Klank

Klank was an industrial metal band created by guitarist Daren "Klank" Diolosa, who started it after the end of the 1990s band Circle of Dust, in which he was the lead guitarist for live shows. They have published two albums, Still Suffering and Numb, and have made the Top 40 CMJ charts with the hit single Blind.

The nickname "Klank" comes from Daren Diolosa's love of heavy metal music. His former Circle of Dust bandmates used to tell him, "You're so heavy metal, you klank".

Klank's first work outside Circle of Dust was in 1994, when he worked with The Blamed on their album 21. It was through that album that Klank met Brandon Ebel, president of Klank's future record label, Tooth & Nail Records.

In 1995, Klank signed with Tooth & Nail Records for the release of his first album, Still Suffering. On this album, Klank was a solo artist. He gained some notoriety because when he signed the contract with Tooth & Nail, a predominantly Christian record label, he signed his name in his own blood. Diolosa, although spiritual, never considered Klank to be a Christian band; this in itself was controversial among fans of Christian rock, since Still Suffering was mainly distributed to Christian bookstores.

Still Suffering, which featured a harsh sound of very dark industrial metal, was programmed and produced by Klay Scott of Circle of Dust, who would later go on to found his solo project Celldweller. The first four songs were intended for a new Circle of Dust release before that band broke up. The lyrics were controversial in Christian circles, as they bluntly discussed issues such as child abuse and betrayal. As a result, many Christians found the lyrics hateful. In addition, the album contained soundclips from the Hellraiser films.

The song "Downside" was especially successful after it was released as a single on Tooth & Nail's first Songs from the Penalty Box compilation, which also featured Zao, Strongarm, and other heavier Tooth & Nail / Solid State Records bands that gained much popularity following their appearances on that compilation. As a result, Klank re-released remixes of "Downside" in a separate EP. Stemming from the popularity and notoriety of Still Suffering, Klank was able to play at several Cornerstone Festivals during the mid- and late 1990s, along with his touring band, which during the Still Suffering tours consisted of guitarists Mike Nicosia and Carl Weaver and drummer Eric Wilkins.

After leaving Tooth & Nail, Diolosa released the album Numb in 1999 through his own label SmokeDogg Productions. By then, he had acquired four other band members. Numb did quite well for an independent release, and it was eventually re-released by Progressive Arts Media. The video for one of the songs, "Blind", appeared on MuchMusic. Numb was a mellower album than its predecessor Still Suffering; they changed their style from industrial metal to what they called "Dancy Aggressive Dark Electronically Influenced Groove". Its lyrical content can best be described as a passage from a journal, based on the realities of every day life and set to music.

Following Numb, Klank only released two more songs. In 2000, Diolosa contributed lead vocals to the song "Silhouette of Rage" on AP2's lone album, Suspension of Disbelief. Also in 2000, the band appeared on two 1980s metal compilations released by Progressive Arts Media, contributing their cover version of Van Halen's song "I'll Wait".

Diolosa relocated several times after releasing Numb, and as a result, several of the band members left, leaving just himself and guitarist Danny Owsley.

In May 2001, after the band had relocated to San Jose, California, from its original home in Farmingdale, New York, they started recording demos of songs for a new album, Untimely Demise. Diolosa stated in July 2001 that the band had completed over 70 such demo songs and were in the process of selecting which ones would appear on the third album. Following the September 11, 2001 attacks, Diolosa posted a message on the band's website detailing his memories of growing up around the World Trade Center and mentioning that he had a friend whose father's and uncle's whereabouts after the attacks were unknown. Klank then stopped updating their website for several months, and they never released Untimely Demise.

In May 2002, Klank broke their silence and told their fans to prepare for a redesign of their website and "the dawn of a new era". In actuality, that was the last update to the Klank website before it went offline in early 2004. Several former Klank band members went on to start an alternative rock band, called 5'4" after the studio at which Klank had recorded their music. The project never released any recordings, aside from some tracks on the free music website Soundclick and the song "So Alive" on a compilation CD, known as Automata 2.0. Diolosa was the original vocalist, but only appeared on one of the tracks the band released ("So Alive") before being replaced by Kerry Merkle. 5'4" have since broken up.

Despite rumors, Klank never announced a breakup, but has chosen to fly low on the radar. Though still recording with a stockpile of nearly 100 tunes, Diolosa has not officially released any new music since 2000 and has since worked as a driver for a circus. In 2006, he launched a MySpace page, where he has posted several of the songs he has recorded since Numb.

In 2007, Klank performed at Cornerstone Festival, Illinois, on the Sanctuary stage.