Diet of Worms (band)
Diet of Worms (D.O.W.) is a rock band that began as a side project between Juan 'Punchy' Gonzalez (guitars, sequencing) and Damond Jiniya (vocals, lyrics). After a few demos had been circulated, there was enough demand for the duo to release an album independently. To Thine Own Self was released in 1997 to glowing reviews from Terrorizer, New Musical Express, Melody Maker, and Rock Hard magazines in Europe.
In the latter part of 1997 D.O.W. toured Mexico and Europe. This tour took D.O.W. to Mexico City, Guadalajara, Paris, Brussels, London, and “muggy” Whitby, UK for the Dracfest. This festival featured Alien Sex Fiend, Lena Lovich, Hawkwind, and The Damned. When English rock magazine NME came out to do an article on the festival they wrote about Diet of Worms. The other artists were all but ignored. Diet of Worms continued to sell CDs independently.
In mid-1998, D.O.W. added a third member. Steve "Divine" Wright, former drummer of legendary gothic rock band Christian Death, joined the ranks of D.O.W. as a permanent member. In 1999 Diet of Worms hit the road again, doing a complete North American tour. They began with a sold out show in Guadalajara, Mexico, then went to do “El Festival Obscurro” in Mexico City. After this, they embarked on a six-and-a-half-week run that took them all over the United States and Canada.
In the beginning of 2000, D.O.W. recorded its second record, The Aquarius, to critical acclaim throughout the world. Diet of Worms toured six months in North America to support The Aquarius, almost tripling the record's sales. Bassist Orbis was added to the fold in late 2002. In February 2003, D.O.W. embarked on a Mexican/European tour to support its record "Tantrum Land." The tour included Christian Death, Lover of Sin (Punchy’s other project) and Theater of Vampires. It spanned all of western and some of the eastern European countries. September 2003 marked the departure of long-time drummer/songwriter Steve “Divine” Wright. December 2003 also was the release of Tantrum Land, an 18-song journey into the feel of British pop/rock.
Diet of Worms ended its career as a group in December 2004.
Damond and Punchy created and released The Neglected Band project in 2004.