Ceremony

Ceremony is a hardcore punk band from Rohnert Park, California, formed in 2005. The line-up includes Ross Farrar on vocals, Anthony Anzaldo on guitar, Justin Davis on bass, Andy Nelson on guitar, and Jake Casarotti on drums.

Releases and style

The band begins with the EP Ruined, released in 2005 on Malfunction Records. Their first full-length album, Violence Violence, follows and includes a re-recorded version of the Ruined EP. In 2008, they release Still Nothing Moves You, their first record for Bridge 9 Records; it reaches the Billboard Top Internet and Top Heatseekers charts in August 2008. The group also tours with bands including Blacklisted, Converge, and AFI.

In 2010, Ceremony release their third full-length album, Rohnert Park. In 2011, they sign with Matador Records and issue a covers-only EP for Bridge 9, featuring songs by Urban Waste, Pixies, Crisis, Eddie and the Subtitles, Vile, and Wire. Zoo appears on Matador Records in 2012 and shows a move away from the band’s earlier hardcore style towards a more pre-hardcore punk sound, with references to Wire’s Pink Flag. Their second Matador album, The L-Shaped Man, follows and moves further into post-punk territory, with comparisons to Joy Division. In 2019, they release In the Spirit World Now through Relapse Records.

Related acts and genres

Ceremony is associated with hardcore, hardcore punk, punk, post-punk, and shoegaze. The name also appears in a range of other unrelated acts, including post-punk and shoegaze groups, death metal bands, and a short-lived rock band created by Chastity Bono, but the California band remains the best-known act under this name.