Flesh Parade

Louisiana Grindcore crew FLESH PARADE began life in 1990 touting a Death Metal sound. The original group consisted of vocalist Blake Balu, guitarists Duane Marcel (DM Abledsoul) and Joe Militello, bassist C.J. Pierce and drummer Todd Capiton. With the roster FLESH PARADE cut the 1991 demo, "Meathook". This incarnation of the group only managed a handful of shows before folding with Balu, Marcel and Pierce all making their exit. Pierce would eventually relocate to Dallas, Texas and find fame as the guitarist for Nu-Metal act DROWNING POOL. FLESH PARADE regrouped pulling in erstwhile SEVERANCE (NOLA) members, vocalist Jason Pilgrim and guitarist Rene Perez. The bassist position remained fluid, Ben Marrs, former bassist of EXHUMED filled the role for a brief period, but officially the band was without a bassist for its second demo, "Hate Life". Militello opted out after recording a third demo, 1993's "Worthless". Shane Lechler would then fill the bassist vacancy in 1994 for their fourth demo, "Good Stuff". In 1997, FLESH PARADE making little effort of their own signed to Relapse Records for the release of a 7", "Kill Whitey". A CD retrospective compilation arrived in 1998 featuring Worthless, Good Stuff and the Kill Whitey 7". The same year FLESH PARADE played the Relapse stage at the Milwaukee Metalfest. The following year they were asked back to play the Relapse stage at the November to Dismember fest in Texas. In 2000, due to lack of label interest, FLESH PARADE decided to put things on hold and focus on their personal lives. Never officially calling quits, the band left the future of FLESH PARADE in the air until the time was right for everyone to continue. In 2005, FLESH PARADE decided to regroup and record a long awaited full length to be released on the bands label, "Mainstay Recordings" with original bassist C.J. Pierce. On December 10, 2010, Flesh Parade finally completed mastering on their long awaited full-length, "Dirty Sweet". Since announcing a return in 2004 & reforming in 2005 to begin work on Dirty Sweet, Flesh Parade has been through some rough times. Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in August of 2005 and separated the band for two years. Once everyone was finally settled it was decided they would continue on the album as originally planned. Flesh Parade's singer, Jason Pilgrim, however didn't feel the same way. This left guitarist, René Perez & drummer Todd Capiton scratching their heads on what to do. Move on or call it quits? Well a huge FUCK NO! was decided on calling it quits. In July of 2007, the two decided to find a practice room and begin working again. The very first night they auditioned vocalist Scott Leger, formerly of Shrum and D.I.E. Although they would go on to audition others, in the end Leger had the passion and knowledge for the music that made him the clear choice to replace Pilgrim. Flesh Parade continued to write and rehearse for the album, but got an offer to play MDF in 2008, so that became a huge focus. The band's first show since 2000. Bassist Julien Fried came on board and the band was whole once more. Throughout 2008 the band would continue to write and play one more show. Fried would leave the band and Tony Salisbury from the Nola grindcore band, Mule Skinner would replace him on bass. In 2009, Flesh Parade returned to MDF, however a monkey wrench was thrown into the progress when former singer, Pilgrim decided he wanted to return. For a short period the idea was considered, but his commitment wasn't there, so the band moved on with Leger which ultimately became the best choice. By this point it was late in the year and finances were a huge struggle for the band. It was decided to continue working on the album in 2010. Finally, making some huge strides and consistent progress with Dirty Sweet the band added even added more music to the album, finished mixing and mastering. Currently the CD is in production and will be out on December 28, 2010 and available through iTunes and other online digital music stores. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.