.png)
Photo from one of the band members instagram.
If you look at the title, scratching your head saying, “the forgotten who and what now?” You have a right to, as Forgotten Faces is not a well-known band. They’re local talent from across the pond I hope to enlighten you with. Forgotten Faces is a progressive death metal band from Visalia, California.
A decent size town where you see nothing but fields grow stories high and hear people yammering about Governor Gavin Newsom’s recall. It’s great. Forgotten Faces comprises guitarist/vocalist Cesar Rivera II, drummer Lucas Rivera, bassist Alec Dias, and guitarist Felix Blanco. I know Cesar Rivera, and one of their ex-members, Hector Agredano (my Metalhead friend), who played keyboard.
I went to countless concerts with them where they performed and supported other local bands. As I write, I can’t help but remember the good times banging our heads in the mosh pit as the smell of beer and cigarettes lingered in the air in each concert hall we went to. One day, I hope we can hang out and lose our minds to loud, abrasive music.
The Bloodline Curse is the debut by Forgotten Faces released on August 13, 2021, with Bludgeoned Records. It's a concept album based on Edgar Allan Poe's stories. The Bloodline Curse is a steady dosage of metal that simmers through your body, making you feel sensations never felt before. It’s a dose of fast-paced and slow-burner tracks, leaving you in a state of shock.
For example, in the intro track, “Arrival” with its menacing, and dazzling guitar riff breakdown that throws you into “The Letter”: a plethora of high-power chord guitar riffs, trudging drums, and deafening growls. The song breaks into a slow bridge with harmonic singing that leaps back to the carnage.
The track “Approaching Dissolution” opens with a staggering and warbling guitar riff, rapid drumming, enchanting keys, and the vocalist’s deep growls which mend into squealing in a rapid-fire breakdown. Then we have the slow burner, “The Haunted Place” as it heads in a melodic direction similar to a song from the metal band, Killswitch Engage, who’s an inspiration on The Bloodline Curse. The track opens with a steady acoustic single-string guitar to a blistering electric guitar, crushing snares, and vigorous growls.
Next “Left Behind” has a grim and whistling key arrangement with a tortuous guitar riff, violins, deep growls, high screeches, and soaring vocals. Last, the track “The Unspeakable” ends on a brutal note with tantalizing guitars, pounding snares, howling sound scapes, high screeching, and growls, leaving you enough time to clean the sweat from your face.
Overall, Forgotten Faces released a fast-paced, brutal debut that slows down in the middle, but by the end, picks up the pace. It’s an excellent place to start if you’re interested in metal or local California talent. I’m not sure what’s next for Forgotten Faces, but I’ll keep a close eye. Perhaps is an album getting worldwide attention?