In 1998, Erik Chapman, Joseph Childres, Justin Cronk, Zach Davidson, and Mike Vermillion formed the hard rock outfit, Vendetta Red. As natives of Seattle, the mid-nineties grunge reign inspired them all to pick up an instrument and master it well. In 1999, Vendetta Red self-released the 6 Kisses A Blatant Reminder of Why We Are Alive EP and toured the West Coast. A year later, they issued their debut album Blackout Analysis; White Knuckled Substance appeared in October 2001 and was well-received on local radio. Epic Records was impressed by the band’s ambition and offered Vendetta Red a deal in early 2002. The boys headed into the studio with producer Jerry Finn (blink-182, Green Day, Sum 41) later that year to record a fourth album