Tony Campos | |
---|---|
Background information | |
Birth name | Antonio Campos |
Also known as | Maldito X |
Born | Los Angeles, California, U.S. [1] | March 8, 1973
Genres | |
Occupation | Musician |
Instruments |
|
Years active | 1994–present |
Member of | |
Formerly of |
Antonio Campos (born March 8, 1973) is an American musician. He is the current bassist for the industrial metal bands Static-X and Fear Factory and the vocalist and bassist for the extreme metal band Asesino. He has previously played with Prong, Soulfly, Ministry, and Possessed. Following the death of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Wayne Static and the resurrection of Static-X, Campos is the longest-serving member of the group and the only one to appear on every album.
Campos was part of the original lineup of Static-X, playing bass and performing backing vocals on all of the group's studio albums. Along with Wayne Static, he was one of the legal owners of the Static-X name, even though he did not participate in the band's temporary reunion from 2012 to 2013. [2]
In 2001, Campos broke his collarbone in a motorcycle accident, leaving him unable to play in the Extreme Steel Tour, headlined by Pantera. He continued to sing backing vocals on the tour, and Marty O'Brien took over bass duties with Static-X. [3] He was also mentioned to be working with Brujeria at the time but would later explain that he simply filled in on bass during a rehearsal when Shane Embury was late. [4]
In 2002, Campos joined the Mexican-American metal group Asesino. His stage name, "Maldito X", is Spanish for "Damned X". [5]
Campos was a member of Buck Satan and the 666 Shooters from 2006 to 2012, [6] and he played bass with Ministry during four stints (2007–2008, 2011–2012, 2014–2016, 2017–2019), following the death of Paul Raven. [7]
From 2011 to 2012, he was a member of the death metal band Possessed. [8] In 2011, he also joined Soulfly, remaining with the band until 2015, [9] when he joined Fear Factory. [10] He has also toured with Cavalera Conspiracy, in 2012–2014, 2016–2017, and 2020. [11]
In October 2018, Campos announced that he and the other two surviving original members of Static-X—guitarist Koichi Fukuda and drummer Ken Jay—had reformed the band and were planning to release a new album and tour in 2019 in memory of Wayne Static, who had died in 2014. [12]
Campos has cited Blasko, Cliff Burton, Dan Lilker, Jeff Hanneman, and Kerry King as influences. [13] [14]
Campos majored in computer science before becoming a musician. [15] He is an avid video gamer [16] and considers the Doom and Halo series his all-time favorites. [17]
Year | Band | Album | Track(s) |
---|---|---|---|
2007 | Divine Heresy | Bleed the Fifth | "Rise of the Scorned" and "Closure" |
2011 | Otep | Atavist | "Drunk on the Blood of Saints" and "Remember to Forget" |
2015 | Taipan | Straight from the Underground | "Straight from the Underground" |
2020 | Mick Gordon | Doom Eternal soundtrack | Member of the "Heavy Metal Choir" [19] |
Static-X is an American industrial metal band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 1994. The line-up has fluctuated over the years, but was long-held constant with band founder, frontman, vocalist and rhythm guitarist Wayne Static until his death in 2014.
Fear Factory is an American industrial metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1989. Throughout the band's career, they have released ten full-length albums and have evolved through a succession of sounds, all in their main style of industrial metal. Over the years, Fear Factory has seen frequent changes in its lineup, with lead vocalist Burton C. Bell being the only consistent member for 31 years until his departure in 2020. Guitarist Dino Cazares is the only original member still in the band. The band went on hiatus in March 2002 following some internal disputes, but resumed activity a year later without founding member Cazares. Previous bassist Christian Olde Wolbers replaced him on guitar, while Byron Stroud handled bass duties. After a second hiatus in 2006, Fear Factory reunited in April 2009 with a new lineup that featured a returning Cazares, Gene Hoglan as the replacement of original drummer Raymond Herrera, and Bell and Stroud reprising their respective roles; this lineup recorded the band's seventh studio album titled Mechanize (2010). Wolbers and Herrera — together comprising 50% of the band's legal ownership — disputed the legitimacy of the reunited band, and a legal battle from both parties had begun. Despite this, Fear Factory has since released three more albums: The Industrialist (2012), Genexus (2015) and Aggression Continuum (2021).
Soulfly is an American heavy metal band formed in Phoenix, Arizona in 1997. Soulfly is led by former Sepultura frontman Max Cavalera, who formed the band after he left the Brazilian group in 1996. To date the band has released twelve studio albums, one tour EP, twenty-three singles, one video album, and twelve music videos. Their debut album, Soulfly, was released on April 21, 1998, while their most recent album, Totem, was released on August 5, 2022.
Wayne Richard Wells, known professionally as Wayne Static, was an American musician, best known as the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, keyboardist, and primary lyricist for the industrial metal band Static-X. He also released a solo album, Pighammer, in 2011. Static was recognizable for his unusual hairstyle; his hair was held up in a vertical position, a process that took about 20 minutes to complete. He was also known for his signature "chintail" beard.
Brujeria is an American extreme metal band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1989. The band has Spanish lyrics with topics such as Satanism, anti-Christianity, sex, immigration, narcotics smuggling, and politics. Brujeria portrays Mexican imagery, with several members being Hispanic and Latino Americans, while the band's name stands for brujería.
