Return to Earth

Return To Earth is Brett Aveni, Chris Pennie, Ron Scalzo; three veteran musicians whose material can't be easily classified. You'll hear bits and pieces of their influences and other projects and those bits and pieces come together to form the unique whole that is Return To Earth. All three members of RTE sport impressive musical resumes. Pennie, in particular, hones his craft as one of the most heralded drummers working today, spending a long stint in Coheed & Cambria and as one of the founding members of The Dillinger Escape Plan. His groundbreaking drum style provides the backbone for RTE's aggressive brand of rock. In RTE, Pennie doesn't only flex his drumming muscles, he also writes a lot of the material & contributes heavily to the synth programming & on guitar. "He's one of those prodigies that make the rest of us wonder why we even bother trying to make music," says Scalzo. Native New Yorker Scalzo is the lead singer/songwriter in electro-rock project Q*Ball, a long running project with guitarist Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal (Guns N' Roses) that spawned three albums and eventually, his own record label, Bald Freak Music. Q*Ball's fourth album is slated for late 2014. "You blink your eyes these days & the industry has already shifted another 30 degrees to the left," says Scalzo. "I was tired of playing 'the game' - trying to fashion an image, a look, a musical style that would impress all the wrong people. I wanted to make music that I wanted to make, and the only way I was going to do that on my own terms was to release it myself." Taking his cues from his inspirations, Faith No More frontman & Ipecac Recordings founder Mike Patton and Nine Inch Nails' Trent Reznor, Scalzo started the label in late 2005 to release his own material, as well as other acts who didn't fit the MTV/commercial radio mold, including releases from Bumblefoot, pirate metal band Swashbuckle, NYC indie rock act The Head Set, and ultimately, Return To Earth. Bald Freak released RTE's debut 'Captains Of Industry' in 2007. RTE completed work on their second album, 'Automata' in 2009 and sent the tracks to Brian Slagel of Metal Blade, who quickly signed the band. 'Automata' was released in 2010 to a wider fan base and some critical acclaim, including solid reviews in Metal Hammer, Kerrang!, and many more. The trio added bass player Mike Depko in 2011 and are working on their third album. Scalzo on the new album: "We're all committed to outdoing ourselves, so we all expect whatever comes next to be not only different, but better than what we've already done. We're all pretty excited about it." There's no revolution without sharp knives.