Christian Death is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles County, California, in 1979 by Rozz Williams. With major line-up changes over the years, Christian Death has retained "a relentlessly confrontational stand against organized religion and conventional morality".[1]
Williams was eventually joined by guitarist Rikk Agnew of the band Adolescents, James McGearty on bass guitar and George Belanger on drums. This line-up was responsible for producing the band's best known work, their 1982 debut studio album Only Theatre of Pain, which was highly influential in the development of the style of music known as death rock, as well as on the American gothic scene which also produced bands such as Kommunity FK and 45 Grave.[1]
Following the release of Only Theatre of Pain, Christian Death's line-up fell apart, and by the time of the band's second studio album, Catastrophe Ballet (1984), Rozz had been joined by Valor Kand of tour mates Pompeii 99 on vocals and guitar. Following the release of the band's third studio album, Ashes, in 1985, Williams left the band and Kand became frontperson, with no original members of the band remaining. This resulted in a divide in the band's fanbase and created controversy that has continued to this day.[1]
History
Formation and Only Theatre of Pain (1979–1982)
Guitarist John "Jay" Albert, vocalist Rozz Williams, bassist James McGearty and drummer George Belanger formed Christian Death in October 1979.[2][3] At this time, the band was a punk rock band musically indebted to the Germs. As the band progressed their music slowed and began to incorporate religious symbolism.[4] Their first live performance was an impromptu set at the Hong Kong Cafe in Los Angeles supporting Castration Squad, replacing Killer Pussy after they were booed off stage.[5]
After a physical altercation involving Belanger took place, he was left unable to play drums for their upcoming show on February 14, 1981. Williams asked Steve Darrow to fill in, however Belanger decided moments before their set to still try and play, leading to Belanger performing the first few songs then Darrow finishing the set. This incident angered Albert, who left the band permanently mid-set.[6] Subsequently, Christian Death was halted, with Albert and Williams forming noise band Daucus Karota with drummer Mary Torcivia.[7] Williams, McGearty and Belanger regrouped a few months later, now accompanied by guitarist Rikk Agnew, who had just left the Adolescents.[8] With this lineup, they made their first vinyl appearance with the song "Dogs" on the 1981 L.A. scene compilation album Hell Comes to Your House. The following year, they signed with Frontier Records and released their debut studio album, Only Theatre of Pain, on March 24.[1]
The following year Belanger left the band after becoming disheartened by the growing darkness of the band's image and increasing drug abuse.[9] Belanger's role was filled by Rod "China" Figueroa, whose first performance with the band was a record signing on April 10, 1982.[10] Later that year, while the band were getting ready for a domestic tour, Agnew, distressed by his own drug use and troubles in his relationship, began to experience panicked episodes where he would imagine Williams and his boyfriend Ron Athey being subject to homophobic attacks in Southern states and the band being arrested for drug possession. This culminated in him leaving the band as they were preparing to go on stage.[11] The band then hired Mikaleno Amundson to play guitar, who moved in with Figueroa. However, when Amundson and Figueroas' girlfriends fell out with each other, Amundson was forced to move out and leave the band after "about three to five shows." Because of this, Eva O briefly became the band's guitarist.[12] On October 30, 1982, this lineup opened for Angelic Upstarts at SIR Studios alongside Pompeii 99.[13] Following this, Michael Montano and Johnnie Sage both began playing guitar in the band, and they played again with Pompeii 99.[14] By the end of the year, McGearty had left the band. With Williams as the only founding member remaining, Christian Death disbanded.[15]
Reformation, Catastrophe Ballet and Ashes (1983–1985)
