40 Below Summer is an American nu metal band that came together after drummer and Peruvian native Carlos Aguilar met singer Max Illidge in a band named Alien, with Joey D'Amico meeting Illidge in late 1997 and later joining the duo on guitar . Pete Savad joined soon after playing bass at first, then moving to guitar with the addition of Jordan Plingos on bass, and the self-released Side Show Freaks (1999) was recorded with these lineups at their rehearsal location in the Music Building, NYC . Savad left the band as they got close to signing their first record deal, and after moving Plingos to guitar, the band added Steve Ferreira who was soon replaced by Puerto Rican-born Hector Graziani on bass, with the EP Rain following in 2000 . Rooted in New Jersey and New York, the young band built a reputation on fusing aggressive metal with melodic elements and rap-infused vocals .
The band's breakthrough came when their demo recording reached No Name Management, a business handling acts like Slipknot and Fear Factory, which invited the New Jersey band to sign , eventually leading to a deal with London/Sire Records. In March 2001, 40 Below Summer travelled to Los Angeles to record their major label debut Invitation to the Dance with famed heavy metal producer GGGarth, known for his work with Rage Against the Machine, Mudvayne, and Kittie . Though Invitation to the Dance hit record stores in 2001, their label folded soon after its release , a setback that could have ended many young bands. Instead, the band stayed on the road as much as possible and, following an impressive New York gig with E-Town Concrete, signed a new deal with Razor & Tie in summer 2003, with The Mourning After following that fall . That sophomore record produced the singles "Self-Medicate" and "Taxi Cab Confession," with the video for the former receiving a fair amount of airplay on MTV2's Headbanger's Ball , cementing the band as a fixture of the early 2000s nu metal scene.
The band's career arc included high-profile touring alongside some of the genre's biggest names. Early on they performed on the Jägermeister Music Tour with Drowning Pool, Coal Chamber, and Ill Niño, and later with Slipknot, Fear Factory, and Chimaira on select dates . Lineup changes continued to shape the band, as Plingos exited the band a year after The Mourning After's release and was replaced by ex-Motograter guitarist Ty Fury . The band negotiated a release from their Razor & Tie contract in 2004 , and the following year the group played what was billed as a farewell show, documented on a release featuring a bonus DVD of footage from the band's "last" performance at the Starland Ballroom in September 2005 . Formed in 1998, the band broke up seven years later in 2005, before two small reunions in 2006 and 2010 , with fans and members alike periodically speculating about a full comeback in the years that followed.
The band ultimately proved its staying power. They permanently reformed in 2011, and their latest album, Untethered, was released in 2025 , showing a band still actively creating decades after its scrappy New Jersey beginnings. Along the way they released the 2013 record Fire at Zero Gravity, and more recently worked on new material, with reports in mid-2024 that New Jersey nu metal veterans 40 Below Summer were putting the finishing touches on their first studio album in nearly a decade, with vocalist Max Illidge finishing tracking his parts . Their enduring legacy rests on that early 2000s run of records, a period defined by hard luck with labels but hard-earned respect from touring alongside genre giants like Slipknot and Fear Factory, and a loyal fanbase that has followed the band through multiple breakups and reunions.
It was during that formative Mourning After era that 40 Below Summer crossed paths with Wayne Dennon's lens. Wayne photographed the band on four separate occasions between 2003 and 2004, capturing the group across three different cities in two states as they toured behind their Razor & Tie breakthrough. Those nights resulted in 169 photographs now held in this archive, images that have since been viewed by visitors more than 134,000 times, a testament to the lasting connection between this hard-touring New Jersey band and the fans who still seek out these moments of raw, sweat-soaked nu metal history.
