Mortification are an Australian Christian extreme metal band formed in 1987 by bassist and singer Steve Rowe. They were originally called Lightforce. By 1990, in the Melbourne suburb of Moorabbin, they were renamed as Mortification with the line-up of Rowe, guitarist Michael Carlisle, and drummer Jayson Sherlock. 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 metal record labels such as Nuclear Blast. They were one of the first successful extreme Christian metal acts, they would later serve as inspiration for similar bands.
Tourniquet was an American Christian metal band that formed in Los Angeles in 1990. The band was founded by Ted Kirkpatrick, Guy Ritter, and Gary Lenaire. Tourniquet primarily performed a mixture of thrash, progressive, and neoclassical metal, and was influenced by additional, non-rock forms of music such as classical and world music. It earned six GMA Dove Award nominations and won multiple recognitions from the readers of HM Magazine, including "Favorite Band of the 1990s" and "Favorite Album of the 1990s" for Pathogenic Ocular Dissonance (1992). The band released ten studio albums, two live albums, four compilation albums, one EP, and several video releases. Tourniquet has sold more than 300,000 albums. In addition to its use of classical music, the band is known for frequently using medical terminology in its album and song titles and lyrics.
Stop the Bleeding is the debut studio album by the American Christian metal band Tourniquet. It was originally released on Intense Records in 1990. A remastered version was released independently on Pathogenic Records in 2001, which was later re-released in 2011. Retroactive Records released a Collector's Edition remaster on June 26, 2020. The remasters include updated artwork, expanded album booklets, and bonus tracks.
Psycho Surgery is the second studio album by the American Christian metal band Tourniquet. It was originally released on Intense Records and Metal Blade Records in 1991. A remastered version was released on Pathogenic Records in 2001 as Psychosurgery and includes revised artwork, an expanded album booklet, and bonus tracks that include live versions of songs featuring then-lead vocalist Luke Easter as well as demos; the title was changed since co-founder and drummer Ted Kirkpatrick always felt that it should have been just one. Retroactive Records released a Collector's Edition remaster on June 26, 2020, retaining the original album title and including an extended booklet as well as different bonus tracks. Considered by critics to be Tourniquet's most balanced of the band's first three albums, Heaven's Metal fanzine ranked Psycho Surgery Christian metal's second-best album of all time.
Pathogenic Ocular Dissonance is the third studio album by the American Christian metal band Tourniquet. It was originally released on Intense Records in 1992 to the Christian market and later released on Metal Blade Records in 1993 to the secular market. It is the last Tourniquet album to feature vocalist Guy Ritter, who left the band after the recording of the album. It was independently re-released on Pathogenic Records in 2001 with digital remastering, two bonus live tracks from the 2000 Dutch Flevo Festival featuring then-lead vocalist Luke Easter, and new cover art. Retroactive Records released a Collector's Edition remaster on June 26, 2020 with the original cover art, an expanded album booklet, and four different bonus tracks. Pathogenic Ocular Dissonance was voted as the "Favorite Album of the 1990s" by readers of HM Magazine. In 2010, HM Magazine ranked it #23 on the Top 100 Christian metal albums of all-time list.
Intense Live Series, Vol. 2 is the first live album by the American Christian metal band Tourniquet. It was released on Intense Records in February 1993. It contains live recordings of material from the band's previous three studio albums, Stop the Bleeding (1990), Psycho Surgery (1991), and Pathogenic Ocular Dissonance (1992), as well as covers of "The Tempter" from Trouble's Psalm 9 album and "The Messiah" from Bloodgood's Detonation album. Les Carlsen, Bloodgood's vocalist, was a special guest vocalist since Tourniquet vocalist Guy Ritter departed from the band prior to the recording of this album. Victor Macias, Gary Lenaire, and Erik Mendez also perform vocals. Session notes by Terry Taylor, the album's executive producer, and a biography of Tourniquet are included in the booklet. Intense Live Series, Vol. 2 was later included as part of the Intense Live Series compilation, which also contained Vol. 1 by Deliverance and Vol. 4 by Die Happy, and released on KMG Records in 1998.
Luke Easter is an American singer and songwriter. Before becoming a solo artist, he was the lead singer of the Christian metal band Tourniquet.
Gary Lenaire is an American musician who primarily performs thrash metal and speed metal. Lenaire is best known for his work in Tourniquet, though later he began to work for BOSS amps and interviewed musicians, including Steve Vai, Marty Friedman, John 5, and Rudy Sarzo. Lenaire was nominated for six GMA Awards, and received Heaven's Metal Magazine's "guitarist of the year" award between 1994 and 1996.
Where Moth and Rust Destroy is the seventh studio album by the American Christian metal band Tourniquet. It was released on Metal Blade Records in 2003. The album's title is a reference to Matthew 6:19. Most of the guitar solos on this album were performed by former Megadeth guitarist Marty Friedman except for the tracks "A Ghost at the Wheel" and "Convoluted Absolutes", which were performed by Trouble guitarist Bruce Franklin.
