40 Below Summer
Encyclopedia
Beginnings
Formed in 1998, 40 Below Summer came together after drummer and PeruPeru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
vian native Carlos Aguilar met with singer Max Illidge. Joey D'Amico later joined the duo, followed by Jordan Plingos and Steve Ferreira. Their first album Side Show Freaks (1999) and EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
Rain (2000) were self released. Puerto Rican
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
-born Hector Graziani replaced Ferreira in 2000, right before the release of Rain.
Invitation to the Dance (2001-2002)
Eventually, a deal was signed with London-Sire RecordsLondon-Sire Records
London-Sire Records was an American-based record label owned by Warner Music Group, created in 2000 with the merging of Sire Records and London Records. Seymour Stein remained at the helm as CEO. The binding of the two companies, however, proved to be largely unsuccessful...
. Their debut major label album Invitation to the Dance was released on October 16, 2001, and was produced by GGGarth. Two months after its release, London-Sire went out of business due to a corporate merger. The album was subsequently re-issued through Warner Music.
After performing on the Jägermeister
Jägermeister
Jägermeister is a German 70-proof digestif made with 56 different herbs and spices. It is the flagship product of Mast-Jägermeister SE, headquartered in Wolfenbüttel, south of Braunschweig, Lower Saxony, Germany.- History :...
Music Tour with Drowning Pool
Drowning Pool
Drowning Pool is a four-piece alternative metal band from Dallas, Texas.-Early days :Drowning Pool rose to fame while playing along with Ozzy Osbourne during an Ozzfest tour. Their 2001 debut album, Sinner was certified platinum within six weeks...
, Coal Chamber
Coal Chamber
Coal Chamber is an American alternative metal band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1993. Prior to Coal Chamber, Dez Fafara and Meegs Rascón formed the band She's In Pain in 1992. The two decided to create Coal Chamber. They disbanded in 2003 after ten years together, but announced a reunion in...
and Ill Niño
Ill Niño
Ill Niño is an American six-piece metal band from New Jersey founded in 1998. The band has sold over 3.3 million units worldwide; they have 5 studio albums and 10 music videos.-History:...
, and then again with Slipknot
Slipknot (band)
Slipknot is an American heavy metal band from Des Moines, Iowa. Formed in 1995, the group was founded by percussionist Shawn Crahan and bassist Paul Gray...
, Fear Factory
Fear Factory
Fear Factory is an American industrial metal band. Formed in 1989, they have released seven full-length albums and a number of singles and remixes. Over the course of their career they have evolved from a succession of styles, as well as steadily pioneered a combination of the styles death metal,...
, and Chimaira
Chimaira
Chimaira is an American heavy metal band from Cleveland, Ohio. Formed in 1998, the group is a notable member of the New Wave of American Heavy Metal scene. The band's name is derived from the word Chimera, a monstrous creature in Greek mythology...
, but only on select dates, they started to write material for their second album. While the band started writing almost immediately after the release of their previous album, they threw out some fifteen songs before coming up with 21 that they reduced down to the final ten (plus a bonus track, "The Day I Died").
The Mourning After (2003-2005)
Unsigned at this point, Razor & Tie Records saw the band in February 2003 when they played in New YorkNew York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
with E.Town Concrete
E.Town Concrete
E.Town Concrete, or sometimes called E-Town, is an American rock band from Elizabeth, New Jersey. They formed in 1995 and shortly thereafter released Time 2 Shine, their first full-length album, in 1999 on the Resurrection A.D. label. They have since released four more albums on various record...
. A deal was signed in June just as the band entered the studio. The band would later strike a licensing deal with Roadrunner Records
Roadrunner Records
Roadrunner Records is an American record label that concentrates primarily on heavy metal bands. It is currently a subsidiary of Warner Music Group.-History:...
for the album's UK release.
Their second album The Mourning After
The Mourning After
The Mourning After is the second major release by the alternative metal / hard rock music group 40 Below Summer. The album was released on October 28, 2003 via Razor & Tie Records...
was released on October 28, 2003. Two singles were released from the album in "Self-Medicate" and "Taxi Cab Confession". The video for the former received a fair amount of airplay on MTV2
MTV2
MTV2 is a cable network that is widely available in the United States on digital cable and satellite television, and is progressively being added to analogue cable lineups across the nation...
's Headbanger's Ball. The band negotiated a release from their contract in 2004. Not long after this Jordan was temporarily replaced by Ty Fury. The band then recruited Ryan Juhrs (formerly of Flaw) to fill the spot officially and Carlos left soon after.
The Last Dance (2006)
Despite breaking up, 40 Below Summer released The Last DanceThe Last Dance (40 Below Summer album)
The Last Dance is the third major release by 40 Below Summer. The CD/DVD combo was released on October 31, 2006 via Crash Music Inc. The two-disc release features nine demo versions of songs intended for their third LP, and a DVD with the band's "last" performance at the Starland Ballroom in New...
on October 31, 2006 via Crash Music Inc. The album features nine demo versions of songs intended for their third LP, as well as a bonus DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
featuring footage of the band's "last" performance at the Starland Ballroom
Starland Ballroom
The Starland Ballroom is a concert venue located in Sayreville, New Jersey, USA. Opening night was December 7, 2003 and featured a performance by former Van Halen lead singer David Lee Roth...
(September 2005). The album sold 1,095 copies during its first week of release, according to Nielsen SoundScan
Nielsen SoundScan
Nielsen SoundScan is an information and sales tracking system created by Mike Fine and Mike Shalett. Soundscan is the official method of tracking sales of music and music video products throughout the United States and Canada...
.
