Larry Farkas

**Labels:** | * Frontline Records
* Intense Records
* Roxx Records
 **Associated Acts:** | Vengeance Rising, Holy Soldier, Deliverance, Once Dead, D.O.G., Neon Cross, Die Happy, S.A.L.T., Sanctuary Celebration Band, Sircle of Silence, Worldview, Sacred Warrior, Bloodgood

**Larry Farkas** (born May 2, 1966) is an American thrash metal musician that began his musical career in 1985, with his induction of Holy Soldier. Farkas has also been apart of Vengeance Rising, Neon Cross, Bloodgood, Deliverance and D.O.G. and has played with Sacred Warrior and Worldview.

## History

Farkas was born on May 2, 1966 in California. Farkas and Doug Thieme, a future band mate, attended 8th grade together, which helped them become friends. He learned Guitar at a young age, and by 1985, he joined a band.

### Holy Soldier and Deliverance (1985-1987)

Farkas joined a band at the age 19, called Holy Soldier, a power metal/hard rock band. Shortly after being within the band for a year, Chris Hyde, drummer for the band, recruited him for another band, called Deliverance. Farkas would depart from Holy Soldier and join Deliverance, rounding out the lineup of Jimmy P. Brown II on Vocals and Rhythm Guitars, Farkas on Lead Guitars, Brian Khairullah on Bass and Hyde on Drums. Farkas played with the band for two years, however, did not record with the band before departing in 1987. Shortly after his departure, he joined Vengeance.

### Vengeance Rising (1988-1990)

After joining Vengeance, the band changed their name to Vengeance Rising, with the band consisting of Farkas, Doug Thieme, and Roger Dale Martin. Eventually, the band found Glen Mancaruso, who agreed to perform with the band temporarily until they found a permanent replacement. Eventually, they hired Glenn Rogers on additional Guitars and finally, Roger Martinez on Vocals. Rogers was in the band for two weeks, writing several songs on the debut album, including "Burn". The band would then record their debut album, titled *Human Sacrifice*, with Farkas recording Lead Guitars. The band embarked on several tours, where Farkas, Thieme and Martin grew closer.

In 1990, the band recorded their sophomore album, *Once Dead*, which was released through Frontline/Intense Records, similar to their debut, and was well received. After the release, Farkas, Thieme, Martin and Mancaruso all felt a disconnect with Martinez, which resulted in them sitting down with him and departing, but not before giving him the rights and merchandise. After their departure, the four began a new project with former Joshua Vocalist Robyn Kyle Basuri.

### Die Happy, Sircle of Silence and Farkas' hiatus (1991-2001)

After departing Vengeance, Farkas, alongside Thieme, Martin and Mancaruso formed a band with Robyn Basuri called Die Happy, which was a hard rock/thrash metal band, rather than just pure thrash. The project was more melodic, which also brought the genre of power metal into the comparison. The five recorded a self-titled eponymous album, which came out in 1992.

In 1993, Farkas recorded an album and demo with his new band, Sircle of Silence, where he performed Lead Guitars, alongside Greg Chaisson on Bass, with replacing Chris Colovas him on Bass, Jay Schellen (ex-Hurricane) on Drums and David Reece (ex-Accept) on Vocals.

After the recording, Martin departed from the band, with Greg Chaisson taking over on Bass. Farkas recorded on all the releases of Die Happy, including *Volume II* and the *Intense Live Series Vol. 4* in 1993, where they performed their songs live. The band disbanded in 1994, with the band members all going their separate ways and many members not performing in new bands. Farkas would continue honing his guitar skills in Sircle of Silence until 1995, when the band broke-up. Farkas did not perform in any new bands until years later.

### S.A.L.T., brief Vengeance reunion, and Once Dead (2002-2008)

In 2002, Farkas return to the music scene, performing with a new band called S.A.L.T., with Mancaruso on Drums and George Ochoa (ex-Deliverance, ex-Mortification) on Guitars. However, contrary to Farkas' forte, he performed Bass in the band, rather than Guitars. The band took a more modern metal/hard rock style, rather than thrash, which is mainly what the three performed. In 2004, S.A.L.T. disbanded, while Farkas and Mancaruso reunited with Martin and Thieme in Vengeance Rising. The four reunited the band, hiring Scott Waters of Ultimatum on Vocals. Shortly after the announcement of the band's reunion, Martinez threatened to sue the band, although Martinez became an atheist/satanist around 1997.

