Soulbender is an American-Canadian hard rock band formed in
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...
,
Washington
Washington commonly refers to:
* Washington (state), United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A metonym for the federal government of the United States
** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...
, in 2002.
The band independently released their album ''
Soulbender'' in 2004, which they reissued with four additional tracks through Rat Pak Records under the title ''Soulbender II'' in 2014. Though the band underwent multiple lineup changes in that ten-year timespan, both releases featured the original five-piece incarnation of two Americans and three Canadians who previously played in several different bands respectively from Seattle and
Vancouver
Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...
:
Nick Pollock
Nick Pollock (born November 22, 1967) is a Seattle-based singer, guitarist, and songwriter best known for his work with the grunge band My Sister's Machine. He has also played in various bands with other notable musicians, including Alice in Chai ...
(lead vocals), formerly of
Alice N' Chains and
My Sister's Machine
My Sister's Machine was an American rock band from Seattle, Washington, formed in 1989. Its members were Nick Pollock (lead vocals, guitar), Owen Wright (guitar), Chris Ivanovich (bass guitar), and Chris Gohde (drums).
This band recorded and re ...
;
Michael Wilton
Michael F. Wilton (born February 23, 1962) also known as The Whip, for how fast his fingers "whip" around the guitar fretboard, is an American musician, best known for being a guitarist and songwriter in the progressive metal band Queensrÿche, w ...
(guitar) from
Queensrÿche
Queensrÿche is an American heavy metal band. It formed in 1982 in Bellevue, Washington, out of the local band the Mob. The band has released 16 studio albums, one EP, and several DVDs, and continues to tour and record. The original lineup ...
; Dave Groves (guitar), formerly of Tin Pan and Fallen Angel; Wes Hallam (drums), formerly of Assault and Fallen Angel; and Marten Van Keith (bass guitar).
History
Soulbender has chiefly been noted as a side-project of Michael Wilton, borne out of his desire to return the
heavy metal sound that his main band
Queensrÿche
Queensrÿche is an American heavy metal band. It formed in 1982 in Bellevue, Washington, out of the local band the Mob. The band has released 16 studio albums, one EP, and several DVDs, and continues to tour and record. The original lineup ...
had drifted away from.
After completing 17 original tracks, Soulbender played their first live show opening for Queensrÿche vocalist
Geoff Tate
Geoff Tate (born Jeffrey Wayne Tate, January 14, 1959; he later changed his first name to Geoffery or Geoffrey) (Pp. 11, 48). is an American singer and songwriter. He rose to fame with the progressive metal band Queensrÿche, who had commercial ...
's solo band at the Experience Music Project in Seattle on June 22, 2002. They also performed at the very first
Layne Staley Tribute later that August.
With the addition of bass player Marten Van Keith, who also hailed from Vancouver according to Wilton,
[Interview with Michael Wilton at Metalshrine](_blank)
the group released their self-titled debut album through Licking Lava Records in 2004 and they immediately began to tour in support of the album. Prior to the release of the album, Sefany Jones of
KNAC
KBUE (105.5 FM, "Que Buena 105.5/94.3 FM") is a commercial radio station
Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In te ...
was given a demo CD of six songs. In her review, she wrote, "The overall feel of this album is entrancing, inasmuch as I would describe
Tool
A tool is an object that can extend an individual's ability to modify features of the surrounding environment or help them accomplish a particular task. Although many animals use simple tools, only human beings, whose use of stone tools dates ba ...
." She also likened it to
Marilyn Manson,
Alice in Chains
Alice in Chains (often abbreviated as AIC) is an American rock band from Seattle, Washington, formed in 1987 by guitarist and vocalist Jerry Cantrell and drummer Sean Kinney, who later recruited bassist Mike Starr and lead vocalist Layne ...
, and
Michael Monroe
Matti Antero Kristian Fagerholm (born 17 June 1962), better known by his stage name Michael Monroe, is a Finnish rock musician who rose to fame as the vocalist for the glam punk band Hanoi Rocks, and has served as the frontman for all-star sid ...
. Wilton said in an interview a year later that "a lot of people are apparently comparing it to
Alice in Chains
Alice in Chains (often abbreviated as AIC) is an American rock band from Seattle, Washington, formed in 1987 by guitarist and vocalist Jerry Cantrell and drummer Sean Kinney, who later recruited bassist Mike Starr and lead vocalist Layne ...
and
Tool
A tool is an object that can extend an individual's ability to modify features of the surrounding environment or help them accomplish a particular task. Although many animals use simple tools, only human beings, whose use of stone tools dates ba ...
." Despite playing a couple sellout shows, the band has experienced much difficulty getting off the ground due to Wilton's Queensrÿche duties. Wilton compared this predicament to that of singer
Maynard James Keenan
Maynard James Keenan (born James Herbert Keenan; April 17, 1964) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, actor, and winemaker. He is best known as the singer and primary lyricist of the rock bands Tool, A Perfect Circle, and Pusc ...
