When some former members of the Ohio band Spawn formed 13 Faces in 2002, their goal was “to be the most brutal band in the area – to write the most violent hardcore imaginable, but to write songs that have hooks.” They have been called “Cleveland’s answer to Hatebreed”.

The band’s debut album These Bloody Hands was released in April of 2003 on the Columbus-based indie label Bandaloop Records to a packed house at Cleveland’s Peabody’s DownUnder. It earned 13 Faces a nomination for Best Punk/Hardcore Act at the Cleveland Music Awards in 2004. The band became a local headliner at the Cleveland Metal Festival in the footsteps of Taproot and Mushroomhead before them.

A sophomore album was planned for release by the end of 2004 with a new rhythm section in the band, but it never materialized.