A kind of power synth pop trio, The Black Queen began in casual fashion and developed into a full-blown band treated by its members as much more than an extracurricular project. In 2011, Greg Puciato, Dillinger Escape Plan’s vocalist, and Steven Alexander, a seasoned tech (DEP, Nine Inch Nails, Ke$ha), began working on material with one another that deviated significantly from the former’s main band.

Later in the year, Joshua Eustis (NIN, Puscifer) was added to the fold, after Puciato crossed paths with the multi-instrumentalist, producer, and songwriter at a Puscifer gig. Puciato’s interests had long involved electronic music — his primary band had covered songs by Massive Attack, Depeche Mode, and even Aphex Twin — and he admired Eustis’ output with Telefon Tel Aviv. The two also shared a love for R&B, a genre detectable throughout Eustis’ recorded history.

Within a couple years, Puciato, Alexander, and Eustis were deeply involved in The Black Queen, living with one another in Los Angeles, and supporting each other through bleak personal matters.

In 2015, they debuted The Black Queen with the ballad “The End Where We Start” and quickly followed it with the relatively uptempo “Ice to Never,” a pair of singles that were closer in construction to Telefon Tel Aviv’s Immolate Yourself than anything by Dillinger Escape Plan. Additionally, these songs featured some of Puciato’s most melodic and restrained vocal performances without sacrificing any feeling. Fever Daydream, their debut album, was released in January 2016.