Damien Moyal

Damien Zev Moyal (born September 25, 1976) is an American vocalist, lyricist, musician, songwriter and designer.

Originally from Amstelveen, North Holland, Netherlands, he moved to the United States as a child and grew up in Miami, Florida, where he notably fronted such hardcore punk, metallic hardcore and melodic hardcore bands as Shai Hulud, As Friends Rust, Morning Again, Culture, Bird of Ill Omen and Bridgeburne R.

Moyal's early musical projects include the hardcore punk act U.S. Decline (1992–1993), the hardcore group Insist (1993), the metallic hardcore band Reach (1993–1994), and the groove metal project HandOverFist (1994).

Moyal's first band was named U.S. Decline, a hardcore punk group based in Miami, Florida, which he joined in 1992, at the invitation of his friend, drummer Steve Blanchard.

Most of the band's members had previously played under the name Midget Stew, but with a different vocalist.

When Moyal came into the picture, the new line-up named itself U.S. Decline, and also included guitarists Sal Lopez and Francis Alvarez, and bass guitarist Sky Rheam, with whom the vocalist would continue to play in his next two bands.

Although the band recorded rehearsal demos with Moyal, U.S. Decline would not perform any shows, nor enter a studio to record a proper demo tape (The Empty Fight for Freedom), until mid-1993, by which time Scott Pellicane had been recruited as lead vocalist.

In 1993, Moyal and Rheam formed a heavier Miami hardcore band named Insist.

The band also included future Makeshift and Sunday Driver vocalist and guitarist Alex Martinez, guitarist Manny Avila, and drummer Doron Lev.

Insist played its first and only show on September 11, 1993, sharing the stage with U.S. Decline (with Pellicane on vocals), Sloth and The Staggers.

The band also recorded a rehearsal demo tape which was not circulated.

In October 1993, Moyal, Rheam and Avila left Insist to form a new metallic hardcore band named Reach.

Reach also included drummer Louie Long (who would later play in Culture and Morning Again) and co-lead vocalist Joel Pelkey, both of whom had played in another metallic hardcore band, Organized Pain, with guitarist John Wylie (who also later played in Culture and Morning Again).

Reach played its first and only show on November 27, 1993, again sharing the stage with Sloth and The Staggers, and with Tension (the latter of which featured guitarist Wylie and bass guitarist Matt Fox, with whom Moyal would later play in Shai Hulud).

The band was formed by ex-Timescape Zero and Ego Trip guitarist Richard Thurston, along with drummer Joshua Williams and original vocalist Mark Mitchell in December 1993 and had already gone through several member changes, including three prior vocalists, and then included ex-Tension and Organized Pain guitarist John Wylie.

He next joined established vegan straight edge metallic hardcore band Culture, which he fronted from 1994 to 1995, then again from 1996 to 1998, recording music for such record labels as Uprising Records, Good Life Recordings, Toybox Records and Conquer the World Records.

In the summer of 1994, Moyal briefly sang in the groove metal project HandOverFist, which featured former Trauma members, guitarist John Paul Guy and drummer Alex Garbutt.

Moyal joined established Pompano Beach, Florida-based metallic hardcore band Culture in September 1994.

Culture had also previously recorded and released a demo tape and a 7-inch vinyl single earlier in 1994, and the band was getting ready to enter Studio 13 in Deerfield Beach, Florida with producer Jeremy Staska to track a full-length.

With Moyal newly on board, Culture embraced a vegan and straight edge identity and recorded its debut album Born of You with Staska.

Unsatisfied with the first-recorded version, Culture wrote a handful of new songs and returned to re-record the full-length two more times within two months with Staska.

Moyal was going through a difficult break-up at the time and implemented many of the depressive themes he was facing in the lyrics of the new songs.

Following his first exit from Culture in 1995, he co-founded the melodic metallic hardcore band Shai Hulud (1995–1996), participating in its demo recording and helping the band get signed to Revelation Records.

Moyal's vocal and lyrical contributions to Shai Hulud were released by such record labels as Revelation Records, Crisis Records, Asian Man Records, Sub City Records, Trial & Error Records and Metal Blade Records.

While still in Shai Hulud, Moyal teamed up with ex-Culture members to launch the metallic hardcore band Morning Again (1995–1996).

The band recorded material for Conquer the World Records and Good Life Recordings, which again lead to getting signed by Revelation Records.

After quitting Shai Hulud and being fired from Morning Again, Moyal started the sludge-metallic hardcore band Bird of Ill Omen (1996–1997), but left before any studio material could be tracked.

Moyal's lyrics were later used by Bird of Ill Omen's second vocalist for material released by Eulogy Recordings.

While still in Bird of Ill Omen, Moyal joined the melodic hardcore side-project As Friends Rust (1996–1997), which broke up after recording a demo tape.

In 1997, Moyal relocated to Gainesville, Florida, where Culture had moved the year prior, and there reformed As Friends Rust (1997–2002), which quickly became his principal project for the next five years, releasing music through such labels as Good Life Recordings, Doghouse Records, Initial Records, Big Wheel Recreation, Defiance Records and Equal Vision Records.

When Culture broke up in 1998, Moyal and several of its members teamed up with members of Assück to form the short-lived metal band Some Sort of Radio (1998–1999), and in 1999, he and members of As Friends Rust formed the old-school hardcore punk side-project Bridgeburne R (1999–2000).

Moyal has since performed with Morning Again at a handful of reunion shows in 1999, 2002 and 2014.

Following his departure from As Friends Rust in 2002, Moyal founded the semi-eponymously named gothic rock/post-punk solo project Damien Done, which eventually expanded into a full band.

After returning to Miami in 2004, he took part of the acoustic folk duo Goodnight at the End of the Tunnel with Kaleb Stewart (2005), and the short-lived metallic hardcore band Best Wishes (2006).

Moyal has been based in Ann Arbor, Michigan since 2006 and is the founding member of the semi-eponymously named gothic rock/post-punk band Damien Done.

In 2006, he moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan and formed the DJ duo Old Man Underground (2008).

Moyal again reformed As Friends Rust in 2008, and the band has remained active into the 2020s.

Moyal reunited with ex-Culture members in the hardcore band On Bodies (2009–2017), which released music through Eulogy Recordings and Demons Run Amok Entertainment.

Since 2022, Moyal has been part of the death metal band Ekstasis with drummer Fred Estby.

Moyal later took part of Culture's reunion from 2012 to 2016, which saw material released through Eulogy Recordings.