Project 86

Project 86 came out of Orange County, California, in 1996 with Andrew Schwab barking the lead vocals, and they've been making a righteous racket ever since: alternative metal and nu metal with a post-hardcore bite and a Christian rock backbone. Randy Torres handled guitar, keyboards and backing vocals through 2009, Steven Dail played guitar and bass from 1997 to 2010, and Alex Albert held down the drums from 1998 until Jason Gerken took over in 2007.

The self-titled debut came out on BEC Recordings in 1998 and went down well with critics and fans alike. Drawing Black Lines turned the heads of the majors, and Atlantic licensed it from Tooth & Nail, BEC's parent company. Atlantic then bought the band out of their old deal and put out Truthless Heroes in 2002 on its own, a bruising record whose "S.M.C." grinds and seethes like a pressure cooker about to blow.

The major-label stint didn't last. After a brief spell going it alone, they went back to Tooth & Nail for three more albums, ending with Picket Fence Cartel in the summer of 2009, then turned to Kickstarter in December 2011, declaring the fans their new label. Wait for the Siren followed in 2012 and Knives to the Future, on Team Black Recordings, in 2014. All told they've put out twelve albums, moving close to 500,000 units worldwide, along with 2 EPs, 2 DVDs and 2 live albums.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.