Shai Hulud (band)

Infobox musical artist
Name = Shai Hulud


Img_capt = From left to right: Matt Fox, Matt Mazzali, Chad Kishick and Matthew Fletcher
Background = group_or_band
Alias = The Warmth of Red Blood, The Worm, Harkonnen
Origin = Pompano Beach, Florida, USA
Genre = Hardcore punk Progressive metal Metalcore [ [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:wifwxqqhldte allmusic.com] ]
Years_active = 1995-present
Label = Metal Blade, Revelation, Crisis, Trustkill, Undecided, Century Media
Associated_acts = Zombie Apocalypse, Strongarm, New Found Glory, The Black Atlantic, Rorschach, Kiss It Goodbye, Damien Done
URL = [http://www.hulud.com/ www.hulud.com]
Current_members = Matt Fox Matthew Fletcher Andrew Gormley Matt Mazzali Chad Kishick
Past_members = See former members

Shai Hulud is a American five-piece technical hardcore punk band with progressive metalcite web|title= Shai Hulud, page 1 - Calendar - Seattle Weekly|url= http://www.seattleweekly.com/2008-07-30/calendar/shai-hulud|date=2008|accessdate= 2008-09-19] influences, originally formed in Pompano Beach, Florida, the band later moved up to Poughkeepsie, NY.

The name comes from the giant sandworms in Frank Herbert's "Dune". [cite web|title= Interview with Matt Fox, Chad Gilbert and Dave Silber of Shai Hulud, Obese Zine 1998|publisher= Obese Zine|url= http://www.ruleeverymoment.com/media/interviews/interview.php?id=17|date=1998|accessdate= 2008-03-21]

The two mainstay members of Shai Hulud are considered to be Matt Fox (guitar), who writes most of the band's musical and lyrical output, and Matt Fletcher (originally guitar, but then moved on to bass), who assists in writing.

Shai Hulud was one of the first bands to be considered "metalcore", in the 90s. They have played metal influenced hardcore long before "metalcore" was even considered a musical genre, but their music isn't what is known as metalcore nowadays, since their complete lack of modern metalcore elements, staying more close to their hardcore roots.

History

Early years (1995-1997)

Matt Fox (guitar) and Dave Silber (Bass) formed Shai Hulud in 1995 with Damien Moyal on vocals, Jason Lederman on drums, and Oliver Chapoy on guitar. "Matt was playing in several other kinds of bands like rock bands and they just wanted to play some hardcore" says former bassist Jared Allen. However, things with Jason Lederman didn't work out and the band began to look for a new drummer. This, unfortunately, would be something the band would become accustomed to. In 1994, Steve Kleisath and Matt Fox met for the first time in Tampa, FL, when Matt was filling in on drums for Strongarm, the band Steve later joined as drummer. He first filled until they found a full-time drummer, but then he joined the band as a full time drummer. With a complete lineup intact, the band recorded a six-song demo and was soon signed to Revelation Records by Rob Moran, bass player of Unbroken, who received their demo from Jeanne Probart, a friend that worked in Revelation's mail-order department. Although Revelation loved the Shai Hulud demo, they asked the band to change the name because they thought "it was too difficult to remember". [http://web.archive.org/web/20020206133517/www.hulud.com/info.html] Shai Hulud's first show was played on Halloween in 1996 at Discount's (a Florida based punk band) warehouse for under 50 people.

Damien Moyal quit the band when the band signed to Revelation Records. With the exit of Damien, Shai Hulud would recruit 14 year-old Chad Gilbert on vocals. The band had a record deal with Revelation Records' subsidiary, Crisis Records. In September 1996, they recorded a three song EP called "A Profound Hatred Of Man" which was released in February of '97. On the first 5000 copies of their debut EP, A Profound Hatred of Man, the band's name is misspelled on the spine as, "Shai Halud", but spelled correctly on the cover. This EP started the legacy of Shai Hulud.

