While composing vocal music for his 2003 “Words Collide” release, Michael had written several songs (namely “Nobot” and “Alone”) that seemed “too heavy for that release”. Shortly thereafter, he wrote “I Bleed”, and started to realize that this was turning into a new much heavier record, so he recruited both his brother and bassist Mike Neal to form Darkology. The band started out as a trio with Michael singing, but eventually decided they needed a front man / vocalist. After hearing vocalist Kelly Sundown Carpenter on a recording by Beyond Twilight, the band contacted Kelly and found that he was indeed interested. Sundown’s vocals were soon recorded and the band shot a video for “I Bleed”. In ’09, “Altered Reflections” was released worldwide to much critical acclaim, garnering much praise from the prominent Metal Hammer (“This album sets the scene for the future of metal”); also being dubbed the “definitive favorite disc of the year” by Metal to Infinity, and Metallus Maximus calling the album “An absolute masterpiece of its kind”.
After a month long 2014 European tour with Overkill & Prong, Michael continued to compose music for a 2nd DARKOLOGY record with bassist Mike Neal writing most of the lyrics. The band’s much anticipated follow-up record, “Fated to Burn”, was released in 2015, and was chronicled as “one of the best pure metal albums in a decade” by Metal Underground.
