My Sherlock Bromes, Axl Rosenberg over at MetalSucks did a little sleuthing earlier today and noticed that in recent live bootlegs of The Faceless's current European run, vocalist Derek Rydquist is nowhere to be found. The band has a different, equally competent vocalist with them. Take a look:
This begged the question "Where was Derek?" Could he not get his visa on time? Did other commitments prevent him from touring Europe? Or, was he the latest member to leave the band? Being the respected journalist that I am, instead of speculating, I emailed Derek directly and asked if he is still in the band. Here is his response:
I don't think I'm prepared or of liberty to discuss my current involvement in The Faceless, but I think you're on to something here. I'm definitely not in Europe with them right now, but based on the video I just watched on Metalsucks, the guy they have out there right now is doing an awesome job.
Well now that we have a quote from Derek, we can safely speculate that he is 99% no longer a member of The Faceless. Looks like the Faceless machine will go on without a hitch, as the new vocalist does seem quite capable of pulling off the vocals needed for the band. All is not lost for Derek either. It was just announced that a new band, Bewilderbeast was formed featuring him and other prominent LA area musicians. Here is the band's lineup:
Vocals/Guitar – Charles Elliott (Abysmal Dawn)
Guitar – Sacha Dunable (Intronaut, Graviton)
Bass – Derek Rydquist (The Faceless)
Drums – Derek Donley (National Sunday Law, Graviton)
More info on the band can be found on their Facebook page. While I don't see the dudes from Abysmal or Intronaut quitting their day job, this should indeed be an interesting band to follow in the future.
The Faceless, of course, are still writing their new record with a Fall release expected.
