Tommy Vext

Thomas Cummings (born April 15, 1982), better known under the stage name Tommy Vext, is an American heavy metal singer and songwriter known as the lead vocalist of Bad Wolves, Snot, Divine Heresy, and Westfield Massacre. He was also the fill-in vocalist for heavy metal band Five Finger Death Punch during their European Arena tour in 2017 when lead singer Ivan Moody left the tour to check into rehab. [1][2]

Tommy Vext
Vext with Bad Wolves at Rock am Ring 2019
Background information
Birth nameThomas Cummings
Born (1982-04-15) April 15, 1982
New York City, U.S.
Genres
Occupation(s)
  • Singer
  • songwriter
InstrumentsVocals
Years active2000–present
Labels
Associated acts
Websitebadwolvesnation.com

Career

Early career[3]

Vext began his music career in Brooklyn, New York as a teenager singing in local hardcore bands and engaging in freestyle rap battles with the neighborhood's preeminent hopefuls. Being too young, Vext had to sneak into clubs even for his own shows. In 1996, he formed the band Maniacal Disciple with friends Jim Donovan, Steve Perlmutter and Mike Kontaras, eventually changing their name to "Vext" (a word he found in Wu-Tang Clan's lyrics), which eventually became his nickname after he started to be known as "Tommy Vext" in the New York hardcore scene. Vext was a local buzz band, playing shows at CBGB, The Continental, and Lamours. They also opened for Biohazard, Candiria, and many others. In 2005, at the Roadrunner Records 25th-anniversary show, Vext was invited to sing with Corey Taylor of Slipknot.[4]

Divine Heresy[3]

In 2006, Vext was recruited by Dino Cazares of Fear Factory to front his new band Divine Heresy. Their debut studio album Bleed the Fifth was released in the United States on August 28, 2007, through Century Media Records. The album was produced by former Machine Head and Soulfly guitarist Logan Mader.

Bleed the Fifth enjoyed a warm welcome from both the fans and the press. Dom Lawson of Metal Hammer summarized his review by saying "All in all, the portly pioneer has hit the bull's-eye and it's going to be fascinating to see what happens next", awarding an eight out of a possible 10.[5] Eduardo Rivadavia of AllMusic felt the album "strikes a near-perfect balance between confirmation (reminding fans of Cazares' abilities and unique vision) and innovation (he even plays a few guitar solos!)".[6] Scott Alisoglu of Blabbermouth.net summarized his review claiming the album is "one tough son of a bitch that may still have you humming melodies long after you've ejected the disc".[7] Chad Bowar of About.com commented "Great musicianship, good songs and excellent production make this a very respectable debut".[8]

Vext wrote the majority of the lyrics, which are about personal strifes and how people overcome them. Much of the lyrical content was influenced by the Book of Revelation, natural disasters, war, and terrorism.[9]

Due to unresolvable differences with Dino Cazares, Vext parted with Divine Heresy in 2008. The highly publicised split left both the fans and the press confused. In an exclusive "Metal Injection" interview, Vext explained the real reasons behind his departure from the band:

I've been suffering the indignities of Dino's massive ego for as long as I've worked with him, and unfortunately, everything I've heard about him had eventually come to fruition, and he is exactly as he's been portrayed as by his ex-band members. And this happening now is the same reason why he's not in Fear Factory anymore. It was a stepping stone in my life and I'm moving on.[10]

— Tommy Vext

Later bassist Joe Payne and drummer Tim Yeung both broke ties with Dino and on July 27, 2015, in an interview with MetalSucks, Cazares confirmed that he was the only remaining member of Divine Heresy.[11]

Snot[3]

Snot is an American metal band from Santa Barbara, California. Formed in 1995, the band released their debut studio album Get Some with founding vocalist Lynn Strait in 1997 and disbanded after his death in 1998. In 2008, the band reformed, with Vext on vocals.[12] Snot has played a number of shows fronted by Vext, including a fall 2008 tour in the United States, supporting DevilDriver. When later original guitarist Sonny Mayo left the band, Snot went on hiatus again.

