Tommy Vext

Thomas Cummings (born April 15, 1982), better known under the stage name Tommy Vext, is an American heavy metal singer known as the former lead vocalist of Bad Wolves, Divine Heresy, and Westfield Massacre.

As a solo act, he goes by The Lone Wolf.

Vext began his music career in Brooklyn, New York as a teenager singing in local hardcore bands and engaging in freestyle rap battles with the neighborhood's preeminent hopefuls.

Being too young, Vext had to sneak into clubs even for his own shows.

Formed in 1995, the band released their debut studio album Get Some with founding vocalist Lynn Strait in 1997 and disbanded after his death in 1998.

In 1996, he formed the band Maniacal Disciple with friends Jim Donovan, Steve Perlmutter, and Mike Kontaras, eventually changing their name to "Vext" (a word he found in Wu-Tang Clan's lyrics), which eventually became his nickname after he started to be known as "Tommy Vext" in the New York hardcore scene.

Vext was a local buzz band, playing shows at CBGB, The Continental, and Lamours.

They also opened for Biohazard, Candiria, and many others.

In 2005, at the Roadrunner Records 25th-anniversary show, Vext was invited to sing with Corey Taylor of Slipknot.

In 2006, Vext was recruited by Dino Cazares of Fear Factory to front his new band Divine Heresy.

Their debut studio album Bleed the Fifth was released in the United States on August 28, 2007, through Century Media Records.

The album was produced by former Machine Head and Soulfly guitarist Logan Mader.

Bleed the Fifth enjoyed a warm welcome from both the fans and the press.

Dom Lawson of Metal Hammer summarized his review by saying "All in all, the portly pioneer has hit the bull's-eye and it's going to be fascinating to see what happens next", awarding an eight out of a possible 10.

Eduardo Rivadavia of AllMusic felt the album "strikes a near-perfect balance between confirmation (reminding fans of Cazares' abilities and unique vision) and innovation (he even plays a few guitar solos!)".

Scott Alisoglu of Blabbermouth.net summarized his review claiming the album is "one tough son of a bitch that may still have you humming melodies long after you've ejected the disc".

Chad Bowar of About.com commented "Great musicianship, good songs and excellent production make this a very respectable debut".

Vext wrote the majority of the lyrics, which are about personal strifes and how people overcome them.

Much of the lyrical content was influenced by the Book of Revelation, natural disasters, war, and terrorism.

In May 2008, Vext was fired from Divine Heresy after a physical altercation with Cazares.

The split left both the fans and the press confused.

In an exclusive Metal Injection interview, Vext explained the real reasons behind his departure from the band:

The whole band rejected his statement and responded by saying, "[i]t is unfortunate that our situation with Tommy Cummings has become so ugly. ... The decision to remove Tommy Cummings from Divine Heresy was not solely Dino Cazares'. It was a decision we made as a band".

In 2008, the band reformed, with Vext on vocals.

Snot has played a number of shows fronted by Vext, including a fall 2008 tour in the United States, supporting Mudvayne, 10 Years, and DevilDriver.

When original guitarist Sonny Mayo left the band, Snot went on hiatus again.

In 2011, Tommy Vext reformed Vext with members of Mutiny Within, (Bill Fore, and Andrew Jacobs); along with guitar virtuoso Angel Vivaldi.

They released the EP titled Impermanence. in 2012.

By 2013 Vivaldi and Jacobs had left the project, with Billy DiNapoli taking over on guitars.

They released an EP titled Broke Is the New Black.

Tommy Vext then had gone on tour with Mayhem Festival 2013 as a cook, and moved to Los Angeles after the tour.

After his stint with Snot, Vext moved on and formed a new band known as Westfield Massacre.

Regarding the band's musical direction, Vext said: "There's definitely a traditional American metal vibe, but we blend power metal, melodic death metal, metalcore all together to get an original flavor to our sound."

In September 2014, Vext returned in a new version of Divine Heresy with drummer Tim Yeung.

On February 11, 2014, Snot reunited the second time at the Whisky a Go Go in Hollywood.

This second reunion line-up once again featured Vext, Mayo, Doling, Fahnestock and Miller.

They went on to play three more shows in the Southern California area before once again going quiet.

Snot would go on again with another reunion incarnation but without Tommy Vext.

Later bassist Joe Payne and drummer Tim Yeung both broke ties with Dino and on July 27, 2015, in an interview with MetalSucks, Cazares confirmed that he was the only remaining member of Divine Heresy.

Snot is an American metal band from Santa Barbara, California.