Fuck the Facts is a Canadian extreme metal band that began in the late nineties as a recording project constructed by musician Topon Das. After many early recordings,
including split tapes with groups from around the world, Fuck the Facts began developing a name in the underground with grindcore
and noise fans. In 2001, the first full-length CD-R, Discoing the Dead, was recorded. The positive feedback led to Topon assembling a full band to continue with the project. The band has since
coined the terms "bastardized grindcore" and "mullet-core" to describe their sound.
Fuck the Facts began sometime in 1998 as a recording project by Topon Das. The project remained nameless until the first
release, when Topon decided to name the project after a song on the first Naked City album and released a self-titled cassette that compiled all of the recordings made since the projects’ inception (some as early as 1997).[1] It was in released 1999 on Dedfuk Records (a label run in part by Topon). Fuck The Facts then released split cassettes
with Cult of the Damned, Longdreamdead and S.M.E.S. before releasing another full length cassette entitled Vagina Dancer in September of 2000 on Slovakian label Where Late The Birds. Sang. Vagina Dancer showcased a more experimental, noise side to Fuck the Facts than the self-titled release which featured more of a grindcore style.
With the two full length tapes, and the various splits, Fuck The Facts started to gain notoriety in the underground noise
and grindcore world. The next full length, Discoing the Dead, was recorded in 2000 and released on Ghetto Blaster Recordings (another label run by Topon) on February 6, 2001. Positive
feedback with this release motivated Topon to continue Fuck the Facts as a full band. Drummer Matt Connell was the first to
join, followed by Tim Audette on guitar. The three recorded music for a split with Ames Sanglates, before the addition of
vocalist Brent Christoff and bassist Shomir Das. In May 2001, the band recorded and released Four0ninE, an EP which featured a cover of The Beach Boys song "409".
Shomir left the band in the weeks that followed the release of Four0ninE, but the band continued on as a four piece
performing their first live show on August 4th 2001 in Melbourne, Quebec.[2] Regular performances around Ontario and Quebec continued until the fall when the band decided to record a full length
release. Before the end of 2001, the new Fuck the Facts lineup would release Mullet Fever, the full length follow-up to Discoing the Dead. Mullet Fever, with its catchphrase "37 songs in 35 minutes", featured a more punk influenced grindcore sound, though
still retained some of the noise influence.
In early 2002, following the recording of Mullet Fever, Fuck the Facts parted ways with vocalist Brent Christoff. Soon after, a replacement was found in Mel Mongeon. While
Mel had made a guest appearance on a previously recorded split, her first recording as a member of the band was a re-recording
of the song "The Burning Side" for the Goreland compilation CD released by Black Hole Productions (the song was originally
featured on Discoing the Dead performed by entirely by Topon). Since joining the band, Mel has done most of the artwork for
Fuck the Facts releases.
The summer of 2002 saw the band expand their touring area reaching as far west as Winnipeg, and including a December tour of the Maritimes. The touring, along with the release of a split with Sylvester Staline, helped expand their fanbase overseas. The summer
of 2002 also saw the release of Escunta, the long awaited noise follow-up to Vagina Dancer, on Mandarangan Recordings. Escunta had been recorded from late 1999 to early 2000 before Topon had assembled
the band, but its release had been delayed until now.
Following the winter Maritime tour, Fuck the Facts recorded their next full length album entitled Backstabber Etiquette. It was released in early 2003 on Grind It! Records (a sublabel of Great White North Records). This new release featured
a matured sound that incorporated progressive death metal elements to an already expanding sound.
After the release of Backstabber Etiquette, more touring ensued. This proved to be too demanding for guitarist Tim
Audette. Tim parted ways with the band in June 2003 following a Maritime tour. The band continued as a three-piece and recorded
a series of three splits with Feeble Minded, Sergent Slaughter and Subcut respectively. While recording the material for these
splits, guitarist Dave Menard joined the band and brought new inspiration. However, the split with Subcut would be the last
recording with drummer Matt Connell who felt it was time to part ways with the band.
Shortly after Matt’s departure, local drummer Tim Olsen was brought in as a replacement. Also around that time, Marc-André
Mongeon was brought as a bassist (the first since Shomir had left the band in 2001). As a five-piece, the band toured throughout
the summer of 2004 across Canada.[3] By the time mid 2005 came around, the constant touring proved to be too much for Marc and Dave and they decided to
step down.