Around this point, Pompeii 99 too were going through a number of lineup changes. Subsequently, six months after Christian Death's disbandment, Williams joined Pompeii 99, which at that time consisted of only guitarist and vocalist Valor Kand and drummer David "Glass" Parkinson. Under Williams' suggestion, the band's session keyboard player and Kand's partner Gitane DeMone officially joined the band.[16] After Williams was approached by Yann Farcy of French record label L'Invitation au Suicide to record another Christian Death album and tour Europe, the band hired bassist Constance Smith (later Redgrave) and changed their name to Christian Death.[17] This culminated in Christian Death's second studio album Catastrophe Ballet (1984). Recorded at Rockfield Studios in Monmouth, Wales, much of this album's instrumentals were written by Kand, with Williams contributing entirely to lyrics and partially to melody writing.[18] It was a departure from the band's angry punk-influenced style and was dedicated to surrealistAndré Breton.[19] While in France, Smith departed from the group due to a mental health struggle, being replaced by Dave Roberts of Sex Gang Children.[20] In autumn 1984, the band returned to America and recorded Ashes, which was released the following year.[1]
In mid-1985, Williams departed from the group, frustrated by Kand's increasing control of the band and perceived disregard for how touring affected the members' ventures outside of music. He originally planned to do this under the pretext that DeMone would also be leaving, however she soon decided not to, as that would also mean separating Kand from their child together.[21] Following Williams' departure, the remaining members made an effort to change the band's name to Sin and Sacrifice, transitioning to that name through booking their next tour as the Sin and Sacrifice of Christian Death. However, the promoters did not adhere to this change, instead having them booked as simply Christian Death. This issue then became exacerbated once they were offered a record deal by Supporti Fonografici which they could only accept if they continued on as Christian Death.[22] Augmented by bassist Johann Schumann and guitarist and keyboardist Barry Galvin, the band recorded an EP for Supporti Fonografici titled The Wind Kissed Pictures, credited to "For Sin and Sacrifice Must We Die a Christian Death". The EP was later reissued in Germany and the U.S., credited to Christian Death.[1]
Their first post-Williams studio album was 1986's Atrocities, a concept album about the aftereffects of World War II on the European psyche, which was followed by 1987's The Scriptures, recorded by a revamped line-up of Kand, DeMone, Glass, guitarist James Beam and bassist Kota. Longtime drummer Glass left the group following the release of The Scriptures and returned to California, where he eventually worked with several Williams side projects.[1]
The band had their biggest successes on the UK Independent Chart with the 1987–89 singles "Sick of Love", "Church of No Return" and "Zero Sex" and the 1988 studio album Sex and Drugs and Jesus Christ. Following the "Zero Sex" single, DeMone opted to leave the band.
Valor recorded the two-part All the Love All the Hate concept album (1989) in collaboration with Nick the Bastard, which spawned the double A-side single "We Fall Like Love"/"I Hate You".
During the late 1980s, while also recording as Shadow Project, Williams resurrected his own version of Christian Death, with his wife Eva O contributing guitar as well as vocals. Billing themselves as the original Christian Death, they were rejoined by first-album guitarist Agnew for a 1989 tour of Canada. The band was signed to Cleopatra Records, and released The Iron Mask studio album and Skeleton Kiss EP in 1992. Williams' reclamation of the Christian Death name sparked a fierce battle with Kand. However, Kand already had the rights to the name due to Williams' departure from the band and subsequent neglect of the moniker.[23] Williams consequently billed his version of the band as "Christian Death featuring Rozz Williams". After this, Williams' version released The Path of Sorrows studio album in 1993 and The Rage of Angels in 1994. A 1993 show featuring Only Theatre of Pain-era members Williams, Agnew and Belanger (along with bassist Casey Chaos) performing live at Los Angeles' Patriot Hall was recorded and later released in 2001 as a DVD by Cleopatra.[24] Williams pursued other projects[1] before committing suicide on April 1, 1998.
Meanwhile, Kand's Christian Death continued performing and recording, issuing the studio album Insanus, Ultio, Proditio, Misercordiaque (1990), on which Kand conducted the English Abbey Choir and the Commonwealth Chamber Orchestra.[25] The band added bassist Maitri in 1991. Her first concert with Christian Death took place at the Contemporary Festival, held at the Anfitheatro delle Cascine in Florence, Italy on 12 July 1991. The band released the studio album Sexy Death God in 1994, the double-live set Amen in 1995, the Nostradamus-themed Prophecies in 1996, and Pornographic Messiah in 1998.
In 2000, Christian Death added drummer Will Sarginson and toured Europe with Britain's Cradle of Filth in support of the Born Again Anti Christian studio album.
Kand and Maitri also formed another band, black metal and death rock act Lover of Sin, releasing the studio album Christian Death Presents Lover of Sin in 2002.
