Refuge Records

Last updated
Refuge Records
Founded1980 (1980)
Founder Greg Nelson, Jack Hafer, Ray Nenow
Genre Contemporary Christian music
Country of originUnited States

Refuge Records was a contemporary Christian music record label founded in 1980 by Greg Nelson, Jack Hafer and Ray Nenow. [1]

Contents

One imprint of Refuge was Pure Metal Records, although Star Song Communications bought out that branch in 1990. [2] The label had Doug Mann, future founder of R.E.X. Records, as an employee. [3]

Artists

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">King's X</span> American rock band

King's X is an American rock band that originated in 1979 in Springfield, Missouri. They were first called The Edge and later became Sneak Preview before settling on its current name in 1985. The band's current lineup has remained intact for more than three decades, consisting of vocalist and bassist Doug Pinnick, drummer Jerry Gaskill and guitarist Ty Tabor. Their music combines progressive metal, funk and soul with vocal arrangements influenced by gospel, blues, and British Invasion rock groups. Despite a largely underground reputation as the "musician's musicians", King's X was pivotal in the early development of progressive metal, and produced a series of early records considered essential within the genre. The band's lyrics are largely based on the members' struggles with religion and self-acceptance. King's X was ranked No. 83 on VH1's 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock.

Christian metal, also known as white metal, Jesus metal or heavenly metal, is heavy metal music distinguished by its Christian themed song lyrics and the dedication of the band members to Christianity. Christian metal is typically performed by professed Christians, principally for Christians and is often produced and distributed through various Christian networks.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Circle of Dust</span> American industrial rock band

Circle of Dust is an industrial music project from New York City created by Klayton, who later became known as Celldweller. The project was active from 1988 to 1998 and then re-started in 2015 after Klayton gained back ownership of his old albums. The project has released five studio albums: Circle of Dust (1992), Brainchild (1994), a re-recording of Circle of Dust (1995), Disengage (1998), and Machines of Our Disgrace (2016).

Daniel Band is a Canadian Christian metal group formed in 1979 in Toronto. They played in the contemporary Christian music industry with a sound that ranged from hard rock to heavy metal.

Bride is an American Christian metal band formed in the 1980s, by brothers Dale and Troy Thompson. During the band's peak years it was known for covering a wide range of musical styles and remains popular in places like Brazil. Their song "Same 'Ol Sinner" is on the Digital Praise PC game Guitar Praise.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cleopatra Records</span> American independent record label

Cleopatra Records is an American independent record label based in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1992 by Brian Perera. The record label has since grown into a family of labels, including Hypnotic Records, Purple Pyramid Records, Deadline Music Records, and X-Ray Records, encompassing a variety of genres with emphasis on unique and experimental artists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Klayton</span> American musician

Klayton Albert is an American multi-instrumentalist from New York City who currently resides in Los Angeles, California. Klayton has led several bands and has performed under a variety of stage names since the early 1990s. His current projects are Celldweller, Scandroid and FreqGen.

Vengeance Rising was an American Christian thrash metal band from Los Angeles, California. Fronted by vocalist Roger Martinez, they originally formed as Vengeance in 1987, but changed their name in 1989 to avoid conflict with another band from the Netherlands. Band members Larry Farkas, Doug Thieme, Roger Dale Martin, and Glen Mancaruso left following Once Dead and formed the band Die Happy. Roger Martinez stayed on to record two more studio albums, but aside from him, Vengeance Rising's lineup changed for each subsequent album. While the group was a ground breaking Christian metal band, today Vengeance Rising is known for vocalist Martinez's turning from Christianity to Satanism to atheism. AllMusic describes Vengeance Rising's history as "one of the most entertaining and bizarre stories in the realm of heavy metal."

R.E.X. Records, also known as R.E.X. Music, was an independent record label founded by Doug Mann and Gavin Morkel, which operated from 1987 until running into financial difficulty in 1995. Operations were based in Chicago until 1990 when the company moved to Nashville. The label was artistic in nature, and though they were especially active in the Christian metal genre some acts were also marketed to mainstream audiences. Sublabels included Storyville Records and Street Level Records, founded by Randy Stonehill.

