Years active 2005 – present Past members Ryan Mattos | Website ceremonyhc.com | |
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Members Ross Farrar, Anthony Anzaldo, Jake Casarotti, Justin Davis, Andy Nelson Genres Punk rock, Hardcore punk, Post-punk, Powerviolence Albums Profiles | ||
Ceremony is an American punk rock band from Rohnert Park, California. The band features Ross Farrar (vocals), Anthony Anzaldo (guitar), Justin Davis (bass), Andy Nelson (guitar), and Jake Casarotti (drums). Ryan Mattos (guitar) left before the group's Matador Records signing in 2011.
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History
Formed in Rohnert Park, California, the band originally formed as Violent World until later changing the name to Ceremony.
In 2005, the band released the EP Ruined on Malfunction Records. This release was followed by their critically acclaimed first full-length album, Violence Violence, which included a re-recorded version of the Ruined EP.
2008 saw the release of Still Nothing Moves You, the band's first release on Bridge 9 Records, described by Keith Carman in Exclaim! magazine as "hardcore's equivalent of Hiroshima", which placed on Billboard's Top Internet and Top Heatseekers charts in August 2008.
After touring all around the world with bands including Blacklisted, Converge, and AFI, they have released new music, including their third full-length album Rohnert Park in 2010.
In 2011, the band confirmed they had signed with Matador Records, and their final Bridge 9 release would be a covers-only EP, featuring the band's take on songs by Urban Waste, Pixies, Crisis, Eddie and the Subtitles, Vile and Wire.
In March 2012, the band released the album Zoo on Matador Records which was a departure from the harder style even more so than the Rohnert Park album was, with the new record focusing on a more pre-hardcore punk sound in the style of Wire's Pink Flag (1977) album.
In March 2015, the band confirmed on their Facebook page that their next album, titled The L-Shaped Man, will be released on May 19, 2015, through Matador Records.
Musical style
The band's main influences include The Ventures, Joy Division, TSOL, and especially The Beach Boys. The band's early sound has been compared to that of Infest and described as a "non-stop bludgeoning of sonic fury" and "fast, brutal hardcore".