Low Twelve

Formation and Demos

Low Twelve began in July 1998 as founder Pete Altieri, decided to end his 10-year departure from heavy metal. He decided to name the band Low Twelve after reading the phrase in an old book on Freemasonry, which simply meant midnight. It can also mean the very end of something, like the moments right before death. The band is based out of Bloomington Illinois, a city of about 50,000 in Central Illinois.

Pete began to write material, develop the logo and band presentation as he found guitarists Tim McCleland and Les Aldridge. Together with original drummer Steve Chestney, Low Twelve practised a rigorous schedule to perform their début show at Club Edge in Bloomington Illinois on February 6, 1999. It would be the first of many brutal live shows.

Shortly after that show, the band released their début 4-song demo, "Blunt Force Trauma". The demo received praise by metal magazines world wide and sold nearly 1,000 copies. After only a couple of months, the band decided to hit the studio again and released the EP, "Kill Floor", and sold another 1,000 copies of it by hand duplicating and assembling each one! Several cuts from "Kill Floor" dominated the metal charts on mp3.com and they began to get airplay in stations throughout the US as well as Germany, The Netherlands, and beyond. In 1999 Pete Altieri founded Heavycore, a union of heavy bands world wide.

Flesh of the Weak

Steve Chestney left the band and was replaced in November 1999 with Wes Pollock. Dubbed the "Kill Floor Kid", Wes brought a new slant on the style of the band. The new material began to transform into a faster and more intricate sound. In June 2000, Low Twelve recorded the full length cd, "Flesh of the Weak". The 70-minute CD was released in December 2000 as they supported Pro-Pain on the "Round 6" tour for a few dates.

Reviews continue to pour in for "Flesh of the Weak" and many of the songs have appeared in other formats. "Twelve" and "Trench" were selected for the Siren Jukebox 2.0 software. "Brutal World" was featured in the movie trailer and during the film "Jigsaw" released on Full Moon Pictures on DVD. "Jigsaw" was released nationwide throughout Hollywood Video and Family Video stores. In addition, "Brutal World" and "Sex Sin Sermon" was on the soundtrack for Falcon Videos "Horrortales 666" that came out in early 2003.

During the summer of 2002, the band embarked on a tour to New York City and back - as they tore it up night after night, gaining new Twelve Heads in mass. Low Twelve shows are known for being loud, rough and nasty in the pits. Many fans comment on how tight the band is live, and how the songs are pulled off with precision and intensity. The band thrives in a live environment, when their amps are up full tilt and providing the necessary concussion up front.

In June 2001, Pete Altieri was diagnosed with cancer and went under emergency surgery to remove the tumour. Tests later showed Pete still had many tumours left, and so the cancer had spread. The only option being chemotherapy, Pete endured the treatments while continuing to play live shows and rehearse twice a week. During the entire summer, the only show Low Twelve missed was on the day of Pete's emergency surgery. Trips were made to Missouri and Wisconsin, and the support from the fans was a huge reason for Pete's persistence and determination to beat the cancer. With a sigh of relief, on September 11, 2001 Pete found out the cancer was gone. Each check up shows the cancer remains gone, and his health slowly has improved.

Touring and Live DVD

Tim McCleland left the band in October 2001 and after a short period of try-outs, the band decided to remain a three piece. After posting a poll on the site, 2/3 of fans voted to keep the band intact, and to not get another guitar player. At live shows, the fans loved the new approach, and with some adjustments, the band was able to perform many of their classic tunes.

Sadly, Tim McCleland committed suicide on February 26, 2002, and even though he was not a member of the band, he was still a good friend to every member of Low Twelve. It was a very rough time, but the band forged on yet again. Pete, Les, and Wes reached down and decided the only thing to do was continue to fight. After dealing with the adversity of Pete's cancer fight and Tim's untimely death - Low Twelve felt stronger than ever.

In the summer of 2003 Low Twelve released its next CD, "Unfit For Human Occupancy" with 5 newly recorded songs and 2 live tracks with Tim still playing. The reviews have been strong and the metal media has praised it. The CD was released with a DVD entitled "Maggot Ridden Rotting Movie", but it had to be removed from the jewel case due to a legal problem that arose. To avoid litigation, Low Twelve agreed to remove the DVD and sell only the "Unfit" .

This Side Toward Enemy and Label Debut

Low Twelve continued to tour and play live shows, as well as participate in benefits for various causes. In 2005, Pete rallied the Heavycore bands to mail CDs to soldiers in Iraq. So many cds were sent in that the unit had a "Heavycore night" each week where the metal head soldiers cranked up their favourite Heavycore bands in their day room.

In late 2004 they recorded a new full length CD, This Side Toward Enemy, and released it on Rotting Corpse Records in February 2006. The band signed the deal with the Chicago-based label in January 2006 and has already reaped the benefits of having a hard working indie label on your side. The sales have been strong, especially in Europe and Asia, as the metal media raves about the epic release. The CD boasts 12 new tracks that the band recorded/produced/mixed/mastered themselves, a remix of "Twelve" and a video for the song "Kill Everything" - which features vocals by hardcore legend Gary Meskil of Pro-Pain. Other tracks on the CD feature vocalists from other Heavycore bands.

Recent Activity and Splatter Pattern

In March 2008 Les Aldridge decided to pack it in after 10 years on guitar duties, and so the band decided to draft two new guitar players to go back to the original two-guitar attack. Jeremy Meister, formerly of the Breed of Sedition/Human Hatemachine/Killborn has joined forces with the band. Soon after Meister was added, another fret-ripper - Dan Steinlicht (Zero Shift, formerly of Redeeming Damnation) was approached and welcomed the challenge. Already the Low Twelve sound is changing - but even heavier than before with two guitar players in tow. Unfortunately, after only 18 months in the band, Low Twelve parted ways with guitarist Dan Steinlicht and Les Aldridge rejoined bringing the sound full circle with the Meister/Aldridge combination. Both guitarist having distinct cutting tones but together their sound steps into the world of other epic two guitar bands rarely matched and often never duplicated.

Despite the challenge, Low Twelve has already begun recording their 4th CD release with "Splatter Pattern". This new and exciting project began in the early Spring of 2009 and continues on likely into the fall. Meister will play a few of the guitar solos on the CD and a guest guitarist will play the others. On August 22, 2009 Les Aldridge rejoined Low 12.

In November 2010, Wes Pollock decided to leave the band to pursue a career in the audio engineering industry. Low Twelve decided to have friend of the band, Travis Waterman, step in to replace Wes on drums; ultimately dubbed the new breed of Low Twelve.

Personnel

Studio albums

Demos

Compilations and Soundtracks