Christian Mistress

Last updated

Christian Mistress
Christian Mistress.jpeg
Christian Mistress in 2015
Background information
Origin Olympia, Washington, U.S.
Genres Heavy metal, [1] occult rock [2]
Years active2008 (2008)–present
Labels20-Buck Spin, Relapse
Members
  • Oscar Sparbel
  • Reuben W. Storey
  • Christine Davis
  • Jonny Wulf
  • Tim Diedrich
Past members
  • Aaron O'Neil
  • Ryan McClain
  • Eric Wallace
Website christianmistress.com

Christian Mistress is an American heavy metal band, formed in Olympia, Washington in 2008. The band is signed to Relapse Records.

Contents

History

Prior to the establishment of the band, the vocalist Christine Davis fronted the thrash metal band Buried Blood. Ryan and Oscar played guitar in two of Olympia's premier metal bands. After Ryan and Oscar's bands both broke up they decided to start writing and playing music together. The band's 2009 Christian Mistress demo, which cost only $500 to make, [3] and "Mother Of Mercy"/"The Hereafter" single gained attention from many notable heavy metal musicians, including Darkthrone member Fenriz. [1] [4] As a result, the band signed to 20-Buck Spin Records and released their debut album, Agony & Opium in 2010. [1] The band released their follow-up album, Possession in 2012 via Relapse Records. [4] [5]

The band has toured with Thrones in 2010. [6]

On March 14, 2015, the band released a statement regarding American hip hop artist Kanye West's album art cover for So Help Me God (2015) and how they claim he copied their album art for Agony & Opium (2010). [7]

Musical style

The band's musical style has been associated with the new wave of British heavy metal movement. [1] [3] [4] According to Pitchfork Media writer Grayson Currin, the band's second album, Possession, combined influences from "proto-thrash, grandiose classic rock, and smoky doom." [8] The band was compared to British heavy metal acts Diamond Head and early Iron Maiden. [9]

The vocals of Christine Davis were also described as a "combination of the incantatory power of Patti Smith, the raw force of Wendy O. Williams, and the howls of Nicole Lee of '80s Chicago thrashers Znowhite." [9] Her vocals in Possession were also compared to various singers which were also described to be her favourite, including Diamanda Galás, Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top, Michael Gira of Swans, Mariska Veres of Shocking Blue, and Roky Erickson of The 13th Floor Elevators. [3]

Band members

Current members
Past members

Discography

Studio albums
Singles
Demos

Related Research Articles

Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking; deep growling vocals; aggressive, powerful drumming, featuring double kick and blast beat techniques; minor keys or atonality; abrupt tempo, key, and time signature changes; and chromatic chord progressions. The lyrical themes of death metal may include slasher film-style violence, political conflict, religion, nature, philosophy, true crime and science fiction.

Alternative metal is a genre of heavy metal music that combines heavy metal with influences from alternative rock and other genres not normally associated with metal. Alternative metal bands are often characterized by heavily downtuned, mid-paced guitar riffs, a mixture of accessible melodic vocals and harsh vocals and sometimes unconventional sounds within other heavy metal styles. The term has been in use since the 1980s, although it came into prominence in the 1990s.

A number of heavy metal genres have developed since the emergence of heavy metal during the late 1960s and early 1970s. At times, heavy metal genres may overlap or are difficult to distinguish, but they can be identified by a number of traits. They may differ in terms of instrumentation, tempo, song structure, vocal style, lyrics, guitar playing style, drumming style, and so on.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dark Angel (band)</span> American thrash metal band

Dark Angel is an American thrash metal band from Downey, California, formed in 1981. The band's current lineup includes drummer Gene Hoglan, guitarists Eric Meyer and Laura Christine, frontman Ron Rinehart and bassist Mike Gonzalez. In its history, they have gone through many lineup changes, and as of guitarist Jim Durkin's death in March 8, 2023, there are no original members left in the current lineup of Dark Angel. Meyer, who joined in 1984, is the only member to appear on all of their studio albums.

Mortification is an Australian Christian death metal band which was formed in 1987 as a heavy metal group, Lightforce, by mainstay Steve Rowe on bass guitar and vocals. By 1990, in the Melbourne suburb of Moorabbin, they were renamed as Mortification with the line-up of Rowe, Michael Carlisle on guitar and Jayson Sherlock on drums. Mortification has released fourteen studio albums, three compilation albums, three extended plays, six live discs, one demo album, one box set, and several videos on major record labels such as Nuclear Blast. As one of the earliest internationally successful Christian death metal bands from Australia, they served as an inspiration for later similar groups.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Agony Scene</span> American metal band

The Agony Scene is an American heavy metal band from Tulsa, Oklahoma. Formed in 2000, the group currently consists of lead guitarist Chris Emmons, vocalist Mike Williams, and rhythm guitarist Brian Hodges.

Byzantine is an American heavy metal band from Charleston, West Virginia, that was formed in 2000. As of March 2016, the band consists of front-man and co-founder Chris "OJ" Ojeda, Brian Henderson (guitar), Matt Bowles (drums) and Ryan Postlethwait. The band has released three studio albums on Prosthetic Records along with two independent albums. Byzantine is known for its unique sound and modern, "forward thinking" musical style which explores different musical territories and song structures.

