Drenalin delivers a sound stimulus

You have to give Josh Surgeon, singer of rock act Drenalin, credit for perseverance.

Despite the fact his Akron-based band suffered through seven lineup changes over the last two years, the group appears now ready to assault Northeast Ohio and beyond with its Breaking Benjamin-meets-Sevendust sound on new album “Ground Zero.”

Still, we have to ask, what was going through his mind, say, after the sixth band lineup didn’t work out?

“What it came down to, it wasn’t so much not being happy with the music or playing out, it was more about finding the right combination of guys who had the same goals and aspirations that Dan [Gutter, guitar] and I did,” said Surgeon, calling from his Cuyahoga Falls home. “It just took that long to get to the point to find that lineup of guys and we really haven’t looked back yet.

“We’ve been playing out religiously, and these are guys that are around more than our girlfriends or wives. It’s just the perfect combination of band members and the sky is the limit as far as we’re concerned from here on out.”

Right now the band — Surgeon, Gutter, T.J. Jones (guitar), Nick Rescina (bass) and Josh Lippl (drums) — is excited about “Ground Zero,” which has been described as sounding similar to the band’s self-titled debut only with more hints of mainstream accessibility. This includes the anthemic and energy filled “Give it Back” and the ballad “One Second Chance.”

Currently the act is playing its new material, along with covers such as Alice in Chains’ “Man in the Box” and Killswitch Engage’s “The End of Heartache,” to as many music fans as possible.

“At this point we’re trying to get out of Northeast Ohio,” Surgeon said. “Northeast Ohio has been very good to us, but we’re trying to break out of the region and get more into Columbus, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Kentucky, Michigan and even Indiana. We’re starting to do show swaps with bands that want to come up here. And so we want to get our music in front of new ears.”

Part of playing out includes additional gigs in the Youngstown area, including shows at Barley’s and various festivals. In fact, after submitting its music to Vexfest officials only to be turned down in the past, the band is scheduled to make its festival debut this Sunday.

“We’ve submitted for three years running and this is the first time we got in,” Surgeon said. “When we look at the rundown of the bands playing, it’s like 80 percent Youngstown bands, so for us to be invited out, we’re very flattered and very happy to finally get out there. Our type of music is very popular in Youngstown. So to get the opportunity to play there in a super prime spot, we feel very fortunate and cannot wait.”

As far as appealing to a wide variety of music fans, you hear bands all the time profess providing everything to everyone. So when Surgeon verbalizes such a boast, what makes his reasoning any different? The answer is it probably isn’t; however, what’s more important is that he believes in not only Drenalin’s future but also its music.

“I think we’re going to be bringing a little bit of something different to the table than most of the bands that will be at Vexfest,” Surgeon said. “We’re a band that practices twice a week, plays out two or three times a week and we’re big sticklers on our sound being tight and sounding as good as possible. And I think with the things we’re playing in our set, there’s something for everybody.

“So if you’re not necessarily into the hard rock genre, we’re still going be playing some songs in our set that I think you’ll enjoy, will catch your attention and maybe even convert you into liking a little heavier rock than you’d listen to. But the bottom line is our live stage presence cannot be matched. We’re nuts on stage. Visually and sonically, we’re stimulating.”