Dean Wallace : Vocals & Guitar
Thibaud Pontet : Drums
Neil Garrod : Bass

Reviews

« This is one of the best CDs I have reviewed for Sonic Abuse so far. 'Metal Family' is a classic heavy metal album. Really enjoyable and highly recommanded. » - Sonic Abuse (UK)

« From beginning to end, the 10 songs are performed at an impressive level of mastery. Very good debut album, a great discovery and a band to follow, definitely. » - Pavillon 666 (France)

« Dean Wallace's songs are awesome. (...) We wish him a lot of success, he has a bright musical future ahead. » Rock Metal Mag (France)

« It's a fine piece of agressive sounding Heavy Metal with influences of Speed-Thrash genres, and one worth checked out » Fireworks magazine (UK)

« Dean's voice certainly has all the traits and skills of a truly metal frontman. The quality of the riffs are superb. You can see the achievement in composing and especially the technique. A must listen. » The Black Planet (Portugal)

« Metal Family is a sturdy and successful album, which proves to be addictive after a few plays. The powerful and bright sound reveals the perfection of the songs. » Music in Belgium

« This album is a huge surprise. (...) His straight ahead heavy metal takes all ten of these menacing tracks and mashes them into a fantastically melodic yet sharp-sided lump.» - Metalliville (UK)

« 'Metal Family' is a damn fine album to be fair and thoroughly enjoyable. (...) Dean Wallace has a deep pool of talent making it exciting to see what he'll pull out in the future. » - Uber Rock (UK)

« With this album, Dean Wallace achieved an impressive business card. The man is gifted and seems able to play any kind of heavy metal. With a record of this quality,Wallace looks set for a bright future, and we'll follow him very closely.» Music waves (France)

BIOGRAPHY

Inspired by 90s rock/metal, the French trio draws its strength and creativity from the sounds and imagery of this legendary decade. Their preference for american productions pushes them to prioritize the groove and the vocal melody, while giving the all-mighty riff the place it deserves. Enriched with lyrics rooted in the news, their music is surprisingly fresh and singular. 

HISTORY

The project was founded in 2010 by two guitarist, Dean Wallace and his brother. After an initial phase during which the band played covers of songs by Metallica, Megadeth and Pantera, Dean started to compose his own material. By September 2011 the bands repertoire had grown enough to allow them, with the addition of two other musicians, to start gigging. The group started to tour on a regional level under the name of Whymper, but their notoriety quickly spread further afield catching the attention of american metal fans.

The band had just released two songs online when a californian radio station specialising in metal contacted them offering to include the songs in their monthly compliation, Kill City. The band accepted the proposition without hesistation. Each month the station organised a vote amongst it's listeners to find the most popular songs on the playlist. Whymper came in first with the song « Get Away From My Home », winning precious radio airtime. In another overall vote including all the groups featured on the monthly compilations, Whymper finished second out of over 600 groups ! 

At this time, the band decided to change their name to Dean Wallace and a new milestone was reached in 2014 with the recording and release of his first album : Metal Family. The Birmigham (UK) based label, Tinplho Records handled the album's promotion and released two videos. The album received excellent reviews throughout Europe (see reviews above) and Dean decided to move to London with his drummer in September 2015, and started to write new material. This was a very creative period, but in the face of logistical problems relations between the musician's degraded until the collaboration eventually came to an end in December 2017.

Following this setback Dean returned to France. During the Covid pandemic and the forced confinement, he felt a growing need to compose once again. The result was ten new songs that he recorded and produced in his home studio. Fired with renewed belief and determination, Dean recruited new musicians and set his objectives. In 2023, he signed a deal with a manager and a record company, both based in London. A 4 tracks EP has been released in April 2024, alongside 4 music videos. The band is currently preparing the release of another EP in september 2025, and started to compose a new album.

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