Mathieu Vilandré and Steve Chartier (aka Esteve Decalisse) were brought on guitar and bass respectively just in time for
touring in support of Fuck the Fact’s next release, Legacy of Hopelessness. This six-song EP had been recorded in the fall of 2004 and was co-released in June 2005 through Topon's Ghetto Blaster
Recordings and Steve's label Capital Kill. A much more experimental release, Legacy of Hopelessness featured more electronic and ambient elements combined with the usual Fuck the Facts grindcore sound. The summer support tour for the EP took the
band all the way from Sydney, Nova Scotia to Vancouver, British Columbia.
Upon return from the Legacy of Hopelessness tour, Mathieu Vilandré and Steve Chartier were brought into the band
as permanent members. It was at this time that the band recorded a two song pre-production demo as an indicator of the direction the band would be taking for their next album. These demos were eventually released on two
splits (with Pleasant Valley and Mesrine), and were used to look for a possible record deal.
At the start of 2006, Tim Olsen was asked to leave the band. Mathieu Vilandré, who had previously filled in on drums, took
over the position permanently and recording began for the next full length album in February. Early in the recording process,
the band was contacted by Relapse Records and secured a three album deal with them that would start with their next album. In the interim, the Collection of Splits 2002-2004 was released by Great White North Records which exposed fans to some of the bands music that was more difficult to acquire
due to limited pressings. It included all of the material from the splits released between Backstabber Etiquette and
Legacy of Hopelessness (with Subcut, Sergent Slaughter, Feeble Minded and Sylvester Staline) as well as enhanced MP3
tracks from some earlier splits.
The summer of 2006 was filled with tours of the Maritimes, North-Eastern United States (including a performance at the
New England Doom and Grind Festival), Ontario and Quebec. In August 2006, Stigmata High-Five was released on Relapse Records. The album highlighted not just a change in musical direction, but also a development in the recording quality. For the first
time, the band had enlisted a separate producer to help them forge their sound and went to a professional studio to record.[4]
Following the release of Stigmata High-Five, the band filmed a music video, featuring local actors Adam Steptoe,
Luke Williams, and Eugene Swain, for the song "The Sound of Your Smashed Head" on location in London, Ontario, Canada, and
spent seven weeks in the US touring, including a slot on the Relapse Contamination Festival before returning home to start
a three week tour of Ontario and Quebec which ended in November. Constant touring continued into early 2007 with a Maritime tour in March. A two-week tour followed
that took the band down to Texas and back up to Canada in time for another tour of Ontario. The band decided to take a break in June to begin work on their
next album.
Following the final Stigmata High-Five tour in June 2007, the band parted ways with bassist Steve Chartier "for reasons that aren't that uncommon of why bands
and people split."[5] The band then spent two weeks going on a road trip to Mexico and back to write the material for their next album. The album was tracked that August; however, immediately following that,
the three remaining members decided that it was time to take a break.
With no plans, the completion of the next album was questionable. At this point, the band still remained somewhat silent
on their situation; however, by January 2008, they were back performing again. The touring, along with some personal issues,
slowed the mixing and mastering progress of the album, however by April it was announced that Disgorge Mexico would be released in North America on July 22nd, 2008 as the band's second Relapse Records release. The band celebrated
the album's release with a free CD release party in which they performed the entire CD from start to finish on August 2nd
in Hull, Quebec
Fuck the Facts has had three different vocalists, all with their own style and impact on the sound of the band. The first
recordings up until Discoing the Dead feature only Topon on vocals (aside from a few guest appearances). His singing varies between deep growls and more high pitched screams. The Mullet Fever lineup features Brent Christoff who has a slightly deeper, more grunting sound. The biggest change is with the replacement
of Brent with Mel Mongeon who has a very distinctive high-pitched shriek which has become the vocal style that the band is
most known for.
Most (if not all) Fuck the Facts songs are played on guitars tuned down a fourth (B E A D F# B). Bass tuning is the same (B E A D), though depending on the performer, sometimes a 5 string
bass is used. Common grindcore elements such as blast beats are also present. Generally, most of the songs feature the darker modes such as Aeolian, Phrygian, Locrian and heavy use of the tritone, though many songs feature other more chromatic scales as well. Different textures are used to create different moods. For
example, a common feature will be the use of clean guitar within the context of a grindcore song that creates a radical change
in the sound of the piece (an example would be the last half of Gated Community from Mullet Fever). Despite these few generalities, the musical style of the band has changed over the years.