Break the Curse is a demo album by the Australian Christian extreme metal band Mortification. It was released in 1994 as Break the Curse 1990. The album focuses on Mortification's thrash metal style rather than their later death metal. Several of the album's songs were re-recorded for other Mortification albums. It was re-released on Rowe Productions in 2001 with updated artwork, an updated album booklet, and remastered audio. The album was re-released on Roxx Records as Break the Curse 1990–2010: 20th Anniversary Gold Edition in 2010 as a two-disc set with a CD containing bonus tracks and a DVD containing footage from Mortification's first crossover concert on 15 June 1990 at Harvest Centre in Melbourne, Australia, and later on vinyl as Break the Curse 1990: 25th Anniversary in July 2015. In 2022, the album was re-released as Break the Curse on Soundmass with remastered audio and a second disc containing the audio from the 2010 DVD.
Live Planetarium is the first live album and fifth release of Australian Christian extreme metal band Mortification, released in 1993. It contains live versions of material from the band's three previously released studio albums, Mortification (1991), Scrolls of the Megilloth (1992), and Post Momentary Affliction (1993), as well as two new songs, "Symbiosis" and "Time Crusaders", and a cover of "Black Snake" by American Christian metal band Bloodgood. A video version of Live Planetarium was released on VHS in 1994 and later on DVD in 2006. A segment on Mortification's history, from the video of Live Planetarium, was included on the Tourniquet/Mortification Collector's Edition CD Single in 1994; the disc also contained songs from Mortification's Blood World album and American Christian metal band Tourniquet's Vanishing Lessons album. A studio recording of "Symbiosis" was included on Blood World. Soundmass released a reissue of Live Planetarium in 2019 on vinyl with new cover art and on CD in 2020 with the studio version of "Time Crusaders" as a bonus track; the track "Black Snake" was removed from the reissues.
Blood World is the fourth studio album by Australian Christian extreme metal band Mortification, released in 1994. The songs "Your Life", "J.G.S.H." and "Love Song" were included on the Tourniquet/Mortification Collector's Edition CD Single in 1994; the disc also contained a segment discussing Mortification's history, from the video release of Live Planetarium, and material from American Christian metal band Tourniquet's album Vanishing Lessons. Blood World was a commercial hit and the band's most successful album.
Microscopic View of a Telescopic Realm is the sixth studio album by the American Christian metal band Tourniquet. It was released on Metal Blade Records in 2000. The title track includes Steve Rowe of the Australian Christian metal band Mortification as a guest vocalist and the song "The Skeezix Dilemma Part II " is a sequel to "The Skeezix Dilemma" from Tourniquet's 1992 album Pathogenic Ocular Dissonance. This album marks the return to the band's neo-classical technical thrash style of metal.
Crawl to China is the fifth studio album by the American Christian metal band Tourniquet. It was initially released on Benson Records in 1997. This album took the band's music style to a more simplistic rock sound. The song "Claustrospelunker" includes bass guitarist Tim Gaines of the American Christian metal band Stryper. The lyrics of the song "The Tell-Tale Heart" are based on Edgar Allan Poe's 1843 short story of the same name. Crawl to China was later remastered by Bill Metoyer and released on Pathogenic Records in 2009; an instrumental version of "If I Was There" was included as a bonus track, the track listing was reordered, new album artwork was made by Rex Zachary, and a new booklet layout was designed with new band photos, lyric commentary, and musical notes. A music video for the title track was released in 1997.
Carry the Wounded is an extended play by the American Christian metal band Tourniquet. It was released on Intense Records in 1995. The EP is more mellow than the band's studio albums. It contains three new songs, a cover of the 1969 single "Oh Well" by Fleetwood Mac, and a new version of "My Promise" from Tourniquet's 1994 album Vanishing Lessons.
Steve Rowe is an Australian musician who is the founder, bass guitarist, and vocalist of the Australian Christian death metal band Mortification, which is considered to be a pioneer in the genre. Prior to forming Mortification he was in a traditional heavy metal styled Christian band known as LightForce. He was diagnosed with leukemia in 1997, but made a full recovery. He is currently the owner and head of the Rowe Productions record label. In 2015, Rowe announced his retirement from Christian music. However, his career has continued, while Mortification has been inactive the members' side project, Wonrowe Vision, have remained active.
Ted Kirkpatrick was an American musician and songwriter, best known for his work with the American Christian thrash metal band Tourniquet. Primarily a drummer, Kirkpatrick was the principal songwriter for the band, and played other instruments as necessary.
Hammer of God is the eighth studio album by the Australian Christian extreme metal band Mortification, released on 27 July 1999.
Antiseptic Bloodbath is the eighth full studio album released on July 19, 2012 by Tourniquet, a Christian metal band formed in 1989 in Los Angeles, California. It is the band's first release since 2003's Where Moth and Rust Destroy. It was long-time vocalist Luke Easter's last studio album before he was kicked out in 2015.
Onward to Freedom is a solo album by Tourniquet drummer Ted Kirkpatrick. Originally announced as a side project to be released as The Tourniquet Ark, Kirkpatrick made the decision to release it under the Tourniquet name with himself listed as the primary artist. This has led to confusion in the fan community, and the erroneous classification of the album as an actual Tourniquet release. This has been exacerbated by Kirkpatrick choosing to refer to it as part of the Tourniquet catalog instead of as a part of his solo catalog. The album features many musicians, such as Marty Friedman and Chris Poland of Megadeth, Mattie Montgomery of For Today and Michael Sweet of Stryper. The album was released on November 11, 2014, via Tourniquet's own label, Pathogenic Records.