"Hearts Once Nourished With Hope And Compassion" (1997-2003)

Chad Gilbert departed to found the pop-punk band New Found Glory in 1997. This would pose problems for Shai Hulud in the future. However, they started recording their first full-length, "Hearts Once Nourished With Hope And Compassion", in August 1997. They would finish the album in September and release it in November. In May 1998 three tracks were recorded for a split with New York's Indecision entitled "The Fall Of Every Man". The split was released in November 1998. As Shai Hulud's popularity grew some of the band's member's interest began to waver. In 1998, Oliver Chapoy decided to leave the band. He was replaced by Matthew Fletcher who later moved to Florida to join the band in January 1999. Matt Fletcher saw Shai Hulud for the first time in Seattle, Washington in 1997 with Strongarm and NineIronSpitFire. Andrew Gormley (current Shai Hulud drummer) was also at the show selling Kiss It Goodbye demos. In June of '99, they recorded a cover of "Fearless Vampire Killers" for the Bad Brains tribute compilation called "Never Give In".

Steve Kleisath quit the band due to personal issues, and Chad Gilbert decided to leave Shai Hulud and become a full-time guitar player for the band New Found Glory. The band forged ahead and recruited Andrew Gormley to fill as drummer on a European tour. Matt Fletcher filled as singer until Geert van der Velde joined the band during the tour. The band returned to Florida determined to continue Shai Hulud. However, Dave Silber had been ready to quit and did so upon their return. Therefore, the band had no rhythm section. So a search began for a new bass player and drummer. In January 2000, Jared Allen, Matt Fletcher's friend from Oklahoma, would fill in the bass player position and quickly join the band in the studio. Three tracks would be recorded for a split with the band Another Victim named "A Whole New Level Of Sickness". This and another split, honoring Metallica, were both released in March 2000. Shai Hulud shared the Metallica tribute split, named "Crush 'Em All Vol. 1", with Boy Sets Fire, covering the song Damage Inc.. Spikey Goldbach would fill as drummer for the "A Whole New Level Of Sickness" split and Steve Kleisath would return for the sole track on the "Crush Em' All" split. In 2001 the band moved to Poughkeepsie, NY. Chris Cardinal, who used to play for Inner Dam, joined the band to fill on Drums, but he later decided to leave the band.

"That Within Blood Ill-Tempered" (2003-2006)

The band would record and release a second full-length "That Within Blood Ill-Tempered" and it was released on May 20, 2003. Throughout the creation of the new album the band continued to search for a permanent drummer. Tony Tintari joined the band in the studio while recording the new album. Jared Allen decided to leave Shai Hulud in 2002. "When Jared left, I said I think we could probably find a stronger guitar player", says Matt Fletcher, who moved on to bass.

After the release of "That Within Blood Ill-Tempered" and a number of tours going into the subsequent year, Shai Hulud and vocalist Geert van der Velde mutually decided it was for the best he leave the band. Geert left and soon thereafter started his solo project The Black Atlantic, musically quite the opposite of Shai Hulud.Acknowledging some people may misinterpret the parting as the end of Shai Hulud, the band came out on their homepage indicating that they would not be breaking up; instead, the band would change name to "The Warmth of Red Blood" and continue what had been started with Shai Hulud. They started requesting that anyone who considered themselves up for the challenge of taking over vocal duties record a demo of themselves performing the track "Whether to Cry or Destroy" (quite similar to what The Dillinger Escape Plan did when auditioning new vocalists). In 2005 The band released a retrospective release entitled, "" containing rare demos and live tracks.

"Misanthropy Pure" (2006-present)

In early 2006, the band recorded a three song rough demo with Eric Dellon on lead vocals, Geert van rer Velde on backup vocals, [ [http://www.metalunderground.com/news/details.cfm?newsid=19055 Metal News - Shai Hulud Address Tour, New Song and Singer ( Metal Underground . com ) ] ] and Brian Go on drums. In March 2006, the band announced they were abandoning the moniker "The Warmth Of Red Blood" and keeping the name Shai Hulud. In August of 2006, the band signed with Metal Blade Records and has already begun touring again, and new material exists that was released in their new album to be titled "Misanthropy Pure" with Matt Mazzali on vocals and Andrew Gormley on drums, released on May 27, 2008. For a number of months, Shai Hulud enlisted the help of former Unearth/The Red Chord drummer Mike Justain up until he joined the band Trap Them. They are still currently without a permanent drummer. The position of second guitar was recently filled by Chad Kishick of Miami, Florida, who had toured with 24 Hours to Live, Dead Weight, All Hell Breaks Loose, and Know the Score.

