Before forming Slipknot with
Shawn Crahan and
Paul Gray in 1995, Colsefni drummed and occasionally sang in a number of local bands, often crossing paths with other future Slipknot members. His first band was the
death metal band Vexx, which was formed in 1988 and saw Colsefni joined by Gray on bass and
Josh Brainard on guitar and vocals. In 1992, Vexx renamed to Inveigh Catharsis and occasionally played with drummer
Joey Jordison. They broke up in 1993, when Brainard left to join Jordison and guitarist
Craig Jones in Modifidious, another local metal band. By March 1993, Colsefni and Gray were jamming with drummer Crahan and guitarist Patrick Neuwirth. Around this time, he also performed vocal duties in Body Pit, one of Gray's bands that also had future Slipknot guitarists
Mick Thomson and
Donnie Steele as members at one point. In September 1995, Colsefni, Crahan and Gray formed the band that would later be known as Slipknot. The Pale Ones, as they were called at first, were joined by guitarists Steele and Brainard, as well as Jordison on drums. Colsefni provided lead vocals and shared percussion duties with Crahan, while Gray took on bass. The band changed their name to Meld, taken from a Body Pit song, for their first show. In late 1995, Jordison suggested the band change their name to Slipknot, after a song recorded by Colsefni, Crahan and Neuwirth during their jam sessions in 1993. Steele left while recording their first demo album
Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat. in early 1996, he was replaced by Craig Jones and then by Mick Thomson, with Jones moving on to
samples. The album was released on October 31, 1996, but received little radio airplay. This led the band to seek a more melodic style of vocals, something that Colsefni could not deliver. The band recruited
Corey Taylor, vocalist of
Stone Sour, which moved Colsefni to backing vocals. However, this formation would only play two shows in August and September 1997, before Colsefni announced on stage that he would be leaving Slipknot. His replacement on percussion was Greg Welts and later
Chris Fehn. Colsefni founded a new band, Painface, in 1998, they released one full length album,
Fleshcraft, in 1999 and the
On a Pale Horse EP in 2000. The band changed their name to On a Pale Horse in 2001; Colsefni left the band in 2003. Colsefni reformed Painface in 2010 with a new lineup, releasing the
Skullcrusher EP in 2013, In October 2023, Colsefni joined
Waylon Reavis on the Nu Metal Mayhem tour, which took place in Australia and New Zealand and saw Colsefni perform
Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat. in its entirety for the first time since 1997. He dedicated his tour to Gray and Jordison, who had died in 2010 and 2021, respectively. However, during the day of release, Colsefni stated that the album was released without his consent and that the released record material is an unfinished product. == References ==