The Faceless are an American technical death metal band from the Encino neighborhood of Los Angeles. They released their debut album, Akeldama, in November 2006, and a follow-up, Planetary Duality, in November 2008. The band's third album, Autotheism, was released on August 14, 2012. On December 1, 2017, the band released their fourth album, In Becoming a Ghost.
The band was formed in Encino by guitarist Michael Keene and bassist Brandon Giffin in 2004. In the winter of 2005, the band began work on a four-song extended-play album which would become Akeldama. After recording the drum tracks, drummer Brett Batdorf left the band. After a break in the recording process, the band decided to make the EP into a full–length record and recruited several drummers to finish the drum tracks for the remaining songs.
Following the release of Akeldama, the band toured extensively with bands including Necrophagist, Decapitated, Nile, and The Black Dahlia Murder.[2] The band went through several fill-in drummers before adding drummer Lyle Cooper to their line-up.
Planetary Duality debuted at number119 on the Billboard 200.[3] The album was critically acclaimed and brought the band a new level of success.
In May 2011, Keene confirmed via Facebook that Geoffrey Ficco would be replacing Derek Rydquist as the band’s vocalist.[5] Ficco performed the lead vocals on “The Eidolon Reality” pre-production preview track released on YouTube. In April 2011, the band was joined by bassist Evan Brewer of Animosity, replacing Giffin.[6]
In March 2012, guitarist Steve Jones left the band and was replaced by Wes Hauch, leaving Keene as the last founding member still in the band. Keene stated that “he’s moved in a different direction than us and we wish him good luck in his ventures.” Keene has also stated[when?] that the addition of Hauch gave the band some fresh energy, praising Hauch to be “one of the finest guitar players I’ve ever had the privilege of playing with, he’s really amazing.” Keene wrote Autotheism almost entirely while being the only member of the band, with the exception of track "Ten Billion Years" which was brought to the table by Wes Hauch and rewritten together between Hauch and Keene, keeping a large portion of Hauch's original arrangement with some Faceless signature elements added.
Autotheism débuted at number50 on the Billboard 200 and hit number1 on CMJ radio loud rock charts.
In January 2013, Cooper left the band, and posted on his Facebook module regarding his departure; he claimed that the band’s goals and interests were not his own.[7]Alex Rüdinger, formerly of The HAARP Machine, a labelmate of The Faceless, became the band’s new full-time drummer.[8]
On February 14, 2014, Wes Hauch announced he was leaving the band.[9]
On October 20, 2014, both Evan Brewer and Alex Rüdinger announced on their personal Facebook pages that they were leaving the band to pursue other projects.[10][11] On December 4, 2014, vocalist Geoffrey Ficco announced his departure from the band, leaving Keene as the sole remaining member of the band.[12]
On February 25, 2015, The Faceless announced Justin McKinney (of The Zenith Passage) as the band's new rhythm guitarist via Facebook.
On April 12, 2015, Michael Keene announced the return of founding member and bassist Brandon Giffin.
On September 28, 2015, The Faceless shared a new song titled: "The Spiraling Void", announced a U.S. tour, and also confirmed via Facebook, the return of long time vocalist Derek "Demon Carcass" Rydquist.[13][14]
On November 13, 2015, The Faceless made "The Spiraling Void" available for download, via iTunes, Amazon, and Spotify.
