Big Dumb Face
{{Short description|American metal band}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2025}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name = Big Dumb Face
| alias =
| origin = United States
| genre = {{Flatlist|
- Grindcore
- death metal{{cite web|url=http://puregrainaudio.com/reviews/big-dumb-face-where-is-duke-lion-he-s-dead-album-review|title=Big Dumb Face - "Where is Duke Lion? He's Dead..." [Album Review]|first=Damian|last=FitzGerald|website=Puregrainaudio.com|access-date=27 December 2017}}
- comedy metal{{cite web|url=http://bloodygoodhorror.com/bgh/forgotten-classics-big-dumb-face|title=Forgotten Classics: Big Dumb Face - Bloody Good Horror - Horror movie reviews, podcast, news, and more!|website=Bloodygoodhorror.com|access-date=27 December 2017}}
}}
| years_active = 1998–2004, 2017–present
| label = Edison Sound, Flip, Interscope, Flawless
| associated_acts = Limp Bizkit, Black Light Burns
| website =
| current_members = Wes Borland
Scott Borland
}}
Big Dumb Face is an American metal musical project noted for its comedic lyrics and shifts in style, encompassing multiple genres of music, including grindcore, death metal, funk, country, disco, reggae, psychedelia and pop.
Big Dumb Face was formed by brothers Wes and Scott Borland in 1998, serving for the former as a side project of the American band Limp Bizkit.{{cite web|url=http://www.metalsucks.net/2017/10/13/wes-borlands-big-dumb-face-released-their-first-new-song-in-16-years-and-its-brutally-heavy-we-swear/|title=Wes Borland's Big Dumb Face Released Their First New Song in 16 Years and It's Brutally Heavy, We Swear - MetalSucks|date=13 October 2017|website=Metalsucks.net|access-date=27 December 2017}} Big Dumb Face released its debut album, Duke Lion Fights the Terror!! in 2001, followed by a second album, Where Is Duke Lion? He's Dead... in 2017.
History
=Formation and ''Duke Lion Fights the Terror!!'' (1998-2004)=
In 1998, Wes and Scott Borland formed Big Dumb Face, serving for Wes Borland as a side project of Limp Bizkit. In 2001, Big Dumb Face released its debut album, Duke Lion Fights the Terror!!, through Flip/Interscope and Flawless Records, a vanity label formed as a Geffen subsidiary by Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst, who is credited as an executive producer on the album.
Reviews were mixed. Allmusic writer Kieran McCarthy dismissed Duke Lion Fights the Terror as "a mediocre Ween rip-off"{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/duke-lion-fights-the-terror!!-mw0000000056|title=Duke Lion Fights the Terror!! - Big Dumb Face - Songs, Reviews, Credits |website=AllMusic|access-date=27 December 2017}} while Entertainment Weekly writer Robert Cherry wrote, "Dumb? Check. Big? Not likely."{{cite web|url=https://ew.com/article/2001/04/20/duke-lion-fights-terror/|title=Duke Lion Fights the Terror!|website=Ew.com|access-date=27 December 2017}} However, a positive review appeared in the Deseret News in which writer Scott Iwasaki, giving the album three stars, stated, "Duke Lion Fights the Terror!! captures Borland, as Big Dumb Face, at his most spontaneous".{{cite web|url=https://www.deseretnews.com/article/838159/Big-Dumb-Face-Kracker-go-solo.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107011513/https://www.deseretnews.com/article/838159/Big-Dumb-Face-Kracker-go-solo.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 7, 2017|title=Big Dumb Face, Kracker go solo|date=20 April 2001|website=Deseretnews.com|access-date=27 December 2017}} Bloody Good Horror writer D.M, in a mixed to favorable review, wrote, "The album’s concept is so scattershot that it’s unfathomable to call the album a cohesive whole."
After the release of the band's debut album, Wes Borland began developing a video game sequel to the album, which fell through. Big Dumb Face was sporadically active until 2004.
=''Where Is Duke Lion? He's Dead...'' (2017)=
Big Dumb Face was inactive for 13 years while Wes Borland was active with other projects, most notably Black Light Burns, rejoining Limp Bizkit, and becoming the touring guitarist for Queen Kwong.