After the Vengeance reunion did not work, the band members decided to go under a different name, going under the name Once Dead, with the same lineup. The band performed only Vengeance songs at the assigned show, with it being recorded and released as a DVD titled *Return with a Vengeance*. In 2005, the DVD was released, however this year also saw the departure of Mancaruso, with Jim Chaffin of The Crucified fame took over the Drum position. In 2006, the lineup saw major changes, with Waters and Martin departing, but with Devin Schaeffer (ex-Fasedown) taking over Vocals and Angelo Espino (ex-Hirax, Heretic) on Bass, with Glenn Rogers (Deliverance, ex-Hirax, ex-Heretic) taking over additional Guitars. In 2007, however, Rogers and Farkas all departed, with Farkas returning in 2008. The band has since been put on hiatus.

### Hiatus and Neon Cross (2008-2016)

Between 2008 and 2011, Farkas took a break from being apart of any bands, unless Once Dead recorded some material that was unreleased. However, in 2010, Farkas recorded a guitar part in the industrial metal band Klank's track "Don't Count Me Out" on the album, *NUMB... Reborn*.

Allegedly, in 2012, Farkas joined Neon Cross. However, no evidence of this was promoted until 2015, when he officially was mentioned by the band, as he was tagged in a band photo with only the four members within. Neon Cross has not recorded any new material that has been released.

### Vengeance Rising Returns and D.O.G. (2017-present)

In 2017, Farkas formed a new band with Neon Cross members called D.O.G., which signed to Roxx Records. Later that year, the band released their debut album, *Unleashed* and released it through Roxx. The band consisted of Farkas, Terry Russell (ex-Holy Soldier, Neon Cross), Don Webster (Neon Cross), and Colton Russell (Neon Cross), before Webster and Colton departed from the band, with former Neon Cross member Scott Strickland joining the band as a Bassist. On August 6, 2017, Vengeance announced a reunion show with most of the original lineup - Farkas, Thieme, Martin and Mancaruso - with new Vocalist Jim Settle (Hand of Fire, ex-Bore), was slated for So Cal Metal Fest 2. The band performed the show, without incident this time, and are planning a new release. Farkas' other band, Once Dead also appears to revitalizing.

## Bands

**Current**

* Vengeance Rising - Lead Guitars (1987-1990, 2017-present)
* Neon Cross - Rhythm Guitars (2012-present)
* D.O.G. - Lead Guitars (2017-present)

* Once Dead - Lead Guitars (2004-2007, 2008-present)

**Former**

* Holy Soldier - Guitars (1985)
* Deliverance - Lead Guitars (1985-1987)
* Sanctuary Celebration Band - Guitars (1986)
* Die Happy - Lead Guitars (1990-1994)
* Sircle of Silence - Guitars (1993-1995)
* S.A.L.T. - Bass (2002-2004)

## Discography

**Vengeance Rising**

* *Human Sacrifice* (1988)
* *Vengeance* (1988)
* *Hot Metal Summer II* (1989)
* *Once Dead* (1990)

**D.O.G.**

* *Unleashed* (2017)

**Once Dead**

* *Return with a Vengeance* (2005)
* *Visions of Hell* (2008)
* *Return with a Vengeance: Live in Anaheim* (2010)

**Die Happy**

* *Die Happy* (1992)
* *Volume II* (1993)
* *Intense Live Series Vol. 4* (1993)

**Sircle of Silence**

* *Sircle of Silence* (1993)
* *Sircle of Silence (Demo)* (1993)
* *Suicide Candyman* (1994)

**Guest Appearances**

* Sacred Warrior - "The Flood" (1989)
* Klank - "Don't Count Me Out" (2010)
* Worldview - "Prisoner of Pain" (2015)
* Frosthardr - *Frosthardr* [two songs] (2018)

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Settle, Martin, Thieme (November 12, 2017). "Jim Settle, Roger Dale Martin and Doug Thieme of Vengeance". As The Story Grows. Interview with Travis Turner. Retrieved on June 1, 2018.
2. ↑ Van Pelt, Doug (February/March 1990). "Once Dead... Now Doing an Interview". HM Magazine. #23. Retrieved on June 1, 2018.
3. ↑ "Sircle of Silence". Classic Christian Rock. Retrieved on June 5, 2018.
4. ↑ "Salt". No Life Til Metal. Retrieved on June 5, 2018.
5. ↑ "Vengeance Rising: Former Singer Threatens To Sue Over 'Reunion' Show". Blabbermouth.net. November 19, 2004. Retrieved on June 5, 2018.
6. ↑ "Don't Count Me Out (feat. Jim Chaffin & Larry Farkas)". Bandcamp. Retrieved on June 6, 2018.
7. ↑ Beard, Mason (August 9, 2017). "Vengeance Rising reissue and reunion show". Indie Vision Music. Retrieved on June 7, 2018.