"Strange Land are a three piece who certainly like to make a lot of noise with their cerebral progressive rock/metal ... well, I said noise? Yes, but I meant it in a good way, as the Wisconsin-based band pays a lot of attention also to melody, not only to the complexity of guitar riffs." - Igor Italiani, progressiveworld.net
As with many original bands the sound of Strange Land is difficult to describe. In the most generic sense the band falls into the progressive rock/metal category, along with such bands as Fates Warning, Queensryche, Savatage, Rush, Zero Hour, Pain of Salvation, and Galactic Cowboys. Strange Land, however, prefers not to wear its influences on its sleeve. Rather, the members blend all of their past musical experiences and outside musical influences into one unique musical vision. Each member of Strange Land takes an equal part in the writing and arranging of its music.
Strange Land was established in November of 1998 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin joining together former members of Labyrinth (USA) and Fishboy. The members of Strange Land are Chad Novell on bass, keyboards and vocals, Sean Gill on guitar, and returning member Brad Klotz on drums.
Within the first six months of its existence, Strange Land had written and arranged eleven original songs, four of which appeared on the Foundation demo, whose title track reached #12 on MP3.com's progressive metal chart. Gabor Kleinbloesem of Strutter Magazine said of Foundation: "Some more of these catchy and progressive tunes and this Strange Land may be counted as one of the latest sensations from the USA." The band has self-released its first full-length album, "Anomaly", with 12 tracks and almost 70 minutes of material. The album was recorded with drummer Brad Klotz, who left to pursue other career interests in the fall of 2001. In 2002 the band put the final touches on a 4 song demo of brand new material (with drummer Pete Schwarzenbacher) which was well received by fans at the 2002 Prog Power USA festival. The band finished its second full length album entitled "Blaming Season" in late 2004. The cd was recorded with drummer Esteban Gonzalez, who left after the recording was finished to pursue other career interests.
In 2003 the band landed a distribution deal with Nightmare Records for worldwide sales. The new cd "Blaming Season" has been well received by fans and critics alike since its release in early 2005. Besides America, Strange Land cd's have also been purchased by fans in Canada, England, France, Spain, Germany, Japan, Brazil and several other countries.
Strange Land has opened for national acts like King's X, former Marillion front man Fish, Three, shredder Joe Stump, fusion supergroup McGill/Manring/Stevens and Inside Out Prog-Metal band Event. The band has also played many Wisconsin P.R.O.G. (Progressive Rock and Other Groups) shows organized by Dimension X founder and bass player Dave Burkowitz. We were finalists in the 2005 Emergenza festival, among the top 14 acts out of a field of 200 plus bands drawn to Milwaukee to perform in that year's international competition.
In the past year we have played the M.A.R.S. Festival at the Miramar Theater (visit www.myspace.com/marsfestival2007 for more), Shank Hall, the Rave Bar, Vnuk's Lounge, and The Mainstage in Waukesha. Strange Land is honored to have participated in the the local progressive music scene and regularly performs with fellow local prog/metal acts Kopecky, Dimension X, and Far Corner.



Source : https://www.facebook.com/StrangeLandBand/