Channel Zero (band)

Channel Zero is a Belgian heavy metal band formed in Brussels in 1990. They are one of the best known heavy metal bands from Belgium. They disbanded at the height of their career in 1997, however in 2009, the band announced a series of reunion gigs starting in January 2010.

Channel Zero
Channel Zero performing in 2023
Background information
Origin	Brussels, Belgium
Genres	Heavy metal, thrash metal, groove metal
Years active	1990–1997, 2009–present
Labels	Shark Records, Play It Again Sam, Roadrunner, Metal Blade
Members	Franky De Smet Van Damme Tino DeMartino Mikey Doling Seven Antonopoulos Christophe Depree
Past members	Phil Baheux Xavier Carion Roy Mayorga Peter Iterbeke Patrice Hubloux
Website	https://channel-zero.be/

History

Channel Zero was formed in Brussels in 1990. They released their first album Channel Zero in 1992. Their second album Stigmatized For Life (mixed by Vinnie Paul of Pantera) followed in 1993.

They achieved their breakthrough with the album Unsafe in 1994. The album featured guest vocals of Billy Milano of S.O.D. and Richard 23 of Front 242. Their last studio album Black Fuel was released in 1996.

In 1997, the band announced their break-up. They released one last live album of their performance at Marktrock, Leuven in 1997, simply titled Live. Franky De Smet Van Damme went on to form his own band Skitsoy, while Xavier Carion later formed Sons of Jonathas.

In 2010, the band played six reunion shows in the AB concert hall in Brussels. The first three sold out within 49 minutes, and the next two announced one week later, again sold out.

A single, "Black Flowers", was released in January 2010. On 5 April 2010, de Smet revealed that they are working on a new album, during an interview he gave during 'De zwaarste lijst', a radio show on the Belgian radio station Studio Brussel.

The band played concerts at the Graspop Metal Meeting in 2010 and 2011 in Dessel. They also played at Rock Werchter in 1995, back when the festival was still known as Torhout-Werchter, and in 2010.

The band's former drummer, Phil Baheux, died on 10 August 2013, at the age of 45.

In October 2013, the band announced that they will continue the work made on the new album, with Roy Mayorga playing the drums as a session drummer. Chris "Seven" Antonopoulos became the permanent drummer after the album's release. Their sixth studio album, Kill All Kings, was released on 24 June through Metal Blade Records. Christophe Depree, from fellow Belgian metal band After All, joined the band as a second guitarist in late 2017.

Members

Channel Zero live at Rock Hard Festival 2015

Current members

• Franky De Smet-Van Damme – vocals (1990–1997, 2009–present)
• Mikey Doling – guitars (2009–present)
• Christophe Depree – guitars (2017–present)
• Tino De Martino – bass (1990–1997, 2009–present)
• Seven Antonopoulos – drums (2014–present)

Former members

• Phil Baheux – drums (1990–1997, 2009–2013; died 2013)
• Xavier Carion – guitars (1990–1997)
• Patrice Hubloux – guitars (1990–1992; died 1995)
• Peter Iterbeke – guitars (1992–1993)

Session members

• Roy Mayorga – drums (2013–2014)

Timeline

<timeline> ImageSize = width:800 height:auto barincrement:18 PlotArea = left:150 bottom:60 top:0 right:15 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = mm/dd/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1990 till:05/23/2025 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy Legend = orientation:horizontal position:bottom ScaleMajor = increment:3 start:1990 ScaleMinor = increment:1 start:1990

Colors =

id:vocals   value:red        legend:Lead_vocals
id:guitar   value:green      legend:Guitars
id:bass     value:blue       legend:Bass
id:drums    value:orange     legend:Drums
id:studio   value:black      legend:Studio_album

LineData =

layer:back color:studio
 at:03/01/1992
 at:06/01/1993
 at:10/10/1994
 at:05/01/1996
 at:06/17/2011
 at:04/04/2014
 at:10/27/2017

BarData =

bar:Franky    text:"Franky De Smet Van Damme"
bar:Xavier    text:"Xavier Carion"
bar:Patrice   text:"Patrice Hubloux"
bar:Peter     text:"Peter Iterbeke"
bar:Mike      text:"Mike Doling"
bar:Chris     text:"Christophe Depree"
bar:Tino      text:"Tino DeMartino"
bar:Phil      text:"Phil Baheux"
bar:Seven     text:"Chris Antonopoulos"

PlotData=

width:11
bar:Franky    from:start       till:12/01/1997  color:vocals
bar:Franky    from:08/01/2009  till:end         color:vocals
bar:Xavier    from:start       till:12/01/1997  color:guitar
bar:Patrice   from:start       till:07/01/1992  color:guitar
bar:Peter     from:07/01/1992  till:12/01/1993  color:guitar
bar:Mike      from:08/01/2009  till:end         color:guitar
bar:Chris     from:12/01/2017  till:end         color:guitar
bar:Tino      from:start       till:12/01/1997  color:bass
bar:Tino      from:08/01/2009  till:end         color:bass
bar:Phil      from:start       till:12/01/1997  color:drums
bar:Phil      from:08/01/2009  till:08/10/2013  color:drums
bar:Seven     from:08/11/2013  till:end         color:drums

</timeline>

Discography

Albums:

• Channel Zero (Shark Records – 1992)
• Stigmatized for Life (Shark Records – 1993)
• Unsafe (Play it Again Sam – 1994)
• Black Fuel (Play it Again Sam – 1997)
• Feed 'Em with a Brick (Roadrunner Records – 2011)
• Kill All Kings (Metal Blade Records – 2014)
• Exit Humanity (Joint Venture Channel Zero – 2017)

Live albums:

• Live (Play it Again Sam – 1997)
• Live at the Ancienne Belgique – CD + DVD (CNR Records / Roadrunner Records – 2010)
• Unplugged (2015)

EPs:

• Suck My Energy (Play It Again Sam – 1995)
• Help (Play It Again Sam – 1995)
• Heroin (Play It Again Sam – 1995)
• Fool's Parade (Play It Again Sam – 1996)

Singles:

• "Run W.T.T." (Play It Again Sam – 1995)
• "Call On Me" (Play It Again Sam – 1997)
• "Black Flowers" (Roadrunner Records – 2010)
• "Hot Summer" (Roadrunner Records – 2011)
• "Electronic Cocaine" (Metal Blade Records – 2014)

External links

• Official website