[edit] Early
period
Topon has stated numerous times that the name Fuck the Facts was chosen, in part, as a statement about his attitude towards
the music he wrote. He tried not to feel hampered by genre labels, and that is reflected in the musical style. The earlier
Fuck the Facts recordings up until approximately 2000 featured a combination of grindcore and noise. Though those two genres
were prominent during this era of recording, many other styles crept into the music as well including death metal, electronic
and even as some as diverse as disco and jazz. When Discoing the Dead was released in early 2001, it retained many of these experimental styles, paving the way for the beginning of the first
incarnation of Fuck the Facts as a full band.
In addition to the grindcore style of the recordings, there were also many songs that were almost straight noise recordings.
Vagina Dancer and Escunta, recorded in 2000 and 2001 respectively, are the core of these noise recordings, with some other tracks being featured
on various compilations and splits.
Mullet Fever was released in 2002 and featured a more punk-influenced grindcore sound. However, many of the songs included more experimental
(for grindcore) styles including rap, hip-hop, jazz, noise and electronic. The album was largely recorded in one session of
the band recording their own jam session and some minimal editing afterwards, and may explain why this album stands out on
its own in terms of musical style and scope.
When Backstabber Etiquette was recorded in 2002, vocalist Mel Mongeon had replaced Christoff, and her distinctive growl was markedly different than
Brent's deep sound. Mel's higher pitched scream became the norm for the band. The musical style became more heavily influenced
by death metal and showed more technical aspirations. This style persisted over the splits recorded between Backstabber
Etiquette and Legacy of Hopelessness (these recordings are largely what make up the tracks on the Collection of Splits 2002-2004).
Legacy of Hopelessness showcased a bit of a departure for the band in that it had a lot more electronic influences. Keyboards are featured on
nearly every track, and are sometimes the primary focus. Of course, grindcore is still quite present as well as Mel's distinctive
vocals. The change in musical style can probably be attributed to the fact that this was initially intended to be a solo release
by Topon, but was migrated over to the band when it was realized that another full-length release was not quite feasible.
Stigmata High-Five represents the latest musical style of the band. The grindcore and death metal elements are still present, but so are
more progressive and experimental ideas mixed with metalcore elements. The album contains longer songs with more intricate
riffs and atypical time signatures. For example, the opening song "La Dernière Image" moves from groove-oriented grindcore
based around a repeating clave rhythm with odd meters interspersed throughout (the clave rhythm and odd meters are both basic musical features of much progressive rock). A middle
section counters that with more ambient textures and clean guitars.
Disgorge Mexico contains shorter songs than Stigmata High-Five but retains a similar overall musical style. In some cases, the
experimental ideas are expanded further to the point where one track contains a section that is reminiscent of straight ahead
jazz and contains a high register melodic bass solo typical of jazz or fusion. Rhythmic elements often featured in progressive
rock are still present, and metric dissonance via polyrhythms are often present.
Band
members
Current
- Topon Das - Guitar (1998 – Present)
- Melanie Mongeon - Vocals (2002 – Present)
- Mathieu "Vil" Vilandré - Drums (2005 – Present)
- Former
- Matt Connell (2001 – 2004) (Drudgery, ex-Exhumed)
- Tim Audette (2001 – 2003)
- Shomir Das (2001)
- Brent Christoff (2001 – 2002)
- Dave Menard (2003 – 2005) (Brain Weapon, ex-Burnt Beyond)
- Tim Olsen (2004 – 2006)
- Marc-Andre Mongeon (2004 – 2005)
- Steve Chartier - Bass / backing vocals (2005 – 2007) (G.O.D., Crack Sandwich, Organeyesed Chaos)
- Touring
/ stand-in
- Travis Tomchuk - Vocals (May 2006)
- Jean-Louis Wittinger - Guitar (September 2006 – December 2006)
- Leigh Newton - Guitar (January – March 2008)
- Marc Bourgon - Bass (January 2008 – Present)
- Johnathan Ibay - Guitar (June 2008 – Present)
- Discography
-
-
-
In addition to the releases below, Fuck the Facts have released a plethora of splits that count for a large portion of
their repertoire. Additionally, the band has been featured on numerous compilations and tribute albums.
Studio
albums