For Christian Death's 2003 tour, they were augmented by Cradle of Filth guitarist Gian Pyres.[26]
Christian Death released American Inquisition in 2007, featuring new drummer Nate Hassan.[1]
In 2014, the band embarked on the 30th Anniversary Catastrophe Ballet tour, beginning in Europe and continuing through the year's end in North, South and Central America.
In January 2015, Christian Death announced the planned release of the PledgeMusic funded studio album, The Root of All Evilution.[27] The album was digitally released on August 14, 2015, by Knife Fight Media, and on vinyl on October 16, 2015, by Season of Mist.[28][29] A CD release was announced for December 18, 2015, on The End Records.[29]
The band's next studio album, titled Evil Becomes Rule, was released in May 2022.[30][31]
John Albert, who had co-founded Christian Death with Williams, died on May 3, 2023.[32]
Musical style and content
Christian Death's style is considered gothic rock,[1][33][34]death rock[35][36][37] and art punk.[1] According to Steve Huey of AllMusic, Christian Death's music "relied on slow, doomy, effects-laden guitar riffs and ambient horror-soundtrack synths".[1] According to Huey, Christian Death's lyrics involve shock value and are often about topics like "blasphemy, morbidity, drug use, and sexual perversity".[1]Necrophilia also is a topic that has been used in Christian Death's lyrics.[35] Liz Ohanesian of LA Weekly wrote that Christian Death experiments "with dirgey guitars, tribal drums and overtly spooky imagery".[36] According to author Liisa Ladouceur, along with "spooky guitars and keyboards", elements of genres such as post-punk and spoken word also have been used in Christian Death's music.[35]
Atrocities is the fourth studio album by American rock band Christian Death, released in 1986 through record label Normal.
Deathrock is a rock music subgenre incorporating horror elements and gothic theatrics. It emerged from punk rock on the West Coast of the United States in the early 1980s and overlaps with the gothic rock and horror punk genres. Notable deathrock acts include Christian Death, Kommunity FK, 45 Grave, and Super Heroines.
The Adolescents are an American punk rock band formed in Fullerton, California in 1979. Part of the hardcore punk movement in southern California in the early 1980s, they were one of the main punk acts to emerge from Orange County, along with their peers in Agent Orange and Social Distortion. Founding bassist Steve Soto was the sole constant member of the band since its inception until his 2018 death, with singer Tony Reflex being in the group for all but one album.
45 Grave is an American rock band from Los Angeles formed in 1979. The original group broke up in 1985, but vocalist Dinah Cancer subsequently revived the band.
Rozz Williams was an American singer and songwriter known for his work with the bands Christian Death, Shadow Project, and the industrial project Premature Ejaculation. Christian Death is cited by some as a pioneer of the American gothic rock scene as well as deathrock, and is considered to be one of the most influential figures of the scene. However, Williams disliked the "goth" label and actively worked to shed it during the 1980s and 1990s by focusing on punk rock, hard rock, cabaret, and spoken word music. Williams was also involved with his groups Daucus Karota, Heltir, EXP, Bloodflag, and his own version of Christian Death, along with recording a handful of solo albums. In addition to music, Williams was also an avid painter, poet, and collage artist.
Eva Ortiz, better known as Eva O, is a music artist most notable for her previous works in Christian Death and a band she formed with her then-husband Rozz Williams called Shadow Project. Regarded as a veteran and "one of the most striking figures of the American Gothic scene," Eva O has had a significant influence on the emerging death rock movement, which garnered her the "Queen of Darkness" title from the press and audience. She is known for her heavy guitar playing style and dramatic, authoritative vocals.
The Super Heroines were an American deathrock trio formed in Los Angeles during the early 1980s. However, unlike other early deathrock bands such as Christian Death and 45 Grave, Super Heroines did not carry on a traditional goth sound, instead a more punk style metal inspired by the Runaways.
Shadow Project was a rock band formed in 1987 featuring former members of Los Angeles deathrock groups Christian Death and Super Heroines. After recording two LPs the group experienced a three-year hiatus, reconvening for a third and final album. Shadow Project definitively folded after vocalist Rozz Williams committed suicide on April 1, 1998. The band briefly returned in 2019 under the moniker "Shadow Project 1334" for 13 shows only, vowing to never perform again together after that.
