Threat Signal


Threat Signal is a Canadian metalcore band from the city of Hamilton. The band has had numerous lineup changes, with only Jon Howard remaining from the original incarnation.

Biography

Early years

Threat Signal was formed in the summer of 2003 by cousins Jon and Rich Howard. Shortly after, they recruited local Hamilton guitarist Kyle McKnight and began writing/recording music. The three musicians posted their demo for the song "Rational Eyes" on an international metal chart on GarageBand.com. After a few weeks, the song reached No. 1, and had received many awards including best guitars, best drums, best male vocals, best production, song of the week, and song of the day. Success on GarageBand.com sparked some early record label interest and helped create a following even before the band had ever played live. In the spring of 2004, Adam Matthews joined the band as their first drummer. Several months later, Eric Papky would also join to handle the bass playing. With a full lineup in place, the band was ready to hit the stage. On December, 10th 2004, Threat Signal headlined their first show at The Underground in Hamilton. For the better part of 2005, Threat Signal would continue to write and record material for a full-length album. In the summer of 2005, they would part ways with bassist Eric Papky and have Marco Bressette enter the fold as a replacement.

Nuclear Blast and ''Under Reprisal''

In September 2005, the band traveled to Los Angeles to record Under Reprisal with Christian Olde Wolbers of Fear Factory. During the recording process, Threat Signal parted ways with drummer Adam Matthews. In November 2005, the band announced they had signed a recording deal with Nuclear Blast records. The band was in need of a new drummer and this position was filled by George Parfitt in January 2006. Later that year in July, Threat Signal took part in Germany's Earthshaker Fest, alongside notable acts as Scar Symmetry, Communic, and Arch Enemy. On August 1, 2006, the band announced that guitarist Rich Howard had left the band to pursue other personal goals, and he was replaced by the band's bassist, Marco Bressette. This left the bass guitar duties vacant, and in late September Pat Kavanagh was announced as the new bassist. In October 2006, the band began a North American trek with Soilwork, Mnemic, and Darkest Hour.

New material, touring and line-up changes

In March 2007, Threat Signal began demoing new material, but was hampered by second departure, this time Marco Bressette's. The band announced a search for a new guitarist the same day, while guitarist Adam Weber would join the band temporarily to fill in for the remaining tour dates. Threat Signal was tapped as the opener for the Tour and Loathing trek alongside Protest the Hero, All That Remains, Blessthefall, and The Holly Springs Disaster. In the summer of 2007, Kyle McKnight announced his departure from Threat Signal. Shortly afterwards, George Parfitt would also leave the band. Replacements were made with Travis Montgomery on guitar and Norm Killeen on drums. By this time, Adam Weber had also become a full-time member.
In 2008 Jon Howard and Pat Kavanagh joined Arkaea alongside ex-Fear Factory members Raymond Herrera on drums and Christian Olde Wolbers on guitar.

''Vigilance''

Threat Signal's second album Vigilance, which was produced by Jon Howard and mixed by Greg Reely, was released on September 8, 2009 in North America and September 11, 2009 in Europe. The album spawned a music video for the track "Severed". On July 15 the band released a 32-minute "making of" video for the new record, containing footage of the recordings, song writing process and interviews with band members. The album sold around 1,100 copies in its first week of sale in the United States, with the band touring alongside Epica and later Dark Tranquillity to support the album.

Second lineup change

In July 2010 it was confirmed that Adam Weber had quit the band. Pat Kavanagh has issued the following statement:
"Adam has decided to leave us. He has some personal things he needs to work out and we wish him all the best. We’re still good friends and there’s plenty more beers that we’ll have together so no worries. I know this sucks to hear for a lot of you and I can list off a boat load of bands that have been through the same s*** we’ve been through. Just know it sucks hard on our side too. On a positive note we have a huge head start on the next record. Even have a few demos already! You’ll be hearing new s*** soon. So we hope to see you on the road with Soilwork, Mutiny Within and Kris Norris soon! Good times will be had by all!"
Ex-Darkest Hour guitarist Kris Norris filled in for Adam's absence
On September 13, 2010, the band posted an online statement that they also parted ways with drummer Norman Killeen. Both Adam and Norman were eventually replaced by drummer Alex Rüdinger and guitarist Chris Feener.

