TMR: The trainwreck that is Michael Keene.

TECHNICAL MUSIC REVIEW

Michael Keene of The Faceless has recently opened up about his very obvious problems with drug abuse according to this recent article on metal injection. Did it really have to be publicized? Unless you have lost all of your brain cells, all the hints the last few years have gotten bigger and bigger.  Let’s recall a bunch of those moments, shall we?

• Cancelled string of tour dates in Australia and New Zealand last year
• The “missing” gear that was an excuse for those cancelled shows which were possibly sold for narcotics
• The “flight issues” causing to miss most of those shows and scheduled flights
• Their tour manager immediately dropping out when all of that Aussie ruckus went down…….makes you scratch your head, doesn’t it?
• Lack of a PR team on their social media, leading to constant message deleting and Keene even insulting his own fans that have purchased music and merchandise to keep his dream alive
• Last year’s Summer Slaughter Tour…..well we can just leave it at that.
• More lineup changes than you can even count in the band’s history
• Speaking of lineup changes…….where the hell is their bass player? What’s with the backing bass tracks at live shows (the ones they show up to)? That’s bush league!
• The Faceless released “Becoming A Ghost” and has upcoming tech death giants Inanimate Existence kicked off their album release tour due to false accusations of rape concluded through heresy and Keene’s distaste for their marijuana use……that reeks of irony, no?
• The false accusations of rape were from a psychotic girl Cameron from IE grew up with who’s pulled this stunt before, and told the drummer of the Faceless then ended up kicking them off their tour
• The fact the current drummer of the Faceless assumed that girl was telling the truth without letting Cameron initially explain his side of the story or even do some sort of research

So……Keene can shoot up all he wants,  smoke as much crack and drink alcohol like water but get pissy over someone’s recreational marijuana use? He takes to social media (remind yourself they have nobody running their pages, and for all you know he could have been higher than a kite) to defend every single one of those instances.  Fans including myself (now former, proudly cancelling my preorder of Becoming a Ghost and showing it on their FB page you can even look at the posts check my screenshots and I also posted a snapshot of listening to Inanimate Existence). I’m pretty sure your fans (whatever ones are left) would be furious at all of these instances of consistently missing a multitude of shows and acting like a child on social media. He isn’t a kid anymore he is in his 30’s, its time to grow up Keene.

Is this where I can throw in the dry joke about Keene of the Faceless trying to save face by admitting his problems? The sad part of this great musician’s downfall is the multitude of talent he wields but the larger ego he doesn’t care to hide.  Check out his interviews…they’re not about the band or whatever poor saps are in his “band” at that moment. It’s all ME, ME, ME. It seems to make sense why so many band members leave sooner than later and he can’t hold a lineup to save his life.

So, what now? He released a new album and is trying to bring back his popularity and whatever reputation he has left back to life.  Again, I doubt he’s even thinking of his current bandmates. Keene now is trying to show a mature and understanding side, vouching music being his outlet to express his struggle with drugs.  The way he has handled himself is absolutely embarrassing.

There’s two very obvious situations that play out.  He falls flat on his face in a pile of snow…….or he mans up and releases greater music in his newfound sobriety.  I would rather see the latter happen and Michael take charge of his life.  He could then continue to write music, show up to the shows that are booked and gain back the trust of his fans? That would take a lot of effort (including myself) to pull off such a feat and convince everyone that would be behind him.

Closely related to this situation is the infamous Blake Judd of his band Nachtmystium.  Blake was in a similar boat but maybe the size of his boat was the Titanic.  He not only robbed his fans of their money for his drug addictions…….but also kept their money and forgot about their orders for I don’t know….like a decade? People never got merchandise or albums they ordered for the longest time because their money was funneled to Judd’s addictions! That caught a lot of heat everywhere and turned into a mess.  The big difference here is Judd brought back his band and was very apologetic.  Unfortunately so far in Nachtmystium’s rebirth it looks like they have only been in California.  He has reached out to fans and publicly stated offering free merchandise and show entry to everyone he has wronged.  Is he perfect? Did he make a mistake? You can’t fault the guy not only apologizing but trying to right his wrongs taking the mature route.  I don’t know how successful he was in this attempt, but anyone who lived in the California area could have some merchandise or a free show entry.  I believe he also had setup an email to deal with those problems and offer refunds.  The fact of the matter of this comparison is Judd admitted his wrongdoings and tried to make it right with his fans.  Maybe Keene should take the same route, and at the same time maybe reach out to Blake and ask for advice.

Signed,

A former fan of The Faceless