Hey all, it's been a while. I don't know who actually reads these, but whatever. A few short updates: We have multiple shows coming up:
- April 27, Black Sky Brewery, Denver, CO with Satan's Host and Amdusius
- June 22, Herman's Hideaway, Denver, CO with Flotsam and Jetsam, Smackfactor, and Draghoria
- June 29, Rocks Sports Bar and Grill, Colorado Springs, CO w/ VaTiC and Suspension 9
- June 30, The Den, Cheyenne, WY w TBA (watch our facebook for more details on this one)
- July 15, Trabue Tavern, Columbus, OH w/ Neverdawn, Blend, Feromaoin (pending), TBA
- October 30, Silver Spur Saloon, Lakewood, CO w Crashdïet, Lötus Gait, TBA
We have someone planning our US tour for us now, as by doing it myself, I was getting maybe a 10% response rate from both bands and venues. We will be coming through Chicago, Detroit, Columbus, Louisville, Indianapolis, St. Louis, and Kansas City. After that, we will be heading off to Europe! All details for both tours will be posted as soon as they are finalized.
We have new music that we will be recording soon with drummer Alex Carillo from Draghoria, so keep an eye out for that!
Finally, this past year has been awesome with the amount of publicity we have received through online radio, terrestrial radio, online magazines, and print magazines! Some places have been requesting a full bio rather than the condensed one we use on our social media pages, so here it is! The full history of Immortal Sÿnn:
Immortal Sÿnn formed on September 15, 2004 at Regis Jesuit High School in Aurora Colorado. It began one day when founder, Tony Z, was approached by friend, Tom Canino, at lunch. Tom was looking to form a punk band, and knew that Tony played guitar, so the two decided to start a project. Tom soon introduced Tony to the band's first bass player, Liam Macfarlane, who was a grade below the two Juniors. The trio then recruited Slee McGehee on drums, Rusty Bower on guitar, and Paul Lehan - also on guitar.
The first band practice took place at Liam’s parents’ house in Parker, CO on September 25, 2004. This is the house in which the band’s earliest songs would be written, including, “Blind Soul” and “Dark Abyss”. Slee never showed up to that first practice, and the rest of the group just showed each other random songs that they could play. It was quite a fruitless endeavor.
In the following week, Tom and Rusty lost interest in the project, and were replaced by Will Heward and Corey Ortiz, respectively. Drummer Josh Novak was then added to the line-up on the suggestion of Tony and Liam’s friend Corey (who designed the original ‘Immortal Syn’ logo for the band). This line-up recorded the original demo of “Blind Soul” in early 2005, as well as an early version of “Dark Abyss”. Josh left the band shortly after these recordings, and was replaced very briefly by Dan Quatararo, who left the band after only one week saying that, “[he didn’t] see it going anywhere.”
Nick Anthony joined as the next drummer after Tony found his info on a flyer at Guitar Center. The group struggled to write new material, as no one would practice, nor would the full line-up ever show up to rehearsals. On May 24, 2005, the band played its first ever live gig at Raiderfest at their high school. Since Nick was the only member that did not attend Regis, he was not allowed to perform at the private event, and was replaced by Rob Casaria for the show. They played “Blind Soul”, “Comfortably Numb” by Pink Floyd, and “Fade To Black” by Metallica. During the set, one of Paul’s strings broke, Will’s PA system stopped working, and during the latter song, the band abruptly, and for reasons unknown, stopped playing after a wave of feedback shot out of Tony’s amplifier before the final solo, ending the set.
Will, Paul, and Corey would leave the band shortly after this gig, and during the summer of that year, would be replaced by various members who each only lasted a week or two - Ryan Cowdin on lead guitar, Seth A. on lead guitar, and Sam A. on vocals. It was also during this time that Liam switched from bass to guitar. The main trio, along with Ryan Cowdin recordedearly versions of two tracks, later known as “Fallen” and “Seventeen”. These tracks would end up being rerecorded and used for Tony Z’s side project, Li’l Hellraisers, in 2016.
Late in 2005, Will Heinz joined the band for a couple months on vocals. They would record an early demo of a song called, “Rock ’n’ Roll” All Night Long", which would also later be slated to rerecord for Li’l Hellraisers.
In early 2006, Will and Nick left the band, and Liam and Tony were left as the only members. Tensions between the two over personal and musical matters festered over the next few months, and in July of that year, the two parted ways permanently. Tony again recruited Rob Casaria to play drums for him, but that was short lived, as he was forced to resign over protests from his highly religious grandmother with whom he lived.
A few weeks later, the band made a comeback with Danny Horrigan on bass, Matt Simonson on drums, and Andy Hannum on guitar. Matt departed soon after, but was replaced yet again by Nick Anthony, who agreed to return if the band were to play more glam metal as opposed to thrash metal. The group reluctantly agreed as they needed a drummer.
Nick’s return did not last long, as his mom barred him from returning to the group due to picking him up while he was in a state of severe intoxication after leaving a house party one day after rehearsal. The band then added vocalist Mike Ratty, with whom they recorded an instrumental demo called, “Untitled Sex”, and a cover of Metallica’s, “For Whom The Bell Tolls”. The band was placed on hiatus a couple weeks later, right as Tony began college.
Tony Z would join two short-lived thrash bands after Immortal Sÿnn was placed on hiatus called Nuclear Terror and Warmetal, respectively. During his brief time in Warmetal, he came across a Myspace ad from a band called Phoenix Rising. They were in need of a second guitarist. This happened to be the band Will Heward joined after departing Immortal Sÿnn, but by this point he had left that project as well.
