Living Sacrifice is an American Christian metal band formed in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1989. The band has released eight studio albums, out of which the first three were recorded under R.E.X. Records with their original vocalist Darren Johnson as a more thrash metal and death metal oriented band. The band evolved into a groove metal and metalcore style beginning with Reborn (1997) under Solid State Records with the original guitarist Bruce Fitzhugh on vocals. In 2003, the group disbanded due to other projects and later their label, Solid State, released their best-of album, In Memoriam (2005). In 2008, Living Sacrifice reformed and released a two-song digital only single called Death Machine. They then began working on The Infinite Order which was released on January 26, 2010. Lance Garvin and Bruce Fitzhugh are the two remaining original members.
Living Sacrifice was one of the first Christiandeath metal bands along with Sacrament and Mortification. The band, whose name is derived from Romans 12:1, formed in 1989 by Darren "D.J." Johnson (bass, vocals), Bruce Fitzhugh (guitar), and Lance Garvin (drums); Jason Truby later joined in on guitar. The band would perform their debut show on December 1, 1989, in front of a hall of nurses.[1] They released a three-song demo in 1990, Not Yielding to Ungodly, which got into the hands of Kurt Bachman and Joey Daub from Believer, who signed them to R.E.X. Records.
In 1991, Living Sacrifice's self-titled debut album was released on R.E.X. Records. The album was recorded at Catamount Recording Studio in Iowa with Kurt Bachman acting as a producer.[2] The album received many comparisons to thrash metal groups of the time, especially Slayer. On November 17, 1992, Living Sacrifice released their second album, Nonexistent. On this album, Living Sacrifice switched from thrash metal to down-tuned death metal, and D.J. started experimenting with a death growl in his vocal approach. The members have said that they were disappointed with the experience of making this album and that the producer was to blame.[2] The producer had no prior experience with working on metal albums and did not know how to work with the band. The band had initially reached out to Scott Burns of Morrisound Recording (Death, Atheist, Obituary), but the label stated the band had to have the album out before Cornerstone Festival of 1992, which did not work with Burns' schedule.[2] Since the engineer was unaware of the proper techniques, Johnson and Garvin attempted to work on the engineering side themselves.[2][3]
In 1994, the band released a third album, Inhabit, which is considered by some to be the heaviest of all Living Sacrifice albums.[citation needed] On Inhabit, D.J. returned to a more thrash-oriented vocal approach, deeper and lower in tone than his vocals on the band's debut. To support the album, the band embarked on a tour with Malevolent Creation.[4] After this recording R.E.X. went bankrupt, and Living Sacrifice signed onto Solid State Records seeking to widen their audience.[5]
After this, D.J. left the band to follow non-musical ministry, and Bruce took over vocals.[5] Jason's brother, Chris, also joined on bass. With this new lineup, Living Sacrifice recorded Reborn, their Solid State debut, in 1997. The band started to play a mix of groove metal and metalcore.[6]Reborn is considered the most influential of all Living Sacrifice records and earned them a larger non-Christian fanbase. After this record, Chris and Jason left the band and close and longtime friend Jay Stacy filled in on bass while Cory Brandan Putman played on guitar. Stacy has lived down the street from Garvin and had known the band for a longtime. The band embarked on a few tours with the line of Fitzhugh, Garvin, Stacy, and Putman, including a tour with Cannibal Corpse and Angelcorpse. In 1999, Stacy stepped down from the band to focus on his family and was replaced by Arthur Green, formerly of Eso-Charis. Cory played guitar for a tour through Norway and Sweden but was then replaced by Rocky Gray (who would go on to play drums in Evanescence and We Are the Fallen and guitar in Soul Embraced.) At the end of 1999, Matthew Putman joined Living Sacrifice as a percussionist.
In 2000, Living Sacrifice recorded their fifth full-length album, The Hammering Process, with a more rhythmical sound—more oriented towards groove metal. Bruce also sang in one Evanescence song, "Lies". In 2001, A Tribute to Living Sacrifice was released. The album contains covers of many Living Sacrifice songs by other metal bands and former members, and a Living Sacrifice song from a split EP, Metamorphosis, released in 1993. In 2002, Living Sacrifice entered the studio again, resulting in the album Conceived in Fire. In June 2003, Living Sacrifice canceled the rest of one of their tours and announced that Living Sacrifice was disbanding.[7][8]
In March 2005, In Memoriam was released by Solid State Records. It is a "best of" album, containing three "newly written and recorded songs by Lance Garvin, Rocky Gray and Bruce Fitzhugh", two songs from each Living Sacrifice album, plus "Enthroned", a 1998 cover of a song originally released on 1992's Nonexistent. The three new songs are "In Christ", "Killers", and "The Power of God". In 2007, Bruce Fitzhugh was featured on the song "Sixteen", on Demon Hunter's fourth album Storm the Gates of Hell.
