Buckcherry und Death Angel

Lead Vocalist Josh Todd founded Buckcherry in the mid 90’s after bonding with guitarist Keith Nelson over a mutual appreciation of AC/DC in a California tattoo parlour. After recording music together, they added a bass player, Jonathan Brightman, and a drummer, Devon Glenn, and toured local bars and clubs in Hollywood, under the name Sparrow.

After gaining a local fanbase due to their classic rock n roll style, they were quickly snapped up by Dreamsworks Records, and forced to change their name to legal reasons. The band claims they named themselves after a draq queen in Hollywood.

Buckcherry released their self-titled debut studio album in 1999, which was a commercial and critical success, with the album certified Gold. Following on from the album, the band toured extensively, with highlights including an opening slot for Lenny Kravitz and playing at Woodstock festival.

They quickly followed with a sophomore album “Time Bomb” in 2001, however they album was considered by fans and critics as a disappointment, and with various artistic differences and member changes within the group, the band eventually broke up in 2002

After Todd and Nelson flirted with a project with Guns N’ Roses member Slash, and wrote and produced records for other bands such as Velvet Revolver, they decided to reform Buckcherry for a second stint in 2005.

They unleashed their successful comeback album “15” in 2006, which marked the completion of a successful return for the group as it was certified platinum. Since their return, Buckcherry have continued to write fruitful albums, including 2013’s “Confessions”.

Since their comeback, the band have played on massive tours with rock behemoths KISS and Motley Crue, and contributed music to movie soundtracks such as the “Avengers Assemble”

The roots of Death Angel can be traced to California and a quartet of cousins, Rob Cavestany, Dennis Pepa , Gus Pepa and Andy Galeon who formed the original line up yet they were known by many other pseudonyms including Dark Fury and Cavestany before eventually deciding on Death Angel. Their first album 'The Ultra-Violence' was released in 1987 after experimenting with different variations of traditional metal. The album was released through Enigma Records, it failed to chart yet it was hailed as a cult success by the band's early fan base.

The band followed this with two albums, 'Frolic Through The Park' in 1989 which remains the only appearance on the US Billboard charts whilst 1990's 'Part III' scored the band moderate chart success across Europe. In late 1990 drummer Andy Galeon was critically injured when their tour bus crashed and this was seen as the catalyst that ended with the band's demise. Their record label encouraged them to replace Galeon with another drummer due him needing a year to recover yet when the band refused they were then dropped. Various members decided to pursue life outside music and by 1991 Death Angel was no more.

However in 2001 the band reunited for a benefit show, although Gus Pepa was unable to attend due to no longer being in the States so Death Angel continued with collaborator and friend Ted Aguilar. They released their first album in 14 years which was titled 'The Art Of Dying' in 2004. The 2010 release 'Relentless Retribution' peaked at #10 on the US Heatseekers charts as well as appearing on numerous European charts.