Faith Or Fear

There are a lot of bios out on the web and some are close to being accurate... but here's the real deal. It all began back in 1982 at St. Augustine Prep School in Richland, NJ. Chris Bombeke (lead guitar) & Bob Perna (rythym guitar) were both seniors at the high school and Dan Hansen (drums) was a freshman. They all joined the music club and found that they shared a lot of the same musical tastes - namely UFO, Iron Maiden, Metallica and many of the other NWOBHM bands.

The school students knew that something cool was happening with the music club and the first and only concert performance was highly anticipated. The only song that can be recalled is "Southern Man" by CSN&Y and there may have been a Deep Purple tune in there, too. 4 years would pass before the guys saw each other again. Then in 1985, Dan ran into Chris in the parking lot of the local lounge in Vineland, NJ. They reminisced a bit and talked about metal. Chris & Bob in the mean time had always been the best of friends and Chris then asked Dan to stop over Bob's house to jam. Those early days consisted of Metallica, Dokken, Ratt, Keel, and other cover tunes. Then the name selection ceremony took place (almost weekly), starting with Maggot, then evolving into Maggot Vomit. The lineup consisted of Chris, Bob, Dan,
Carlo Gentilleti (bass) and Tim Blackman (vocals). ...In September of 1985, Dan left for Widener University. But occassionally on weekends he would come home to visit and see the guys. They had been working on some originals and recruited a freak of a bass player named Clarence Jenkins (a.k.a. CJ). When Dan heard the new songs he knew that something incredible would eventually happen. The songs at the time were more along the lines of Dokken & Ratt, hard but not yet heavy. "Judgement Day" and "Jokes on You" are just 2 of the classics from that era. Dan then "maneuvered" his way back to Vineland and continued studies locally while the band played on. In 1986, things took a different turn when the band went to Philadelphia to see a band called "ANVIL BITCH" Gary Capriotti - vocals.. John Plumley - guitars.. Dave Carr - bass .. Chuck Stadulis - drums. It was at this show that they first witnessed "slammin," stage diving and REALLY heavy stuff. From that point on, the first string of originals were thrown out the window and they went to work on faster and heavier material. "The Reducer" was the first by-product and was a fast yet melodic tune inspired by metal & sprinkled with beer. Though the full song did not make it to the Punishment Area album, the intro became the intro to "Darkside." Many shows & parties were played with Philly friends Anvil Bitch and other stagemates consisted of Nuclear Assault, Hallows Eve, Flotsam & Jetsam, and The Crumbsuckers just to name a few. And let's not forget the Wendy O. show that didn't happen because her guitarist had a fit. Things were cruising along very well and then a management company came along and pumped everyone up with hopes and dreams of success. The band recorded the "Dehumanized '88" demo in late 1987.Two nights after playing with Flotsam & Jetsam and the night after playing Reds in Margate Dan quit unexpectedly The band was totally blind-sided and had to act fast to find a replacement, especially with a record deal forthcoming- enter Rich Lohwasser who was a friend of Anvil Bitch. A few months later the title track off of The "Dehumanized '88" demo was released on Metal Blade Record's Metal Massacre IX Compilation(4/22/88). Though the credit was given to Rich Lohwasser , it was actually Dan playing the drums but the management company thought that it would be better to put Rich's name on it rather than Dan's so the band would not appear to be unstable. Dan was very happy about that! Then came the deal with Combat Records which led ultimately to the "Punishment Area" album. After Sepultura finished their European Tour with Sodom,to support the"Beneath The Remains" album they came to the U.S. did one show in NY on halloween 1989. Max: "We did a Halloween show at The Ritz [New York] with King Diamond and Sacred Reich and that was totally sold out. We got an excellent reaction that night". They then joined forces with "Faith or Fear" to unleash The "Punish the World"("EAT PIZZA OR DIE!") Tour with a few different support bands including "Dominance"(former members of "Anvil Bitch"), "Damnability","Devastation"
and "Solitude",to support the "Punishment Area"album and the live concert video/soundtrack "The Ultimate Revenge 2" with Death,Forbidden,Dark Angel and Raven,Combat Record's follow up to the highly successful
"Ultimate Revenge"("For Disco")is so entitled because it documents a 1985 live performance by Venom, Slayer and Exodus at Studio 54, a venue famed for it's disco-era heyday. The first words you hear, over the visual of a burning image of John Travolta, are the stage banter of Exodus' Paul Baloff: "I wanna know how many of you like to go out in the street looking to kick someone's fuckin' ass!"......
