Faxed Head

Faxed Head produces what some regard as the planet's most grotesque and disquieting death metal, a distinction meant as high praise. Speculation persists that several members also belong to Mr. Bungle, yet verification remains elusive because each performer adopts a pseudonym; the sole confirmed participant is guitarist Trey Spruance of Mr. Bungle and Secret Chiefs 3, who performs under the alias Neck Head. The remaining lineup features La Brea Tar Pits Head on drums, McPatrick Head handling vocals, Jigsaw Puzzle Head on bass, and Fifth Head managing electronics. Onstage the musicians don grotesque costumes that allow their vivid imagination and offbeat humor to flourish without restraint. The band's own tongue-in-cheek biography describes the musicians as "crippled, isolated, and uneducated" after a suicide pact that failed, an experience that subsequently fostered their appreciation for death metal. Both the 1995 release Uncomfortable But Free and the 1997 album Exhumed at Birth deliver the classic elements that thrill extreme-metal listeners, including guttural vocals, heavily detuned guitar riffs, and rapid double-bass drumming. Chiropractic appeared in summer 2001 and continued the group's characteristic style of angst-driven rock. Although the band seldom tours, it has undertaken short excursions to Japan and Australia, exposing unprepared crowds to its singular approach.