, who pulls double duty with
Tool
A tool is an object that can extend an individual's ability to modify features of the surrounding environment or help them accomplish a particular task. Although many animals use simple tools, only human beings, whose use of stone tools dates ba ...
and
A Perfect Circle
A Perfect Circle is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1999 by guitarist Billy Howerdel and Tool vocalist Maynard James Keenan. A Perfect Circle has released four studio albums, the first three during the early 2000s: ...
, saying "I'll do a little tour here with one band and a little tour there with the other band." Van Keith was replaced in 2005 by bass player Chuck Miller, formerly of the band Peace and Silence.
In 2007, Pollock and Hallam stepped down from their respective roles as vocalist and drummer and replaced by Travis Bracht of
Second Coming
The Second Coming (sometimes called the Second Advent or the Parousia) is a Christian (as well as Islamic and Baha'i) belief that Jesus will return again after his ascension to heaven about two thousand years ago. The idea is based on messian ...
and for a brief spell
Van Williams
Van Zandt Jarvis Williams (February 27, 1934 – November 28, 2016) was an American actor best known for his leading role as Kenny Madison in both Warner Bros. television detective series ''Bourbon Street Beat'' (1959–1960) and its sequel ...
of
Nevermore
Nevermore was an American heavy metal band from Seattle, Washington, formed in 1991. The band has been inactive since 2011, due to personal issues between the band members. In April 2015, lead singer Warrel Dane confirmed that Nevermore had n ...
. Bracht had previously worked with Chuck Miller in Peace and Silence.
Later that year, Ray Hartman replaced Van Williams on drums and Soulbender released a song called "Loaded" on ''Unleashed 3'', a
compilation album of songs by various artists from Rat Pak Records.
They also performed at the sixth annual Layne Staley Tribute along with
Daughtry in 2007.
In 2008 and 2009, Wilton said he was "six songs into" finishing a second album.
By this time, he said that
Tim "Ripper" Owens
Timothy S. "Ripper" Owens (born September 13, 1967) is an American heavy metal singer who currently performs with KK's Priest, Spirits of Fire, the Three Tremors and A New Revenge. He first gained attention as the lead singer of Judas Priest ...
had assumed vocal duties.
In 2011, Wilton said, "I actually have 75% of the Soulbender 2 written so it will get finished I just don’t know when."
In 2014, the original members of Soulbender reunited and signed a world-wide distribution deal with Rat Pak Records. On September 30, 2014, they released Soulbender II, a remastered version of their original album with four new songs.
In 2018, a
GoFundMe
GoFundMe is an American for-profit crowdfunding platform that allows people to raise money for events ranging from life events such as celebrations and graduations to challenging circumstances like accidents and illnesses. From 2010 to the be ...
campaign was set up for Marten Van Keith after he was diagnosed with
throat cancer
Head and neck cancer develops from tissues in the lip and oral cavity (mouth), larynx (throat), salivary glands, nose, sinuses or the skin of the face. The most common types of head and neck cancers occur in the lip, mouth, and larynx. Symptoms ...
. On January 13, 2020, Queensrÿche announced on their
Facebook
Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Mosk ...
page that Van Keith had died from the cancer.
Members
;Last line-up
*
Michael Wilton
Michael F. Wilton (born February 23, 1962) also known as The Whip, for how fast his fingers "whip" around the guitar fretboard, is an American musician, best known for being a guitarist and songwriter in the progressive metal band Queensrÿche, w ...
- guitar
*Dave Groves - guitar
*
Nick Pollock
Nick Pollock (born November 22, 1967) is a Seattle-based singer, guitarist, and songwriter best known for his work with the grunge band My Sister's Machine. He has also played in various bands with other notable musicians, including Alice in Chai ...
- vocals
*Wes Hallam - drums
*Marten Van Keith - bass guitar
(died 2020)
;Former members
*Chuck Miller - bass guitar
*Ray Hartman - drums
*
Tim "Ripper" Owens
Timothy S. "Ripper" Owens (born September 13, 1967) is an American heavy metal singer who currently performs with KK's Priest, Spirits of Fire, the Three Tremors and A New Revenge. He first gained attention as the lead singer of Judas Priest ...
- vocals
*
Travis Bracht
Travis Bracht is a Seattle-based singer and guitarist best known for his work with the post-grunge band Second Coming.Stav, StevThe Second Coming of Second Coming "Intermittent Signals" September 1, 2001. Retrieved on June 8, 2011.
Biography Peac ...
- vocals
;Touring members
*Van Williams - drums
Discography
;Studio albums
* ''
Soulbender'' (2004)
;Other appearances
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
Alternative metal supergroups
American alternative metal musical groups
Canadian alternative metal musical groups
Musical groups from Seattle
Hard rock musical groups from Washington (state)
Heavy metal musical groups from Washington (state)
Musical groups established in 2002