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Karl Buechner (born December 23, 1970) is an American musician from Syracuse, New York, best known as the frontman for the hardcore punk band Earth Crisis. He is also the singer of Freya, Path of Resistance, Vehement Serenade, Apocalypse Tribe and 1000 Drops of Venom.
In the mid- to late 1990s, Buechner attained a great popularity within the hardcore punk as the frontman of Earth Crisis due to their outspoken advocacy for the straight edge and vegan lifestyles. He has been featured and interviewed by CNN, CBS, The New York Times and Fox News, and addressed the Congress about teens and substance abuse.
Most of Buechner's family is vegetarian. He became a pescetarian at the age of sixteen after his sister handed him a PETA magazine with photographs of caged animals in a slaughterhouse. At eighteen, he transitioned into vegetarianism and shortly afterwards veganism, getting into animal rights issues through conversations with his grandmother. The first vocalist of Earth Crisis, DJ Rose, states that he and Buechner traveled to Albany where they met Dave Stein and Steve Reddy, who also taught them about animal rights before they established the group in 1989. Subsequently, Buechner became a volunteer at the Syracuse Wildlife Rehabilitation Center where he witnessed animals that were doused with gasoline and animal abuse, leaving "quite an impression on" him and which he attributes to the anger expressed in their early records.
Buechner graduated from Henninger High School in 1989. He attended college to become a history teacher with the intention of supporting a career in music or sports, but left it after two years when Earth Crisis was signed by Victory Records.
In early 2001, he began singing for Freya (formatively titled Nemesis and End Begins after EC songs) with two members of Earth Crisis plus two other members. They were named for the Freya and their lyrics took inspiration from history, mythology and more personal issues, without addressing veganism or straight edge directly because not all members follow the lifestyles. They have released five studio albums so far. Their 2010 album, 'All Hail the End', featured cover art by Brendon Flynn, and guest vocals on "Condemned" by J.Costa of Thy Will Be Done.
In late 2005, Buechner joined Canadian band A Perfect Murder for a tour, replacing vocalist Kevin Randel.
Since 2008, he is the frontman of the supergroup Vehement Serenade along with Mike Couls (Cro-Mags, Skarhead, Cold as Life), Jamin Hunt (Sworn Enemy), Eddie Ortiz (Subzero) and Pauly Antignani (Sworn Enemy). In 2013, they released their debut album The Things That Tear You Apart.
In 2016, he formed the metalcore band 1000 Drops of Venom. Since 2017, he is also the frontman of Apocalypse Tribe and they released a split album with Rob Aston's Death March on August 25.
| 2004 | "No Truce" | A Perfect Murder | Unbroken | |
| 2004 | "Still Here" | Agnostic Front | Another Voice | |
| 2007 | "Addiction" | Damnation A.D. | In This Life or the Next | |
| 2010 | "Pedestals" | Such Gold | Pedestals | |
| 2011 | "The Only Life I Know" | Lionheart | Built on Struggle | |
| 2019 | "Believer of the Truth" | Nueva Ética | La Conquista |
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