On February 4, 2008, a newly created official MySpace page was updated to announce the reformation of the band. They also announced their support of Demon Hunter in the "Stronger Than Hell" tour from May 26 through July 5, 2008. On June 10, 2008, Living Sacrifice released a two-song, online-only sampler, Death Machine. On the same day at the Dallas, Texas date of the "Stronger Than Hell" tour, vocalist and rhythm guitarist Bruce Fitzhugh announced that the band was working on a new CD which they hoped to release in 2009. The album release was delayed by Solid State and eventually came out on January 26, 2010. A music video for their lead single off The Infinite Order, "Rules of Engagement", was aired December 22.[12]
The band's seventh studio album, The Infinite Order, was released January 26, 2010, via Solid State Records.[13] The album features the voices of David Bunton from The Showdown, Joe Musten from Advent and Beloved, and guitarist Jason Truby.[14] The album was mixed and mastered by Andy Sneap, Hell guitarist.[14] Track three references the phrase "God is dead" by Friedrich Nietzsche.[15] Released in November, the deluxe edition contained three additional tracks, two live songs and a new track.[16]
In 2013, after three years of touring, Living Sacrifice recorded their eighth album, Ghost Thief, released November 12, 2013, on Solid State Records.[17] The first song named "The Reaping" was premiered on October 17, 2013, on the Solid State YouTube page. The album features the guest voices of Ryan Clark from Demon Hunter on "Screwtape", and Dave Peters from Throwdown on "Despair".[18] The title song, "Ghost Thief", premiered November 6, 2013, on Revolver magazine website.[19] Living Sacrifice is featured on the Killing Floor 2 Soundtrack.[20] The band performed their first shows of 2017 on the ShipRocked cruise alongside bands such as Pop Evil, Breaking Benjamin, Papa Roach, Sevendust and Lacey Sturm.[21]
According to former vocalist DJ Johnson, a friend of the band's is developing a documentary of the band.[4] In 2017, the band released "New Day" on a benefit compilation, We Bear the Scars. The track was originally supposed to be a part of The Hammering Process, but the band and producer Barry Poynter lost the track during the mixing process.[22] The band's documentary, 30 Years of Sacrifice, was to debut at the band's 30th anniversary show on March 28, 2020, and feature The Blamed, and former members Darren Johnson, Jason and Chris Truby, as well as Embodyment and The Famine drummer Mark Garza on percussion.[23] Due to COVID-19, however, the premiere of the documentary was postponed.[23]
In 2021, Nordic Mission released a remaster of Living Sacrifice's self-titled debut album for its 30th anniversary.[24] In 2022, Nordic Mission release a remixed and remaster of Nonexistent on Vinyl and CD. The second album by the band.
"New Day" (a song that was originally supposed to be a part of The Hammering Process but was lost during mixing. It was released finally on We Bear the Scars, a benefit compilation for Timothy Henderson of Warlord)[22]
Demon Hunter is an American Christian metal band from Seattle, Washington, formed by brothers Don Clark and Ryan Clark in 2000. Ryan is the band's only remaining original member, as Don left in 2009. As of the 2010s, the band has sold over 600,000 albums.
Solid State Records is a Christian metalcore record label, an imprint of Tooth & Nail Records. Unlike Tooth & Nail, Solid State signs hardcore punk and heavy metal bands. Like Tooth & Nail, Solid State is primarily a Christian label. However, it signed several bands with Christian members which don't label themselves as Christian bands, including Stretch Arm Strong, Gwen Stacy, He Is Legend, the Famine, Training for Utopia, and the Agony Scene.
Jason Truby is an American guitarist. He began his career in 1989 with Living Sacrifice as lead guitarist. He was also a member of P.O.D., but has also performed with Phil Keaggy, David Beegle, Ashley Cleveland and her husband Kenny Greenberg, and was a guest performer with Phil Keaggy's band Glass Harp at the First Annual Denver Guitar Festival.
Soul Embraced is an American Christian melodic death metal band from Little Rock, Arkansas. It was originally a side project for Rocky Gray and David Sroczynski.
William Caldwell "Rocky" Gray is an American drummer and guitarist. He played drums for the rock band Evanescence from 2003–2007 and was the lead guitarist for Solus Deus. He is the lead guitarist for Living Sacrifice and the drummer for Soul Embraced, Mourningside, Machina, and We Are the Fallen. Gray also released a solo album titled Accursed (2015).
