Ten Masked Men is a British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 death metal

Death metal

Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal. It typically employs heavily distorted guitars, tremolo picking, deep growling vocals, blast beat drumming, minor keys or atonality, and complex song structures with multiple tempo changes....

 cover band

Cover band

A cover band , is a band that plays mostly or exclusively cover songs. New or unknown bands often find the cover band format marketable for smaller gigs, and these bands may be known as a wedding band, party band and function band. A band whose covers consist mainly of songs that were chart hits is...

 who specialize in covering pop

Pop music

Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...

 songs. The band was formed in 1996 when Mark ("The Mauler") and Dave ("The Chef") Hutson did a cover of Oasis

Oasis (band)

Oasis were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1991. Originally known as The Rain, the group was formed by Liam Gallagher , Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs , Paul "Guigsy" McGuigan and Tony McCarroll , who were soon joined by Liam's older brother Noel Gallagher...

' "Wonderwall

Wonderwall (song)

"Wonderwall" is a song by English rock band Oasis, written by the band's guitarist and main songwriter Noel Gallagher. The song was produced by Owen Morris and Gallagher for their second album, Morning Glory?...

" to annoy a friend. The song was much the same as the original, except it was played with distorted guitars and death metal grunts. It was recorded on a 4-track

4-track

4-track or 4-track tape may refer to:* The 4-track cartridge as an analogue music storage format popular from the late 1950s* A 4-track tape used in professional recording studios for multitrack recording...

 in a bedroom and was soon followed by "Stayin' Alive

Stayin' Alive

"Stayin' Alive" is a song by the pop group Bee Gees from the Saturday Night Fever motion picture soundtrack. The song was written by the Bee Gees and produced by the Bee Gees, Albhy Galuten and Karl Richardson. It was released on 13 December 1977, as the second single from the Saturday Night Fever...

", "Into the Groove

Into the Groove

"Into the Groove" is a song by American singer-songwriter Madonna from the 1985 film Desperately Seeking Susan. It was featured on the 1985 re-issue of her second studio album, Like a Virgin, and released on July 23, 1985 by Sire Records as the album's fourth single outside North America...

" and "Beat It

Beat It

"Beat It" is a song written and performed by American recording artist Michael Jackson, and produced by Quincy Jones . It is the third single from the singer's sixth solo album, Thriller . Eddie Van Halen was hired to add the song's distinctive overdriven guitar solo, but was prevented by his...

". These simple recordings were played to friends and in some clubs, and became increasingly popular. There was still no band name at that time but the moniker Ten Masked Men was adopted after hearing a news broadcast about masked terrorists. In addition the band adopted wearing masks as it was felt that a masked appearance would fit in well with the idea of playing covers.

In 1999 the first CD, Ten Masked Men

Ten Masked Men (album)

Ten Masked Men was the debut album of British death metal cover band Ten Masked Men, released in 1999.-Track listing:# "Beat It" # "Gold" # "Deeper Underground" # "The Living Daylights"...

, was recorded and was given out free in their local club. It was evident that the music was becoming notorious and so the CD started circulating in top London clubs. A five-track EP was recorded later that year and Star Wars

Star Wars

Star Wars is an American epic space opera film series created by George Lucas. The first film in the series was originally released on May 25, 1977, under the title Star Wars, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, followed by two sequels, released at three-year...

 references came into play with the name The Ten Masked Men Strike Back

The Ten Masked Men Strike Back EP

The Ten Masked Men Strike Back is the second album by British death metal cover band Ten Masked Men, released in 1999. The title is a reference to Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back.-Track listing:# "Papa Don't Preach" - 3:02...

, which was swiftly followed up with the second full-length CD Return of the Ten Masked Men

Return of the Ten Masked Men

Return of Ten Masked Men is an album by British death metal cover band Ten Masked Men, released in 2000. The album's title is a reference to Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi.- Tracklist :#"Push It" #"Disco Inferno"...

in 2000.

It was three years until the next CD was recorded, entitled The PhanTen Masked Menace.
A new full-length album came out in early 2008, entitled Attack Of The Ten Masked Men

Attack Of The Ten Masked Men

Attack Of The Ten Masked Men is the latest album from British death metal cover band Ten Masked Men, released in 2008. The title is a parody of Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones.-Track listing:# "Easy Lover"...

.