On April 18, 2016, The Faceless announced that they would be working under new management through E.J. Shannon Management.[15]
On June 9, 2017, the band announced that they will be playing on the Summer Slaughter Tour 2017 with The Black Dahlia Murder, Dying Fetus and other bands.[16] On the same day, the band released a new song called "Black Star",[17] which featured Ken "Sorceron" Bergeron on vocals, Justin Mckinney on guitar and Chason Westmoreland on drums, also, this is the first The Faceless song on Drop A tuning using seven string guitars.[18] Michael Keene tracked the bass on the entire album by himself. On October 19, 2017, the band announced their fourth full length album entitled In Becoming a Ghost, which released on December 1, 2017.[18]
On March 19, 2018, vocalist Ken "Sorceron" Bergeron, guitarist Justin McKinney, and drummer Bryce Butler announced they quit the band. Bergeron announced his departure earlier in the day, hours later followed by the other two members. At the time, Keene remained the only member of the band. The new lineup of the band was revealed a month later.[19] The Faceless were expected to perform the entirety of Planetary Duality on June 10, 2018, at Bay Area Deathfest after former member Justin McKinney's band "The Zenith Passage".[20] However, their set was met with criticism after they arrived late and only performed five songs.[21]
On July 24, 2022, Keene came under fire for arriving on-stage at a concert 45 minutes late, only to begin an apparently-inebriated rant about having a neurological disorder. After touring member Aaron Stechauner got Keene off stage, he performed alone on drums for a time to keep the crowd entertained. The Faceless eventually performed two hours after the set was scheduled.[22]
On July 25, 2022, the band announced that James Dorton of Black Crown Initiate had joined the band as lead vocalist.[23]
The Black Dahlia Murder is an American melodic death metal band from Waterford, Michigan, formed in 2001. Their name is derived from the 1947 unsolved murder of Elizabeth Short, often referred to as Black Dahlia. Currently, the band consists of lead vocalist Brian Eschbach, bassist Max Lavelle, drummer Alan Cassidy, and guitarists Brandon Ellis and Ryan Knight. The Black Dahlia Murder has undergone various lineup changes, with Trevor Strnad and Eschbach remaining the only constant members, until the former's death in 2022, which then saw Eschbach take over lead vocals and Knight replacing him on rhythm guitar.
Arsis is an American death metal band from Virginia Beach, Virginia, formed in 2000. The band is currently signed to Nuclear Blast.
Threat Signal is a Canadian heavy metal band from Hamilton, Ontario. The band has had numerous lineup changes, with only Jon Howard remaining from the original incarnation. Their music is often classified as metalcore, melodic death metal, or groove metal.
Austrian Death Machine is an American thrash metal side project from San Diego, California, founded by As I Lay Dying vocalist Tim Lambesis to be a parody of and tribute to Arnold Schwarzenegger's films.
Abigail Williams is an American black metal band, originally from Phoenix, Arizona, but now based in Olympia, Washington. Since their formation in 2004, the group has suffered near-constant changes to their line-up. The band even disbanded in 2007 for a short time before reforming and writing their debut full-length album. Shortly after an eight-week tour in support of their debut full-length album In the Shadow of a Thousand Suns (2008), vocalist Ken Sorceron would become the only original member remaining.
Planetary Duality is the second studio album by American death metal band The Faceless. It was released on November 11, 2008 through Sumerian Records. It is a concept album with the lyrics following a science fiction theme of an extraterrestrial and extra-dimensional race controlling the world and is loosely inspired by the book The Children of the Matrix by David Icke. The album debuted at number 119 on the Billboard 200, selling around 5,600 copies in its first week.
Mgła is a Polish black metal band from Kraków, formed in 2000. The duo consists of vocalist, guitarist and bassist M. and drummer Darkside.
Trauma is an American heavy metal band formed in 1981. The band is best known for having a then-unknown Cliff Burton in its initial lineup, who would later leave the band to join Metallica as their bassist.
Autotheism is the third studio album by American technical death metal band The Faceless. It was released on August 14, 2012, through Sumerian Records. The album debuted at number 50 on the Billboard 200, number 3 on the Top Hard Rock Albums, number 13 on the Top Independent albums, number 18 on Top Rock albums, and hit number 1 on the CMJ radio loud rock chart. This is the band's only album to feature vocalist Geoffrey Ficco, rhythm guitarist Wes Hauch, and bassist Evan Brewer.
Stolas was an American post-hardcore band from Las Vegas, Nevada formed in 2011. The band consisted of Carlo Marquez, and Sergio Medina. The band was signed as the first band on Blue Swan Records in 2013, a record label launched by Will Swan of Dance Gavin Dance. They have released one EP, Losing Wings (2012) and three studio albums, Living Creatures (2013), Allomaternal (2014), and Stolas (2017). The group signed to Equal Vision Records in 2016.
