Mutiny Within started with tons of promise. They also started young. Typical story of a bunch of New Jersey kids who stayed home and practiced the shit out of their instruments til their fingers bled and their brains were just as full of the complexities of chords and melodies as they were high school trigonometry. When the Jacobs brothers, bassist AJ, guitarist Brandon; and keyboardist Drew Stavola started playing together under the nom de plum of Mutiny in 2002, it probably wasn't to get girls at all -- it was to emulate their first musical heroes and influences: prog-metallers like Symphony X and Dream Theater as well as Euro-shredders including Soilwork and Children of Bodom.

Of course there were the more traditional rock and metal influences to the Mutiny framework and the combination made for a sound at once brimming with technicality and plenty of "shred" but with hooks and songwriting sensibilities far beyond their fresh-out-of-high-school age. There was the early phase of the band with a pure death metal screamer fronting things. That came to an end quickly. A good stretch of musical soul-searching followed. Mutiny Within evolved and went through a few musical stages -- joking referred to as "Children of Mutiny", "Dream Mutiny", "Mutinyforce", etc. The time found the band recording demos and gigging locally and with national acts including 3 Inches of Blood and Symphony X. But also coming upon the realization that a capable voice and frontman was needed.

Thank you Youtube. Mutiny Within's search for the right frontman brought them to the UK where demos from former With Intent vocalist Chris Clancy deemed him "most likely to end up in a metal band from New Jersey". Ironically, Clancy was the first and the best of a few aspiring Mutiny Within frontmen. A plane ticket. A couple more days of demoing and a main support gig to UK doomsters Paradise Lost won Chris the job. No pressure, there, right? Apparently, Chris -- whose musical tastes run from Lamb of God to Queen -- picked up some valuable opera training along the way. Now with the addition of drummer Bill Fore and Dallas-born guitarist Jeff Stewart, Mutiny Within has found its lineup and crucial chemistry.

Oh yeah, somehow all the hard work, musical prowess, songsmanship and the Clancy fronted vocal prowess won Mutiny Wthin a deal with Roadrunner Records. Oh, the stuff that childhood dreams are made of? Naw, they busted ass, lucked out with the right singer and made it happen. What's next? A lot of workshedding as Mutiny Within spend the next few months grinding out songs in the Jacobs family basement, a few gigs here and there and a record due in early 09.

Meet Mutiny Within. New Jersey's (and Blackpool, England's) youngest and best shred-prog-metal kings. The top of Generation Guitar Hero's graduating class.