Combining the frontal assault of extreme metal with an adventurous sense of melody and precise stop-and-start arrangements -- they are often described as "the spearhead of the whole modern progressive metalcore movement -- Erra are a technical metalcore band from Birmingham, Alabama. Influenced by acts such as Misery Signals, As I Lay Dying, Born of Osiris, and Saosin, Erra were formed in 2009 by guitarist and clean vocalist Jesse Cash and scream vocalist Garrison Lee. Eager to move their musical ideas forward, Cash and Lee recruited their friends Adam Hicks and Alex Ballew to play bass and drums in the new group. The lineup was finalized when they discovered guitarist Alan Rigdon through his MySpace page, and they adopted the name Erra, a word referring to mayhem that can be traced back to the mythology of Akkad. In 2010, the group self-released its debut EP, Andromeda, and good reviews and an enthusiastic response from fans led to the band signing with indie label Tragic Hero Records. In 2011, Erra released their first full-length album, Impulse, which along with extensive touring helped raise their profile on the independent metal scene, leading to high-profile tours alongside August Burns Red, Born of Osiris, and Tesseract. In 2012, bassist Adam Hicks announced he was leaving the group to focus on his education, but he stayed with Erra long enough to finish work on their second album, Augment, which was released in the fall of 2013. The following year saw the release of the Moments of Clarity EP, with their third studio long-player, Drift, dropping in early 2016. When not on the road with Erra, Jesse Cash records and performs with his side project, Ghost Atlas. ~ Mark Deming