Veil of Suffering is a christian metal band from Oklahoma City, OK. Formed in the summer of 2007, Veil of Suffering is comprised from the remnants of fellow OKC metal band Mercy's Wake , hardcore/metal band Eleven Hours Down , and death metal band OBLITERATION . The line-up consists of the following:
Rikki Puckett - Vocals
Che Fitzgerald - Guitar
Dave Affentranger - Bass
Al Garrison - Drums
Rikki Puckett hails from death metal band, Obliteration (later known as Death List). OBLITERATION/Death List was a Christian death metal band from Oklahoma City, OK who dominated the underground christian metal scene in Oklahoma and the southwest throughout the late 1990's. Originally formed in early 1997, the band would only have a short-lived two year run before disbanding. Obliteration recorded and released their first demo entitled, "Dying Age" in 1997. Rikki eventually left the band, and the name was then changed to Death List. As "Death List", the band released their first and only full-length album entitled, "Severed" in 1998. The Dying Age demo is also featured on the Chords of the Grave compilation album, which consists of other notable and pioneering christian death metal bands Disencumbrance and Oblation. To this day, the comp is widely viewed as arguably the greatest christian death metal compilation of all time. Both, the Obliteration "Dying Age" demo as well as the Death List "Severed" album were picked up for world-wide distribution by Cross Rhythms Music (now called Blastbeats Music ). OBLITERATION/Death List has shared the stage with several national acts - both christian AND secular bands - such as Napalm Death , Living Sacrifice , Melchezidek, Eternal Decision , Frank's Enemy, Skinlab , Exodus , Obituary , Suffocation , Six Feet Under , Extol , Embodyment, Mortification , Tourniquet , and Mindrage among many others. In addition to the many national acts OBLITERATION/Death List played with, they also played two Texas Rockfests. In the summer of 1998, Rikki Puckett rejoined the band, though they kept the name Death List. The band met its unfortunate and untimely demise in early 1999.
Dave Affentranger comes from hardcore/metal band Eleven Hours Down. EHD was a fairly successful band that started in the mid 1990's. Eleven Hours Down was in the forefront of the sing/scream metal trend which has become par for the course for bands like As I Lay Dying and many others. EHD has played with the likes of Selfmindead , Living Sacrifice , Spoken , Underoath , and Eso Charis. Eleven Hours Down gathered a fairly substantial following and recorded several CD's. Their last effort which was expected to release with Bettie Rocket Records was never released.
Che Fitzgerald (pronounced "Chay") and Al Garrison were the founding members of Mercy's Wake. Both have been working musically together for many years going back to the late 1990's. They were both part of a band in Junction City, KS, but initially, they didn't get along very well which ultimately led to the bands demise. Ironically, Che and Al - without knowledge of each others' plans - moved to the OKC area about two weeks apart from each other. It was at this time that they reconciled their friendship, started creating music together, and Mercy's Wake was born. They released their first demo as a self-titled demo in the winter months of 2000. In march of 2003, they had completed their second demo entitled, "Tame the Dragon." As "Mercy's Wake," the band would go on for several years playing live shows as often as possible throughout the southwest region of the U.S. The band had undergone several personnel changes throughout the years and was not able to maintain a full line-up on a consistent basis, which resulted in the of end of Mercy's Wake in 2007. Once Dave and Rikki entered the fold, the band found their identity in the name "Veil of Suffering."