Eye Empire
Encyclopedia
Eye Empire is an American rock supergroup
, formed in 2009, consisting of former Dark New Day
members Corey Lowery
and B.C. Kochmit as well as Donald Carpenter formerly of Submersed
. Garrett Whitlock, formerly of Submersed, and Dixie Duncan were Eye Empire's drummer and guitarist respectively from their formation until 2010. Drummer Will Hunt
, Lowery and Kochmit's band mate in Dark New Day, joined the band in 2010 before departing in 2011, replaced by Ryan Bennett formerly of the Texas Hippie Coalition
.
The band recorded their debut album entitled Moment of Impact
in 2010 featuring contributions from Sevendust
members Lajon Witherspoon
and Morgan Rose
. The album was given a limited release the same year, with a full release planned for 2011.
. Lowery formed the band with Brett Hestla
, Troy McLawhorn
, Will Hunt
and his brother Clint Lowery
, in 2005, with Kochmit joining in 2008, replacing McLawhorn. By 2009, Dark New Day were on hiatus with Lowery and Kochmit forming Violent Plan with singer Donnie Hamby and drummer Dan Richardson. Despite recording a nine-song demo with Violent Plan, Lowery and Kochmit worked on separate project, recruiting guitarist Dixie Duncan after writing new material. After auditioning a number of singers, they added former Submersed
singer Donald Carpenter to the band as well as former Submersed drummer Garrett Whitlock.
The formation of Eye Empire, as well as the breakup of Violent Plan, was announced in November 2009 They posted their first demos, "Victim" and "More than Fate", on Myspace
and played a number of shows supporting Sevendust
in December and January 2010.
and Chevelle
in March. They began recording their album in May and by June, had begun to edit and mix the album entitled Moment of Impact
, hoping to release it by the end of the same month.
Recording of the album continued, however, with Sevendust singer Lajon Witherspoon
recording additional vocals on "Victim (of the System)" while Sevendust drummer Morgan Rose
recorded drums on the album following the departure of Whitlock, as well as Duncan. By December, recording of the album was complete, with former Dark New Day drummer Will Hunt
announced as Whitlock's replacement. A limited number of 1000 copies, signed by the band, were made available the same month, with a full release planned for 2011. In August, drummer Ryan Bennett, formerly of Texas Hippie Coalition
, joined the band in place of Hunt and it was announced that the band would be supporting Static-X
vocalist/guitarist Wayne Static
on his tour in support of Pighammer
, taking place September 27-October 10, 2011.
Former members
Supergroup (music)
In the late 1960s, the term supergroup was coined to describe "a rock music group whose performers are already famous from having performed individually or in other groups"....
, formed in 2009, consisting of former Dark New Day
Dark New Day
Dark New Day is an American hard rock supergroup formed in 2004 featuring Brett Hestla of Virgos Merlot, Troy McLawhorn of DoubleDrive, Clint Lowery of Sevendust, Corey Lowery of Stereomud and Stuck Mojo, and Will Hunt of Skrape...
members Corey Lowery
Corey Lowery
Corey Lowery is a hard rock bassist and vocalist, previously of the bands Still Rain, Stuck Mojo, Switched and Stereomud. Lowery currently plays bass and provides backing vocals in the band Eye Empire. Eye Empire was previously known as Violent Plan. Before Violent Plan, Corey was playing with...
and B.C. Kochmit as well as Donald Carpenter formerly of Submersed
Submersed
Submersed was an American rock band from Stephenville, Texas. They disbanded in 2008.-History:Submersed was signed to Wind-up Records, and worked with Alter Bridge guitarist Mark Tremonti on its debut studio album, In Due Time, which featured the singles "You Run", "Hollow", and the title track...
. Garrett Whitlock, formerly of Submersed, and Dixie Duncan were Eye Empire's drummer and guitarist respectively from their formation until 2010. Drummer Will Hunt
Will Hunt
William Martin "Will" Hunt is an American musician who has served as drummer of the band Evanescence, Dark New Day, Skrape , ELI, Static-X and Black Label Society, just to name a few. Hunt was in Skrape until 2004 and Black Label Society until 2011. Both were signed to major record labels...
, Lowery and Kochmit's band mate in Dark New Day, joined the band in 2010 before departing in 2011, replaced by Ryan Bennett formerly of the Texas Hippie Coalition
Texas Hippie Coalition
Texas Hippie Coalition is a band out of Denison, Texas. They have released their first nationally released album, Rollin distributed by Carved Records and Sony RED, which moved into the top ten on the CMJ Loud Rock Chart. Nicknamed "The Band of Outlaws", THC is a hard rock band with influences in...