The band appeared on Channel 4 television in the UK on the late night show Born Sloppy, where special guest Jack Osborne

Jack Osborne

Jack William Osborne is a fictional character from the long-running Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Jimmy McKenna. He first appeared on 18 November 1996 and is the second longest serving character although Cindy Longford and Mandy Richardson both appeared before him both have taken...

 had to guess the name of the tune that Ten Masked Men had just played. Due to legal issues the band were only allowed to play 30 seconds of each song, which were "Livin' La Vida Loca

Livin' la Vida Loca

"Livin' la Vida Loca" is a song by Puerto Rican singer Ricky Martin. It was released on March 23, 1999 from Martin's self-titled debut English album. The song was composed by Desmond Child and Draco Rosa and topped the charts during 1999...

", "...Baby One More Time" and "Push It

Push It

Push It may refer to:* "Push It", 1987 song by Salt-N-Pepa.* "Pushit", 1996 song by Tool.* "Push It", 1998 song by Garbage.* "Push It", 1999 song by Static-X.* "Push It", 2006 song by Rick Ross....

". The band also played live on the XFM

Xfm

Xfm is a brand of two commercial radio stations focused on alternative music, primarily indie pop, and owned by Global Radio.-History:Xfm was created in London in 1992 by Sammy Jacob, who later co-founded NME Radio in 2008. Xfm subsequently expanded to a network of four stations; there are...

 breakfast show after winning a competition to appear on the B-side of UK Indie band Ash

Ash (band)

Ash are an alternative rock band that formed in Downpatrick, Northern Ireland in 1992. The band has sold 8 million albums worldwide.-Band beginning, Trailer and 1977 :...

's rare "I’m On Drugs" vinyl.

Ten Masked Men have covered songs ranging from Frank Sinatra

Frank Sinatra

Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...

, to 1980s hits like Peter Gabriel

Peter Gabriel

Peter Brian Gabriel is an English singer, musician, and songwriter who rose to fame as the lead vocalist and flautist of the progressive rock group Genesis. After leaving Genesis, Gabriel went on to a successful solo career...

's "Sledgehammer", and modern hits such as "Seven Days" by Craig David

Craig David

Craig Ashley David is an English singer and songwriter. He has released five studio albums: Born to Do It, Slicker Than Your Average, The Story Goes..., Trust Me, Signed Sealed Delivered and a Greatest Hits album...

 and "Something Kinda Ooooh" by Girls Aloud

Girls Aloud

Girls Aloud are a British and Irish pop girl group based in London. They were created through the ITV1 talent show Popstars The Rivals in 2002. The group consists of Cheryl Cole , Nadine Coyle, Sarah Harding, Nicola Roberts and Kimberley Walsh. They are signed to Fascination Records, a Polydor...

. Each album also features a song from the soundtrack to one of the James Bond

James Bond

James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...

 movies.

Members

• Mark "The Mauler" Hutson
• Dave "The Chef" Hutson
• Apocalypse Al
• Battle Damage Davies
• Pablo "The Snoot"
• Ross Well "The Incident"
• Billy Bub "The Janitor"
• Gary "The Gimp" Hearns
• Neil "Numbnut" Matthews
• Martin "Meathead" Matthews

Discography

Date of Release	Title	Label
1999	Ten Masked Men Ten Masked Men (album) Ten Masked Men was the debut album of British death metal cover band Ten Masked Men, released in 1999.-Track listing:# "Beat It" # "Gold" # "Deeper Underground" # "The Living Daylights"...
	The Ten Masked Men Strike Back EP The Ten Masked Men Strike Back EP The Ten Masked Men Strike Back is the second album by British death metal cover band Ten Masked Men, released in 1999. The title is a reference to Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back.-Track listing:# "Papa Don't Preach" - 3:02...
2000	Return of the Ten Masked Men Return of the Ten Masked Men Return of Ten Masked Men is an album by British death metal cover band Ten Masked Men, released in 2000. The album's title is a reference to Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi.- Tracklist :#"Push It" #"Disco Inferno"...
2003	The PhanTen Masked Menace
2008	Attack of the Ten Masked Men Attack Of The Ten Masked Men Attack Of The Ten Masked Men is the latest album from British death metal cover band Ten Masked Men, released in 2008. The title is a parody of Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones.-Track listing:# "Easy Lover"...