Greg Puciato

A stylistically versatile and fiercely outspoken heavy metal vocalist known for his unrelenting intensity, Greg Puciato spent well over a decade fronting shape-shifting metalcore giants Dillinger Escape Plan before releasing his debut solo album, Child Soldier: Creator of God, in 2020. He is also the frontman for electronic supergroup the Black Queen and stalwart groove metal enthusiasts Killer Be Killed. The Baltimore native joined the already established Dillinger Escape Plan in 2001, replacing outgoing vocalist Dimitri Minakakis. Puciato's apoplectic vocal style and on-stage physicality fit perfectly with the group's genre-bending sound, which incorporated elements of hardcore, mathcore, experimental rock, and progressive metal. With Puciato at the helm, the band issued five acclaimed studio albums before going on indefinite hiatus after the release of 2016's Dissociation. Prior to that, he teamed up with Max Cavalera (Sepultura, Soulfly), Dave Elitch (Mars Volta), and Troy Sanders (Mastodon) for the thrash/groove metal project Killer Be Killed. The band issued their eponymous debut in 2014, with a sophomore effort, Reluctant Hero, arriving in 2020. In 2015 he co-founded the synthwave group Black Queen alongside Joshua Eustis (Telefon Tel Aviv, Nine Inch Nails) and former Dillinger Escape Plan and Nine Inch Nails guitar tech Steven Alexander. The band unleashed their first full-length outing, Fever Daydream, in 2016, followed in 2018 by Infinite Games, the latter of which was the first product to be released on Puciato's record label and art collective Federal Prisoner. Two years later Puciato unveiled his debut solo effort, Child Soldier: Creator of God. Looking to conjoin the sonic tributaries of all of his previous projects, the album embraced elements of industrial, electronic pop, and noise rock, and featured Puciato handling all of the instruments except for drums. ~ James Christopher Monger