''Threat Signal''

The band announced on their Facebook page that the third album will be produced and mixed by "musical mastermind" Zeuss. They also stated that they experimented with 7 string guitars on this album. The band is quoted saying: "We are headed back to the Under Reprisal days but with bigger balls." The band also stated that it will be a self-titled album.
Threat Signal's self-titled new album "Threat Signal" was released on October 7, 2011 in Europe and on October 11, 2011 in North America. They toured with Children Of Bodom, Eluvieite, and Revocation in 2012 to promote the album.

Third lineup change, ''Disconnect''

Alex Rüdinger and Chris Feener have left the band and Rüdinger has been replaced by Our Lady of Bloodshed drummer Joey Muha.
On May 20, 2015, it was announced that touring guitarist; Matt Perrin, had officially joined the band. Along with that statement came news regarding the tracking of a new album within the month. On June 13, 2015, Joey Muha announced he left Threat Signal and will now be a full-time member of Jungle Rot.
Drums for the band's fourth album, Disconnect, were done by Andrew Minarik. It was originally slated for 2016, but spent a year in development hell due to management and label problems. It was eventually released on November 10, 2017.

Members

;Current
; Former
; Studio musicians
; Touring musicians
; Timeline

ImageSize = width:800 height:auto barincrement:20
PlotArea = left:100 bottom:60 top:0 right:15
Alignbars = justify
DateFormat = yyyy
Period = from:2003 till:2021
TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy
Legend = orientation:horizontal position:bottom
ScaleMajor = increment:1 start:2003
Colors =
id:vocals value:red legend:Vocals
id:guitar value:green legend:Guitars
id:bass value:blue legend:Bass
id:drums value:orange legend:Drums
id:Lines1 value:black legend:Studio_release
LineData =
at:2006 color:Lines1 layer:back
at:2009 color:Lines1 layer:back
at:2011 color:Lines1 layer:back
at:2017 color:Lines1 layer:back
BarData =
bar:JHoward text:"Jon Howard"
bar:McKnight text:"Kyle McKnight"
bar:Montgomery text:"Travis Montgomery"
bar:RHoward text:"Rich Howard"
bar:Weber text:"Adam Weber"
bar:Feener text:"Chris Feener"
bar:KNorris text:"Kris Norris"
bar:Perrin text: "Matt Perrin"
bar:Wong text: "Oswin Wong"
bar:Papky text:"Eric Papky"
bar:Bressette text:"Marco Bressette"
bar:Kavanagh text:"Pat Kavanagh"
bar:Miller text:"Ryan Miller"
bar:Matthews text:"Adam Matthews"
bar:Parfitt text:"George Parfitt"
bar:Killeen text:"Norman Killeen"
bar:Rudinger text:"Alex Rüdinger"
bar:Muha text:"Joey Muha"
PlotData=
width:11 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:
bar:JHoward from:2003 till:end color:vocals
bar:McKnight from:2003 till:2007 color:guitar
bar:RHoward from:2003 till:2006 color:guitar
bar:Bressette from:2006 till:2007 color:guitar
bar:Montgomery from:2007 till:end color:guitar
bar:Weber from:2007 till:2010 color:guitar
bar:Feener from:2010 till:2012 color:guitar
bar:KNorris from:2012 till:2013 color:guitar
bar:Perrin from:2013 till:2020 color:guitar
bar:Wong from:2020 till:end color:guitar
bar:Papky from:2004 till:2005 color:bass
bar:Bressette from:2005 till:2006 color:bass
bar:Kavanagh from:2006 till:2018 color:bass
bar:Miller from:2018 till:end color:bass
bar:Matthews from:2004 till:2005 color:drums
bar:Parfitt from:2006 till:2007 color:drums
bar:Killeen from:2007 till:2010 color:drums
bar:Rudinger from:2010 till:2012 color:drums
bar:Muha from:2012 till:2015 color:drums
bar:Muha from:2020 till:end color:drums

Discography

Albums