Karim George Chmielinski, known professionally as Casey Chaos, is an American musician, best known as the lead singer of Amen. His music has encompassed a number of styles, including hardcore punk, death rock and nu metal.
Pompeii 99 was an American post-punk band formed in Los Angeles in 1981. They released one single and one album before the core members of the band joined Rozz Williams for a new version of Christian Death in 1983, and eventually continued with the Christian Death name after all the original members had left the group. Aside from Kand, the main songwriter during this period was Cram Netod, who later went on to perform with Double Naught Spy Car.
Only Theatre of Pain is the debut studio album by the American rock band Christian Death, released on March 24, 1982, by the Frontier record label.
Catastrophe Ballet is the second studio album by American rock band Christian Death. It was released in 1984, through record label Contempo.
Richard Francis "Rikk" Agnew Jr. is an American musician with a career spanning more than 40 years. A multi-instrumentalist, he has previously been a member of some of the most influential bands of the Orange County hardcore punk genre, as well as the influential deathrock band Christian Death. During his years with the Adolescents, Agnew became known as one of the best guitarists in the Southern California hardcore punk scene.
Valor Kand is a singer, guitarist and songwriter best known for his involvement with Christian Death, an American death rock and gothic rock band.
Gitane DeMone is an American singer, musician and visual artist. Her career spans more than 30 years. She came to prominence in the mid-1980s as the keyboardist and backing vocalist of the influential death rock band Christian Death. In addition to her work with Christian Death, Demone was previously a member of Pompeii 99, worked with Dreadful Shadows, and has had a solo career which has included three studio albums: Am I Wrong?, Stars of Trash and The Reflecting Shadow.
Sex and Drugs and Jesus Christ is the sixth album by American deathrock band Christian Death. It was released on 18 October 1988.
Burning Image are an American deathrock band formed in Bakersfield, California in 1982. Burning Image first released a 7" single with the songs "The Final Conflict" and "Burning Image, Burning" in the summer of 1984. The compilation 1983–1987 in 2004 and album Fantasma (2009) were both released on Alternative Tentacles, record label owned by former Dead Kennedys singer, Jello Biafra, with album Oleander (2011) being self-published. Burning Image celebrates 39 years as a band, in 2021, with a new album.
The Wind Kissed Pictures is an EP by American deathrock band Christian Death, and is the debut release featuring Valor Kand on vocals. It was released in 1985 through Nostradamus Records and has spawned one single, "Believers of the Unpure". On the album, the band's title is made longer, calling themselves For Sin and Sacrifice Must We Die a Christian Death. Allmusic gave the album two stars out of five. However, they claimed it to be "some of the finest post-Rozz Williams work Christian Death would produce."
Paris Anthony Sadonis is a Los Angeles-based keyboardist, painter, performance artist and musician.
Deathwish is an EP by American deathrock band Christian Death. It consists of demos recorded by the band in 1981, prior to the release of Christian Death's debut album Only Theatre of Pain, but was not released until 1984 by French record label l'Invitation au Suicide.
↑ Bean, Mikey (Nov 3, 2019). Phantoms: The Rise of Deathrock from the LA Punk Scene. p.119. George Belanger: James met Rozz hanging out outside a show. I believe it was at the Starwood... we agreed to meet at Rozz's house the following week; I met Jay there... we spoke about music and the fact that James and I had been jamming with each other... Rozz asked James and I what I thought about the name Christian Death 'sure... why not...' John Albert: I remember not liking 'Christian Death' but there was this other hanger-on who said 'no, that's a great name' 'ok, whatever...' it didn't strike me one way or the other but he wanted to go with that name.
↑ Bean, Mikey (Nov 3, 2019). Phantoms: The Rise of Deathrock from the LA Punk Scene. p.119–120. John Albert: At the time we became Christian Death there was hardly any religious symbolism at all, we were just playing wild, fast music... then gradually it became something else. Christian Death started as a Germs style punk band... Frank Agnew: ...their personality was nothing like the later image.
