Facedown Records
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Facedown Records is a Christian record label based in Sun City, California, devoted mostly to hardcore punk and metalcore bands (Christian and secular). Founded by former No Innocent Victim drummer Jason Dunn, the label started off small with a number of 7" record releases by bands such as Overcome, Dodgin Bullets, and Born Blind. With the growing popularity of the label in the southern California scene, more bands jumped on board as the label was able to sign artists for full LP record deals. Legendary bands like xDisciplex and The Deal (both popular in the Christian and secular scenes) released material on Facedown, as well as Canada's Figure Four, One-21, and Point Of Recognition.
Facedown, still in its infancy, was quickly becoming one of the biggest labels in hardcore, secular or not. By 2003, it was starting to emerge as one of "the" labels to sign to in the hardcore scene. Bands like Seventh Star and Nodes Of Ranvier released well received records through the label, but it was the release of "Turn It Around" by Comeback Kid (featuring members of Figure Four) that really brought the label into large popularity. Comeback Kid toured relentlessly for the album in the following 2 years, culminating in their signing to Victory Records, generally seen as the next (and last) step up in underground hardcore popularity.
The label is still going strong and increasing in visibility with each release. Bloody Sunday, Alove for Enemies, Seventh Star, xLooking Forwardx, Bloodlined Calligraphy, the reformed No Innocent Victim, and many others make up the self described "Facedown Family". The label also has a "little brother" label, Strike First, which provides label services for smaller bands, and sometimes acts as a sort of "Facedown training ground", as a handful of bands (most notably Bloody Sunday) graduated to Facedown after being signed to Strike First.
In addition, the label hosts the annual 2 day Facedown Fest in southern California. The Fest is usually made of the entire Facedown and Strike First rosters. It has been the site of many historical moments, such as final shows by The Deal and xDisciplex, as well as the introduction of xLooking Forwardx to Facedown fans prior to their signing to the label. The popularity of the Fest has grown so much that in November 2005 an additional 2 days were held in Annapolis, Maryland for the convenience of east coast fans and those in the eastern part of the U.S. who cannot easily make it to California.
[edit] Facedown Artist List
- Alove for Enemies
- Bloodlined Calligraphy
- Bloody Sunday
- xDEATHSTARx
- Flee The Seen
- Inked In Blood
- xLooking Forwardx
- Means
- Nodes of Ranvier
- No Innocent Victim
- Seventh Star
- War of Ages
[edit] Past Facedown Artists
- Anchor (Disbanded)
- Born Blind (Disbanded)
- Ceasefire (Disbanded)
- Comeback Kid (Active, currently on Victory Records)
- The Deal (Disbanded)
- Dodgin' Bullets (Disbanded)
- Falling Cycle (Disbanded)
- Figure Four (On hiatus, two members are also in Comeback Kid)
- Hanover Saints (Active, currently on GMM Records as of 2005)
- Immortal Souls(Active, their album "Ice Upon The Night" was licensed from Fear Dark Records in Europe)
- Indwelling (Disbanded)
- One-21 (Disbanded)
- Overcome (Disbanded)
- Point of Recognition (Disbanded)
- Sinai Beach (Active, currently on Victory Records)
- Symphony In Peril (Disbanded)
- This Runs Through (Disbanded, Spencer is in Underoath, while Tyson and Phil are in the band Sullivan)
- Torn In Two (Active, changed their name to Red Red while playing local shows)
- xDisciplex AD (Disbanded, members are currently in Jesus Wept)