Eso-Charis, originally called Elliot, was a Christian alternative rock band with hardcore and metalcore influences that formed in Fort Smith, Arkansas. Founding members, brothers Cory Brandan Putman and Matthew Putman, and Arthur Green, eventually went on to join the band Living Sacrifice. In late 1997, the band recorded their first and only full-length album with Bruce Fitzhugh of Living Sacrifice. The album was first produced independently, but was after leased to Day-Glo Records of Stockholm, Sweden. Later on, production of the album moved to Solid State Records, the same label as Living Sacrifice. Cory has stated that they most likely will not do a reunion. He also stated that after his brother and Green quit the band they added two guitarists, bassists, and drummers, with Cory and Jayson being the vocalists.
Eso-Charis is the eponymous album of the band Eso-Charis. The album was originally released independently in 1998, later being released by Day-Glo Records of Sweden, and even later by Solid State Records, the label of Living Sacrifice, which three of the members were also a part of.
The Showdown is an American metal band from Elizabethton, Tennessee. While the members of the band are Christian and the band is signed to a Christian record label, the band does not consider itself a Christian act, according to guitarist Josh Childers, while in an interview with vocalist David Bunton, when asked about a Christian metal band, answered without correcting the interviewer. Lyrically, their writing tells of heroism, sojourns and battles of life, most of which is influenced by Biblical aspects. As of 2008, they are signed to Solid State Records. The band was originally called 2540 from 1999 to 2004.
Conceived in Fire is the sixth album by the Christian metalcore band Living Sacrifice. It was the band's final album before 2008 when the band reunited, minus Percussionist Matthew Putman.
The Hammering Process is the fifth album by the Christian metal band Living Sacrifice. This is the first album to feature percussionist Matthew Putman, guitarist Rocky Gray and bassist Arthur Green. The making of this album was featured in the Processed Tour DVD.
Inhabit is the third album by the Christian metal band Living Sacrifice and the final album with bassist/vocalist Darren "D.J." Johnson. The album was recorded at Believer's Trauma Studios. Kurt Bachman and Joey Daub of Believer also produced and engineered this album. It was the final album the band would release while under REX. The album would later be reissued with new artwork on the band's new label, Solid State Records.
Reborn is the fourth album by the Christian metal band Living Sacrifice. The album was released in 1997, and later re-released and remastered in 2004. In 2020, the band announce a vinyl re-release of Reborn, which sold out quickly.
Nonexistent is the second album by extreme metal band Living Sacrifice. The album was released through R.E.X. Records in 1992. The album was recorded quickly after the debut self-titled album in Nashville, Tennessee and produced by Doug Mann. The album is a notable change for the band, as the debut focused more on a thrash metal sound, while the follow-up has a heavy emphasis on death metal, drawing more from artists such as Gorguts or Obituary.
Lance Garvin is an American drummer and, along with Bruce Fitzhugh, DJ Johnson and Jason Truby, a founding member of the Christian metal band Living Sacrifice. Garvin is mostly known for using a Ride Cymbal in modern metal without making it sound thinner.
Bruce Patrick Fitzhugh is an American musician. He the second lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist and founding member of Arkansas's Christian metal band Living Sacrifice. The lead vocalist role was left to Bruce shortly after the departure of Darren Johnson and prior to the recording of Living Sacrifice's 1997 album, Reborn. Fitzhugh is featured in Zao's The Lesser Lights of Heaven DVD. Fitzhugh's nephew is Drew Garrison, Vocalist for Descended From Wolves and Becoming Saints.
Cory Brandan Putman is an American singer who has been the lead vocalist for the metalcore band Norma Jean since 2004.
Arthur Green is the fourth and current bassist for the extreme metal band, Living Sacrifice. He, along with brothers Cory Brandan Putman and Matthew Putman, founded the mathcore band Eso-Charis.
Ghost Thief is the eighth studio album by the Christian metal band Living Sacrifice. It is their second album produced by Jeremiah Scott.
Bryan Gray is an American musician that has predominately performed with bands in the punk rock and hardcore punk genre, including and most notably, the Blamed, Blenderhead, Left Out, The Satire, and Rocks in Pink Cement. He also has performed in the hardcore band Six Feet Deep. Gray was best known for being the brainchild of The Blamed, which is known for their tenure on Tooth & Nail Records. He also has performed with industrial metal bands such as Mortal and Klank.
1 2 Fitzhugh, Bruce (September 20, 2015). "Bruce Fitzhugh of Living Sacrifice". Interviewed by Trav Turner & Stephen Sarro. As The Story Grows. Retrieved October 20, 2015.
1 2 Turner, Trav (August 27, 2017). "DJ Sacrifice". As The Story Grows Podcast. Retrieved September 12, 2017.
1 2 Allen, David (May 12, 2003). "Archived copy". HxC.com. Archived from the original on May 26, 2003. Retrieved March 10, 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
↑ Putman, Cory Brandan (August 23, 2015). "Cory Putman of Norma Jean". Interviewed by Trav Turner. As The Story Grows. Retrieved October 20, 2015.
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