Flaw (band)

American nu metal band

| website =
| current members = * Chris Volz
Rob Buttorff
Joshua Skellett
James Kyle Adkins
| past members = See below

Flaw is an American nu metal band from Louisville, Kentucky, formed by guitarist Jason Daunt in 1996. After a string of rough independent recordings in the 1990s, the band signed to Republic and Universal Music Group and released two major label albums, Through the Eyes in 2001 and Endangered Species in 2004. Breakups, line up changes, and internal strife plagued the band for the rest of the decade, though from 2015 to 2017, the band reformed with three of their core members to tour and write music. The band released their third studio album, Divided We Fall, in 2016, and a fourth studio album, Vol IV: Because of the Brave in 2019. An album of cover songs, Revival, was later released in 2022. The band's lineup frequently shifts; lead vocalist Chris Volz is the only constant member.

Flaw was formed in 1996 and peaked at No. 119 on the Billboard 200 chart. In promotion of the album, the band released two singles, "Payback" and "Whole", and played the 2002 iteration of Ozzfest. Another track, "Only the Strong," was also featured on The Scorpion King soundtrack. In 2004, Flaw returned to the studio to begin recording their second studio album, Endangered Species. The band had parted ways with Daunt The band stated that Daunt was fired due to "personal and creative differences", including issues with undisclosed physical violence. The band continued on as a four piece, finding it easier to manage the band's internal issues and creative process with fewer members. The album spawned one single, "Recognize", which peaked at No. 25 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart. Both albums were deemed commercial disappointments by their record label, Universal Music Group. Flaw was subsequently dropped from Universal in late 2004 and eventually broke up.

After the band broke up, band members moved onto new projects. Most notably, Volz, formed Five. Bolt. Main with drummer Ivan Arnold, who was one of the rotating members during Flaw's early independent years. The band played a reunion show in March 2007, playing a previously unreleased track entitled "Do You Remember", and toured through April of the same years with a lineup of Volz, Daunt, Arny, Ballinger, and new bassist Van Avery. While the band initially had intentions on recording new material and releasing it, internal issues among members lead to many delays and hurdles. Additional complications occurred by the start of 2008, with Volz and Daunt breaking off to form a new band called Foundation. The offshoot played a number of shows through 2008, but eventually returned to just performing as Flaw, as people became confused between the two considering the similar members and setlists. Still, the band continued to struggle with lineup changes, including short term stints with guitarist Nathan McDaniel,

By January 2009, the band had reconvened its efforts to record a new album and attract label support. While the band failed to find label support, in November 2009, they still released a third studio album, completely independently, titled Home Grown Studio Sessions. The lineup included Volz, Arny, Juhrs, and two more newcomers, Andy Russ on guitar and Sean Rued on drums. The band toured in support of the album through the rest of the year, though the album did not sell well, with even Arny conceding that "a lot of people don't know it's out yet" 9 months after its release. The band played shows with Tantric, Burn Halo, and Adema in September 2010. However, by the end of the year, internal conflict had again led to the cancellation of shows and inactivity within the band.

On July 16, 2013, it was announced that the band had reformed, and returned to the Through The Eyes line up of Jason Daunt, Chris Volz, Lance Arny, Ryan Jurhs and Chris Ballinger. The band was reforming to both tour, and record a new studio album. Despite the progress, the band needed to procure more funds to continue. In July, Flaw started an Indiegogo campaign to raise money for a full US tour with a new album to be released sometime in 2015, but only acquired 1/4 of the requested funds. Additionally, in September, Arny left the band due to internal conflicts with the rest of the members, The touring continued despite this, playing the "Louder Than Life" festival in October 2014 in Louisville, Kentucky, with Korn, Limp Bizkit and Papa Roach. In December, Ballinger was fired due to "personal and creative differences". The band replaced only Ballinger, with new drummer Corey Sturgill, and opted to once again work as a quartet. In April 2015, a new song titled "Bleed Red" was released exclusively to SirusXM Octane to test market new material in hopes to gain a broader appeal and a wide release. As of March 2015, Volz estimated a late 2015 release for the album. At an October concert, the band stated that the new album's release period had now shifted to the first quarter of 2016. In November 2015, it was announced that the band had signed to Pavement Entertainment with plans on releasing their fourth studio album on April 29, 2016. After further delays, Divided We Fall was released on August 19, 2016, with the single "Live and Breathe" released the month prior. To promote the album, the band participated in a reunion tour with Dope and Motograter. The band also released an EP of b sides from the album, United We Stand, on September 1, 2017. The band continued to tour in support of the releases, but also continued to change its touring line up. Jurhs and Sturghil left in December 2016, and were replaced by Tommy Gibbons on guitar, Jeff Dickie on bass, and Skylar Martin on drums. In February 2017, Martin left, and was replaced by Dan Johnson, prior touring drummer of Red.

In November 2017, Daunt announced that he was again leaving the band he had originally founded, citing Volz's drinking and behavior, which he felt was creating too much turnover in band and touring membership, a claim Volz denied. Daunt announced he was starting a new band, "Scars of the Unbroken", with prior Flaw members Jurhs, Gibbons and Sturgill, while Volz announced he had begun writing material for a future Flaw album to be released in 2018. Vol IV: Because of the Brave was released on July 19, 2019. However, the band would later be accused of plagiarism by YouTube musician Douglas Patrick claiming that the band stole his "music melody and structure" from one of his instrumental tracks to use for the song "Wake Up" which is featured in the album and threatened to pursue legal action against the band. Volz would later respond to the allegations, claiming that he was unaware of the plagiarism, stating that he only writes lyrics to the music the rest of the band present to him and that it was the work of another member of the band that he didn't name at the time who "royally screwed up" before claiming that he was "upset" over the matter and had reached out to Patrick to offer compensation. However, more songs on the album were discovered to have allegedly been lifted from other YouTubers including Patrick. It was also discovered that the music for the song "Conquer This Climb" was purchased by the band from another metal YouTuber known as Riff Master T. In October 2019, bassist Tommy Gibbons admitted that he was the one responsible for the plagiarism after an old social media post from back in August revealed that he was bragging when YouTube metal musicians were learning to play a song that he claimed to have written which would later be discovered to have been stolen directly from Patrick. In a statement that he posted on social media, Gibbons stated that he takes "full and all" responsibility for his actions and that none of the other band members were involved in the plagiarism. On October 6, 2019, Volz announced on social media that the band have parted ways with Gibbons. On January 11, 2020, Joshua Skellett and Ethan York (formerly of Cold) joined Flaw as new bassist and drummer. Georges departed the band to focus on his MMA career. In March 2021, multiple publications reported that Volz had repeatedly used racial slurs at a concert, leading to him being dropped by the record label that distributes his side project and solo albums.

Year Title U. S. Mainstream Rock Album 2001 "Payback" 33 Through the Eyes 2002 "Whole" 38 2004 "Recognize" 25 Endangered Species 2015 "Bleed Red" — Divided We Fall 2016 "Live and Breathe" — 2018 "Conquer This Climb" — Vol IV 2019 "Because of the Brave" —