<i>Nonexistent</i> (album) 1992 studio album by Living Sacrifice

Nonexistent is the sophomore album of the 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.

<i>Sanity Obscure</i> 1990 studio album by Believer

Sanity Obscure is the second studio album by the American Christian thrash metal band Believer. It was initially released in 1990 on R.E.X. and later in 1991 on Roadrunner, marking the band's label debut for Roadrunner. Several mainstream magazines praised the album.

<i>Extraction from Mortality</i> Album by Believer

Extraction from Mortality, also known as Extraction, is the debut studio album by the American Christian thrash metal band Believer. It was released on R.E.X. Records in 1989. In 2010, HM Magazine ranked it #33 on the Top 100 Christian metal albums of all-time list.

<i>Human Sacrifice</i> (album) 1988 studio album by Vengeance Rising

Human Sacrifice is the first studio album by the Christian death and thrash metal band Vengeance Rising. It is the first full length Christian thrash metal album as it was released in 1988. Though controversial, Human Sacrifice and the following album, Once Dead were huge successes in the world of Christian music, making Vengeance Rising one of the few bands in the genre to cross over into the secular music scene. Dave Caughney of Cross Rhythms magazine wrote in 1990 that this "legendary classic debut [...] breathed much needed freshness into the somewhat stale white metal scene". HM Magazine editor Doug Van Pelt called Human Sacrifice "the most radical Christian album ever released". In 2010, HM ranked Human Sacrifice the best Christian metal album of all time on its Top 100 list because it "tilted the Christian metal world on its ear".

<i>Brainchild</i> (Circle of Dust album) 1994 studio album by Circle of Dust

Brainchild is the second studio album by the industrial metal band Circle of Dust, released in 1994 through R.E.X. Music and re-released as a remaster in 2016 through FiXT Music.

Tempest was a Christian metal band founded in 1985 in Evansville, Indiana. The band recorded two albums on the Pure Metal Records label.

Messiah Prophet was a pioneering band in Christian metal, releasing two albums in the mid eighties and one more with a different lineup in 1996.

Focused was a hardcore punk band that originated out of Long Beach, California in 1991, with a Christian hardcore style. The band broke up in 1996, but reunited briefly in 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alessandro Del Vecchio</span> Musical artist

Alessandro Del Vecchio is an Italian multi-instrumentalist and producer, best known for his collaborations with hard rock and heavy metal artists such as Jørn Lande, Revolution Saints, Hardline, Fergie Frederiksen, Ted Poley, Kelly Keeling and Mat Sinner, and for his work as the in-house producer for Neapolitan record label Frontiers Music SRL from his personal Ivorytears Music Works Studio located just north of Milan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Klank</span> American heavy metal band

Klank, also stylized as kLaNk or KLANK, is an American industrial metal and groove metal band that originated out of Long Island, New York in December 1993. The project began after Daren Diolosa, the brainchild of Klank, departed from the fellow industrial band Circle of Dust. Diolosa carried the project as a solo project until around 1997, when he began performing live. Following the live performances, Pat Servideo joined as a full-time member, with Diolosa and Servideo joining as a team. The band would go through many members, eventually settling on the lineup of Diolosa, Servideo, and former Every Day Life drummer Eric Wilkins.

References

  1. Thompson, John J. (2000). Raised by Wolves: The Story of Christian Rock & Roll . Toronto, ON: ECW Press. p.  132. ISBN   978-1-55022-421-4.
  2. Van Pelt, Doug (August 1989). "On the Beat / Metal". CCM Magazine . 13 (2): 20. ISSN   1524-7848.
  3. Mann, Doug (October 16, 2016). "Doug Mann, founder of R.E.X. Records (Part One)". Interviewed by Trav Turner and Bruce Fitzhugh. As the Story Grows. Retrieved October 24, 2016.