"The greatest band you’ve never heard of" is a claim worn by many bands these days. Yet, in the case of As Tall as Lions, the moniker is valid.

The five musicians of ATAL, four under the age of 21, play a fiery, passionate strain of melodic rock that is sure to turn the head of any listener.

ATAL hails from Long Island, the same fertile ground that has bred talent as far reaching as Billy Joel, Ashanti and Mariah Carey.

The band, however, has nothing in common with any of the aforementioned bands. The band is quite frankly, a breed all their own.

Revered by many as a band that features complex, sonic musical arrangements with earnest, avant-garde lyrics, As Tall as Lions deserves attention.

Led by frontman/occasional pianist Daniel Nigro, drummer Cliff Sarcona, and guitarist Sean Fitzgerald, the band’s roots began as one might expect.

Nigro, a junior philosophy major from Fordham University, whose pipes have the energy and passion that are rumored to break glass, began the steady sojourn to stardom at 16. The band flourished under the name Sundaze, but after numerous line-up changes, disbanded and started anew.

Propelled by a devoted fan base, the band added longtime friend Brian Michael Fortune to play guitar and contribute his creative juices.

Shortly after releasing their debut EP, bassist Brian Caesar joined in fall 2002 and the quintet was set.

While Nigro is the principal songwriter, guitarist and aspiring actor Fortune, whose movie credits include "Finding Forrester," combine with guitarist Fitzgerald to write the core of every As Tall as Lions number.

In the case of the two-minute spectacle "If I’m Not Out Burning" off of Blood and Aphorisms, the song was written entirely by Fitzgerald while the band was changing the sound and look of a high-school garage-rock outfit to the more refined polish of ATAL.

The polish makes all the difference.

Lead cut and first single "Break Blossom" received heavy airplay on world-famous rock station WLIR earlier in 2003. Written by Nigro and Fortune, the title draws on a poem by Fitzgerald that refers to "the blossom one feels after the break of death."

Second cut "Dancing In The Rearview," received airplay on renowned Long Island station WBAB. According to Fitzgerald, the song’s lyricist, "it’s about trying to romanticize a car crash."

Complex and caustic, the quotes reflect the tone of ATAL.

Priding themselves on honest, thought-provoking lyrics that accompany a meld of swirling and pulsing riffs, ATAL creates a sound all its own.

The disc "Blood and Aphorisms" was compared to the likes of The Doors, the Eagles and the New Romantic period of the late ’70s, early ’80s. Truly high praise for a band whose members are still too young to rent a car.

Yet what makes this band stand out is their DIY philosophy. Drummer and Web master Cliff Sarcona, drives three hours from Villanova University in Philadelphia to play in every ATAL show. The EP was self-produced, and self financed, yet the crisp lucidity of the disc is hard to pass up.

Still consigned to being academics, the band has yet to leave the sold out concert halls of New York City and Long Island that they perform regularly.

Working off a meager budget, the band manages to play a local show twice a month, and it’s a rarity that the energetic frenzy of fans fails to sing along.

More to their credit the band was recently featured on revered music company CMJ’s New Music compilation album among bands such as Audioslave.

The band has plans to record a follow up to "Blood and Aphorisms" this summer.

With a tour schedule likely to increase in dates and miles, As Tall as Lions is poised to take their complex cacophony of rock sounds to the far reaches of the Eastern seaboard soon.