Divine Heresy
is an American metal band formed by founder of Fear Factory, guitarist Dino Cazares. 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 [1] 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. [2]
The band's debut album Bleed the Fifth
was released on August 28, 2007, and sold 2,700 copies in its first week. Receiving generally positive reviews, Eduardo Rivadavia of Allmusic commented the album "strikes a near-perfect balance between confirmation and innovation", while Dom Lawson of Metal Hammer
commented "All in all, the portly pioneer [Cazares] has hit the bull's-eye".
|
DIVINE HERESY TICKETS
|
History
Formation (2002-2007)
Following his departure from
Fear Factory in 2002, guitarist
Dino Cazares was looking for a drummer that "fit in" with the band. First he tried drummer
Nicholas Barker from the bands
Cradle of Filth and
Dimmu Borgir. But, he had to "go back home" (expired visa). He then met former
Vital Remains drummer
Tim Yeung.
[3] Cazares and Yeung recorded the material they wrote and sent tapes to Cummings for his vocal audition. Cazares comments "We heard passion and anger in his voice, which was something we wanted. It was also very aggressive."
[4]
Divine Heresy held auditions for a permanent bassist —
Tony Campos of
Static-X played bass on three songs and Cazares acted as bassist on the remaining songs. Following unsuccessful auditions, Cazares was contacted by former
Nile bassist
Joe Payne. Cazares knew Joe Payne from seeing him play live with Nile. After auditioning Joe Payne joined Divine Heresy as the permanent bass guitarist.
Bleed the Fifth
(2007-2008)
The band recorded its debut album,
Bleed the Fifth
in early 2007 with production duties handled by former
Machine Head guitarist
Logan Mader. The title of the album is a play on words, Cazares comments "You have the right to keep your mouth shut, but on this record we believe we’re saying a lot".
Cummings wrote the majority of the lyrics, which are about personal strifes and how people overcome them. Much of the lyrical content was influenced by the
Book of Revelation
, natural disasters, war, and terrorism.
[5] Cazares stated the album is a "big fuck you" to the people who want his projects to fail.
[6]
Released on August 28, 2007, in the United States,
Bleed the Fifth
sold 2,700 copies in its first week.
[7] Dom Lawson of
Metal Hammer
summarized his review by saying "All in all, the portly pioneer has hit the bull's-eye and it's going to be fascinating to see what happens next", awarding an 8 out of a possible 10.
[8] Eduardo Rivadavia of
Allmusic felt the album "strikes a near-perfect balance between confirmation (reminding fans of Cazares' abilities and unique vision) and innovation (he even plays a few guitar solos!)".
[9] Scott Alisoglu of
Blabbermouth.net summarized his review claiming the album is "one tough son of a bitch that may still have you humming melodies long after you've ejected the disc."
[10] Chad Bowar of
About.com commented "Great musicianship, good songs and excellent production make this a very respectable debut."
[11]
After recording was completed, Cazares announced the band signed a North American deal with
Century Media Records, and a licensing deal with
Roadrunner Records in Europe. His decision to choose Century Media was based on the creative freedom the label gave him, whereas Roadrunner would ask him to produce radio and commercial songs when he was in Fear Factory.
However, Yeung claims Roadrunner were not interested and said he did not want to be on a label that is "sort of interested".
Departure of Tommy Vext (2008)
Lead singer Tommy Vext left the band following an on-stage altercation on April 26, 2008.
Cause of the altercation remains controversial. Cazares explained "We felt that he wanted to end the show early to go hang out at the New England Metal Fest, which we were supposed to be performing at the next day" coming with all sorts of excuses to make this happen.
In a video interview Vext explained that he wanted to prevent ruining his voice for the next show by ending the set early because the
PA system went out during the show.
[12] Cazares, however, continued to play after what Vext though was to be the last song. Confronted by Vext about only performing as a complete band, Cazares responded by telling him to "just deal with it".
Bringer of Plagues
(2009-present)
Divine Heresy's follow-up to 2007's "Bleed the Fifth" will be the group's first release with new vocalist Travis Neal, formerly of Pushed and currently with Swedish band The Bereaved. The new album tentatively titled
Bringer of Plagues
is slated for a July 28 release via Century Media Records. Dino will co-produce the album with the acclaimed producing team Dirty Icon (Logan Mader and Lucas Banker).
As of June 2, the band's Myspace page has been updated with two new songs, "Face Breaker" and "Undivine Prophecies".
On July 11 the full album leaked online.
Members
Current
- Travis Neal – vocals (2008-present)
- Dino Cazares – guitar (2005-present)
- Joe Payne – bass guitar (2007-present)
- Tim Yeung - drums (2005-present)
Former
- Tommy "Vext" Cummings – vocals (2005-2008)
Discography
- Bleed the Fifth
(2007)
- Bringer of Plagues
(2009)
References
- MTV Headbanger's Blog
- Divine Heresy Announces New Vocalist, Travis Neal
- Divine Heresy
- Divine Heresy Interview
- Divine Heresy: Heretic Anthems
- Dino Cazares of Divine Heresy
- First-Week Sales Revealed
- Bleed the Fifth reviews
- ''Bleed the Fifth'' > Review
- ''Bleed the Fifth'' Roadrunner review
- ''Bleed The Fifth'' About.com review
- Tommy Vext speaks of Divine Heresy falling out