Mutiny Within is the typical story of a bunch of kids who stayed home and practiced the shit out of their instruments til their fingers bled. When the Jacobs brothers, bassist AJ, guitarist Brandon; and keyboardist Drew Stavola started playing together under the name 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 evolved over the following years, started recording demos and gigging locally 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. Mutiny’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 frontmen. A plane ticket. A couple more days of demoing and a main support gig to UK doomsters Paradise Lost won Chris the job.