↑ Bean, Mikey (Nov 3, 2019). Phantoms: The Rise of Deathrock from the LA Punk Scene. p.125–126. Steve Darrow: Their first real gig was out here in LA, at the Hong Kong Cafe... John Albert: We opened for Castration Squad... George Belanger: Let's see, there was this opening band called the Killer Pussies... Editors note: Aka Killer Pussy. George Belanger: ...they came out and first song got booed off the stage... the crowd got hostile with them so they were done. Don came over and asked if we would play since the Squad wasn't ready to play yet.
↑ Bean, Mikey (Nov 3, 2019). Phantoms: The Rise of Deathrock from the LA Punk Scene. p.133–134. George Belanger: I got pissed at this fucking hippie, he was talking shit... Bill Sassenberger: Next thing I knew, George had put his fist through the glass door entrance to the store... Kurt M. Ross: The guy's lucky George hit the window and not his jaw... Peter Andrus: He was all stitched up and they said 'you can't play drums for three months'... Peter Andrus: Christian Death had another show booked at PAL Boxing Gym... Editor's note: Saturday February 14, 1981... Peter Andrus: So of course Rozz asked Steve to do it... John Albert: George decides all of a sudden that night he can play and he's gonna play... George Belanger: I got up on stage... Jay freaked out... Steve Darrow: I actually DID play this set, at least 2 or 3 songs. George may have played the first few songs... John Albert: I left in the middle of the whole thing... I literally just walked out the door, got in the car with a friend, went and got drugs, got loaded and never thought about it... Peter Andrus: That was the last time that Jay played with Christian Death.
↑ Bean, Mikey (Nov 3, 2019). Phantoms: The Rise of Deathrock from the LA Punk Scene. p.135–136. [John Albert:] It seemed for a while that Christian Death wasn't gonna exist; I remember Rozz was "...well, fuck those guys!" and we were gonna do this other band... Daucus Carota... I know that band existed at least for a while after I left Christian Death... Mary Torcivia was the drummer... Mary couldn't really play but she'd keep a simple beat; she was okay for a band like Daucus, which was more noise and seen as a sort of experimental side project.
↑ Bean, Mikey (Nov 3, 2019). Phantoms: The Rise of Deathrock from the LA Punk Scene. p.138. George Belanger: James and I went to see the Adolescents at the Starwood and it was announced on stage that this was Rikk's last show... after the show Rikk comes over and asks me how things are going with Christian Death... I told Rikk about Jay and that we were trying to find a guitar player 'what about me?' 'Really that would be awesome...' Frank Agnew: Then Rikk joined Christian Death.
↑ Bean, Mikey (Nov 3, 2019). Phantoms: The Rise of Deathrock from the LA Punk Scene. p.171. Dave Grave: There was already problems in the band when Christian Death were working on their album. George Belanger: Live shows were good, however drug abuse became a problem and things started to slide... Rikk Agnew: We wanted to get more and more darker, more and more serious about our presentation and stuff but he started going the opposite direction. George Belanger: I was losing interest and I felt like I was losing myself.
↑ Bean, Mikey (Nov 3, 2019). Phantoms: The Rise of Deathrock from the LA Punk Scene. p.172. Joseph Brooks: We had them of course do their record signing... Editor's note: April 10, 1982... Steve Darrow: George was out of the band by the time the signing happened so China was playing drums. Rikk Agnew: That was China's first thing with us.
↑ Bean, Mikey (Nov 3, 2019). Phantoms: The Rise of Deathrock from the LA Punk Scene. p.176. Rikk Agnew:} It was a lot of things, I don't know... when I have those metal downs and things happen like that I just get in that mood where everything seems bad. At that point I was doing a lot of drugs and doing a lot of drinking, was really drunk, and we'd been doing acid a lot, 6 or 7 times a day. I was having a bad time with Linda too. For some reason something else that was bothering me was that we were getting ready to go on tour, and I'd never been on tour before in the US. Ron and Rozz were at their peak at that point... they were just very public and open in their action... making out in public, running around holding hands together and dressed like that Nothing against it, but just the one thing I kept picturing was in my head... I just pictured us in the south. That would've been ok but they were talking about bringing an ounce of heroin on tour with them and that just capped it... I pictured them acting like that at a truck-stop getting in a big old fight, Ron slices some guy open, cops come... they look at us... they find the heroin and they just throw away the key... so we're getting ready to go... all of a sudden I just snap... I got in the car and just told him [Frank Agnew] 'let's go, let's go...!' and that's when I left the band.