Shai Hulud also have a side project named Zombie Apocalypse (formerly called Boddicker), whose sound can be summed up as a faster, more chaotic and more manic version of its mother band. It features Matt Fox, Matthew Fletcher, Ronen Kaufman, and Greg Thomas.

Music style, influences and legacy

Shai Hulud has become one of the most influential bands in the underground hardcore, metalcore and post-hardcore scene. [ [http://www.loudside.com/music/artists/Shai_Hulud/ Loudside.com - Music - Artists - Shai Hulud ] ] [ [http://www.sputnikmusic.com/band/Shai+Hulud Shai Hulud reviews, music, news - sputnikmusic ] ] [ [http://www.revelationrecords.com/releases.php?release_id=68 Revelation Records ] ] Bands like 7 Angels 7 Plagues, As Hope Dies, As I Lay Dying [ [http://www.metalblade.com/english/artists/shaihulud/bio.php Shai Hulud ] ] , It Prevails, Many Men Have Tried, Misery Signals [ [http://www.deadtide.com/interviews/page.php?id=76 Deadtide.com : Interview with Misery Signals ] ] , Poison the Well, See You Next Tuesday, Silverstein [ [http://www.silversteinmusic.com/db/faq.html Silverstein ] ] , Unearth [ [http://www.metalblade.com/english/artists/shaihulud/bio.php Shai Hulud ] ] and many more have cited Shai Hulud as an influence.

Genre

Quote|Taking the term literally, and breaking it apart, yes, we definitely are a true example of “metalcore,” a hybrid of hardcore and metal. When we used to joke with the term, it was just a clever (or not so clever) way of describing a metallic hardcore, metal-influenced hardcore, or hardcore-influenced metal band. My friends and I would listen to Deadguy and say “this isn’t HARDcore, it’s METALcore,” which made sense based on the music they played, combined with the attitude and ethic of the band. Same thing used to be said for Earth Crisis, Integrity, Coalesce, Unbroken, and a lot of the 90’s bands that incorporated heavier riffs and more progressive structuring and ideas into their songs. When the term “metalcore” was thrown around back then it was very tongue-in-cheek; this, obviously, long before it became a legitimate genre, it’s current legitimacy being highly debatable, of course.

“Metalcore,” the actual genre in 2008 doesn’t usually seem like a hybrid of hardcore and metal as much as it just seems like metal, only written by people who imitate it rather than love it, typically resulting in trite and shallow music. If this accurately describes “metalcore” then we clearly do not embrace the term. Conversely, if Earth Crisis and Deadguy define “metalcore, ” count us in.|Matt Fox [cite web
title= EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH SHAI HULUD GUITARIST MATT FOX
publisher= metalsucks.net
url= http://www.metalsucks.net/?p=5504
date=2008
accessdate= 2008-06-04]

The band is well-known within the hardcore scene for their often complex compositions, utilizing elements of hardcore punk, heavy metal, thrash metal and progressive metal with misanthropic lyrics. Shai Hulud was one of the first hardcore/metal crossover band that used the term "metalcore" to describe their music, by many fans the band is considered to be "a true metalcore band" [http://www.globaldomination.se/reviews/shai-hulud-misanthropy-pure] , although Shai Hulud's sound totally differs from what is called "metalcore" nowadays. They cite their influences as Burn, Chain Of Strength, Deadguy, J.F.A., Metallica, NOFX, S.F.A., Strongarm, Testament, Turning Point, Uniform Choice and Voivod [http://www.myspace.com/profoundhatred Shai Hulud MySpace] .