In October 2006, there was speculation that the band had reunited. This was later dismissed by guitarist Joey D'Amico who stated that the band was just going to do a few shows to promote the release of The Last Dance. However, D'Amico also stated that there was a possibility that 40 Below Summer would record a new album in the future.
The band filmed a music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
for the single "Relapse" with director Frankie Nasso. The song was originally written by 2005 guitarist Ty Fyhrie (Fury). Ty Fyhrie also played the 2nd guitar parts on "The Last Dance." Ty went on to work with the band Murder Of Crows but now resides in the band Dirty Little Rabbits
Dirty Little Rabbits
Dirty Little Rabbits is an American alternative rock band formed in 2007 in Johnston, Iowa. They are often referred to as a side project of Shawn Crahan, a member/founder of Heavy Metal band Slipknot.-History:...
with Slipknot
Slipknot (band)
Slipknot is an American heavy metal band from Des Moines, Iowa. Formed in 1995, the group was founded by percussionist Shawn Crahan and bassist Paul Gray...
percussionist M. Shawn Crahan also known as Clown.
In a radio interview with All Knowing Force, Illidge stated that he expected 40 Below Summer would tour and play 5-10 shows a year. Although his main priority is with his new project Black Market Hero, he didn't rule out the possibility of the band one day recording another album.
The band did however re-issued their independently released EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
Rain
Rain EP
Rain is the title of an EP release by 40 Below Summer. The disc is a re-release of the band's much sought after independent EP, before they signed with London-Sire Records...
with seven bonus tracks on July 31, 2007 via Crash Music. In addition to the five songs originally released, seven demo tracks have also been included, as well as all new cover artwork. Sideshow Freaks was also re-released on July 15, 2008 by ex-Korn
Korn
Korn is an American nu metal band from Bakersfield, California, formed in 1993. The current band line up includes four members: Jonathan Davis, James "Munky" Shaffer, Reginald "Fieldy" Arvizu, and Ray Luzier. The band was formed as an expansion of L.A.P.D.The band released their first demo album,...
guitarist Brian "Head" Welch's record label Driven Music Group
Driven Music Group
Driven Music Group is a record label founded by former Korn guitarist Brian "Head" Welch, Mark Nawara and Greg Shanaberger. The company has a distribution deal with Warner Music Group.-Current artists:CrossbreedFlotsam & JetsamGodheadEven The Dogs...
.
Life After 40 (2006-2010)
Reformation and new album (2011–present)Ali Nassar replaced Carlos, and after playing two shows under the 40 Below Summer moniker, they decided to rename the project Black Market Hero. They were soon joined by another former member of Flaw, drummer Micah Havertape, who replaced Nasser. In January 2006, Graziani was forced to leave the band due to severe hearing loss he had suffered after years of performing. Former Confliction bassist Matt Fortin joined in August 2006. In 2008, they recruited guitar virtuoso Angel Vivaldi as their permanent lead guitarist and quickly began to write fresh material for a full length record. Black Market Hero's first single, "Freedom Dealer," was released in summer 2007.
On July 12, 2010 it was announced that 40 Below Summer would play a reunion show on Saturday, October 2, 2010 at Starland Ballroom in Sayreville, New Jersey
Sayreville, New Jersey
Sayreville is a borough located on the Raritan River, near Raritan Bay in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough population was 42,704....
. God Forbid
God Forbid
God Forbid is an American heavy metal band formed in 1996 in East Brunswick, New Jersey.-Biography:Building up a following in the late 1990s by touring with bands such as GWAR, Nile, Cradle of Filth and Candiria, God Forbid's first full album Reject the Sickness was released by 9 Volt Records in 1999...
and With Daggers Drawn played support. 40 Below played "Invitation to the Dance" from cover-to-cover.
With Daggers Drawn is the newest project consisting of former members of 40 Below Summer. Angel Vivaldi performed live in With Daggers Drawn while actively in Black Market Hero during most of 2009. This was before the addition of Joey D'Amico and Max Illidge at which point he delved further into his solo instrumental project. With Daggers Drawn currently consists of Max Illidge, Joey D'Amico, Ed Schiro, Tommy Costello, and Greg Telfeian.
On April 20, Max Illidge posted on his Facebook stating "Starting pre production for the new 40 below record." indicating the band has reunited for a new record. Plans for any tours have not been announced yet.
Members
- Max Illidge – Vocals (With Daggers Drawn)
- Joey D'Amico – Rhythm guitar (With Daggers Drawn)
- Jordan Plingos – Lead guitar
- Hector Graziani – Bass
- Carlos Aguilar – Drums
Former
- Angel Vivaldi - Lead Guitar (replacement for Ryan Jurhs BMH 2008 - 2010)
- Steve Ferreira- Bass (original bassist, before Hector, 1998–2000)
- Ty Fury- Lead guitar (2005)
- Ryan Jurhs- Lead guitar (BMH 2005-2008)
- Ali Nassar- Drums (BMH 2005)
Discography
- Side Show Freaks (1999); re-release: July 15, 2008
- Rain EPRain EPRain is the title of an EP release by 40 Below Summer. The disc is a re-release of the band's much sought after independent EP, before they signed with London-Sire Records...
(2000) re-release: July 31, 2007 - Invitation to the Dance (Oct 16, 2001)
- The Mourning AfterThe Mourning AfterThe Mourning After is the second major release by the alternative metal / hard rock music group 40 Below Summer. The album was released on October 28, 2003 via Razor & Tie Records...
(Oct 28, 2003) - The Last DanceThe Last Dance (40 Below Summer album)The Last Dance is the third major release by 40 Below Summer. The CD/DVD combo was released on October 31, 2006 via Crash Music Inc. The two-disc release features nine demo versions of songs intended for their third LP, and a DVD with the band's "last" performance at the Starland Ballroom in New...
(Oct 31, 2006)