Revenge never sounded better

Music fans beware: one of Seattle's best-kept secrets is about to be unleashed.

No, it's not the second coming of Nirvana, or the rebirth of flannel as the retro-fashion statement du jour. It's a band named Vendetta Red, a band that has been making noise on the local scene for a few years, and is now ready to make noise at the national level.

Named after the "color of sweet revenge," Vendetta Red formed in 1998, and started playing bars and small clubs in town. Since then, the band has gone on to perform in venues across the globe and has signed a deal with Epic Records, the label that signed Pearl Jam in the early '90s.

After signing with Epic, the band released its Cut Your Noose EP, toured and entered the studio with producer Jerry Finn -- who has worked with Blink-182, Green Day and Weezer -- to record material for its full-length, major-label debut, Between the Never and the Now. The album is filled with songs that mix dark lyrics with catchy riffs and sing-along choruses. Its first single, "Shatterday," is receiving heavy radio play across the nation and its video is in rotation on MTV2.

Fronted by curly-haired Zach Davidson -- who bears an uncanny resemblance to a young Roger Daltrey -- the band gained a high level of notoriety for its emotionally intense, in-your-face live performances.

Davidson jumps, leaps and bounces all over the stage, flailing his body into the stack amps and drum kit while screaming infectious choruses. These high-energy live sets make just listening to the band not enough; to fully capture Vendetta Red's essence, the band must be seen live.

However, Vendetta Red is not just Davidson's show. There is a high level of camaraderie among the five band members, and each gets his moment to shine on the new album with searing guitar solos, heavy bass rhythms and quick-tempo drumbeats.

Symbolic of that camaraderie, each band member bears a tattoo of a pair of scissors -- Vendetta Red's logo -- that Davidson said is symbolic of "severing yourself from the ties that hold you down."

It took nearly two years for the band to release a new full-length record after signing with Epic, which meant the band had to rely heavily on doing what it does best -- performing live shows -- to sustain itself.

In 2001 Vendetta Red toured seven times and in 2002 performed at several music festivals including Van's Warped Tour, 107.7 The End's Endfest and the Reading Music Festival in the UK.

The non-stop touring schedule even included gig at a fraternity house at the UW last year. "At the time, we were having difficulty booking shows, so it was a good experience for us," Davidson said.

The band will perform this week (see sidebar) to support the new album and will be at The Gorge Amphitheatre July 5 when The Van's Warped Tour makes its stop in Washington.