Rev Theory gets leaner and meaner

The hard-rock band that entered the music scene as Revelation Theory has since shortened its name to Rev Theory to "keep it lean and mean." The group released its third album, "Justice," in February. The musicians take The NorVa stage on Saturday to open for rap-metalgroup Saliva as part of the HardDrive Live Spring Fling tour. "HardDrive" is a nationally syndicated radio show.

Lead vocalist Rich Luzzi, drummer Dave Agoglia and guitarist Julien Jorgensen played together in a band while attending Merrimack College in Massachusetts. They decided to make a career of it and in 2002 moved to Long Island in New York City, where they met bassist Matty McCloskey. "We worked the New York circuit, then hit the road in 2005 on an independent record," said Jorgensen, who spoke to us from Los Angeles where the band was preparing to perform at a Harley-Davidson show and shoot an ad campaign for JVC.

After touring with bands Evanescence, Staind, Seether and Sevendust, the foursome picked up lead guitarist Rikki Lixx. They signed with Interscope Records in 2008.

Jorgensen answered some questions for us.

Q. How has Rev Theory's music evolved?

A. Obviously, in the first years you're just trying to find your sound and find the vision as to what you want to do. We're a hard aggressive band.... I think the band has stayed true and consistent to that for the past five years.

Q. What's the band trying to say with the album "Justice"?

A. We are disappointed with a lot of things going on around us, just the state of the music industry in general.... Everyone is loving and admiring all the wrong things these days, like "Jersey Shore," and you have the Kardashians taking over. I think "Justice" was fueled by a lot of what's being cycled through. It's just an aggressive and angry record.

Q. Why does the band call itself a "100 percent blue-collar band"?

A. We really just try and bring the music to the people. We never had a silver spoon handed to us. We've never been given a break. We've earned everything we've strived for and feel we're a Middle-America blue-collar band.

Q. What's it like touring and being on the road?

A. There's something special about being on the road and having people come out and being in that moment. That sort of intangible thing that you can't really put into words to describe. It's the power of music, and that's why we love doing it and playing live.

Patty Jenkins, (757) 446-2298, patty.jenkins@pilotonline.com