Khaos Faktory was an industrial-metal band from North Fort Myers, Florida. Originally created as an industrial-rock solo project by guitarist/programmer Mike in 2006, Khaos Faktory later evolved into a band and released four EPs Open For Business, Khaos Faktory Sampler (and its variant versions), Stoned, Drunk & Sleep-Deprived and No Mas Beastmode and a full-length album, Sinthetic Alchemy, as well as two music videos.
Khaos Faktory was featured on the Sweat Soundtrack and the Skratch Compilation v.44.
History[]
Formation[]
Khaos Faktory was spawned in the summer of 2006 while Mike was working on 80-Proof Throwdown's lone album Trailer Park Rhapsody. Recording of that album had been on hiatus for a while, so Mike began recording new industrial-rock songs to alleviate boredom. The result of this was Khaos Faktory's first disc, the Open For Business EP, with Mike playing all the instruments and performing all the vocals and programming. 50 copies of the disc were pressed and given away for free, mostly at a small North Fort Myers record store named A.B.CD's.
After self-releasing Trailer Park Rhapsody, 80-Proof Throwdown was shelved due to lead guitarist/vocalist "Beerkeg" Bran Cast’s departure from the band to pursue his career in the United States Marine Corps, and Mike decided to end that band. Late in 2007, Mike was joined by vocalist Dave Spencer, who had previously played in a short-lived metal outfit called 13 BC with Mike on rhythm guitars. For a brief time, lead guitarist Alex Rosado came onboard; however, he was excused from the band due to personal problems with Spencer. Next to join was Matt Pyro on bass, Das on guitars and synthesizers, and Brian Friesen on lead guitars. Joel Metz auditioned for the band but ultimately never became a part of the group.
Sinthetic Alchemy[]
Sinthetic Alchemy cover
With the lineup complete, the band began recording its debut LP Sinthetic Alchemy in January 2008. Pyro and Friesen only performed on one song each: "Stoked" and "Scratch", respectively. In March 2008, as the album started coming together, Khaos Faktory was signed to California-based indie label A Dark Philosophy Records (more commonly referred to as ADP Records), with "Knife" Sotelo as Executive Producer.
The disc was originally intended to be a six- or seven-song EP, however more songs were added due to pressure from ADP Records to put out a full-length release; this resulted in "Scratch" and "All Good Things Must End" being included on the final version. Two filler tracks created by Knife were added to bring the total number of tracks up to ten. The album took only three months to write and record with the exception of "Stoked", which had been recorded in November 2007, and "Cattle", which had originally been written in 2005 by Mike and Bran Cast while they were in 80-Proof Throwdown (although the new recording was made during the Sinthetic Alchemy sessions). The album was released on April 20, 2008. Only 1,000 copies of the official release disc were printed. There was also a limited-edition release marketed through ADP subsidiary Neighborhood Records, of which 100 copies were produced, for a total amount of 1,100 copies of the album in existence.
Literally just a few days before the album debuted, Matt Pyro quit the band and publicly stated that he wanted nothing further to do with the band, the album, or the record label that released the album. Das switched instruments and replaced Pyro on bass.
About a month after the debut was released, Brian Friesen left the band on amicable terms to go to college. Khaos Faktory continued on with Spencer on vocals, Mike on guitars and programming, and Das on bass and synthesizers.
Sweat Soundtrack[]
"Sweat" soundtrack cover
Around this same time, Khaos Faktory was approached by underground filmmaker Ryan McClellan and asked to submit a song for his upcoming motion picture, entitled Sweat. Mike ended up collaborating with McClellan on the creation and promotion of the picture's soundtrack CD and submitted four songs in all, which included "Stoked" and "Cattle" from Sinthetic Alchemy, as well as two previously unreleased remixes, "Turboslut (Sausage Wallet Remix)" and "Cattle (Reverse Polarity Mix)".