↑ Bean, Mikey (Nov 3, 2019). Phantoms: The Rise of Deathrock from the LA Punk Scene. p.177. Mikaleno Amundson: I was Rikk Agnew's replacement after he went off the tracks Debora Ballabio: Mike was working at Wright Marine cleaning boats and him and I were pretty hot and heavy. Rod/China came up and told us this band he was in needed a guitar player... Mikaleno Amundson: I quit my job and moved to LA to join the band... about three to five shows. This is the sad part; Rod and I were living together with our girlfriends, the girls got into a huge fight so we moved across the street and had nothing to with them after that. I felt really sorry for Roz who didn't understand what was happening and why... Steve Darrow: Eva was a 'fill-in' at that point... Jaime Pina: Then they went through a million different lineups...
↑ Bean, Mikey (Nov 3, 2019). Phantoms: The Rise of Deathrock from the LA Punk Scene. p.185. Gitane DeMone: Pompeii 99 were booked in to play a show with Angelic Upstarts... Steve Darrow: It was at SIR studios, which was this pro rehearsal place in town... Editor's note: Saturday October 30, 1982... Polly Klemmer: Christian Death were on that lineup too.
↑ Bean, Mikey (Nov 3, 2019). Phantoms: The Rise of Deathrock from the LA Punk Scene. p.191. Steve Darrow: The Christian Death lineup with Eva, China, etc, was only for a brief minute; at one point they had this guy Michael playing guitar... Kevin Darrow: Michael Montano was from New Mexico. Eva O: Rozz found two guitar players and had them play. Steve Darrow: 'Let's try two guitar players...' so they got this other guy, Johnnie Sage, and for a while there it was basically them, with James still playing bass... Bruce Duff: That Christian Death line-up never recorded, but we (45 Grave) played with them and Pompeii 99... Gitane DeMone: Yeah... us, 45 Grave, Twisted Roots and Christian Death.
↑ Bean, Mikey (Nov 3, 2019). Phantoms: The Rise of Deathrock from the LA Punk Scene. p.93. Steve Darrow: James quit, I don't know what happened exactly... Karin Darrow: The band wasn't really happening... James McGearty: Christian Death maybe had broke up a little bit.
↑ Bean, Mikey (Nov 3, 2019). Phantoms: The Rise of Deathrock from the LA Punk Scene. p.197. Gitane DeMone: The next thing I heard was David and Valor were going to be playing with Rozz. Valor: Six months had gone by before we considered joining forces; I knew Rozz, he joined our band '...would you like to join this band'... David Parkinson: ...so we hooked up with Rozz... Gitane DeMone: Then I was told Rozz was interested in having me play keyboards, so I went to his birthday party and met him.
↑ Bean, Mikey (Nov 3, 2019). Phantoms: The Rise of Deathrock from the LA Punk Scene. p.197–198. Valor: All I know is Rozz said somebody called him, and that was Yann Farcy, 'I just got a phone call from this record company and I don't know how to deal with it. I told him that he should talk to you... he's gonna call tomorrow, will you speak to him?' So I spoke to Yann; Rozz never did any negotiations with Yann, to my knowledge. Gitane DeMone: The French company wanted an album. David Parkinson: We got this deal with Yann to do a record. Eva O: So record found a good way to go to Europe and do some shit... Gitane DeMone: So we learned some of the OToP material that Rozz wanted to do... Constance Redgrave: So at that point they needed a bass player ASAP. Voxx Voltaire: ... and Constance joined the band. Gitane DeMone: There was a tour coming up but it had to be 'Christian Death'... David Parkinson: To be honest, I was up for anything, whatever 'Let's do Christian Death...'
