Meet the Band

We Are Awesome

Infidel Rising brings together five musicians from strong backgrounds who are passionate about the progressive power metal community. They are actively playing live shows and recording their new album.

Travis Wills

Vocals

Born Dec. 3, 1972

Orignially from Houston, TX Powerhouse vocalist Travis Wills jumpstarted Infidel Rising in 2012 and hasn't looked back. He actually started out as a drummer, but found his calling as a singer later on. Travis is well-known in the Dallas-Ft Worth metal community for his songwriting and mixing skills. He is highly collarborative with other bands and has done vocals for TYR and MILLENNIAL REIGN.

Travis started his own company Black Swan Productions & Studio, which caters to emerging artists needing studio mixing, and event production services.

Wayne Stokely

Drummer

Born Dec. 7, 1979

A veteran of the music scene, Wayne has recorded and toured with many bands over the years including TYR, THE VALENTINE FAILURES, PRETTY BOY FLOYD, PROPHETS OF ADDICTION, RIVETHEAD and MILLENNIAL REIGN.

Wayne was born in Dallas, TX, began playing drums at age 6 and has never looked back since. Versed in many styles, Wayne was always looking to form his progressive/power metal dream project which came to fruition when he joined forces with Travis in 2012. The rest as they say... is history.

He has been a part of over a dozen bands, but most notable TYR, PRETTY BOY FLOYD and MILLENNIAL REIGN.

Rafael J. Quintana Rivera

Guitar / Backup Vocals

Sept 8, 1986

Born in Santurce, Puerto Rico, Rafael has been an active musician playing from an early age. Most notably the Puerto Rican heavy/ power metal band Aura Azul. In early 2010 Rafael founded Parallel Dimension, which is still going strong.

Rafael moved to Texas in 2011, but continued with PD, releasing the Horizons EP in 2013. Raf was actively seeking new connections in the Dallas metal scene when fate intervened and he met Wayne.

Raf joined Infidel Rising in 2013 and helped them record their first album. In 2016 Rafel left Infidel Rising due to creative differences and the desire to focus more heavily on Parallel Dimension album.

2016-2019 Rafael reconvened with Wayne and filled in on a few shows. After seeing the crowd's reaction it was clear the time was right to return to the band.

Rafael has been one of the main songwriters in both Infidel Rising and Parallel Dimension and is currently working on new music for both bands.

Chris Herring

Bass Guitar / Backup Vocals

Born Jan. 20, 666 AD

Chris Herring has always been deep into metal music with a progressive edge. He started learning classical guitar at the age of 12 and became inspired to play rock in his teens. Chris Herring is a veteran of the DFW music scene, most notably playing bass for Tx-based DREAMSTATE (1989-2008), and both playing and writing music for experimental prog metal band POWER OF OMENS. (2000-2005)

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Chris met and befriended Wayne Stokely around 2010 when he played with MILLENNIAL REIGN for one year. They stayed in touch, hoping for an opportunity to write original music together. The timing was not right until 2017 when Infidel Rising approached Chris to fill in as bassist during their support performance for FATE'S WARNING @ Trees.

He had 7 days to learn the material and nailed it! Not long after, Chris joined the band permanently. "Chasing the Sun" was one of the first complete songs he collaborated on. The rest is history!

Aaron Walton

Keyboard / Violin

Born Jan. 31, 1992

Aaron comes from a classically trained music background and has a Master's Degree in Church Music. Aaron joined the band in 2014 as keyboardist and

is a skilled player in piano, organ and violin and writes his own music.

He left the band in 2016 due to schedule conflicts and went on to finish his degree and play organ for churches. Once things settled down he rejoined the band in 2019. Because of his extensive education, the band dubbed him The Doctor.

Our Story

The Power of Goodbye

INFIDEL RISING was started in 2012. It was originally a passion project of vocalist and composer Travis Wills. who was inspired to infuse Dallas, TX's metal scene with a more progressive sound in the vein of FATE'S WARNING.

He coerced drummer Wayne Stokely (ex-MILLENNIAL REIGN, ex-PRETTY BOY FLOYD) in 2012 to help him make it happen. Travis and Wayne spent the next two years writing new songs and creating demos. They recruited more players and built a solid lineup to start actively playing live in venues in Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, and Austin.

Infidel Rising quickly gained notice in Dallas' indie metal community for their energetic stage presence, unique fusion of symphonic and progressive metal, and emotionally-driven lyrics. Infidel Rising is known for experimenting with orchestration and ethnic sounds. They have been main support for Epica, Sonata Arctica, Gloryhammer, Stryper, Fate's Warning, Primal Fear and Luca Turilli's Rhapsody.

In 2015 INFIDEL RISING released its first album The Torn Wings of Illusion independently. In 2016 The Torn Wings of Illusion was re-released by Alone Records as a limited edition DigiPak and made available in the UK. This resulted in positive acclaim and a growing European fanbase. IR was also featured in Metal Invader, a music magazine based in Greece, and has been played on greek Metal Devastation Radio.

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The original lineup for Infidel Rising was Travis Wills on vocals, Wayne Stokely on drums, Rafael J Quintana Rivera (PARALLEL DIMENSIONS) on guitar, followed by keyboardist Aaron “The Doctor” Walton and bassist Daniel Almagro (MILLENNIAL REIGN).

In 2016-2017, schedule conflicts, creative clashes and health problems in the band caused INFIDEL RISING to go on hiatus and seek changes in the bass, guitar and keyboard lineup.

It was important for Travis and Wayne to find musicians who could be creative partners, not just players. Fortunately the timing was right in late 2017 with the disbanding of POWER OF OMENS, another Texas-based power metal band. Ex-POWER OF OMENS bassist Chris Herring was recruited in 2017. Eclectic musicians David Gallegos and Rick Read filled in live shows on guitar and keyboard.

Since parting ways, original guitarist Rafael had gone on to fuel his other band Parallel Dimensions. Aaron "The Doctor" Walton finished college and was pursuing his career as a professional organ player and composer. Around summer 2019 the timing was right for them to return to the Infidel Rising. Rafael J Quintana Rivera returned as guitarist and Aaron "The Doctor" Walton was excited to jump back on keyboard.

The newly reformed band dove deep into writing and recording their 2nd studio album.

INFIDEL RISING is actively performing in local Dallas-Fort Worth venues and festivals while finishing their 2nd album to be released by Pure Steel Records.

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