Problem was that the management company wanted to go in one direction while the band wanted to go in another.In 1990 Bob Perna left the band and was replaced by Merritt Gant also from Vineland,who was in the band "Drastic Measures"(1988-1990). Rich also left and was replaced by Ed Schwegel who was also in the band "Drastic Measures", later went on to play in "Wagonhead" and is now in the cover band "Mister Monkey Pants" with Paul Kuntz: guitars, vocals(who replaced Meritt on guitar for "Drastic Measures") Walt Sapsai: vocals, bass guitar Mitch Sutton: guitars, vocals................................ "FAITH OR FEAR" would later release the "1990 Demo" with "True Life" "Hidden by Animosity". Merritt went on to join "Overkill."(1991-1995) , Tim was also briefly in a cover band doing a few shows,including one at "Trump's Marina" in Atlantic City. In 1999 Merritt created Blood Audio with Scott Gallagher. . http://www.bloodaudio.com/ . All the changes proved to be the final nail in the coffin of Faith or Fear...UNTIL NOW!The band briefly reformed in 1994 as a cover band under the name of Wagonhead, though they never recorded. In December of 2002, Dan tracked down Chris via email and they discussed getting the band back together for 'ol times sake. And in January 2003, the first practice with the entire original band since December 9th, 1987 (the Reds in Margate show) took place. Since that time they've had a few jam sessions & did one show on August 23, 2003 at Rumors in Buena, NJ for the public. Tunes included "Punishment Area", "The Shadow Knows", "CDS", "Post Mortem" by Slayer, "Done in Vein," and "Time Bomb" just to name a few. The show was also recorded through the sound board and put on a DVD, but it's distribution to the public has not been discussed to this point.On 3/12/05 The band played an unpublicized gig at Good Sports pub in Vineland, NJ. It was a surprise for Chris Bombeke's b-day, so the fan base could not be notified (sorry!). The band is now preparing a studio in which to practice and already has between 8-10 tunes at their disposal. Signing to a label for a comeback album is certainly an option, but they are also considering producing & administering the distribution themselves via the web. In the mean time, the band wants to thank EVERYONE who has supported them in the past & now. They've seen all the positive feedback on the web, the redistribution of Punishment Area through Century Media was a huge success, and stuff is constantly being bought & sold on EBAY.They hope to have some new (and maybe) old stuff available for ya soon.
..Chris Bombeke's band is now called " +3" it is no longer called "Family of Liars." (Clan of Confabulators!??)Also in the band on Bass, Vince Strozyk,Formerly of "Drastic Measures" and "Faith or Fear" Guitar Tech and Dave Randazzo on Drums.
" TRAGEDY IN PROGRESS" FORMERLY "ONE IN THE CHAMBER"... Chris Bombeke- Bass/Joe Mionie- guitar/ Shane Gellert- Guitar- Vocals/ Ted Vandermark- Beats RECENT NEWS FROM SHANE GELLERT "TRAGEDY IN PROGRESS"( FORMERLY "ONE IN THE CHAMBER": February 09, 2007 " To those who believed that One in the Chamber was no longer... I can categorically refute this claim. While the extended hiatus fueled and gave a little room for validity to the supposition of our end. With great pleasure , I officially announce the transition from One in the Chamber , a band in hiatus ... To Tragedy in Progress " , and we are moving ahead with rehearsal. Live shows beginning in March of 2007." Monday, January 29, 2007 " Going to rehearse with Ted and Chris (Bombeke ofcourse). Friday Joey flies in from Florida. We are all heading to Hartford saturday to see Army of Anyone at Webster Theatre. Then gonna ride out the next few days , putting together the touches for the new musical scope... Tragedy in Progress."
1/30/07 "FAITH OR FEAR" NEWS: There has been a LOT of interest lately throughout NJ about the band doing another show. Nothing had been on the immediate horizon, but talks are now underway. The date & venue have not been finalized yet, but the show will probably take place in either April or May 2007. This will most likely be the only show for 2007, so make sure you are there.