Sometime in February

TRISTAN AUMAN INJECTS HIS BAND'S WILDLY ADDICTIVE PROGRESSIVE METAL WITH CLEVER HOOKS, GONZO SHRED AND ARRESTING MOMENTS OF AMBIENT BEAUTY

- Joe Bosso

GROWING UP IN RALEIGH, South Carolina, Tristan Auman got his first chance to play guitar in public during church services. “We did a mix of contemporary Christian music and old-time gospel hymns,” he says. “Because we had choirs and vocalists, I didn’t get much of a chance to stretch out, but occasionally I’d get music directors who’d toss me a bone — ‘Here’s a section, kid. I trust you. Go crazy!’ It was great. I got over any kind of stage fright early.”