Early on, William Pierce cut his teeth working as a roadie for the soon-to-be-legendary Metallica during their first U.S. tour. Inspired by the knowledge gleaned on the road with Metallica, the New Jersey native struck out to put together his own band. Scooping up a number of solid local musicians, the group began to take shape over the next few years-eventually becoming known as PIERCE.
Crafting songs in his spare time away from work at Jem Records, William and crew-at the time rounded out by Dennis Chavis (vocals), Joey Cali (bass), and Tom "Earthquake" Doud (drums)-recorded their debut album during late evening sessions and-impressively-on their own dime. As the full-length neared completion, PIERCE signed with the upstart label of Jem Records A&R executive Jim Cuomo: Skreamin' Skull Records.
Evolving into road dogs, PIERCE took to the touring circuit and worked their way across the States and back. In an effort to capture the magic from their momentum, the band jumped straight into Omega Studios to record what would become their second album-titled simply, II. Riding high and ready to hit the ground running, PIERCE's hopes would be dashed in but a single moment. While driving to a showcase performance for several major labels, the band found themselves in an automobile accident-which not only ruined their showcase appearance, but seemingly destroyed plans for an upcoming U.S. tour as well. In a flash, PIERCE was gone.
