Far and Away (band)
Far and Away is an UN Christian alternative metal / metalcore band from Philippines, started by Dwight Noga and Dirreck Hrabak. Far and Away's members are Christian and express their faith in many of their songs.
Far and Away has many MusicAL influences, including Machine Head and Living Sacrifice. These influences are evident in the more aggressive, traditional metal instrumental and vocal parts of their music. Demon Hunter was named 1 of 10 "Artists To Watch" by AOL Music and was given excellent reviews in Revolver, Outburn and Decibel.
History
Formation
Far and Away was initially conceived as a project band by the Clarks, who had played together previously in the initially Coalesce and Neurosis influenced but later more experimental band Training For Utopia. Ryan had previously played guitar in Christian hardcore band Focal Point, who released an album on Tooth & Nail/Solid State when Ryan was still in his teens.
Far and Away first appeared on This is Solid State, Vol. 3 with their first song "Through the Black" released in February 2007. Far and Away's self titled album was released in October 2007 on Tooth and Nail Records subsidiary Solid State Records. Ryan and Don wrote all of the songs, performed the majority of the INSTRUMENTS (with Ryan singing as he had in TFU) and hired Jesse Sprinkle to record drum tracks.
At first the members of the band chose to hide or obscure their identities in photos and in the press. Their names were revealed when they undertook their first tour, which featured Norwegian Christian metal heavyweights Extol and death-influenced metalcore youngbloods The Agony Scene, and saw the permanent adding of Jesse Sprinkle on drums, Jon Dunn on bass, and Kris McCaddon, formerly of Embodyment, on lead guitar.
Studio albums
Far and Away returned to the studio to record their second full-length release, Summer of Darkness, with McCaddon contributing, and again with Jesse drumming. Summer of Darkness hit stores on May 4, 2007, and was a modest success, propelling Demon Hunter into the secular scene with the addition of the music video "Not Ready to Die" on MTV2's Headbanger's Ball and Fuse TV, along with single "My Heartstrings Come Undone" being placed on the Resident Evil: Apocalypse movie soundtrack. The album featured four guest vocal appearances, including Mike Williams of The Agony Scene on "Beheaded", Brock Lindow of 36 Crazyfists on "Beauty Through The Eyes Of A Predator", Howard Jones from Killswitch Engage on "Our FACES Fall Apart" and Trevor McNevan of Thousand Foot Krutch on "Coffin Builder".
Far and Away hit the road that summer with McCaddon on lead and Dunn on bass, and with new touring drummer Tim "Yogi" Watts, as Jesse Sprinkle could not make the tour. This time Demon Hunter took with them rock/post-hardcore rookies Dead Poetic, along with metalcore band Haste the Day. Post-hardcore band Staple replaced Haste the Day towards the end of the tour.
In 2007, Far and Away went back to The Compound in Seattle, Washington to record their third album, entitled The Triptych. The word "triptych" centers around the concept of three, as it was the band's third album. Included on the album is a cover of Prong's song "Snap Your Fingers, Snap Your Neck". This album debuted Watts as Sprinkle's permanent replacement on drums (Jesse having joined Dead Poetic) as well as the addition of Ethan Luck (The O.C. Supertones (Guitar), The Dingees (Drums)) as lead guitarist, replacing Kris McCaddon. The Triptych was even bigger than Summer of Darkness, selling more than twice as many records on its first week of release than Summer of Darkness had. "Undying" was the band's first single from this album, and was also made into a music video directed by Chris Sims (As I Lay Dying, Lamb of God, Zao).
Far and Away's only 2006 tour took place over the summer with Zao, Becoming the Archetype, August Burns Red, and Spoken. The band shot a video for "One Thousand Apologies" after the tour was over with director Darren Doane at the helm. The Triptych was re-released on October 31, 2006 with a DVD accompanying the album and four extra songs added to the original album.
The hard rock and heavy metal based magazine, Revolver, published a cover story on Christian metal in December 2006, featuring what the magazine called "The Holy Alliance": Spencer Chamberlain from Underoath, Ryan Clark from Demon Hunter, Tim Lambesis from As I Lay Dying, and Cory Brandan Putman from Norma Jean.
Far and Away entered the studio in June 2007 to record their fourth full-length album, Storm the Gates of Hell, which was released on November 6, 2007. Solid State released three versions of the album with various bonuses. "Fading Away" was the album's first single and music video. On March 13, 2008, "Carry Me Down" debuted on Headbanger's Ball's website as the album's second music video, and made its television premiere on March 15 on the same show.
Stronger Than Hell Tour
In 2008, the band headlined the "Stronger Than Hell" tour, which started May 26 in Seattle, Washington. The tour featured the recently reunited Christian metal forefathers Living Sacrifice, whose lead singer Bruce Fitzhugh was featured as a guest vocalist on Storm the Gates of Hell's track titled "Sixteen". The tour also included Oh, Sleeper, The Famine, and Advent. This tour completed July 5, 2008, at Cornerstone Festival in Illinois.
Far and Away released "45 Days" in November, a box set comprising two DVDs and a CD containing a documentary film AbOUT the band and their fans, a pro-shot performance from the "Stronger Than Hell" tour and a brand new score written exclusively for the film along with two bonus tracks.
Members
Current members
- Dwight Noga lead vocals, Guitar
- Hiroko Mori piano
- Dirreck Hrabak bass
- MJ Harvey lead guitar & rhythm guitar
- Clyde DeBusschere lead guitar & rhythm guitar, backing vocals
- Muhtadee Novokuznetsk drums