Colorful. A description which perfectly suits the country’s musical landscape.  Different shades, different palettes, different schemes - but only a few stand out. From this vast backdrop is new band that is determined to put their reds, yellows, blues, greens and more colors into the scene.

Enter Craeons, a young break-out band proving to be a force to be reckoned with.  They may look like your usual innocent-looking college students but these kids have earned the admiration of fans and respect of their peers with their brash, young musicality and their commanding presence on stage. Add the singles that carved them a niche: “Mis Kol,” “I” and the power-packed “Grabe,” which peaked at No. 1 for weeks at Campus Radio 97.1 WLSFM.

Composed of Miriam Communication Arts sophomore Casper Blancaflor on vocals, DLSU Computer Science and IT majors Raymond del Rosario on lead guitars and Paolo Domingo on rhythm guitars, Jino Manalo, a nursing student from De Los Santos-STI, on bass and PSBA Management Student Jerome Abello on drums – Craeons is a relatively young band formed in mid-May 2005. Raymond and Casper were introduced to each other, and discovered that they share a common interest in forming a band. He then introduced her to Paolo, his college band mate, which hook them up to his high-school friends Jerome and Jino, and thus completed the band’s line-up. Soon after, they began jamming with the compositions of Raymond and Casper, and finally decided to try their luck by submit a CD demo containing four of their original compositions to Sony BMG.

Young as they are, their flair for original compositions tied up with Casper’s powerful voice and the band’s unique style, drive and determination impressed the executives of Sony BMG. Craeons formally signed a recording contract with the top label in December 2005.

The result is “Non-Toxic,” their debut album which is a fusion of the band’s individual musical preferences such as alternative rock, funk, grunge, new metal rock, rock and roll, jazz and blues in one energetic package. Craeons defies categorization because they are not partial to any particular genre. The album contains eleven of their original compositions and one cover song, “Tattooed on My Mind,” which the band has rendered in a very mild, yet remarkable manner.

For the band, these songs are colorful expressions of their sentiments and real life experiences as young people.

“Non-Toxic” is now out in CDs at your favorite record stores under Sony BMG Music Entertainment