.
The band recorded their debut album entitled Moment of Impact
Moment of Impact (album)
- Personnel :Eye Empire* Donald Carpenter - lead vocals* B.C. Kochmit - guitar, backing vocals* Corey Lowery - bass, backing vocalsAdditional Personnel* Morgan Rose - drums, percussion* Lajon Witherspoon - vocals on "Victim "...
in 2010 featuring contributions from Sevendust
Sevendust
Sevendust is an American heavy metal band from Atlanta, Georgia. Formed in 1994 by bassist Vince Hornsby, drummer Morgan Rose and guitarist John Connolly. After their first demo, lead vocalist Lajon Witherspoon and guitarist Clint Lowery joined the group...
members Lajon Witherspoon
Lajon Witherspoon
Lajon Witherspoon is the vocalist for the Atlanta-based alternative metal band Sevendust. Members from such bands as Staind, Seether, Alter Bridge, and Diecast have listed Lajon and Sevendust as musical influences. In March 2008, Lajon was recognized in Hit Parader's magazine as one of the "Top...
and Morgan Rose
Morgan Rose
Morgan Jay Rose is an American drummer, record producer and founding member of the Atlanta-based alternative metal band Sevendust. He is also responsible for much of the background "screaming" vocals.-Career:...
. The album was given a limited release the same year, with a full release planned for 2011.
Formation (2008–2010)
Corey Lowery and B.C. Kochmit were members of the hard rock band Dark New DayDark New Day
Dark New Day is an American hard rock supergroup formed in 2004 featuring Brett Hestla of Virgos Merlot, Troy McLawhorn of DoubleDrive, Clint Lowery of Sevendust, Corey Lowery of Stereomud and Stuck Mojo, and Will Hunt of Skrape...
. Lowery formed the band with Brett Hestla
Brett Hestla
Brett Hestla, is an American guitarist, bassist, vocalist and record producer.-Music career:In the late 1990s Hestla's band Virgos Merlot was signed to Atlantic Records. After their first release, Signs of a Vacant Soul, he became the touring bassist for Creed after the departure of Brian Marshall...
, Troy McLawhorn
Troy McLawhorn
William Troy McLawhorn is an American musician who is a guitarist of the band Evanescence.-Early carrer:He was formerly of the bands Seether, Dark New Day, doubleDrive and Still Rain. After the demise of his first band, Still Rain, McLawhorn helped form Dark New Day in 1995, although they were...
, Will Hunt
Will Hunt
William Martin "Will" Hunt is an American musician who has served as drummer of the band Evanescence, Dark New Day, Skrape , ELI, Static-X and Black Label Society, just to name a few. Hunt was in Skrape until 2004 and Black Label Society until 2011. Both were signed to major record labels...
and his brother Clint Lowery
Clint Lowery
Clint Lowery is an American musician and songwriter, best known as the lead guitarist of the heavy metal band Sevendust. He has also played in Dark New Day and Still Rain and served as the touring guitarist for Korn through most of 2007....
, in 2005, with Kochmit joining in 2008, replacing McLawhorn. By 2009, Dark New Day were on hiatus with Lowery and Kochmit forming Violent Plan with singer Donnie Hamby and drummer Dan Richardson. Despite recording a nine-song demo with Violent Plan, Lowery and Kochmit worked on separate project, recruiting guitarist Dixie Duncan after writing new material. After auditioning a number of singers, they added former Submersed
Submersed
Submersed was an American rock band from Stephenville, Texas. They disbanded in 2008.-History:Submersed was signed to Wind-up Records, and worked with Alter Bridge guitarist Mark Tremonti on its debut studio album, In Due Time, which featured the singles "You Run", "Hollow", and the title track...
singer Donald Carpenter to the band as well as former Submersed drummer Garrett Whitlock.
The formation of Eye Empire, as well as the breakup of Violent Plan, was announced in November 2009 They posted their first demos, "Victim" and "More than Fate", on Myspace
Myspace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
and played a number of shows supporting Sevendust
Sevendust
Sevendust is an American heavy metal band from Atlanta, Georgia. Formed in 1994 by bassist Vince Hornsby, drummer Morgan Rose and guitarist John Connolly. After their first demo, lead vocalist Lajon Witherspoon and guitarist Clint Lowery joined the group...
in December and January 2010.
