V.O.W. began with Steve Erxleben, Joseph Pain and Rob Wiethop in 1997. While Steve and Rob were in the St. Louis band Balance Of Power they decided to split from that endeavor due to creative differences and the lack of material in order to book shows. After months of writing new material with Joe Kollar aka "Joseph Pain" they teamed up with the Balance Of Power bassist Jay Maltzman and began booking shows in St. Louis clubs that same year. In 1998 the band decided to record and release their first E.P. titled Forgotten.

 

In 2001 V.O.W. added a 5th member, Tim J. Norris also once a member of Balance Of Power to try to rekindle the sound of a powerful song titled "Another Day" which aired in St. Louis on local radio shows. After attempts to redesign the V.O.W. sound the band split up in late 2001 after Steve Erxleben decided to call it quits and explore new territory. Joseph, Rob, and Jay continued with other projects without the use of the band name V.O.W. Around 2002 Steve and Rob decided to spawn V.O.W. up again without Joseph Pain or Jay Maltzman, and with this go around they decided to have Rob Wiethop on vocals and started auditioning a new drummer and a bassist. This rendition of V.O.W. never transpired and eventually the original band was put back together in 2004 and they began recording all the material they had ever wrote but never completed it.

 

Throughout 2005-2008 there have been many attempts to resurrect V.O.W. in many different forms.

 

V.O.W. was reformed again in 2009 with all of the original members and they are stronger then ever.... Their focus is to record a debut album anticipated for late 2011 or early 2012 release while booking shows and writing new material.

 

 

 

Steve Erxleben - Guitar

Rob Wiethop - Drums, Vocals

Joseph Pain - Vocals

Jay Maltzman - Bass