Devolved is an Australian technical death metal band led by drummer and lyricist John Sankey, originally from the Gold Coast, Queensland, then based in Los Angeles where Sankey resided for over 15 years. The band has released four full-length albums and has toured extensively throughout Australia, Europe, the United Kingdom, the United States and Japan.
History
In 1998, drummer John Sankey decided to start a new extreme metal band based at the Gold Coast, Australia and began writing material with local guitarist Brett Noordin. They then added bassist and vocalist Joel Graham and lead guitarist Mark Walpole were recruited and the original Devolved line-up was complete. Over the next year Devolved recorded an EP titled 'Truth' and rapidly built a strong following due to their intense live performances, one of which caused one fan to suffer an epileptic seizure during their show, the band have since been forced to include a warning for such a reaction on all promotion materials and releases. In 2000 Devolved entered the studio to record their debut album 'Technologies', just prior to the recording sessions vocalist Nik Carpenter joined the band. The album was released in 2001 and immediately received widespread attention and acclaim, Devolved was voted Australian Metal Band of the Year by both listeners and staff at leading National radio network JJJ and the Roadrunner Records affiliated magazine 'Outsider' judged Technologies to be the Australian metal album of the year and Sankey was awarded as best metal drummer. Sankey was soon contacted by a number of drum Companies and he signed exclusive endorsement deals with Sabian Cymbals, Pro-Mark drum sticks, Axis Pedals, Aquarian drum heads and Premier drums.
At this time bass player Joel Graham was replaced for a short term by Leighton Kearns, who was then replaced by Wayde Dunn. Devolved toured extensively for 'Technologies' including appearances alongside Strapping Young Lad and Machine Head. Sankey also performed with Melbourne-based band Frankenbok filling in for their drummer who was injured on tours with Skinlab and Soilwork. Devolved soon returned to the studio to record an EP titled 'Automation 001' which featured 2 new tracks plus live songs and interactive bonus material. After its release in 2002 the band took their chaotic live show overseas to the UK and Europe where they performed shows with Opeth, Arch Enemy, Candlemass and many more. Vocalist Nik Carpenter was unceremoniously let go during this time when he became 'too home sick to continue the tour' and left in the middle of the night to fly back to Australia without warning leaving the band without a singer for the last handful of shows. Fortunately guitarist Brett Noordin stood in as vocalist for the remaining dates, needless to say Sankey fired Carpenter from the band immediately.
Upon returning to Australia Devolved performed with metal heavyweights Fear Factory, who had been Sankey's favorite band for many years. It was then that Sankey met FF guitarist Dino Cazares. Cazares had previously heard Devolved and was a fan of their music, the two struck up a mutual friendship and when Cazares left Fear Factory the following month he asked Sankey to fly to America to begin working on a new project with him which would become 'Divine Heresy'. Sankey spent the majority of 2003 in Los Angeles living with Cazares writing new music together, he then returned to Australia to focus on the next Devolved album which he wrote entirely with Noordin.
As a result of Devolved's success Sony Records offered the band an exclusive distribution deal which was previously unheard of for an extreme metal band. Sankey stated that he wanted this new album to showcase the band's technicality and experiment with irregular song structures and patterns. Although Nik Carpenter had been previously fired from the band he was re-hired on a temporary basis to record vocals on the new album (reportedly much to Sankey's discontent). Patrick Brown was also added to the live line-up as the band's sampler. 'Calculated' was released in Australia in 2004, and although it received very positive reviews Sankey says he was never happy with the production of the album due to strict time restraints by the Label. Devolved once again hit the road and toured aggressively playing many sold-out shows throughout Australia to support the release.