{{Use American English|date=November 2022}} {{Use mdy dates|date=November 2022}} {{Short description|American death metal band}} {{Other uses|Famine (disambiguation)}} {{More citations needed|date=May 2012}}

{{Infobox musical artist | name = The Famine | image = | caption = | alias = | origin = [[Arlington, Texas]], U.S. | genre = [[Death metal]] | years_active = 2006–2011 | label = [[Solid State Records|Solid State]] | website = |past_members = Andrew Godwin<br />Mark Garza<br />Nick Nowell<br />Jon Richardson<br />Kris McCaddon<br />Brad Fincher<br />Jon Tooley }}

'''The Famine''' was an American [[death metal]] band formed in [[Arlington, Texas]], in 2006. They were signed to [[Solid State Records]].

== History ==

=== Formation and three-song EP === The band initially formed with three of the original members of [[Embodyment]] in former lead vocalist Kris McCaddon, drummer Mark Garza and guitarist Andrew Godwin. While McCaddon previously played guitar in [[Demon Hunter (band)|Demon Hunter]] he, along with Nick Nowell, also played guitar in [[Society's Finest]]. During the fall of 2006 the band recorded 3 songs that would later become a self-released EP.

=== ''The Raven and the Reaping'' === The Famine's first album ''[[The Raven and the Reaping]]'' was recorded in November and December 2006 with Andreas Magnusson ([[The Black Dahlia Murder (band)|The Black Dahlia Murder]], [[The Agony Scene]]) and released in May 2008. The Famine performed on the ''Stronger Than Hell'' tour with [[Demon Hunter (band)|Demon Hunter]] and [[Living Sacrifice]] in the summer of 2008. They toured with Rose Funeral and The World We Knew during October 2008 and with [[The Devil Wears Prada (band)|The Devil Wears Prada]], [[Saosin]], and [[Underoath]] in November 2008.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tostartafire.com/news/underoath-headline-tour |title=The Leading To Start a Fire Site on the Net |publisher=tostartafire.com |accessdate=May 24, 2012}}</ref> During this time they were also picked up for management by Anthony "Yogi" Allgood of Outerloop management ([[Emery (band)|Emery]], [[Darkest Hour (band)|Darkest Hour]]) based out of the Washington, DC area.

The Famine's video for the song "Consume, Devour, Repeat" premiered virally on [[MTV Networks|MTV]]'s Headbangers Blog on Thursday, November 6 and was subsequently televised on [[MTV2]]'s [[Headbangers Ball]] on Saturday, November 8.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://headbangersblog.mtv.com/2008/11/06/video-premiere-the-famines-consume-devour-repeat |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081109060704/http://headbangersblog.mtv.com/2008/11/06/video-premiere-the-famines-consume-devour-repeat/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=November 9, 2008 |title=Heavy &#124; MTV Hive |publisher=Headbangersblog.mtv.com |accessdate=May 24, 2012}}</ref>

=== ''The Architects of Guilt'' and departure of Kris McCaddon === The band announced the departure of vocalist Kris McCaddon via MySpace on January 9, 2010. Bassist Nick Nowell took over vocals,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.theprp.com/2010/01/09/news/the-famine-replace-vocalist/ |title=The Famine Replace Vocalist &#124; Theprp.com – Metal, Hardcore And Rock News, Reviews And More |date=January 9, 2010 |publisher=Theprp.com |accessdate=May 24, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://metalholic.com/qa-with-the-famines-nick-nowell-architect-of-couth/|title=Q&A With The Famine's Nick Nowell ~ Architects of Couth|publisher=Metalholic|first=Rustyn|last=Rose|date=February 20, 2011|accessdate=October 11, 2016}}</ref> and bass duties were quickly filled by new addition Jon Richardson as announced on the 15th.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.theprp.com/2010/01/15/news/the-famine-add-new-bassist/ |title=The Famine Add New Bassist &#124; Theprp.com – Metal, Hardcore And Rock News, Reviews And More |date=January 15, 2010 |publisher=Theprp.com |accessdate=May 24, 2012}}</ref>

The band's studio burned down in February 2010. It contained all of their equipment and tracking for their new album.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=144235605&blogId=529966903 |title=The Burning van THE FAMINE op Myspace |publisher=Blogs.myspace.com |date=February 26, 2010 |accessdate=May 24, 2012}}</ref> Only one song from these sessions, "We Are The Wolves", made it on to the new album. Solid State rented out a house for The Famine to record in. The band stated that if the label had not done this it would have taken a much longer time for the album to be recorded. "The Architects of Guilt" was released February 15, 2011, through Solid State Records. A video for the song "Ad Mortem" was released soon after the album was released.

