Ripface Break

Anthony “Red” Paladino was one of the first people I met when my first band started playing out, some 15 years ago. If you know anything about Red you know he has the same amount of passion for Star Wars as he does for music. Known mostly in the New Jersey punk/hardcore scene for fronting IDK for over 20 years, Red is now bringing his years of experience and talent to his new band, Ripface Invasion.

Like all superheroes, they are only as good as their team. Red is lead vocals and plays some guitar; the lineup also features long time IDK member Tom Conti on bass. Rounding out the rest of the team is Rey Fonseca of Agents of Man on guitar, and One 4 One drummer Jesse Koblentz.

Comic art, science fiction and punk/trash metal are the foundation of Ripface Invasion. The music and imagery draws inspiration from Planet of the Apes, the Derrick Riggs artwork for Iron Maiden’s Somewhere in Time album and subtle influences from Russian science fiction games like S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl.

The real glue of this project is the imagery in the music video. With direction by Michael Heinzer, Ripface Invasion returns us to a time of the story-driven music video. The video includes original artwork from independent comic book artists Joe Martino, Thomas Mason and Jeff Austin as well as work by Troy Boyle, Rock Baker, Kevin Thompson and Geoffrey Gwin.

Be sure to check them out. The CD and 7” are available on their site as well as iTunes and Amazon MP3.

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In between picking up change and doing the pizza man, Chuck can be found screaming at a wall @JapanDudeGirl