Devolved

Devolved
Origin	Gold Coast, QLD
Genres	Death metal
Years active	1996 - present
Labels	Modern Music, Unique Leader
Associated acts	ROME, Five Finger Death Punch
Members	Hal Berkstresser, Tony Sabatino, John Sankey, Kyle Zemanak
Past members	see left

Band members

• Current Line-up
  • John Sankey (drums, samples)
  • Kyle Zemanek (vocals)
  • Hal Berkstresser (bass)
  • Tony Sabatino (samples, keys)

• Former members
  • Brett Noordin (guitar, vocals) (1996 - 2011)
  • Leighton Kearns (bass) (2001 - 2002, 2005 - 2008)
  • Brett Carpio (guitar) (2005 - 2008)
  • Patrick Brown (samples) (2005 - 2008)
  • Jason Lacey (guitar) (2004 - 2005)
  • Wayde Dunn (bass) (2002 - 2005)
  • Mark Walpole (guitar) (1996 - 2004)
  • Nik Carpenter (vocals) (1996 - 2002)
  • Joel Graham (bass) (1996 - 2001)

Band information

Devolved is a technical death metal band in the mould of early Fear Factory and Meshuggah. The band gained notoreity for incorporating heavy strobe lighting into their live shows, at one time causing an audience member to have an epileptic episode. Devolved was then ordered by a court to place a warning disclaimer regarding their light show on all subsequent promotional material including press releases and gig posters.

Technologies established them as a leader in their field, a tight, technical affair featuring stop-start staccato riffs enhanced with electronics and spectacular drumming. Shortly after the release, bassist Joel Graham was replaced by Leighton Kearns.

Devolved was voted Australian Metal Band of the Year by both listeners and staff of Triple J radio in late 2001. Kearns then left Devolved in early 2002 and was replaced by Wayde Dunn from Sunshine Coast death metal band Excruciate. The band toured extensively through the UK and Europe in 2002. Amazingly, Carpenter was sacked after only a few shows of the tour and Noordin and Dunn took over vocal duties for the remainder of the dates. After returning to Australia, Devolved toured nationally with Japanese thrash band Suns Owl; Carpenter sang lead vocals at some of these shows. The "Automation 001" EP was meant to be the first of three released the same year but Carpenter's dismissal sank the idea.

Devolved worked on new material for much of 2003; drummer Sankey was also been involved in a recording project with former Fear Factory guitarist Dino Cazares during this time and wrote some songs with him that were later used on the Roadrunner Allstars album.

Jason Lacey replaced Mark Walpole and Brown was also added to the line-up during this time. In September 2004, the band's second album Calculated appeared. Intriguingly, the vocals on the CD were recorded by Nik Carpenter.

Following a national tour to support the album, Devolved moved to the US in early 2005 and is now based in Los Angeles. Leighton Kearns rejoined the band and Lacey was replaced by Brett Carpio. The band signed to US label Killzone in December 2006. Kyle Zemanek of Five Finger Death Punch became the band's new vocalist as Devolved worked to build a profile in America. After Carpio left in 2008, Hal Berkstresser replaced him at first before switching to bass when Kearns departed later. Now signed to Unique Leader, Calculated was re-released in North America in early 2010. Oblivion was released in 2011, after which Noordin left Devolved and returned to Australia. He put together a line-up that also included Graham, Carpenter, Walpole and Brown and toured under the Devolved name with Todd Hansen on drums. That line-up is now known as ROME.

Discography

Albums:

	2001	Technologies	self release
	2004	Calculated	Modern Music

EPs:

	2002	Automation 001	self release

Compilation tracks:

	Year	Track Title	Album Title	Label
	2001	"Supremacy"	Metal for the Brain 2001	Metal for the Brain/Chatterbox
	2002	"Progress"	Full Metal Racket 2	ABC/EMI