The Sweat soundtrack CD was releasd on August 1, 2008 via McClellan's production company JaDEd EyeZ Entertainment, and was sold exclusively on the movie's official website (now defunct, as the film was cancelled), although the bands featured on the album were given CD's in limited quantities to sell by themselves.
2009 - 2010[]
In August 2008 David "Stoney" Mustonen signed on as lead guitarist, and in September 2008 Greg Tali (formerly of Fort Myers black metal band Neither) joined as the new drummer. Dave Spencer moved to Indiana around the same time, and Stoney took over the vocal duties for three of the band's live performances. Shawn Klick (ex-A Season Of Violence) took over four-string duties in early 2009. Das left the band in early 2009 and formed a new ambient/comedy-industrial project called Da Manginas From China with a Laser Beam.
Ryan McClennan helped manage Khaos Faktory during 2008-2009 and created Khaos Records under his imprint JaDed EyeZ Entertainment. Sinthetic Alchemy was re-released as Sinthetic Alchemy 2.0 and was the label's second LP release since its formation. 2.0 was released on February 8, 2009 to mark the tenth anniversary of the death of Mike's best friend Richard. The disc featured a guest appearance by Neither's keyboardist Kat Rodriguez on the song "Struggle". Stoney provided the lead guitars on the new version of "Liberated" as well as the new cover of Sepultura's "Refuse Resist".
In June 2009 Stoney was fired from the band over his drug addictions and personal problems with certain other band members. Later in the year the band self-released a generically titled EP called Sampler CD 1.0, which contained three songs from the album plus a bonus “stupid shit” hidden track of Dave W. Spencer leaving drunken, humorous messages on Mike’s voicemail box.
On January 1, 2010 Khaos Faktory changed its name to ScarForge, however the name was changed back soon after.
In 2010 ScarForge released an update of the promo CD with one song switched out for another and "KOCK Radio Episode 2" as a hidden bonus track. The latter was originally intended to appear on Sinthetic Alchemy 2.0 but never made it to press. A digital (and slightly different) version of the disc was released as a downloadable .zip file.
In April 2010 Shawn Sissons (ex-Neither) was named the new singer of ScarForge. During the summer of 2010 Tali quietly left ScarForge to pursue other interests. The only song created in collaboration with Sissons was a demo titled "Neu Laden", which showcases some of Sisson's programming skills.
2011 - 2014[]
ScarForge slowly dissolved during 2010 and was considered by the band members to have broken up, as only a handful of demos were recorded throughout the year and jam sessions had all but ceased by the summer. The remaining band members (Sissons, Mike and Klick) disbanded into other projects.
In the fall of 2013, a new version of Sinthetic Alchemy (internally referred to as Sinthetic Alchemy 1.5) was independently released by former band members and given away locally for free. The independent release contained what the band members consider to be the best versions of each song from the original ADP Records release and the Khaos Records re-issue, along with a newly-recorded cover of the Brainchild/Circle Of Dust song "Descend".
Through 2012 and 2013 there were several failed attempts to revive the band, however this did not come to fruition until March 2014. The new lineup initially included both Dave Spencer and Aaron Vollmer on vocals, Mike on guitars and programming, and Shawn Klick on bass and lead guitars. The first song the band worked on after reforming was “Raising Hell”, which had been written by Bran Cast and recorded by Bran Cast and Mike four years earlier; the new version included bass by Klick and vocals by Vollmer and Spencer. The song was later released as a single on the band’s YouTube channel.
Three weeks after reforming and shortly after “Raising Hell” was completed, Dave W. Spencer was fired from the band for his near-constant drunkenness and refusal to work with the other band members, after telling the other members that it was “[their] job to write the soundtrack to [his] music.” A day later Spencer falsely claimed that he had resigned as of that day via his Facebook page.
In August 2014 the band released the first completed micro-episode of Khaos Faktory: The Animated Series via YouTube and Faceboook. The animated short is titled "One Weird Night". KFTAS was hand-drawn and animated by Mike in the style of his comic books A Fist Fight With Frankenstein and The Coop... And Beyond. The animated short was intended to be the first of a series, however no other episodes were ever completed.