Monuments are a British progressive metal band formed by former Fellsilent guitarist, John Browne, and former Tony Danza Tapdance Extravaganza guitarist, Joshua Travis. The band has released four studio albums through Century Media Records: Gnosis (2012), The Amanuensis (2014), Phronesis (2018) and In Stasis (2022).
In Becoming a Ghost is the fourth studio album by The Faceless. It was released on December 1, 2017 through Sumerian Records. It is the only album with Abigail Williams' Ken Sorceron on vocals, The Zenith Passage's Justin McKinney on guitar and Chason Westmoreland, formerly of Hate Eternal, session drumming. The album debuted at #66 on the Billboard Top Current Albums chart.
Broken Flesh is a Christian death metal band, formed in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, in 2004. The band has released three studio albums, Forever In Flames in 2009, Warbound in 2013, and Broken Flesh in 2015. They have released one extended play, Stripped, Stabbed, and Crucified, in 2012.
Conquering Dystopia is an American instrumental technical death metal supergroup founded by solo guitarist Keith Merrow and Arch Enemy guitarist Jeff Loomis.
Conquering Dystopia is the debut album by the instrumental technical death metal band Conquering Dystopia, digitally released on March 10, 2014. On July 8, 2014 Conquering Dystopia was made available on vinyl and released via Century Media Records.
Entheos is an American progressive metal super-group formed in 2015 by ex-members of Animosity, Animals as Leaders, and The Faceless. They released their debut EP Primal in March 2015 and their debut album The Infinite Nothing in April 2016. The band announced their return to the studio in March 2017 and released Dark Future in November of the same year.
The Zenith Passage is an American technical death metal band from Los Angeles, California founded in 2012. They are currently signed to Metal Blade Records. To date they have released one EP, Cosmic Dissonance, and two LPs, Solipsist and Datalysium.
Solipsist is the debut studio album by Bay Area technical death metal band The Zenith Passage. It was released via Unique Leader Records on April 15, 2016. It is the band's first release for Unique Leader Records, with whom they signed in 2013. The album focuses on the concept of solipsism. The album features a guest vocal appearance by Fallujah's Alex Hofmann, and guitar solo by Wes Hauch. The cover art was done by Ken Sarafin, who had also worked with Skinless, The Kennedy Veil, and Archspire. Per figures provided by Metal news site MetalInsider, the album sold 720 units in its first week.
Love at Last is an American heavy progressive metal band from Tampa, Florida, founded as Akeldama in 2011 by vocalist, songwriter, and producer Andrew Zink. After releasing their debut EP and full-length studio album, the band changed their name in March 2017 which also marked the group's new line-up. Their second full-length album is planned for release in 2019 on Hollowed Records.
Walk Beyond the Dark is the fifth album by American black metal band Abigail Williams. It was released on November 15, 2019, via Blood Music.
↑ "[untitled]". The Faceless (via their Facebook module). May 20, 2010. Retrieved February 1, 2013. "So, as some of you may have heard, Derek is no longer in The Faceless. We wish him the best of luck and will always value the time he spent in our band. Our new vocalist's name is Geoffrey Ficco and he is truly a beast! If you've heard our demo for 'The Eidolon Reality' than you've already heard his punishing vocals;) Surprise!" – Keene
↑ "[untitled]". The Faceless (via their Facebook module). January 28, 2013. Retrieved February 1, 2013. To clear the air on a few details, The Faceless has decided to part ways with drummer Lyle Cooper due to a growing difference in the level of commitment to the project. We wish him the best of luck in his future endeavors and we're sure he'll continue to be successful with music. Having said that, we are very excited to announce that Alex Rudinger is our new full time drummer. We just played our first 3 shows with him in Mexico and what he brings to the band both musically and personally, is simply astounding. We are looking forward to a great future with Alex. The Faceless was design by Juan Franco Art in 2007
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