THE INLANDER
January 6, 1999 (date published)
By Nick Heil, Inlander Pop Critic

When all the dust form the grunge rock revolution finally settles, it might not be Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam or Nirvana (okay, that’s obvious) left standing - it may very well be SECOND COMING. The Seattle quartet, which plays the Met on Sunday, is just now hitting its stride, having recently signed a six album deal with Capitol Records and having reached the midway point of a year-long national tour. Add to that some respectable airplay around the country for the band’s first single “Soft,” a chugging, guitar-driven anthem that invokes classic riffs with a more melodic, contemporary vocals, ala grunge icons like Eddie Vedder and Alice in Chains’ Layne Staley (reportedly a big fan of Second Coming).

Now, the band no longer wallows in modern rock obscurity, and drummer James Bergstrom says the litmus test usually comes on tour. “We used to fight tooth and nail just to get the Bellingham show, “ he says. “Now we go to Madison, Wis., and 400 people go to our show. That’s great. We would be happy to have seen 100 people show up there.”

With the weight of a major label behind them, and some good momentum generated by the band’s intense live shows, Bergstrom says he and the other band members - Travis Bracht and guitarists Yanni Bacolas and Dudley Taft - are setting their sights on bigger opportunities, not the least of which is a tour of England, tentatively scheduled for February and possible an opening slot for a major U.S. act (Bergstrom doesn’t want to say who, “I might jinx it.”). And with the first of their recording, the self-titled Second Coming, in the can, the possibilities are bright… as long as the band doesn’t get pigeonholed as a grunge remnant.