Moment of Impact and Lineup changes (2010–present)
Eye Empire uploaded a further two demos to their Myspace, "I Pray" in January and "Ignite" in February before playing shows supporting Speed-XSpeed-X
SPEED X is the new band featuring ex-Queensryche guitarist Mike Stone on guitar, Black Label Society guitarist Nick Catanese, Doubledrive drummer Mike Froedge and former Doubledrive bassist Joshua Sattler, and the latest addition Jason Fowler on vocals....
and Chevelle
Chevelle
Chevelle is an American alternative metal trio that formed in 1995 in Grayslake, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. The band was originally composed of two brothers and a local friend: Pete Loeffler , Sam Loeffler , and Matt Scott . Matt was later replaced by brother Joe Loeffler...
in March. They began recording their album in May and by June, had begun to edit and mix the album entitled Moment of Impact
Moment of Impact (album)
- Personnel :Eye Empire* Donald Carpenter - lead vocals* B.C. Kochmit - guitar, backing vocals* Corey Lowery - bass, backing vocalsAdditional Personnel* Morgan Rose - drums, percussion* Lajon Witherspoon - vocals on "Victim "...
, hoping to release it by the end of the same month.
Recording of the album continued, however, with Sevendust singer Lajon Witherspoon
Lajon Witherspoon
Lajon Witherspoon is the vocalist for the Atlanta-based alternative metal band Sevendust. Members from such bands as Staind, Seether, Alter Bridge, and Diecast have listed Lajon and Sevendust as musical influences. In March 2008, Lajon was recognized in Hit Parader's magazine as one of the "Top...
recording additional vocals on "Victim (of the System)" while Sevendust drummer Morgan Rose
Morgan Rose
Morgan Jay Rose is an American drummer, record producer and founding member of the Atlanta-based alternative metal band Sevendust. He is also responsible for much of the background "screaming" vocals.-Career:...
recorded drums on the album following the departure of Whitlock, as well as Duncan. By December, recording of the album was complete, with former Dark New Day drummer Will Hunt
Will Hunt
William Martin "Will" Hunt is an American musician who has served as drummer of the band Evanescence, Dark New Day, Skrape , ELI, Static-X and Black Label Society, just to name a few. Hunt was in Skrape until 2004 and Black Label Society until 2011. Both were signed to major record labels...
announced as Whitlock's replacement. A limited number of 1000 copies, signed by the band, were made available the same month, with a full release planned for 2011. In August, drummer Ryan Bennett, formerly of Texas Hippie Coalition
Texas Hippie Coalition
Texas Hippie Coalition is a band out of Denison, Texas. They have released their first nationally released album, Rollin distributed by Carved Records and Sony RED, which moved into the top ten on the CMJ Loud Rock Chart. Nicknamed "The Band of Outlaws", THC is a hard rock band with influences in...
, joined the band in place of Hunt and it was announced that the band would be supporting Static-X
Static-X
Static-X is an American industrial metal band from Los Angeles, California. They were formed in 1994. They are signed to Warner Bros. Records and have released six albums, their most recent being Cult of Static, which was released on March 17, 2009....
vocalist/guitarist Wayne Static
Wayne Static
Wayne Static is an American musician, and the lead vocalist, guitarist, keyboardist, and programmer for the industrial metal band Static-X. He released his first solo studio album Pighammer on October 4, 2011.- Early life :Static grew up in Shelby, Michigan before moving to Chicago and eventually...
on his tour in support of Pighammer
Pighammer
Pighammer is the debut solo album by Wayne Static released on October 4, 2011 through Dirthouse Records. It debuted at number 97 on the Billboard 200 with first week sales of 4,700.-Album title:...
, taking place September 27-October 10, 2011.
Band members
- Donald Carpenter - lead vocals
- B.C. Kochmit - guitar, backing vocals
- Corey LoweryCorey LoweryCorey Lowery is a hard rock bassist and vocalist, previously of the bands Still Rain, Stuck Mojo, Switched and Stereomud. Lowery currently plays bass and provides backing vocals in the band Eye Empire. Eye Empire was previously known as Violent Plan. Before Violent Plan, Corey was playing with...
- bass, backing vocals - Ryan Bennett - drums, percussion (2011–present)
Former members
- Dixie Duncan - guitar, backing vocals (2009–2010)
- Garrett Whitlock - drums, percussion (2009–2010)
- Will HuntWill HuntWilliam Martin "Will" Hunt is an American musician who has served as drummer of the band Evanescence, Dark New Day, Skrape , ELI, Static-X and Black Label Society, just to name a few. Hunt was in Skrape until 2004 and Black Label Society until 2011. Both were signed to major record labels...
- drums, percussion (2010–2011)