=== Disbanding ===

On April 12, 2011, Nick Nowell announced via a Facebook post that The Famine had disbanded. The announcement read as follows:

{{Quote|"The Famine never should have existed. I don't mean that like when a jealous brother screams 'I wish you were never born!' at his little sister. What I mean is that we came together as a group of married thirty-somethings with kids and small businesses. Our singer lived on the other side of the country. It was a cumbersome proposition, but we made it work. Most of you are familiar with the fire that claimed most of our equipment and the departure of our vocalist about a year ago. We should have never been able to make our last record, but we did. This brings us to the present day.

As of this past Saturday, The Famine is no more. In my mind, bands break up because [[Courtney Love]] kills their singer or because they can't stand each other. Neither of those circumstances is descriptive of our situation. For us, life simply got in the way, as it often does. Mark and Andy both have families for which they are the breadwinners, and Jon has been putting off going to graduate school. Instead of trying to simultaneously satiate Mark's drive and Andy's inability to tour and my distance from the band and Jon's webbed toes (sorry, Jon), we came together and decided as a group that it is time to lay The Famine to rest.

Words cannot express how thankful we all are to have had these experiences, and without those of you who are reading this right now, none of this would have been possible. So, from the bottom of my heart, I want to thank all of you for the support and kindness you have shown us for the past four years. Thank you for allowing us in to your lives, and for giving us the opportunity to connect, even though most of us have never met. You'll see us around. You might not see the same faces or the same names, but I know that music means too much to all of us to let it die with this moniker. So, this is goodbye for now.

-Love, Nick"|source=<ref>{{cite web|title=The Famine Destroyed|url=http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=209280562435033|publisher=[[Facebook]]|accessdate=21 May 2012|author=Nick Nowell|date=2011-04-12}}</ref>}}

Before disbanding, The Famine recorded a cover of [[Pantera]]'s "Domination" off of the album, ''[[Cowboys from Hell]]'', without Godwin, with Tooley taking over.

The Famine performed their last concert on August 12, 2011, at Tomcats West in Fort Worth, Texas. Andrew Godwin, Nick Nowell, and Jon Richardson were the only active members from "The Architects of Guilt" performing at the show. Touring Guitarist Jon Tooley, which they had made a member and fill-in drummer Brad Fincher ([[Devourment]]) were also there to perform the show.

== Christianity == Despite being on the predominantly Christian [[Solid State Records|Solid State]] label, as well as sharing members with the openly Christian band [[Embodyment]], The Famine expressed much reluctance to be associated with the Christian market throughout their tenure. In 2008, McCaddon told Indie Vision Music, when asked about the relation of the band's faith to their music, "You can call us whatever you want. We are a metal band and wouldn't label ourselves anything but and honestly don't care what people label us. Our faith isn't forced into our music, nor is it an obligation. It is embedded in the fabric and is who we are."<ref>{{cite web|title=The Famine|url=http://www.indievisionmusic.com/2008/04/29/thefamineinterview/|publisher=Indie Vision Music|accessdate=May 21, 2012|author=Matt B.|format=interview|date=April 29, 2009}}</ref>

In his review of ''[[The Architects of Guilt]]'', Scott Alisoglu of [[Blabbermouth.net]] directly identified the band as "[playing] Christian death metal" on the album, and made several further references to the band's faith throughout the review.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Architects of Guilt|url=http://legacy.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/showreview.aspx?reviewID=2183|publisher=[[Blabbermouth.net]]|accessdate=May 21, 2012|author=Scott Alisoglu|year=2011}}</ref> Nowell took issue with this in a March 2011 note on the band's official [[Facebook]] page, in which he stated that "The Famine is not, and has never been a Christian band. Furthermore, I am an [[Atheist]]...The Famine isn't a religious institution, in theory or in practice. We are a death metal band, plain and simple."<ref>{{cite web|title=Do the right thing. It will gratify some people and astonish the rest.-Mark Twain|url=http://www.facebook.com/notes/famine-destroys/do-the-right-thing-it-will-gratify-some-people-and-astonish-the-rest-mark-twain/205999036096519|publisher=[[Facebook]]|accessdate=May 21, 2012|author=Nick Nowell|date=March 30, 2011}}</ref> Despite this, as of May 2012, Alisoglu has yet to recant the categorization.