Cryptic Slaughter is an American crossover thrash band based in Santa Monica, California, and originally formed in 1984.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Repulsion (band)</span> American grindcore band

Repulsion is an American grindcore band from Flint, Michigan, founded in 1984.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Holy Moses</span> German thrash metal band

Holy Moses is a German thrash metal band active from 1980 to 1994 and again since 2000. They are well noted for being fronted by Sabina Classen, who is the only constant member of Holy Moses, and for being one of the first German thrash metal bands. Holy Moses have released 12 studio albums to date.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wolves in the Throne Room</span> American black metal band

Wolves in the Throne Room is an American black metal band formed in 2002 in Olympia, Washington, by brothers Aaron and Nathan Weaver. They have released seven full-length albums, two live albums, and one EP to date. They have stated one of the founding concepts of the band to be channeling the "energies of the Pacific Northwest's landscape" into musical form.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Torche (band)</span> American rock band

Torche was an American rock band from Miami, Florida. The group formed in 2004 and has released five full-length studio albums, four EPs, two split albums, and three singles. They released their fifth and final full-length studio album, Admission, in 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Toxic Holocaust</span> American thrash metal band

Toxic Holocaust is an American thrash metal band from Portland, Oregon.

Minsk is an extreme metal band from Peoria, Illinois founded in 2002. Self-described as "psychedelic metal", their songs tend to start out as slow and simple, and become heavy and complex towards the end. Their sound draws from doom metal, hardcore punk, ambient and noise music, with a highly psychedelic attitude achieved through tribal drum patterns, thick layers of synthesizers and keyboards, and echoing vocals. They are named after the capital of Belarus. The idea of survival through suffering is a recurring theme in the lyrics and musical style. In fact, regarding the origin of their name, their official biography states: "Drawing its nominal inspiration from a remote Belarusian city nestled deep amidst the in-betweens of the East and the West, a city that has been burned to the ground on several occasions only to be rebuilt like a Phoenix rising from its ashes." The sounds and atmospheres they evoke in their songs are complex and psychedelic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nothing (band)</span> American rock band

Nothing is an American shoegaze band that formed in 2010. The band self-released several EPs before signing to Relapse Records. They released their debut studio album, Guilty of Everything, in 2014. The follow-up album, Tired of Tomorrow, was released on in 2016. Nothing's third studio album, Dance on the Blacktop, was released in 2018, and their fourth studio album, The Great Dismal, was released in 2020.

Castevet was an American black metal band formed in 2006 in New York City, New York. The band announced their breakup on July 21, 2014. The last line-up of the band featured Andrew Hock on vocals and guitar, Ian Jacyszyn on drums and Krallice member Nicolas McMaster on bass guitar.

Windhand is an American doom metal band formed in Richmond, Virginia, in 2008. Currently signed to Relapse Records, Windhand released their most recent album, Eternal Return, in October 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Iron Reagan</span>

Iron Reagan is an American crossover thrash supergroup from Richmond, Virginia, consisting of Municipal Waste vocalist Tony Foresta, Cannabis Corpse and Municipal Waste bassist Phil "LandPhil" Hall, former A.N.S. guitarist Mark Bronzino, former Darkest Hour drummer Ryan Parrish, and Hellbear bassist Rob Skotis. Since their formation in 2012, they have released three full-length albums, two EPs and three split EPs. Their 2014 album The Tyranny of Will peaked at 22 on the Billboard 200.

<i>The Children of the Night</i> (album) 2015 album by Tribulation

The Children of the Night is the third studio album by Swedish death metal band Tribulation. It was released on 20 April 2015 through Century Media Records.

Alex Poole is an American multi-instrumentalist musician from Nashville, Tennessee. Poole has prolifically contributed to the Black Metal genre having led or contributed to a number of black metal bands including Chaos Moon, Manetheren, Krieg, Skaphe, Martrod, and Gardsghastr. He has also played live with a number of bands to fill in for missing guitarists or bassists over the years.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Rivadavia, Eduardo. "Christian Mistress". Allmusic . Retrieved April 7, 2014.
  2. Welsh, Margaret. "On its new record, To Your Death, Christian Mistress ups the heavy-metal ante" . Retrieved June 17, 2018.
  3. 1 2 3 Eddy, CHuck (October 17, 2012). "Strange Brew: Metal's New Obsession With Witchcraft, Biker Blues, and Tina Turner". Spin . Retrieved April 7, 2014.
  4. 1 2 3 "Christian Mistress – "Home In The Sun" (Stereogum Premiere)". Stereogum. June 8, 2010. Retrieved April 7, 2014.
  5. Weingarten, Christopher R. (April 26, 2012). "Download Christian Mistress' Barn-Burning 'The Edge of Time'". Spin . Retrieved April 7, 2014.
  6. noisecreep
  7. "Kanye Stole our artwork say metal band". March 13, 2015.
  8. Currin, Grayson (March 2, 2012). "Christian Mistress – Possession". Pitchfork . Retrieved April 7, 2014.
  9. 1 2 Freeman, Phil. "Christian Mistress – Agony and Opium". Allmusic . Retrieved April 7, 2014.