Tony auditioned for Phoenix Rising (later known as Wild Angelz and Devoutcast)in April 2007, and played guitar with them for the next six years - quitting the group on March 17, 2013. However, by July of 2012, Tony had foreseen the coming implosion of that group, and decided to revive his old high school project.
Originally called Lucid Confusion, the band went through various name changes throughout their career - Blind Soul, Midnight Rose, Anamnesis, Immortal Syn, Majesty, Defender, Dead Reckoning, and Necrofox. Tony first chose the old name of Anamnesis for the revival, but soon settled upon Immortal Syn - one of the longest lasting names of the original group - adding an extra ’n’ to end of the name, as well as a heavy metal umlaut over the ‘y’.
Danny Horrigan was once again back on bass, and Alex Giebler on vocals. Alex, at the time of the revival, was also still singing in Devoutcast, and was the first member to not have gone to Regis Jesuit High School since Nick Anthony.
Tony and Alex decided to record an old song originally written during the former’s time in Wild Angelz called, “Whiskey”. The two wrote new lyrics, and went to Maximum Level Audio in Aurora, CO to record with producer Brian Knop. While Danny was a member of the band, due to time constraints, he was only able to record one section of the song. The rest of the bass lines (as well as bass and drum tracks on subsequent songs that would end up on Barfly) were either played by Brian or Tony.
The song was a success, and began to be played both on internet radio, and terrestrial radio stations. Drummer Ben Kroll would soon be added to the line-up, but Alex would then part ways with the band due to musical differences. Tony and Ben would continue to rework old songs originally written by Tony during his time in Wild Angelz while they searched for new members. Lance McCutcheon and Mario Betancourt both briefly had stints as lead guitarist in fall 2013. Danny soon decided to part ways to pursue a degree in architecture.
One night, Tony stumbled upon a Craigslist ad posted by Miguel Ruíz. He was about to leave his band, Sleepwalker, and was looking for a new project. After talking to him on the phone, Tony found out he was only 16 at the time, but decided to give him an audition anyway. He played Pantera’s “We’ll Meet Again”. After hearing Miguel’s skills and witnessing his ability firsthand, he was given the job. Miguel has been the longest member of Immortal Sÿnn to date behind Tony Z.
In the Spring of 2014, Tony also found a Craigslist ad posted by Chase McClellan looking for a heavy metal band. Tony auditioned him in two ways - first, by listening to him sing along to a Dio album, and second, by watching him rehearse with his then-current band, Shattered Halo. Chase got the job immediately, but left the group in May 2014 due to personal matters, and was subsequently replaced by Sage Knighten.
Sage sang with the band for three months. During this time, Miguel’s friend Jesse Bose was added as bass player, and a few recordings were made - “Sexxx Fiend”, “So Many Chicks, So Little Time”, and a vocal rerecording of “Whiskey”. This new version of “Whiskey” replaced the old one on internet and terrestrial radio.
In late December of 2014, Sage inexplicably left the band. He did not tell any of the members he was doing so, he only left a brief message on Facebook saying he had moved back to Wisconsin. Later, he accused the band members of being “Satanists”, and cited that as his reason for leaving.
Chase contacted Tony that very day and asked the band if they would like him to sing for them again, to which they gladly accepted. The band composed a couple of new songs, rerecorded “Whiskey” for the third time, and on January 24, 2015, played their first show since Raiderfest at Bushwacker’s Saloon in Denver.
Ben departed the band soon after this show, but was replaced by Axel Berrios a couple of months later, who would remain with the group until June 2016. Jesse departed the band in December 2015, and was replaced by Tony’s old Devoutcast bandmate, Cameron Corley, as a member-for-hire until Andrew Cope took up the responsibility in fall of 2016.
After Axel’s departure to Mexico for school, Cody Heim joined the band as drummer for a few months, but was soon replaced by the band’s former session drummer, Mike Arnold. This, too was short lived, and ultimately Ryan Bloom (Bloodstrike, ex-Havok) took the spot as a member-for-hire. Ryan’s first show with Immortal Sÿnn was at the Gothic Theatre in Englewood, CO opening for Hammerfall and Delain on May 1, 2017. Whether or not Axel will return to the band is currently uncertain.
Since the band’s revival in 2012, they have released an EP (Barfly), single (“Don’t Let Me Down”) - a Chainsmokers cover, and full-length album (Machine Men). They have opened for many well-known groups such as: Firehouse, Loudness, Kix, L.A. Guns, Warrant, Bulletboys, Great White, Ratt, Lynch Mob, Winger, Hammerfall, Delain, and in June will play with Flotsam & Jetsam. They receive steady airplay on internet radio and terrestrial radio in Colorado. In 2018, the band was nominated by the IMEA in the categories of Best New Metal Artist, Best Metal Song (“Blind Soul”), and Best Metal Album (Machine Men). The award ceremony will be held on June 16 at the Paramount Arts Center in Ashland, KY.
2018 will also see the band embarking on its first tour. Beginning in July, they will do a brief tour of the midwest, traveling to Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, and Missouri. Afterward, they will be traveling to Europe, and playing in Sweden, Germany, Poland, Slovakia, and Czech Republic.
Immortal Sÿnn is working on new music, and hope to release a single and a new EP at some point in 2018.
