Henry Derek Elis (born Henry Derek Bonner; March 8, 1978) is an American musician. He is the lead vocalist for the

extreme metal Extreme metal is a loosely defined umbrella term for a number of related heavy metal music subgenres that have developed since the early 1980s. It has been defined as a "cluster of metal subgenres characterized by sonic, verbal, and visual tran ...

band

Act of Defiance Act of Defiance was an American heavy metal supergroup from Los Angeles, California, formed in 2014 by guitarist Chris Broderick and drummer Shawn Drover of Megadeth after they both resigned from the band on the same day, vocalist Henry Dere ...

from Los AngelesPasbani, Robert
"Former Megadeth Members Officially Launch New Band, Act of Defiance; Offer First Taste of New Music"
''Metal Injection'', February 26, 2015. Retrieved on October 22, 2018. and is also active as a solo

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

artist.

Early life

Henry Derek Elis (née Bonner) was born in

Milledgeville, Georgia Milledgeville () is a city in and the county seat of Baldwin County, Georgia, Baldwin County, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. Founded in 1803 along the Oconee River, it served as the List of current and former capital cities in the ...

on March 8, 1978. Raised by his grandmother, Henry Derek grew up next to Central State Hospital, Georgia's state mental asylum."Henry Derek Elis to release The Devil is My Friend album in October; video trailer streaming"
''

Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles ''Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles'' (''BW&BK'') is a Canadian heavy metal website and former magazine. Although based in Toronto, Canada, ''BW&BK'' features writers from the US, Germany and the UK, allowing the magazine to represent metal music f ...

'', September 17, 2018. Retrieved on October 22, 2018. His music career began in 1995 when he relocated to

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

, Georgia and formed the black gothic metal band Lilitu. Henry Derek later joined the Sweet Meat Love & Holy Cult folk collective, releasing acoustic-based

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...

under the moniker To The Boy Elis before moving to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, California.Pozo, Gonzalo
"Act of Defiance / Ex-Scar the Martyr Singer Henry Derek Elis To Release 'The Devil Is My Friend' Solo Album In November"
''Sonic Perspectives'', September 18, 2018. Retrieved on October 22, 2018.

Career

Scar the Martyr

Slipknot The slip knot is a stopper knot which is easily undone by pulling the tail ( working end). The slip knot is related to the running knot, which will release when the standing end is pulled. Both knots are identical and are composed of a slipp ...

drummer

Joey Jordison Nathan Jonas "Joey" Jordison (April 26, 1975 – July 26, 2021) was an American musician. He was the original drummer of the nu metal band Slipknot (band), Slipknot, in which he was designated #1, and the guitarist for the horror punk Supergroup ...

formed heavy metal band

Scar the Martyr Scar the Martyr was an American alternative metal band consisting of Joey Jordison, Kris Norris, Jed Simon, Kyle Konkiel and Matthew Tarach, active from 2013 to 2015. History The band was announced in April 2013 by drummer Joey Jordison, w ...

in April 2013. On June 21, 2013, the full lineup was announced, with Henry Derek as lead vocalist. Elis left the band a year later due to creative and personal differences. Elis appears on the band's debut album, ''

'', released on October 1, 2013, via

Roadrunner Records Roadrunner Records is a Dutch–American record label focused on Heavy metal music, heavy metal and hard rock music. Founded in the Netherlands in 1980, it is now a division of Warner Music Group and is based in New York City. Formerly seen as ...

Thrown into Exile, Act of Defiance

On December 25, 2014, it was announced that Henry Derek was the new vocalist for the metal band Thrown into Exile. He then formed the heavy metal super-group,

, with

Chris Broderick Christopher Alan Broderick (born March 6, 1970) is an American musician, best known as a former guitarist of the thrash metal band Megadeth. He is also formerly the lead guitarist for Jag Panzer, appearing on four albums between 1998 and 2004. ...

and

Shawn Drover Shawn Drover (born May 5, 1966) is a Canadian drummer, best known for his work with the American heavy metal band Megadeth. He uses Sabian cymbals and Yamaha drums, Pro-mark drum sticks, Toca Percussion, Evans Drumheads and Extreme Isolatio ...

, both former members of

Megadeth Megadeth is an American thrash metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1983 by vocalist and guitarist Dave Mustaine. Known for their technically complex guitar work and musicianship, Megadeth is one of the "big four" of American thrash metal—alo ...

, and

Matt Bachand Matt Bachand (born May 2, 1977) is an American guitarist. He has strong death metal and thrash metal influences. He is rhythm guitarist and backing vocalist for the metalcore band Shadows Fall, and the bassist for Act of Defiance. Biography He ...

Shadows Fall Shadows Fall is an American metalcore band from Boston, Massachusetts, formed in 1996. Although Shadows Fall has experienced several line-up changes, for most of its recording career, Shadows Fall has been composed of guitarists Jon Donais and ...

in February 2015. Act of Defiance embarked on their first European tour in summer, 2018.

