Launching on all streaming services February 18th 2022.
Berklee College of Music 2017 graduate , Jennings Smith is a guitarist, songwriter and producer based out of Boston, MA, USA. His unique skill set has allowed him to create a new flavor of progressive metal from the ground up. Best known for his work with the instrumental band Myth of I, his solo career begins with the release of “Bahamut” in February 2022. Despite being the culmination of nearly two decades of sonic exploration, it is only the beginning. Driven by an insatiable need to create, Jennings is looking to reshape how music is created and consumed.
Listen to “Bahamut” at Metal Injection
HERE!
“This song is the end result of many years of blood, sweat and tears” Jennings Smith explains . “This song was written, recorded, programmed, and mixed entirely by myself – the only aspect I did not handle was mastering, done by the wonderful Jack Kosto. When I first started recording, I had a USB mic that came from the game “Rock Band” taped to a Line 6 Spider 3. It sounded absolutely terrible. The songs I wrote sucked, and the mixes were even worse. I was a lefty playing right handed guitars who couldn’t pick for shit. You can call it perseverance, but I think I was just too stubborn to quit while I was down. ‘Bahamut’ is proof that with enough hard work, you can overcome just about any obstacle.”
Jennings Smith describes “Bahamut” as “a step into uncharted territory for both myself as an artist, and progressive metal as a whole. The ever-changing time signatures become a constant of their own, finding grooves where they should not exist. Abstract as it is progressive, this song takes influence from more than just music. The riffs are as forward-thinking as Animals as Leaders and melodies as brooding and passionate as Alluvial or Plini, with an emotional aesthetic that would fit right into a NieR game. These sounds are decomposed and recreated with all the mystery and beauty of a Salvador Dalí painting, and all the structured chaos of an M.C. Escher piece. I’ve made the accompanying video myself, hopefully it will help you all connect to this work on a deeper level.”
For Jennings Smith, there is much on the horizon in 2022, beginning with the release of some experimental singles with Myth of I. “The Expedition”, released on January 10th, features Eli Cutting (Lattermath) on vocals. Later in the year another single featuring Michael Lessard (The Contortionist) will be released. Myth of I is also hard at work on their next full length, which will be a step further into the instrumental madness that was crafted on their debut self-titled album.
A new project started by Jennings, Kaathe, will release their debut EP featuring an Australian fretless bass wizard by the name of Kai Den Hertog, Anthony Lusk-Simone of Abiotic on drums, and none other than Vincent Jackson Jones of Aether Realm on vocals. Blending ferocious speed and technicality with somber atmospheres and a haunting story, their take on blackened technical death metal sounds a bit like a cross between Obscura and Stravinsky.
As these releases come out, Jennings will be providing an in depth masterclass on how these songs were written, learned and recorded all via his
Twitch channel – Jenningssmithofi. It will not stop there, throughout the year he will continue to compose songs like “Bahamut” all while giving his fans a front row seat. For the first time, people will see behind the curtain of how space age progressive metal is forged from beginning to end.
