Joey Vera (born April 24, 1963) is an American bassist who is known as a member of the heavy metal band Armored Saint and

progressive metal Progressive metal (often shortened to prog metal) is a broad fusion music genre melding heavy metal music, heavy metal and progressive rock, combining the loud "aggression" and amplified electric guitar, guitar-driven sound of the former with t ...

band

Fates Warning Fates Warning is an American progressive metal band, formed in Hartford, Connecticut, in 1982 by vocalist John Arch, guitarists Jim Matheos and Victor Arduini, bassist Joe DiBiase, and drummer Steve Zimmerman. There have been numerous lineup ch ...

. During 2004 and early 2005, he toured with

Anthrax Anthrax is an infection caused by the bacterium '' Bacillus anthracis'' or ''Bacillus cereus'' biovar ''anthracis''. Infection typically occurs by contact with the skin, inhalation, or intestinal absorption. Symptom onset occurs between one ...

as a fill-in for

Frank Bello Frank Bello (born July 9, 1965) is an American musician who plays bass for the thrash metal band Anthrax. He was also a member of Helmet from 2004 to 2005 and has been the touring bassist of Norwegian black metal band Satyricon since 2024. Earl ...

, who had taken a break from the band. He was also a member of Engine, recorded with Tribe After Tribe, and appears on the OSI album '' Free''. His first solo album, ''A Thousand Faces'', was released in 1994. His current solo project, A Chinese Firedrill, released an album titled ''Circles'' in 2007. In August 2019, Vera was announced as the touring bassist for a newly reunited Mercyful Fate filling in for Timi Hansen. He remained with the band until 2024. Originally a guitar player, Vera took interest in playing the instrument after listening to

Kiss A kiss is the touching or pressing of one's lips against another person, animal or object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely; depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sex ...

' '' Alive!'', and by the time Armored Saint formed, he had switched from guitar to bass. Vera has cited

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, John Deacon,

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, Larry Graham, Steve Harris, Louis Johnson,

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, and Verdine White as influences or inspirations to his bass playing. He usually plays bass by using his fingers, though he has used a guitar pick on a few occasions.

Discography

With Armored Saint

* '' Armored Saint'' EP (1983) * '' March of the Saint'' (1984) * '' Delirious Nomad'' (1985) * '' Raising Fear'' (1987) * '' Saints Will Conquer'' (1988) * '' Symbol of Salvation'' (1991) * ''

Revelation Revelation, or divine revelation, is the disclosing of some form of Religious views on truth, truth or Knowledge#Religion, knowledge through communication with a deity (god) or other supernatural entity or entities in the view of religion and t ...

'' (2000) * '' Nod to the Old School'' (2001) * '' La Raza'' (2010) * '' Win Hands Down'' (2015) * ''Carpe Noctum'' (2017) * ''Punching The Sky'' (2020)

as Joey Vera

* ''A Thousand Faces'' (1994)

With Fates Warning

* '' A Pleasant Shade of Gray'' (1997) * ''

Still Life A still life (: still lifes) is a work of art depicting mostly wikt:inanimate, inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which are either natural (food, flowers, dead animals, plants, rocks, shells, etc.) or artificiality, human-m ...

'' (1999) * '' Disconnected'' (2000) * '' FWX'' (2004) * '' Darkness in a Different Light'' (2013) * '' Theories of Flight'' (2016) * '' Long Day Good Night'' (2020)

With Tribe After Tribe

*''Pearls Before Swine'' (1997) *''Enchanted Entrance'' (2002)

With Chroma Key

* '' Dead Air for Radios'' (1998)

With Engine

* ''

Engine An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power ge ...

'' (1999) * '' Superholic'' (2002)

With John Arch

* '' A Twist of Fate'' (2003)

With Seven Witches

*'' Passage to the Other Side'' (2003) *'' Deadly Sins'' (2007)

With OSI

* '' Free'' (2006)

as A Chinese Firedrill

* ''Circles'' (2007)

With Arch/Matheos

* '' Sympathetic Resonance'' (2011)

With Motor Sister

* ''Ride'' (2015)

References

External links

Official website
(archived)

1963 births Living people American heavy metal bass guitarists American male bass guitarists Anthrax (American band) members Progressive metal bass guitarists American male guitarists Fates Warning members Engine (American band) members Armored Saint members OSI (band) members Seven Witches members 20th-century American guitarists {{US-bass-guitarist-stub