QAALM

On July 14, 2019, it was announced that Henry Derek Elis was playing lead guitar in a new Los Angeles based Doom band Qaalm. Qaalm made a stream of their demo available on

Bandcamp Bandcamp is an American online music distribution platform founded in 2008 by Oddpost co-founder Ethan Diamond and programmers Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt and Neal Tucker, with an office and record store in Oakland, California. Acquired by Epic ...

and consists of Pete Majors Ex Harassor – Lead Vocals, Henry Derek Elis – Lead Guitar, Christopher Jon Ex I, Parasite- Keys & Samples, Brock Elmore – Guitar & Backing Vocals, David Huet – Bass and Etay Levy – Drums.

Solo career

Henry Derek Elis released his EP, ''Don't Look'', on September 14, 2018, followed by his debut solo album, ''The Devil Is My Friend'', on October 26, 2018. Elis sings, plays banjo, mandolin, bass, organ, dobro, classical, baritone, acoustic and electric guitars. The album also includes contributions from Aubrey Richmond & John Schreffler Jr. (

Shooter Jennings Waylon Albright "Shooter" Jennings (born May 19, 1979) is an American musician and Grammy award winning record producer. He is the son of country singers Waylon Jennings and Jessi Colter. In a career spanning three decades, Jennings has explore ...

Jarboe Jarboe Devereaux, (born January 30) known mononymously as Jarboe (), is an American singer and musician who came to prominence as a member of the New York City experimental rock band Swans in 1985. Jarboe and Michael Gira, the founder of Swans ...

(

Swans Swans are birds of the genus ''Cygnus'' within the family Anatidae. The swans' closest relatives include the geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form the tribe Cygnini. Sometim ...

), Tara Vanflower (

Lycia Lycia (; Lycian: 𐊗𐊕𐊐𐊎𐊆𐊖 ''Trm̃mis''; , ; ) was a historical region in Anatolia from 15–14th centuries BC (as Lukka) to 546 BC. It bordered the Mediterranean Sea in what is today the provinces of Antalya and Muğ ...

Neal Tiemann Neal Tiemann (born December 22, 1982) is an American musician, currently the lead guitarist and songwriter of the rock band the Midwest Kings (MWK). He is a former rhythm guitarist for Heavy metal music, heavy metal band DevilDriver, and served ...

(

DevilDriver DevilDriver is an American heavy metal music, heavy metal band from Santa Barbara, California, Santa Barbara, California, formed in 2002, consisting of vocalist Dez Fafara, bassist Jon Miller, guitarist Alex Lee and drummer Davier Pérez. The b ...

), and Sera Timms (Black Mare). On October 12, 2018, reporter Robert Crawford included Henry Derek's song, "What's Left of Us", in

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

's ''10 Best Country and Americana Songs of the Week'' writing, "Elis delivers this haunting, minor-key barn-burner like a carnival barker who's gone hoarse, framing his Tom Waits-ish growl with swirls of fiddle and pedal steel. A Southern gothic standout from his new release, ''The Devil Is My Friend'', "What's Left of Us" is gravely and graveyard-worthy — the perfect soundtrack for mid-October."Crawford, Robert
"10 Best Country and Americana Songs of the Week: Tim McGraw, Lauren Jenkins"
''

'', October 12, 2018. Retrieved on October 22, 2018.

Bands

* Lilitu (1995–2004) * Crying for Winter (1997) * Blood Promise (2006–2007) *

(2013–2014) * Thrown into Exile (2014–2017) *

(2014–2019) * Qaalm (2019–present) * Caveflowers (2019–present)

Discography

Solo albums

* ''The Devil Is My Friend'' (2018) * ''Don't Look'' (EP, 2018) * ''All the Pretty Little Horses'' (EP, 2020)

Lilitu

* ''Servants of Twilight'' (1997) * ''The Earth Gods'' (2000) * ''Memorial'' (2001) * ''The Delores Lesion'' (2004)

Crying for Winter

* ''Crying for Winter'' (1997)

Blood Promise

* ''Demo 2006'' (2006) * ''Demo 2007'' (2007)

To the Boy Elis

* ''Love Is Like the Cost of Livin (2008)

Scar the Martyr Scar the Martyr was an American alternative metal band consisting of Joey Jordison, Kris Norris, Jed Simon, Kyle Konkiel and Matthew Tarach, active from 2013 to 2015. History The band was announced in April 2013 by drummer Joey Jordison, w ...

* ''Revolver EP'' (2013) * ''Metal Hammer EP'' (2013) * ''

'' (2013)

Thrown into Exile

* ''Safe Inside'' (2016)

Act of Defiance Act of Defiance was an American heavy metal supergroup from Los Angeles, California, formed in 2014 by guitarist Chris Broderick and drummer Shawn Drover of Megadeth after they both resigned from the band on the same day, vocalist Henry Dere ...

* ''

Birth and the Burial ''Birth and the Burial'' is the debut studio album by American heavy metal supergroup Act of Defiance. It was released on August 21, 2015, through Metal Blade Records. A music video for the song "Throwback" was released on June 24, 2015, with ...

'' (2015) * ''Old Scars, New Wounds'' (2017)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Elis, Henry, Derek American male songwriters 1978 births Living people 20th-century American singers 21st-century American singers 20th-century American male singers 21st-century American male singers Metalcore singers