The Christian music site Jesus Freak Hideout reviewed both of the band's albums,<ref>{{cite web|title=The Raven and The Reaping|url=http://www.jesusfreakhideout.com/cdreviews/TheRavenandTheReaping.asp|publisher=Jesus Freak Hideout|accessdate=May 21, 2012|author=Sean Lex|date=June 2, 2008}}</ref><ref name="JFH TAOG" /> though staff member Michael Weaver noted that ''The Architects of Guilt'' had not been released to the Christian market, and that the site was covering it because "they are a Solid State band that expresses their faith in their music."<ref name="JFH TAOG">{{cite web|title=The Architects of Guilt|url=http://www.jesusfreakhideout.com/cdreviews/TheArchitectsOfGuilt.asp|publisher=Jesus Freak Hideout|accessdate=May 21, 2012|author=Michael Weaver|author2=Timothy Estabrooks |date=Feb 2011}}</ref>

== Members == {{col-begin}} {{col-2}} '''Final lineup''' *Brad Fincher – drums (2011) ([[Devourment]]) *Andrew Godwin – guitar (2006–2011) ([[Embodyment]], Chase Pagan, [[Pyrithion]], Hope Deferred) *Nick Nowell – bass (2008–2010), lead vocals (2010–2011) ([[Society's Finest]], The Monarch, Thorn vs. Side, Sunrise Cemetery, Angels Giant Angels) *Jonny "Christmas" Richardson – bass (2010–2011) (Saboteur, The Monarch) *Jon Tooley – guitar (2010–2011) (Bear Witness, [https://1733.bandcamp.com/releases 1733], Hope Deferred) '''Former members''' *Kris McCaddon – lead vocals (2006–2010) ([[Embodyment]], [[Demon Hunter (band)|Demon Hunter]], [[Society's Finest]]) *Mark Garza – drums (2006–2011) ([[Embodyment]], Lhoist, formerly of [[Bleeding Through]], Constant Seas)

{{col-end}}

'''Timeline''' <div style="text-align:left;"> <timeline> ImageSize = width:800 height:auto barincrement:20 PlotArea = left:90 bottom:90 top:0 right:10 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = mm/dd/yyyy Period = from:01/01/2006 till:08/12/2011 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy

Colors = id:Vocals value:red legend:Lead_vocals id:LGuitar value:teal legend:Lead_guitar id:RGuitar value:brightgreen legend:Rhythm_guitar id:Bass value:blue legend:Bass id:Drums value:orange legend:Drums id:album value:black legend:Album id:ep value:gray(0.55) legend:EP id:Bars value:gray(0.95)

Legend = orientation:horizontal position:bottom BackgroundColors=Bars:Bars ScaleMinor = increment:1 start:2006 ScaleMajor = increment:1 start:2006

LineData = layer:back at:01/01/2007 color:ep at:05/27/2008 color:album at:02/15/2011 color:album

BarData = bar:KM text:"Kris McCaddon" bar:AG text:"Andrew Godwin" bar:JT text:"Jon Tooley" bar:NN text:"Nick Nowell" bar:JR text:"Jonny Richardson" bar:MG text:"Mark Garza" bar:BF text:"Brad Fincher"

PlotData= width:11 bar:AG from:01/01/2006 till:end color:LGuitar bar:AG from:01/01/2006 till:01/01/2010 color:RGuitar width:3 bar:AG from:01/01/2006 till:01/01/2008 color:Bass width:7 bar:NN from:01/01/2008 till:01/01/2010 color:Bass bar:NN from:01/01/2010 till:end color:Vocals bar:JR from:01/01/2010 till:end color:Bass bar:KM from:01/01/2006 till:01/01/2010 color:Vocals bar:MG from:01/01/2006 till:04/13/2011 color:Drums bar:BF from:04/13/2011 till:end color:Drums bar:JT from:01/01/2010 till:end color:RGuitar

</timeline> </div>

== Discography == *''The Famine'' (Independent, 2007) *''[[The Raven and the Reaping]]'' ([[Solid State Records|Solid State]], 2008) *''[[The Architects of Guilt]]'' ([[Solid State Records|Solid State]], 2011)

== Videos == *"Consume, Devour, Repeat" – 2008 *"Ad Mortem" – 2011 *"Domination" ([[Pantera]] cover) – 2011

== References == {{Reflist}}

== External links == * [http://www.myspace.com/thefaminedestroys Myspace] * [http://www.purevolume.com/thefamine Purevolume] * [http://www.solidstaterecords.com/ Solid State Records] * [{{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p1054853|pure_url=yes}} All Music] * [http://www.last.fm/music/The+Famine Last.fm]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Famine}} [[Category:Solid State Records artists]] [[Category:Musical groups established in 2007]] [[Category:Musical groups disestablished in 2011]]