Damien Moyal
American musician (born 1976) / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Damien Zev Moyal (born September 25, 1976) is an American vocalist, lyricist, musician, songwriter and designer.[1][2][3] Originally from Amstelveen, North Holland, Netherlands, he moved to the United States as a child and grew up in Miami, Florida, where he notably fronted such hardcore punk, metallic hardcore and melodic hardcore bands as Shai Hulud, As Friends Rust, Morning Again, Culture, Bird of Ill Omen and Bridgeburne R.[4][5][6] Moyal has been based in Ann Arbor, Michigan since 2006 and is the founding member of the semi-eponymously named gothic rock/post-punk band Damien Done.[3][7][8]
Damien Moyal | |
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 Moyal during an As Friends Rust photo shoot promoting the album Won in mid-2001. | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Damien Zev Moyal |
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| Born | (1976-09-25) September 25, 1976 (age 47) Amstelveen, Netherlands |
| Origin | Miami, Florida |
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| Years active | 1992–present |
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Moyal's early musical projects include the hardcore punk act U.S. Decline (1992–1993), the hardcore group Insist (1993), the metallic hardcore band Reach (1993–1994), and the groove metal project HandOverFist (1994). He next joined established vegan straight edge metallic hardcore band Culture, which he fronted from 1994 to 1995, then again from 1996 to 1998, recording music for such record labels as Uprising Records, Good Life Recordings, Toybox Records and Conquer the World Records. Moyal later took part of Culture's reunion from 2012 to 2016, which saw material released through Eulogy Recordings. Following his first exit from Culture in 1995, he co-founded the melodic metallic hardcore band Shai Hulud (1995–1996), participating in its demo recording and helping the band get signed to Revelation Records. Moyal's vocal and lyrical contributions to Shai Hulud were released by such record labels as Revelation Records, Crisis Records, Asian Man Records, Sub City Records, Trial & Error Records and Metal Blade Records.
While still in Shai Hulud, Moyal teamed up with ex-Culture members to launch the metallic hardcore band Morning Again (1995–1996). The band recorded material for Conquer the World Records and Good Life Recordings, which again lead to getting signed by Revelation Records. Moyal has since performed with Morning Again at a handful of reunion shows in 1999, 2002 and 2014. After quitting Shai Hulud and being fired from Morning Again, Moyal started the sludge-metallic hardcore band Bird of Ill Omen (1996–1997), but left before any studio material could be tracked.[9] Moyal's lyrics were later used by Bird of Ill Omen's second vocalist for material released by Eulogy Recordings. While still in Bird of Ill Omen, Moyal joined the melodic hardcore side-project As Friends Rust (1996–1997), which broke up after recording a demo tape.
In 1997, Moyal relocated to Gainesville, Florida, where Culture had moved the year prior, and there reformed As Friends Rust (1997–2002), which quickly became his principal project for the next five years, releasing music through such labels as Good Life Recordings, Doghouse Records, Initial Records, Big Wheel Recreation, Defiance Records and Equal Vision Records. Moyal again reformed As Friends Rust in 2008, and the band has remained active into the 2020s. When Culture broke up in 1998, Moyal and several of its members teamed up with members of Assück to form the short-lived metal band Some Sort of Radio (1998–1999), and in 1999, he and members of As Friends Rust formed the old-school hardcore punk side-project Bridgeburne R (1999–2000). Following his departure from As Friends Rust in 2002, Moyal founded the semi-eponymously named gothic rock/post-punk solo project Damien Done, which eventually expanded into a full band. After returning to Miami in 2004, he took part of the acoustic folk duo Goodnight at the End of the Tunnel with Kaleb Stewart (2005), and the short-lived metallic hardcore band Best Wishes (2006). In 2006, he moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan and formed the DJ duo Old Man Underground (2008). Moyal reunited with ex-Culture members in the hardcore band On Bodies (2009–2017), which released music through Eulogy Recordings and Demons Run Amok Entertainment. Since 2022, Moyal has been part of the death metal band Ekstasis with drummer Fred Estby.[10][11][12]