On February 11, 2014, Snot reunited the second time at the Whisky a Go Go in Hollywood.[13][14] This second reunion line-up once again featured Vext, Mayo, Doling, Fahnestock and Miller. They went on to play three more shows in the Southern California area before once again going quiet.

Vext

In 2011 Tommy Vext reformed Vext with members of Mutiny Within, (Bill Fore, and Andrew Jacobs); along with guitar virtuoso Angel Vivaldi. They released the EP titled Impermanence. in 2012.[15] By 2013 Vivaldi and Jacobs had left the project, with Billy DiNapoli taking over on guitars. They released an EP Broke is the New Black.[16]

Tommy then had gone on tour with Mayhem Festival 2013 as a cook, and moved to Los Angeles after the tour.

Westfield Massacre[3]

After his stint with Snot, Vext moved on and formed a new band known as "Westfield Massacre".[17] The band released their self-titled debut album on Urban Yeti Records 2016. In 2017, Vext began working on a side project with former DevilDriver drummer John Boecklin Vext left Westfield while he was on tour with Five Finger Death Punch.[18]

Bad Wolves
Vext performing at Nova Rock 2017

In 2016, Vext formed a new band, known as "Bad Wolves"[19] with former DevilDriver drummer John Boecklin. Guitarists Doc Coyle (Vagus Nerve, God Forbid) and Chris Cain (Bury Your Dead), and later, bassist Kyle Konkiel formerly of In This Moment were recruited for the project. During the summer of 2016, they entered AudioHammer Studios with longtime collaborator Mark Lewis (Trivium, All That Remains) and tracked what would become the group's debut studio album. On May 2, 2017, Bad Wolves independently premiered a song titled "Learn to Live" accompanied by a music video[20] The video was streamed over 600,000 times. In November 2017, it was announced[21] that Bad Wolves signed with Eleven Seven Music and Zoltan Bathory, the founding guitarist of Five Finger Death Punch, took them under his wings as the band's manager.

The band released their debut studio album, Disobey on May 11, 2018 through Eleven Seven Music.[22][22][23]

The album reached number 23 on the US Billboard 200. In May 2017, Bad Wolves released their debut single, "Learn to Live".[24] In November 2017, Bad Wolves released their second single, "Toast to the Ghost".[22] On January 18, 2018, they released a third single, which was a cover of "Zombie" (originally by The Cranberries), which charted on multiple Billboard charts.[25][26] The night of her death, Dolores O'Riordan left a voice message to her friend, record label executive Dan Waite, where she offered to "sing on it" on the cover that Waite had previously given O'Riordan to listen to and accredit. TMZ published this voice message on April 5, 2018.[27] A music video was released on February 22. The song topped the US Billboard Mainstream Rock Songs chart, while the music video was viewed more than 170 million times. The single is certified platinum in Canada and the United States and gold in Germany.

The band toured with Five Finger Death Punch, Shinedown, Breaking Benjamin, and Starset for the first half of 2018.[28]

Awards and nominations

Bad Wolves became the first rock band in 2018 to reach platinum status for their cover song, "Zombie".[29]

Discography

Vext
  • 2004: Cast The First Stone
  • 2012: Impermanence

God Forbid

Divine Heresy

Westfield Massacre
  • 2016: Westfield Massacre

Bad Wolves

Filmography
  • Twinkle Twinkle Little Star (short film) (2016) (as Drug Dealer)[30]