Religion and beliefs

Shai Hulud is neither a Christian band nor straight edge, as stated by the band on many interviews:

Quote|Is Shai Hulud a straight edge or Christian band? No, we are not. As it states in our debut full length, Hearts Once Nourished with Hope and Compassion, as a band, we make no claim to any one creed, deep philosophy or religion; these liner notes, written by original bass player, Dave Silber, still ring true today. Shai Hulud is comprised of members that have varied views on many different topics and issues; when represented as a collective, we only acknowledge the beliefs everyone involved is comfortable with, such as, but not limited to, a general discontent for man and his actions, the poor state of communication, understanding, and reaching common ground, and the overall lack of care and compassion exhibited by people towards themselves, others, and the environment.|Shai Hulud [ [http://www.lastfm.es/group/Straight+Edge+Music/forum/21472/_/39098/3 Connections – Debates de Straight Edge Music – Grupos en Last.fm ] ]

Quote|You guys are neither a Straight Edge or a Christian band, but you often get labeled as such. Why? Well you've got Chad who's Christian; you have Steve who was in Strongarm who's Christian. You also have Chad who's SXE. Then there's me who doesn't smoke, drink or do drugs. So I guess you could call me SXE, but I don't usually say anything. It's just something I've always been. That's mainly the reason, but you have 3 members who drink, 1 that smokes, 2 who believe in God, 3 that don't. So if you want to call us Christian or SXE, fine. We're not.|Matt Fox" [cite web
title= Interview with Matt Fox, Chad Gilbert and Dave Silber of Shai Hulud, Obese Zine 1998
publisher= Obese Zine
url= http://www.ruleeverymoment.com/media/interviews/interview.php?id=17
date=1998
accessdate= 2008-03-21]

Band members

Current line-up

*Matt Ian Mazzali - vocals (2007-present)
*Matt Fox - guitar (1995-present)
*Matthew Fletcher - bass (1998-present)
*Andrew Gormley - drums (1999-2000, 2007-present)
*Chad Kishick - guitar - (2008-present)

Former members

*Damien Moyal - vocals (1995)
*Chad Gilbert - vocals (1996-1998)
*Geert van der Velde - vocals (1999-2004)
*Eric Dellon - vocals (2005-2006)
*Oliver Chapoy - guitar (1996-1998)
*Matt Canning - guitar (2003-2004)
*Ryan Burns - guitar (2005-2006)
*Greg Thomas - guitar (2007-2008)
*Dave Silber - bass (1995-1999)
*Jared Allen - bass (2000-2002)
*Jason Lederman - drums (1995)
*Steve Kleisath - drums (1996-1998)
*Spikey Goldbach - drums (1999)
*Chris Cardinal - drums (2000-2001)
*Tony Tintari - drums (2002-2004)
*Brian Go - drums (2005-2006)

Discography

*1997: "A Profound Hatred of Man"
*1997: "Hearts Once Nourished with Hope and Compassion"
*1998: "The Fall of Every Man"
*1999: "A Whole New Level of Sickness"
*2000: "Crush 'Em All Vol. 1"
*2003: "That Within Blood Ill-Tempered"
*2005: "
*2008: "Misanthropy Pure"

Trivia

*The Fremen Warriors are a group who provide the backing vocals on all of Shai Hulud's releases. Their names are not listed in any of the liner notes, but on the song "Faithless Is He Who Says Farewell When The Road Darkens," they consisted of Aaron Bedard, Nick Brunson, Nicole Prizio, Kelly Reaves, and Paul Romanko.
*Former Shai Hulud vocalist Chad Gilbert now plays guitar in the pop punk band New Found Glory.
*Steve Kleisath used to play drums in the hardcore punk band Strongarm and the christian rock band Further Seems Forever. He's now in the indie rock band En Masse.
*Matt Canning went on to play in the pop punk/melodic hardcore band The Twilight Collective.
*Tony Tintari now plays in the indie rock band Holy Roman Empire.
*Geert van der Velde now sings for the metalcore band Miscreants ( [http://www.myspace.com/thearchitectnl] ) and has an indie rock/pop project called The Black Atlantic.

References

External links

* [http://www.hulud.com Official Shai Hulud web site]
* [http://www.ruleeverymoment.com/ ruleeverymoment.com Shai Hulud fansite]
* [http://www.metalblade.com/english/artists/shaihulud/bio.php Shai Hulud on Metal Blade Records]
* [http://revelationrecords.com/artistsfull.php?artists_id=89 Shai Hulud on Revelation Records]
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