30 years of experience playing in Rochester, NY's underground music scene, the three members of Sulaco have perfected a uniquely schizoid vision of how music should be played with their Willowtip debut, Tearing Through the Roots. Fronted by guitarist Erik Burke, one of the true godfathers of technical metal and mastermind behind zany carnival-grinders Lethargy, Sulaco fuels its fractured, inverted rhythms with a twittering riffing style that squirms and tinkles like an orchestra of deranged dolphins in heat, squealing and writhing rabidly between volcanic bass thrusts and runaway blast-beat crescendos. Inspired by the likes of Breadwinner and Human Remains, Tearing Through the Roots is an emblem for creative, bonecrushing complexity that refuses to sacrifice the groove or become declawed like so many in the post-Dillinger tech metal landscape.- Drew Johnston