The Faceless need no introduction, as the (in)famous tech death band have made waves over the past few years with their top-tier displays of musicianship in the modern metal scene today. The band has always been a rotating door of musicians, with The Faceless being more or less a solo project for founder/guitarist Michael Keene. That is no more true today than ever.
Having released their first album in five years in 2017, vocalist Ken Sorceron, guitarist Justin McKinney, and drummer Bryce Butler have all departed the band within hours of each other. Sorceron made the following post to Facebook:
For reasons that are easy for anyone with internet access to guess I would like to announce that I am leaving The Faceless. While I will miss playing with my boys Justin McKinney and Bryce Butler and some good times have been had over the last two years, the bad times have definitely overshadowed the good.
I have no ill will towards the band or their manager Ej Shannon who really did his best to help the band recover over the last couple years and wish everyone the best. But without going into any details publicly I think it’s no secret that there are some deep seeded problems and I know longer want the stress and anxiety that comes along with being in the band.
I’ll be putting my full focus back into Abigail Williams and The Accuser as I am finishing up new records for both bands over the next couple months.
Following, McKinney and Butler made statements of their own. McKinney’s reads as follows:
After dealing with The Faceless for roughly 4 years now, I have decided that I need to remove myself from the band, it is not easy doing this, but being treated the way we have over the years it’s just something I can’t take anymore. I am not going publicly into detail, but if you have access to the internet it should be apparent whats going on here. It’s been super fun and incredible touring and playing alongside Ken Sorceron, Bryce Butler and Chason West. We all had high hopes in repairing the band, worked hard and dealt with things we shouldn’t have and E.J. Shannon Management really busted his ass to do so as well, I love all those guys and I wish them nothing but the best. But I need to push forward and focus on the reason why I even do this, and that is The Zenith Passage. I’ll see you all soon.
Butler’s reads:
This is not easy for me to do… But it is for the best. After a lot of thought, I’ve decided that I will be leaving The Faceless. I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity that I was given, but the band is not what it appeared to be. I am not going publicly into detail, about exactly why.. But there are many things that I’m not comfortable with. I don’t feel right moving forward. There are unnecessary levels of stress, and i have to do what’s best for my health. Thanks to the Internet, a lot of you already have a good idea of what’s going on. It was an incredible honor playing with Ken Sorceron and Justin McKinneyand I will miss them dearly. We all had hope in repairing the band, and EJ Shannon really has done so much to try to make that happen. But I can’t and won’t put myself in a position that doesn’t sit right with my soul. I wish these guys nothing but the best. I will absolutely still be touring and I’m excited to announce that I will be playing live drums for Abigail Williams. Thank you so much to everyone who has supported me through all of this. I am eternally grateful and I will see you all soon
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This is not the first time the band has been left in shambles, but with tour cancellations in the past at the last minute being a common occurrence, many have already written the band off as dead. This will no doubt slow down the band even further, as recruiting new members will be a challenge. With 22 people having already been in the band, with five more being touring members, Keene will have to make changes to how the band operates if The Faceless is going to continue to be a thing.