↑ Bean, Mikey (Nov 3, 2019). Phantoms: The Rise of Deathrock from the LA Punk Scene. p.203. Gitane DeMone: We were swept away on tour and Valor was writing for the album in hotel rooms at all hours... Eric Westfall: We did the Catastrophe Ballet album at a farmhouse/studio in Monmouth, on the border of England and Wales... David Parkinson: Most of it was half written, the other stuff just kinda came into its own... we literally wrote probably a third or more of that record in the studio... or at least Valor was writing stuff... Rozz was working on things of course, sometimes wrote the melody and does all the lyrics.
↑ Leduc-Gugnalons, Tony (2017). Camion Blanc Afterpunk highlights L'ère de la glaciation sonore. Camion Blanc. p.1975. Catastrophe Ballet, a calmer, more melodic album, which definitively buried the punk fury for a more subtle and more literary music. Rozz's plaintive voice gives way to more sedate parts that further highlight his qualities as a performer and lyricist. There is no doubt that the two new musicians, assisted by David Glass on drums and Constance Smith on bass, have been able to channel the expiatory rage of their singer to serve the cause. Explicitly dedicated to André Breton.
↑ Bean, Mikey (Nov 3, 2019). Phantoms: The Rise of Deathrock from the LA Punk Scene. p.205–206. Constance Redgrave: After a particularly difficult show I think I told her [DeMone's] mother I didn't know how much more I could handle, that I was feeling quite unstable... she told Gitane who told Valor, who replaced me... David Parkinson: ...we got Dave Roberts... Gitane DeMone: Dave Robert, yeah I don't know how it happened, it must've been a Valor connection as well.
↑ Bean, Mikey (Nov 3, 2019). Phantoms: The Rise of Deathrock from the LA Punk Scene. p.218. Eric Westfall: As Valor became more dominant force within the band Rozz gradually became more frustrated and despondent... William Faith: Rozz's version was that he told Valor not to book any shows for six months, as he had some other things/projects/personal concerns he was involved in, and when Valor phoned with a full tour itinerary, Rozz said 'I told you not to do this... I'm not going'... Gitane DeMone: Well I was going to leave the band, there was no particular affinity going on. David Parkinson: ...and Rozz was 'go ahead and I'll stand by you and I'll leave too..." David Parkinson: At the end of the day she didn't leave Valor... at least then. Gitane DeMone: I got together with Eric and Rozz and told them why: I just didn't feel right about taking the away from the dad, didn't feel it was right
↑ Bean, Mikey (Nov 3, 2019). Phantoms: The Rise of Deathrock from the LA Punk Scene. p.219. David Parkinson: This was the time we tried to change the name to 'Sin and Sacrifice' Valor: The tour was booked for 'Christian Death'... David Parkinson: So we did posters as 'Sin and Sacrifice of Christian Death'. Valor: We sent them the artwork in advanced saying we were going to be called that. Gitane DeMone: Tried to let the public know this was the 'Sin and Sacrifice...'. Valor: ...'We're gonna have to transition on this' and really that was our intention... Gitane DeMone: But when we got there it was still 'Christian Death'... Valor: Here were are in the north of Italy... a guy comes and offers is a record deal... I say 'ok, we're gonna call it Sin and Sacrifice'... he argued that we had to call it Christian Death.
↑ Patterson, Dayal (2013). Black metal: evolution of the cult. Port Townsend, WA: Feral House. p.63. ISBN1936239752. All the same, Celtic Frost were clearly also utilizing a much wider spectrum of influence, including that of gothic rock acts such as Bauhaus and Christian Death, and were already beginning to demonstrate the decidedly innovative approach to songwriting (evident in the restrained but notable use of violin and female vocals) that would increasingly earn them the "avant-garde metal" tag).
↑ Race and Cultural Practice in Popular Culture. Rutgers University Press. 2019. p.178. ISBN978-1978801318. Prayers proclaims inspiration and admiration for postpunk British dark wave music, such as the Pet Shop Boys, along with American punk and gothic bands, such as Christian Death.
↑ Thompson, Dave (2011). Perry Farrell: The Saga of a Hypester. St. Martin's Publishing Group. ISBN1429940735. For a short time, even without a Batcave-like home base to call its own, goth gelled even in the brilliant sunshine of California. Perry's vision gelled with it. Christian Death, 45 Grave, the Super Heroines-all those other bands approached their art from a pure Hollywood punk stance. Perry dreamed of excising the punk middleman altogether.
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