What is After The Suffering? The Metalcore band After The Suffering is at the center of Dinuba Californias local band scene, a center very small thanks to Dinubas reserved interests in all things heavy in music. But the beginnings of ATS members were not all in the agricultural town. Aaron Patrick, normally from Coalinga, grew up with Coalinga local Rusty Humphries and messed around in music. In 1993 their collaboration eventually became the group Power Salad with Rusty on drums and Aaron as the lead vocalist. The band played live performances together until 1995 when members decided to go their separate ways.
In 1999 Rusty moved to Dinuba where he met Victor Rojas, lead guitarist of his own band Unforgiven. Rustys and Victors ideas of metal were the same, and so they started Serenity in 2002, a cover band playing songs from artists like Ozzy Osbourne, Metallica, Slayer, Helmet, Korn and Drowning Pool as well as a few of their own originals. With Victors cousin Jake Perez at the vocals, they needed a bass player and asked Grant Gillen who had been playing bass for only a year. The shows started slowly, but after a year the band took a permanent hiatus.
Rusty and victor still continued to practice songs together, but it wasnt until members Adam Lopez and Lance Slusher from the deceased group Glitch joined, forming the beginning of After The Suffering. They immediately made their first three song demo including songs Killing Machine, Self Realization and Suffer System with Lance on rhythm guitar and Adam leading the vocals with his cringing screams and haunting melodies. Grant was asked by the group if he was interested in playing bass and singing/screaming backup and he accepted, happy to get to work again with Rusty and Victor as well as Adam and Lance.
The first live performance After The Suffering made was on Raisin Day in Dinuba, September 24th 2004, and since that day they have constantly been pushing their name and their music out to those young and old who would listen to them. But the band became a four piece when Lance decided to go his own way after a falling out with the rest of the members. The band didnt lose hope, and continued as planned with the show that evening for KRZR 103.7s Battle for Manfest at the Avalon, February 12th 2005. even though Victor was the only guitar, they did great at that show and were confident in the shows to follow. They have been proud to do multiple shows at places such as; Manfest 2005, Fresnos The Avalon and The Crossroads KRZR 103.7, Sneakers in Visalia, J Street Bar and Grill in Tulare, Studio 99 in Bakersfield and Big Game Entertainment (The Belmont) in Fresno. They also had the honor to be one of the few bands to open for bands My Ruin and Bleed The Sky at Big Game Entertainment, August 22nd 2005, as well as have their song Suffer System aired Sunday evenings on KRZR 103.7s Turn That Damn Noise Down hour every month and submitted to planetgig.coms Compilation Project CD Volume 1 as track 13.
Though theyve been making a good name for themselves, Adam had been wanting to play guitar for a while and have someone take over the vocals in his stead. Interestingly enough, Aaron Patrick who was in the Modesto band Vicadus from 1999-2002 and Hookset in Orange County 2002-2005 refound Rusty through the power of Myspace.com and came down to check them out. And the wheels began to turn again. Aaron moved to Dinuba in January 2006 and has been the vocalist ever since, giving Adam the rhythm guitar and backup vocals he wanted. Change is good in order to move forward and After The Suffering is doing that once again, stepping forward. Shortly after Adam moving to rhythm guitar he decided to part ways with the band to pursue other musical intrests.
So what is After The Suffering? a lot of people have questioned the band name the members have chosen, wondering if it may be from religious beliefs or just to be cool. Their music is based around personal ideas that through life there is always pain, but you have a choice to both accept the events and move on, becoming stronger, or dwell in it and allow yourself to keep suffering. Any way you look at it, a clear explanation is relatively hard to come up with, but the members of ATS are not into shoving information and ideas down peoples throats. They simply play music that they love. Heavy riffs, loud vocals and screams, guitar solos, hardcore dancing, mosh pitting, double bass, head banging and each other as a band, team and family.
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