Mose Giganticus is an American synth punk

Punk rock

Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...

 / heavy metal

Heavy metal music

Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...

 band founded in Bensalem, Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

 in 1999, and currently based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

. Led by songwriter

Songwriter

A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...

, vocalist, programmer

Synthesizer programmer

In video game music, a synthesizer programmer - or a manipulator - helps a composer by choosing the right instruments to play the music inside the video game....

, drummer

Drum kit

A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....

, and keyboardist

Keyboard instrument

A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...

 Matt Garfield, the band is augmented by an array of additional musicians for live performances, including Zac Hobbs (touring guitarist), Brooks Wilson (live and studio guitarist/bassist), Dan Eppihimer (touring drummer) and Joe Smiley (live and studio guitarist). Stylistically, Mose Giganticus is most notable for the incorporation of vocoder

Vocoder

A vocoder is an analysis/synthesis system, mostly used for speech. In the encoder, the input is passed through a multiband filter, each band is passed through an envelope follower, and the control signals from the envelope followers are communicated to the decoder...

 and synthesizer

Synthesizer

A synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...

 into traditionally "guitar-centric" musical genres, as well as for Garfield's prominent use of a modified Roland AX-7

Roland AX-7

The Roland AX-7 is a keytar that was manufactured by Roland Corporation from 2001 to 2007. This modern instrument contains many more advanced features than early keytars such as its predecessor, the Roland AX-1, and the Yamaha SHS-10. It runs on 6 AA batteries or an external power source. It has a...

 keytar

Keytar

A keytar is a relatively lightweight keyboard that is supported by a strap around the neck and shoulders, similar to the way a guitar is supported by a strap. Keytars allow players a greater range of movement compared to conventional keyboards, which are placed on stands...

 in their live performances. The band has released three albums, most recently 'Gift Horse' in Summer 2010, and have toured North America extensively, including the Yukon

Yukon

Yukon is the westernmost and smallest of Canada's three federal territories. It was named after the Yukon River. The word Yukon means "Great River" in Gwich’in....

 and Alaska

Alaska

Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...

, regions rarely visited by rock musicians. Notably, they tour in an environmentally friendly vegi-diesel bus created by Garfield.

History

Garfield, drummer in several Philadelphia-area hardcore punk rock

Hardcore punk

Hardcore punk is an underground music genre that originated in the late 1970s, following the mainstream success of punk rock. Hardcore is generally faster, thicker, and heavier than earlier punk rock. The origin of the term "hardcore punk" is uncertain. The Vancouver-based band D.O.A...

 bands, began the project as a solo electronic home-recording

Home recording

Home recording is the practice of recording in a private home, rather than in a professional recording studio. A studio set up for home recording is called a "project studio" or "home studio". Home recording is practiced by indie bands, singer-songwriters, hobbyists, podcasters, documentarians,...

 project in 1999, playing few occasional live performances. His focus on the band intensified years later, in 2005, with a significantly revamped sound rooted in hardcore punk, while still maintaining elements of electronic music

Electronic music

Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...

. This culminated in the 2006 debut full-length album, The Invisible Hand, a concept record based around humanity's relationship with technology

Technology

Technology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes ;...

. Initially released on Richmond, Virginia

Richmond, Virginia

Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...

-based Valiant Death Records, the record was followed by several US tours in 2007 with fellow electronic bands Abiku and The Emotron

The Emotron

The Emotron is a one-man musical group influenced by Atom and his Package and GG Allin. He performs original material in a karaoke-esque style, using a Yamaha QY700 sequencer among other instruments....

. During these early tours, Garfield performed solo, layering live vocals and keyboards over pre-recorded backing tracks. A compilation featuring remixes from 23 artists of the track My Machine off of The Invisible Hand was later completed and scheduled to be released on Valiant Death Records in early 2008, but failed to materialize when the label folded unexpectedly due to financial troubles.

In 2008, Mose Giganticus released its second record, the Commander! EP, as a split label release on Slanty Shanty Records and The Cottage Records, who had also reissued The Invisible Hand after the demise of Valiant Death Records. Based on Garfield's fascination with the work of Nikola Tesla

Nikola Tesla

Nikola Tesla was a Serbian-American inventor, mechanical engineer, and electrical engineer...

, the EP focuses on the betrayal of Tesla by fellow innovator and former employer, Thomas Edison

Thomas Edison

Thomas Alva Edison was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices that greatly influenced life around the world, including the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and a long-lasting, practical electric light bulb. In addition, he created the world’s first industrial...

, and the subsequent bitter rivalry surrounding Tesla's development of alternating current

Alternating current

In alternating current the movement of electric charge periodically reverses direction. In direct current , the flow of electric charge is only in one direction....

 technology, known as the War of Currents

War of Currents

In the "War of Currents" era in the late 1880s, George Westinghouse and Thomas Edison became adversaries due to Edison's promotion of direct current for electric power distribution over alternating current advocated by several European companies and Westinghouse Electric based out of Pittsburgh,...

. The record was extensively supported through touring, including trips that took the group and touring mates The Emotron into the far reaches of Northern Canada and Alaska.

A third record, the full-length Gift Horse, was recorded at Skylight Studios with Vince Ratti and released on July 22, 2010 on Relapse Records

Relapse Records

Relapse Records is an independent record label based in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania. It was founded by Matthew F. Jacobson in 1990.-History:The label was started by Matthew F. Jacobson in August, 1990 in his parents' basement in Aurora, Colorado...

. Gift Horse displays a decidedly heavier sound than previous releases and centers on the topic of Christian mythology

Christian mythology

Christian mythology is the body of myths associated with Christianity. In the study of mythology, the term "myth" refers to a traditional story, often one which is regarded as sacred and which explains how the world and its inhabitants came to have their present form.Classicist G.S. Kirk defines a...

. The record's content features lyrics written from the perspective of the Old Testament

Old Testament

The Old Testament, of which Christians hold different views, is a Christian term for the religious writings of ancient Israel held sacred and inspired by Christians which overlaps with the 24-book canon of the Masoretic Text of Judaism...

 Christian God and the deposed angel Lucifer

Lucifer

Traditionally, Lucifer is a name that in English generally refers to the devil or Satan before being cast from Heaven, although this is not the original meaning of the term. In Latin, from which the English word is derived, Lucifer means "light-bearer"...

 addressing one another in the mounting tension of the impending Battle of Armageddon.

Discography

• The Invisible Hand CD (2006, Valiant Death Records, reissued by The Cottage Records)
• The Invisible Touch DVD (2007, Valiant Death Records)
• Commander! CD-EP/7" (2008, Slanty Shanty Records/The Cottage Records)
• Gift Horse CD (2010, Relapse Records)