The Faceless

The Faceless

The Faceless performing at Tuska Open Air Metal Festival.
Background information
Origin Encino, Los Angeles, California, United States
Genres Technical death metal,[1] progressive metal,[1]
deathcore (early)[1]
Years active 2004–present
Labels Sumerian Records
Members Michael Keene
Justin McKinney
Chason Westmoreland
Ken Sorceron
Past members See: The Faceless membership

The Faceless is a technical death metal band from the Encino neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. 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.

History

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 débuted at number 119 on the Billboard 200.[3] The album was critically acclaimed and brought the band a new level of success.

Soon after its release, they toured with bands including Meshuggah, Lamb of God and In Flames. Prior to their performance at California Metalfest IV, Giffin announced that he would no longer be in the band.[4] The band also announced that they would be playing in The Summer Slaughter Tour of 2010 along with bands including Decapitated, All Shall Perish, and Decrepit Birth.

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 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 number 50 on the Billboard 200 and hit number 1 on CMJ radio loud rock charts.

The band, along with bands including Cannibal Corpse, Between the Buried and Me, and Periphery, took part in The Summer Slaughter Tour of 2012.

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, who will appear on the band's next album tentatively titled, "In Becoming a Ghost". "I am so extremely excited to announce Brandon Giffin on our new record. For those who don't know, Brandon is the original bassist of The Faceless and played on Akeldama and Planetary Duality and then took some time off from touring, followed by touring as the sessions bassist for prog legends Cynic for several years. We formed the band together when we were in high school and I am so happy to be collaborating with him again. Brandon is like a brother to me and he's like my musical soul mate. Brandon will be playing on the new record, which is tentatively titled "In Becoming a Ghost" and playing as many shows as possible with us. Due to life circumstances, he may not be able to always make every tour with us, but he is an official collaborator in The Faceless again and will be playing whatever shows he can with us. I couldn't be happier about this. More exciting member announcements coming soon!"

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, & Spotify.

Band members

Current members
  • Michael Keene – lead guitar (2004–present), clean vocals, vocoder (2006–present), keyboards, programming, sequencing (2011–present)
  • Justin McKinney – rhythm guitar (2015–present)
  • Chason Westmoreland – drums (2015–present)
  • Ken Sorceron - lead vocals (2016-present)
Former members
  • Mikee Domingo – lead vocals (2004; died 2014)
  • Zack Graham – drums, clean vocals (2004)
  • Elliott Sellers – drums (2004)
  • Jeff Ventimiglia – lead vocals (2004–2005)
  • Bret Batdorf – drums (2004–2006)
  • Steve Jones – rhythm guitar (2004–2012)
  • Michael Sherer – keyboards (2005–2006)
  • Nick Pierce – drums (2006)
  • Marco Pitruzzella – drums (2007)
  • Derek "Demon Carcass" Rydquist - lead vocals (2006-2011, 2015)
  • Brandon Giffin -bass (2004-2010, 2015)
  • Lyle Cooper – drums (2007–2013)
  • Jarrad Lander – bass guitar (2010)
  • Geoffrey Ficco – lead vocals (2011–2014)
  • Evan Brewer – bass guitar (2011–2014)
  • Wes Hauch – rhythm guitar (2012–2014)
  • Alex Rüdinger – drums (2013–2014)
Former touring musicians
  • Julian Kersey – lead vocals (2015)
  • Mica "Maniac" Meneke – lead vocals (2008)
  • Nico Santora – rhythm guitar (2014)
  • Anthony Barone – drums (2015)
Session musicians
  • Navene Koperwies – drums (2006)
  • Andy Taylor – drums (2006)
  • Matthew Blackmar – keyboards (2008)
  • Tara Keene – backing vocals (2012)
  • Sergio Flores – saxophone (2012)

Timeline

Discography

Albums
Demo albums

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Kapper, Andrew (undated; circa August 2012). "The Faceless – Autotheism Review". Heavy Metal module of About.com. Retrieved February 1, 2013.
  2. ↑ Staff (November 17, 2006). All Shall Perish, Arsis, and The Faceless Metal Maniacs Tour Show Review. Metal Injection. Retrieved February 1, 2013.
  3. ↑ Staff (undated). "The Faceless: 'Planetary Duality' First-Week Sales Revealed – Nov. 19, 2008". Blabbermouth.net. Retrieved February 1, 2013. Check date values in: |date= (help)
  4. ↑ Staff (May 14, 2010). "The Faceless Bass Player Quits Group". Lambgoat. Retrieved February 1, 2013.
  5. ↑ Staff (May 20, 2010). "[untitled]". The Faceless (via their Facebook module). 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
  6. ↑ Staff (undated). “The Faceless Announces New Bassist – Apr. 7, 2011”. Blabbermouth.net. Retrieved February 1, 2013.
  7. ↑ (registration required) "Lyle Cooper Leaving The Faceless". Lyle Cooper (via his Facebook module). Retrieved January 26, 2013.
  8. ↑ Staff (January 28, 2013). "[untitled]". The Faceless (via their Facebook module). 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
  9. ↑ "Guitarist Wes Hauch Leaves THE FACELESS, To Join Reactivated GLASS CASKET". Metal Injection.
  10. ↑ "Alex Rudinger - After much thought I've decided that it is... - Facebook". facebook.com.
  11. ↑ "Evan Brewer - After almost four years of good times with... - Facebook". facebook.com.
  12. ↑ "The Faceless vocalist Geoff Ficco quits band". lambgoat.com.
  13. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0Zj9LpJK8Y
  14. ↑ https://www.facebook.com/thefaceless/posts/10153128611431074
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