Vexed | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Hertfordshire, England |
| Genres | |
| Years active | 2019–present |
| Labels | Napalm |
| Members |
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| Past members |
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| Website | vexedvexedvexed |
Vexed are a British alternative metal band from Hertfordshire, formed in 2019. [1]
Vexed were formed on New Years Day 2019, by vocalist Megan Targett, guitarist Jay Bacon and drummer Willem Mason-Geraghty. [2] [3] All three members had played together in a band whose direction they had grown to dislike following numerous lineup changes; [4] Targett said that she felt limited in what she could do as a female musician in the band, and as a result "didn’t have a lot of respect for the music or myself because none of it was genuine to me." [2] After reaching a collective breaking point that almost led them to quit music altogether, they decided to form a new band together where they could write, wear, play and say whatever they wanted. [2] [3] Targett said that Vexed's name was inspired from the widespread use of the word in The Count of Monte Cristo , stating that she related with the word and her lyrics. [5] The band's lineup originally featured guitarist Callan Hughes. [6] [7]
After the band's formation, Vexed began meeting up a couple of times a week to work on new material. [3] In April 2019, Vexed self-released their debut single, "Elite", featuring then-Thy Art Is Murder vocalist CJ McMahon. [8] [9] The collaboration came about from Targett reaching out to McMahon on Instagram; he initially declined due to his busy schedule, but quickly changed his mind after listening to the music and recorded his parts for the song the following day. [10] [11] The song received over 500,000 streams across various platforms by 2021. [12] In May 2019, they released their second single, "Dominate". [13] In July 2019, Vexed performed their first ever show on the Fireball Whiskey stage of the UK Tech-Fest in Newark-on-Trent. [14] [10] [N 1] The success of "Elite" brought Vexed to the attention of a promoter in Switzerland, leading the band to organize a tour of the country. [1] Vexed recruited bassist Al Harper for the tour two weeks before it began; [4] by its end, he had officially joined the band. [3] [16] In October 2019, the band toured the United Kingdom with In Depths. [10]
In 2019, Vexed recorded on their debut album, Culling Culture, with producer and Exist Immortal frontman Meyrick de La Fuente. [3] [17] The album revolves around the idea of removing or "cancelling" negative individuals from one's life, [18] [19] and standing up for yourself. [20] Targett has said that eight songs are based on a set individual, detailing "the experience[s] I went through, and now how I have absolutely nothing to do with them." [3] Most of the bass parts on Culling Culture were written by de La Fuente, as Vexed did not have a bassist at the time; Harper joined as they were completing the album. [3] Despite this, he learnt and played all of its bass parts and contributed to the writing of "Fake", [3] the last song written and recorded for the album. [18] In late 2019, Vexed signed with Tone Management, who shopped the band and the near-complete Culling Culture to various record labels. [3] [16] After a period of no interest, Napalm Records offered to release the album and Vexed subsequently signed with the label. [3] [21]
Vexed planned on releasing the album in 2020, but the COVID-19 pandemic forced the band to delay its release by eight months. [20] The pandemic also led to the cancellation of a planned tour of Europe supporting Whitechapel and numerous festival appearances. [22] In January 2021, Vexed announced their signing to Napalm and released Culling Culture on 21 May 2021, [12] [23] to generally positive reviews. [24] [25] [26] Following the album's release, Vexed performed at the 2021 Bloodstock Open Air festival on the Sophie Lancaster stage, [27] and embarked on a headlining tour of the United Kingdom in January 2022. [28] The band also performed as an opening act for In Flames on their tour of the United Kingdom in March 2022, [29] and for Spiritbox on two London dates in June 2022. [30] [31]
On the day of Culling Culture's release, Targett's grandfather was hospitalized with pulmonary fibrosis. [32] Vexed was put on hiatus to allow her to care for him; he died three months later. [33] The other members of the band also lost family members and loved ones after the album's release. [34] The band attempted to work on new material in November 2021, [35] but struggled with writer's block; Harper stepped back from writing after a year. [36] Targett said that the band had tried to apply a positive "silver lining" to their songs due to the turmoil in their lives, but ultimately found it disingenuous. [32] [34] [36] After eight months, [37] they scrapped seven songs worth of material, saving only three or four riffs. [37] The band eventually decided to write about how they truly felt, [33] [38] and wrote and recorded their second album, Negative Energy, in three months. [36] Meyrick de La Fuente returned as producer and also played bass on the album in place of Harper, who still performs with the band live. [39]
Negative Energy features an overall heavier sound to their debut, reducing the use of clean vocals. [40] Whilst primarily addressing the subject of mourning and loss, [39] its also covers the music industry, religion, and mental health. [38] [41] The album was released on 23 June 2023 [42] to positive reviews. [43] [44] [45] Vexed embarked on a headlining tour of the United Kingdom in October 2023, supported by Pulse. [46] The band toured Europe with Cabal in January 2024, [47] and toured the continent again supporting Carnifex in March and April. [48]
Vexed parted ways with Napalm following the release of Negative Energy. [49] In January and February 2025, Vexed toured Europe supporting Silent Planet, [50] which was their first tour without label backing. [49] The tour cost £34,000, of which the band were able to pay £20,000; [51] they launched a GoFundMe and organized a raffle and giveaways to recoup the remaining costs. [49]
Vexed also has plans to release an extended play, featuring material written during the COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020. [52]
Vexed have been described as alternative metal [26] [38] [44] and deathcore. [37] [53] [54] The band's sound also features elements of djent, [53] [37] nu metal, [54] [55] hip-hop [54] and grime. [54] [56] The band's influences include Emmure, [57] King 810, [57] Limp Bizkit, [39] Megan Thee Stallion, [1] [58] Meshuggah, [1] N.W.A., [1] Thy Art Is Murder, [1] and Veil of Maya. [59] "Elite" was heavily inspired by Thy Art is Murder's Dear Desolation (2017), [1] whilst Negative Energy was influenced more by non-metal artists such as The Prodigy, [4] [60] [61] Sia, JME, [4] Rico Nasty and Lorn. [60]
Current
Session
Former
Studio albums
| Title | Album details |
|---|---|
| Culling Culture | |
| Negative Energy |
|
Singles
| Title | Year | Album |
|---|---|---|
| "Elite" (featuring CJ McMahon) [8] | 2019 | Non-album single |
| "Dominate" [13] | ||
| "Hideous" [55] | 2021 | Culling Culture |
| "Epiphany" [62] | ||
| "Misery" [63] | ||
| "Fake" [64] | ||
| "Anti-Fetish" [65] | 2023 | Negative Energy |
| "X My <3 (Hope to Die)" [66] | ||
| "Trauma Euphoria" [67] | ||
| "Lay Down Your Flowers" [68] | ||
| "It's Not the End" [69] | 2024 |