The Funeral Pyre was an American

blackened death metal Blackened death metal (also known as black death metal) is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal that fuses elements of black metal and death metal. The genre emerged in early 1990s when black metal bands began incorporating elements of death me ...

band from La Habra, California. The band released four studio albums and various shorter works before playing their last advertised show in 2012.

History

The band was formed in La Habra, California, in 2001 by guitarist James Joyce, keyboardist Daniella Jones, vocalist John Strachan, drummer Alex Hernandez, and bassist Adam Campbell, initially adopting the name Envilent. They participated in the underground extreme music scenes across

L.A. Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

and Orange counties. They have acclaim amongst metal internet press outlets for their Swedish-style melody, ethereal keyboards, and blackened vocals. The band released several demos and the EP '' Whispering to the Shadows'' before changing its name to The Funeral Pyre prior to the 2003 release of their EP ''

October October is the tenth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars and the sixth of seven months to have a length of 31 days. The eighth month in the old calendar of Romulus , October retained its name (from Latin and Greek ''ôct ...

''. A year later the band released its first full-length album, '' Immersed by the Flames of Mankind''. In August 2006, the band released their second full-length album '' The Nature of Betrayal'', which was recorded at Ulug studios in Costa Mesa, California, through Creator-Destructor Records, an independent California based recording studio. Initial internet-based sales enabled a distribution deal with

Prosthetic Records Prosthetic Records is an American record label specializing in heavy metal recordings, founded in Los Angeles, California in 1998 by E.J. Johantgen and Dan Fitzgerald. Prosthetic Records released the first two albums by Lamb of God and Animals ...

, and ''The Nature of Betrayal'' was re-released in March 2007. The period that followed saw numerous changes in membership: longtime keyboardist Daniella Jones who parted with the band for "musical differences", was briefly replaced by a second guitarist, Justin Garcia, who was in turn replaced by Lanny Perelman, who left the band as well. A third album, ''

Wounds A wound is a rapid onset of injury that involves lacerated or punctured skin (an ''open'' wound), or a contusion (a ''closed'' wound) from blunt force trauma or compression. In pathology, a ''wound'' is an acute injury that damages the epider ...

'' was recorded in January and February 2008 with producer John Haddad and released in May of that year. The band has more closely embraced

black metal Black metal is an extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include Tempo#Beats per minute, fast tempos, a Screaming (music)#Black metal, shrieking vocal style, heavily distorted Electric guitar, guitars played with t ...

entirely with the release of ''Wounds'', as well as later works. An EP, ''December'', was recorded during December 2008, and received a limited distribution by Creator-Destructor in March 2009. A 7-inch split with Landmine Marathon was released shortly after through Forest Moon Special Products. The band's fourth and final studio album, ''Vultures at Dawn'' was released in June 2010 by Prosthetic Records. It was generally well received, much of the praise coming from the more experimental songs "Monolith" and "To Watch the Earth Rot", both being further from their normal genre of songwriting.

Members

;Current members *James Joyce -

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

*Alex Hernandez -

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

*John Strachan -

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

*Adam Campbell -

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

;Former members *Jason Dunn - guitar *Daniella Jones -

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

*Justin Garcia - guitar *Lanny Perelman - guitar *Alex Lopez - guitar

Discography

;Studio albums *2004: '' Immersed by the Flames of Mankind'' *2006: '' The Nature of Betrayal'' *2008: ''

'' *2010: ''Vultures at Dawn'' ;EPs *2002: '' Whispering to the Shadows EP'' *2003: '' October EP'' *2006: ''The First Book of the Kings'' (split EP)
*2009: ''December EP'' *2009: ''The Funeral Pyre/Landmine Marathon'' (Split EP)

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Funeral Pyre American melodic death metal musical groups American blackened death metal musical groups Black metal musical groups from California Death metal musical groups from California Musical groups from Orange County, California American musical quintets Musical groups established in 2001 La Habra, California