In Fall 2014 Chris Lloyd (Spirit Fire, ex-The Blackest Blood) joined as the new drummer, however Chris' tenure was short-lived. Through December 2014 and January 2015 the band worked on new recordings for an EP as a stopgap until a planned sophomore album could be finished. The EP was titled Stoned, Drunk & Sleep-Deprived. Khaos Faktory went on another hiatus shortly afterward. Klick and Vollmer started a new band called Warrant 4 A Halo, and Mike began on a new project called Die Dreck.
2015 - 2017[]
Shawn Klick became involved with Die Dreck within a couple of months of its formation. The duo recorded several songs and self-released an EP titled No Mas Beastmode in December 2015. With Khaos Faktory's 10th anniversary approaching, Mike and Klick reformed as Khaos Faktory as a duo, as Vollmer had moved on to other things since the hiatus began and declined to rejoin. Former guitarist/bassist Das expressed interest in rejoining, however conflicting work schedules made working on music with Das impossible.
In Summer 2016 the band members decided to end Die Dreck as a project and re-issue No Mas Beastmode as a Khaos Faktory EP. The second pressing included a new bonus track.
On January 8, 2017 the band released their first music video, "Time Is The Fire", on Facebook. The video was then released on Youtube shortly after. Their second music video, "Beastmode" was released a few weeks later.
Khaos Faktory scheduled a compilation album to be titled Age of Khaos: 2006-2016 and planned for a release before the end of the year, however the band members were too strapped financially to release the album and began to feel that the Faktory had run its course. The last Khaos Faktory songs ever recorded were “The Best We Get” and “An Empire Divided”, both recorded in 2017 by Mike alone. As of 2023 neither song has been released.
Influences[]
From its inception, Khaos Faktory has been an electronic rock and metal band. There has been much influence from many genres of extreme music due to the large number of band members over the years. Its primary influences are industrial, thrash metal, death metal and punk rock.
Band members[]
Final Lineup[]
- Shawn Klick: bass (2009-2010, 2014-2015), vocals, lead guitars (2016-2017)
- Mike: guitars, vocals, bass, synthesizers (2006-2017)
Former members[]
- Dave W. Spencer: vocals (2007-2010, 2014)
- David "Das" Spencer: guitars, bass (2007-2009)
- Greg Tali: drums, vocals (2008-2010)
- Shawn Sissons: vocals, synthesizers (2010)
- Alex Rosado: lead guitars (2007)
- Brian Freisen: lead guitars (2008)
- Matt "Pyro" Cop: bass (2007-2008)
- TJ Sanborn: lead guitars (2009)
- David "Stoney" Mustonen: lead guitars, vocals (2008-2009)
- Aaron Vollmer: vocals (2014-2015)
- Chris Lloyd: drums (2014)
Discography[]
Albums/EPs[]
(as Khaos Faktory)
- Open For Business (EP, 2006, independently released)
- Sinthetic Alchemy (LP, 2008, ADP Records / 2009, Khaos Records/JaDed EyeZ Entertainment)
- Khaos Faktory Sampler CD 1.0 (promo EP, 2009, independently released)
- Stoned, Drunk & Sleep-Deprived (EP, 2015, independently released)
- No Mas Beastmode (EP, 2016, independently released)
(as ScarForge)
- Promo CD 1.5 (promo EP, 2010, independently released)
- Sampler EP 1.5.5 (digital promo EP, 2010, independently released)
(as Die Dreck)
- No Mas Beastmode (EP, 2015, independently released)
Compilations[]
- Sweat Soundtrack (2008, JaDEd EyeZ Entertainment)
- Skratch Compilation v.44 (2008, Skratch Magazine)
Music Videos[]
“Time Is The Fire” (2017)
”Beastmode” (2017)