References
  1. "Ivan Moody To Sit Out Five Finger Death Punch European Tour, Checks Back Into Rehab - Metal Injection". Metalinjection.net. June 14, 2017. Retrieved October 28, 2017.
  2. "Five Finger Death Punch's Ivan Moody Exits Euro Tour, Tommy Vext to Fill In". Loudwire.com. Retrieved October 28, 2017.
  3. The Ex Man Podcast 06 - Tommy Vext (Bad Wolves, ex-Westfield Massacre, ex-Snot, ex-Divine Heresy), retrieved September 7, 2018
  4. Roadrunner United Corey Taylor and Tommy Vext Singing, December 12, 2008, retrieved September 7, 2018
  5. "Bleed the Fifth reviews". RoadrunnerRecords.co.uk. Archived from the original on December 21, 2007. Retrieved December 30, 2007.
  6. Rivadavia, Eduardo. "Bleed the Fifth > Review". AllMusic. Retrieved December 30, 2007.
  7. Alisoglu, Scott. "Bleed the Fifth Roadrunner review". Blabbermouth.net. Archived from the original on October 17, 2007. Retrieved December 31, 2007.
  8. Boward, Chad. "Bleed The Fifth About.com review". About.com. Retrieved December 31, 2007.
  9. Donnelly, Justin (September 12, 2007). "Divine Heresy: Heretic Anthems". The Metal Forge. Retrieved December 30, 2007.
  10. "THE DIVINE HERESY SOAP OPERA CONTINUES". Metalsucks.com. May 1, 2008. Retrieved May 31, 2016.
  11. "#109: Dino Cazares of Fear Factory". MetalSucks. July 27, 2015. Retrieved July 29, 2015.
  12. "Reunited Snot Releases New Song, Announces Tour With DEVILDRIVER". blabbermouth.net. August 7, 2008. Archived from the original on December 23, 2008. Retrieved April 15, 2009.
  13. "Reunited SNOT To Play First Show in Five Years Next Month". blabbermouth.net. January 13, 2014. Retrieved February 15, 2014.
  14. "Video: Reunited SNOT Plays First Show In Five Years". blabbermouth.net. February 15, 2014. Retrieved February 15, 2014.
  15. "angelvivaldi. | o f f i c i a l w e b s i t e". Angelvivaldiofficial.com. Retrieved December 30, 2016.
  16. http://rip-fred-marques.blogspot.com/2014/02/vext-broke-is-new-black-ep-2013.html. Retrieved October 29, 2018. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  17. "Westfield Massacre". metalinjection.net. April 29, 2016. Retrieved April 29, 2016.
  18. "Westfield Massacre". ThePrP.com. June 12, 2017.
  19. "Bad Wolves". riffrelevant.com. May 1, 2017. Retrieved May 1, 2017.
  20. "Video: Learn To Live". metalinjection.net. May 2, 2017. Retrieved May 2, 2017.
  21. "Bad Wolves Get Signed". Blabbermouth.net. November 2, 2017.
  22. Hill, John (November 3, 2017). "BAD WOLVES 'TOAST TO THE GHOST' IN NEW SONG, ANNOUNCE DEBUT ALBUM". Loudwire.com. Retrieved February 3, 2018.
  23. "Bad Wolves Share Acoustic Cover Of "Zombie", Detail Debut Album "Disobey"". theprp.com. March 23, 2018. Retrieved March 23, 2018.
  24. "BAD WOLVES Feat. Former DEVILDRIVER, GOD FORBID, DIVINE HERESY Members: 'Learn To Live' Video Released". Blabbermouth. May 2017. Retrieved March 1, 2018.
  25. Rutherford, Kevin (January 31, 2018). "Bad Wolves' Cover of The Cranberries' 'Zombie' Roars Onto Rock Charts". Billboard.com. Retrieved February 3, 2018.
  26. "Bad Wolves' Cover of The Cranberries' ZOMBIE Goes Global". Broadway World. January 30, 2018. Retrieved February 4, 2018.
  27. "Voicemail from Cranberries Singer Dolores O'Riordan Emerges". www.billboard.com. September 19, 2019. Retrieved September 19, 2019.
  28. "Five Finger Death Punch, Shinedown, Starset & Bad Wolves Tour Announced | Theprp.com". Theprp.com. February 6, 2018. Retrieved February 6, 2018.
  29. "BAD WOLVES: Video Of 'Zombie' Platinum-Plaque Presentation In Camden, New Jersey". August 17, 2018. Retrieved September 6, 2018.
  30. Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, retrieved September 7, 2018
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