Drowning Pool and Escape the Fate

The band was formed in 1996 by guitarist C. J. Pierce and drummer Mike Luce, who were later joined by bassist Stevie Benton. Citing a range of influences on their music, including Metallica, Anthrax, Slipknot, Alice in Chains, SOil, AC/DC and Pantera, Drowning Pool performed as an instrumental trio until 1999 when they recruited vocalist Dave Williams. The band quickly found fame after playing with Ozzy Osbourne during Ozzfest and released their debut album “Sinner” in June 2001, which features the band’s most well-known song, “Bodies”.

The album went platinum within an astonishing six weeks, however their fortune took a retrograde turn when singer Williams was found dead inside his tour bus. He sadly died from a heart condition which had been undiagnosed until after his death. The band decided to continue after William’s death and recruited Jason Jones in 2003. The vocalist recorded just one album “Desensitized” (2004) then subsequently left the band in 2005, due to “musical differences”.

In 2005, Ryan McCombs, formerly of metal band SOil was announced as Drowning Pool’s new vocalist. The band had originally wanted him to replace Dave Williams. Their third album, “Full Circle” was released in August 2007, after signing a new record deal with Eleven Seven Music and changing to a new management company. They toured with Sick Puppies and Seether in support of the album. A self-titled fourth album was also released in April 2010. Unfortunately, McCombs announced that he was leaving the band to rejoin his previous band SOil for a tour and new album, again leaving Drowning Pool without a singer.

Undeterred, the band continued writing for their fifth album and began auditioning for a new vocalist. Current vocalist Jasen Moreno, from The Suicide Hook, joined the band in 2012 and made his debut in 2013 on “Resilience” – an apt title for a band that has battled through misfortune and remained together despite it all. On the 10th anniversary of Dave Williams’ death, the band released a song in tribute of him titled “In Memory Of…”, the first to feature Moreno’s vocals.

The Band formed in 2004/5 when Max Green and Ronnie Radke invited Bryan Money to the band using the music networking site MySpace, who subsequently invited guitarist Omar Espinosa, followed slightly later by drummer Robert Ortiz. Later on in 2005 Escape The Fate won a radio competition judged by the infamous My Chemical Romance, which projected them into supporting them on a headline tour with Alkaline Trio and Reggie and the Full Effect. The competition also made the record label Epitaph records aware of the band and along with a successful demo, Escape The Fate were signed by Epitaph and released their debut EP “There’s No Sympathy For The Dead” in May 2006. The band put on a live performance soon afterwards and quickly acquired a loyal following with regular local radio airplay.

Escape The Fate’s line-up has been an ever-changing feature of the band, Carson Allen the keyboardist departed early, Omar Espinosa parted ways soon after that and lead singer Ronnie Radke was reluctantly dropped from the band after an altercation in a desert in Nevada, U.S. that resulted in the death of an 18 year old, which led to him being sentenced to two years in prison on battery charges. But out with the old, in with the new and new lead singer Craig Mabbitt was able to maintain the same energetic and visceral live shows and immediately recorded the sophomore album “The War Is Ours,” which debuted at number 35 on the Billboard 200, selling 13,000 in the first week. "The War Is Ours" tour saw the band travel and play alongside Attack Attack!, Burn Halo and William Control.

The third album for Escape The Fate which was self-titled, represented a shift for the band, moving to the major label Interscope and having the album produced by Don Gilmore, famous for his work with Linkin Park and Bullet For My Valentine. The band’s most recent full-length “Ungrateful” released in 2013 revisited some of the sounds heard on “The War Is Ours” and was produced by the same producer, to promote the album Escape The Fate headlined a free show in Hollywood, California, U.S.