Nailbomb is a heavy metal band formed in 1993 as a side project by Brazilian musician Max Cavalera and British musician Alex Newport of Fudge Tunnel. They played a combination of primarily industrial metal and thrash metal. The band recorded one studio album, Point Blank, and played a warmup live performance and their only official gig for 29 years at the 1995 Dynamo Open Air Festival two days later, after which the band disbanded. The band reunited for the first time in 29 years in Tempe, Arizona in November 2024.
Koichi Fukuda is a Japanese musician, best known as the lead guitarist, programmer and keyboardist for the American industrial metal band Static-X; he has been a member of the band three times, initially from 1994 to 2000, again from 2005 to 2010 and since 2018. He was also the former lead guitarist of the bands Drugstore Fanatics and Bellusira.
Dino Cazares is an American musician, best known as the guitarist and one of the co-founders of industrial metal band Fear Factory. He is also a co-founder of Divine Heresy, Asesino, and Brujeria. Cazares popularized the use of digital amp modelling processors, as well as the use of seven and eight-string guitars in metal music.
Tod Rex Salvador, known professionally as Tripp Eisen, is an American musician best known as the former guitarist of industrial metal band Static-X. He is the current guitarist for the band Face Without Fear, and a former member of Dope, Murderdolls, and Roughhouse.
Christian Francis Olde Wolbers is a Belgian musician, songwriter and producer. He is the bassist and backing vocalist of the rap metal/nu metal band Powerflo and the bass player of the thrash metal band Vio-lence. He is also a former bassist, guitarist and backing vocalist of the industrial metal band Fear Factory, and the hardcore punk/crossover thrash band Beowülf.
Matthew DeVries is an American musician. He is the rhythm guitarist in the metal band Chimaira and the former bassist in Fear Factory. During his time with Chimaira, he, along with lead guitarist Rob Arnold and singer Mark Hunter, wrote many of the band's songs. In 2005, DeVries appeared on the Roadrunner United: The All Star Sessions album, playing on two of the tracks, "Annihilation by the Hands of God" and "Constitution Down".
Divine Heresy is an American heavy metal band formed in Los Angeles, California by founder of Fear Factory guitarist Dino Cazares and Devolved drummer John Sankey. Although the band's origins trace back to 2002, Divine Heresy was officially formed in 2006. The band currently consists of guitarist Cazares, former Vital Remains drummer and current World Under Blood drummer Tim Yeung, former Nile bassist Joe Payne and vocalist Travis Neal. Tommy "Vext" Cummings was fired from Divine Heresy following an onstage altercation on April 26, 2008. After holding auditions for a new frontman for the band, it was announced on August 14 that The Bereaved vocalist Travis Neal is to fill the position.
Cavalera Conspiracy is a Brazilian-American heavy metal supergroup from Phoenix, Arizona, founded by Brazilian brothers Max and Igor Cavalera, who are widely known as former members of Sepultura, and the only two constant members of the band. The band originally formed in 2007 as Inflikted but changed its name for legal reasons. The group's creation marked the end of a 10-year feud between the Cavalera brothers who founded Sepultura in the early 1980s. In 2022, they adopted the name Cavalera in order to release re-recorded editions of classic Sepultura albums, which were released in 2023.
Omen is the seventh studio album by American heavy metal band Soulfly. It was recorded in November 2009 and was released first in Japan on May 18, 2010, and on May 25, 2010, in other parts of the world. It was released on May 24, 2010, in parts of Europe. It is the last album to feature bassist Bobby Burns and drummer Joe Nuñez, who were replaced by Asesino frontman Tony Campos and former Borknagar drummer David Kinkade in mid-2011. At just over forty and a half minutes, it is the band's second shortest album; the shortest is Archangel at thirty-six and a half minutes.
Enslaved is the eighth studio album by American heavy metal band Soulfly. It was recorded in fall 2011, mostly in Tallcat Studios in Phoenix, Arizona. Zeuss produced this album. This is the first album to feature Asesino frontman Tony Campos on bass, and the only album to feature former Borknagar drummer David Kinkade on drums, and their last studio album to be released through Roadrunner Records.
Archangel is the tenth studio album by American heavy metal band Soulfly. It was released on August 14, 2015, through Nuclear Blast. It is the band's shortest album to date, running thirty-six and a half minutes. It is the band's last album to feature bassist Tony Campos, who left the band shortly after recording to join Fear Factory. With a peak position of number 130 on the Billboard 200, it is Soulfly's second-lowest charting album to date. The statistic is common with the decreasing number of album sales worldwide in all genres of music, as digital releases have taken over the market. The ensuing "We Sold Our Souls to Metal" Tour to promote Archangel's release featured Soulfly playing as many as seven songs from the album live each night, which is the first time since the "Primitive" Tour that the band has played the majority of a new album live.
"El Comegente" is a song recorded by American metal band Soulfly for their ninth album Savages. The song plays a slow, death-laden grooves, followed by Led Zeppelin-like acoustic bass solo performed by Tony Campos beginning about five minutes into the song. Guitarist Marc Rizzo calls this solo "Mars Part Two."
Lody Kong is an American sludge metal/hardcore punk band from Phoenix, Arizona, formed in 2011. The band is known for being led by brothers Igor Amadeus and Zyon Cavalera, both sons of former Sepultura and current Soulfly frontman Max Cavalera. The band released one album, Dreams and Visions in 2016, and has been inactive since 2018.
Project: Regeneration Vol. 2 is the eighth studio album by American industrial metal band Static-X. It features 14 tracks, with some of the final material written and recorded by the late vocalist Wayne Static. It was slated to release on November 3, 2023, but was eventually announced to be pushed back to January 26, 2024, nearly ten years after Static's death.