In June 2017, Borland hinted on Instagram that he would revive Big Dumb Face.{{cite web|url=https://www.altpress.com/news/entry/limp_bizkit_wes_borland_big_dumb_face|title=Limp Bizkit's Wes Borland bringing back Big Dumb Face? - News - Alternative Press|website=Alternative Press|date=5 June 2017|access-date=27 December 2017}} On October 13, a new Big Dumb Face song, "He Rides The Skies", was released.{{cite web|title=WES BORLAND's BIG DUMB FACE Returns With New Album And Launches New Song|url=http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/wes-borlands-big-dumb-face-returns-with-new-album-and-launches-new-song/|date=13 October 2017|access-date=31 October 2017}}
The band's second album, Where Is Duke Lion? He's Dead... was released on October 31 through Borland's own label Edison Sound. The album consists of newly written songs alongside one song written in 2001 and another written in 2003. Borland described it as "the most metal record I’ve ever made".{{cite web|title=We spoke to Wes Borland about the new Big Dumb Face Album|url=http://www.kerrang.com/features/wes-borland-limp-bizkit-big-dumb-face-album/|date=13 October 2017|access-date=31 October 2017|publisher=Kerrang!}}
=''Christmas in the Cave of Dagoth'' (2021)=
In March 2018, Borland stated that he was working on a Christmas album, intended for release on Black Friday 2018.{{cite web|url=http://www.metalinjection.net/latest-news/wes-borland-is-putting-together-a-big-dumb-face-christmas-album-for-november |title=Wes Borland Is Putting Together A BIG DUMB FACE Christmas Album For November |website=Metalinjection.net |date=8 March 2018 |access-date=2020-03-29}} The album, Christmas in the Cave of Dagoth, did not get released until December 11, 2021.{{Cite web|url=https://loudwire.com/limp-bizkit-wes-borland-big-dumb-face-christmas-in-the-cave-of-dagoth-album-listen/|title = Limp Bizkit's Wes Borland Just Dropped a Christmas Album... Or Something|website = Loudwire| date=14 December 2021 }}
Style and influences
Wes Borland cited the music of Ween and Mr. Bungle as an influence on Big Dumb Face's music.{{cite book |last1=Devenish |first1=Colin |title=Limp Bizkit |year=2000 |publisher=St. Martin's |isbn=0-312-26349-X |pages=[https://archive.org/details/limpbizkit0000deve/page/159 159–166] |url=https://archive.org/details/limpbizkit0000deve/page/159 }} Wes Borland stated that the band's music is "really silly and idiotic and bizarre. [...] It's nothing but stupid [...] just all these retarded songs."
Metal Hammer referred to the band's music as "death country".{{cite web|url=http://teamrock.com/feature/2016-01-13/the-10-most-influential-songs-by-wes-borland|title=The 10 most influential songs, by Wes Borland|date=13 January 2016|website=Teamrock.com|access-date=27 December 2017}} NME describes the band's music as encompassing "death metal, electronic noise, steel pan samples and grindcore".{{cite web|url=https://www.nme.com/features/wes-borland-interview-solo-album-2152011-2152011|title=Wes Borland: time-travelling severed heads and his latest solo album|date=23 October 2017|website=Nme.com|access-date=27 December 2017}} Allmusic describes the band's music as ranging from "Dr. Demento-esque variety-show pop to alternative country à la Ween."{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/big-dumb-face-mn0000057248/biography|title=Big Dumb Face - Biography & History|website=AllMusic|access-date=27 December 2017}} Blabbermouth described the band's song "Whipping the Hodeus" as combining "grotesque southern country, [...] cinematic rural soundscape, disco funk, and finally, grind/deathcore."{{cite web|url=http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/wes-borlands-big-dumb-face-releases-jesus-retreats-video/|title=WES BORLAND's BIG DUMB FACE Releases 'Jesus Retreats' Video|date=31 October 2017|website=Blabbermouth.net|access-date=27 December 2017}}
Bloody Good Horror described the band's music as comedy metal, and New Noise magazine described the band's music as "joke metal", stating, "one minute it’s grindcore and the next it’s reggae. The genre changes are ripe with humor-inducing irony", citing, as an example, the song "The Blood Maiden", which "uses joyfully upbeat Jamaican steel drums to contrast the lyrics about summoning a demon."{{cite web|url=http://newnoisemagazine.com/review-big-dumb-face-duke-lion-hes-dead/|title=Album Review: Big Dumb Face - Where is Duke Lion? He's Dead...|date=2 November 2017|website=Newnoisemagazine.com|access-date=27 December 2017}} Deseret News writer Scott Iwasaki described the band's music as "riotous meanderings that tap into early grindcore grooves and Captain Beefheart psychedelia".
Band members
;Current members
- Wes Borland - vocals, guitar, bass, drums, programming (1998–2004, 2017–present)
- Scott Borland - keyboards, vocals, guitar, bass (1998–2004, 2017–present)
;Former members
- Kyle Weeks - vocals, sampling (1998–2004)
- Greg Isabelle - drums, vocals (1998–2004)
;Touring members
- Chris Gibbs - bass (2001)
Discography
- Duke Lion Fights the Terror!! (2001)
- Where Is Duke Lion? He's Dead... (2017)
- Christmas in the Cave of Dagoth (2021)