Heaven's Metal Magazine, Issue #85 (June/July 2010)

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June/July 2010 Issue #85 $2.95

+ Crystavox Mortification Nephesh Living Sacrifice

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METAL TRACKS Hard-news-for-metal-heads

Introducing

nephesh

by LOYD HARP

The extreme metal subculture is an

By Loyd Harp extremely fickle lot. What's hyped one day disappearsthe next. Andthe black metal sub-genre is probably even worse than most. The same is often true for extreme bands who proclaim Christ. Every once in a while a band comes along that shows great promise for bucking that trend. Colombians Nephesh are trying Just that.

Where are you from and when/how did the band form?

Nephesh was born in 2003, in Bogota, Colombia. After a year of being together, and through member changes, the band took the direction towards black metal with progressive influences. Each member has a clear vision about having a Gospel message and Christian lyrics.

Tell us a little bit about how you came to play black metal.

Nephesh takes its influence from the majority of musicians who make up the band, who all liked this kind of music. At the same time, it was a challenge to reach the darkest point of metal with the gospel message.

How did you come to work with Nokternal Hemizphear?

Today the internet is the network that lets everyone interact and I believe that was the

key tool for our work. Nokternal Hemizphear is known at a musical level, and we also know that God was good and allowed Jason to appreciate and believe in our work.

Tell us about the recording process of your buzzworthy debut Inter Armas Silent Leges.

The recording process was very hard—we had to spend long nights without sleep, because when was finished, we were not satisfied. We had to start over the recording of a guitar or a part and the drums were all that were kept.

Those who are musicians understand this process. In the meantime, God gave us better tools and implements of recording.

The whole process took about a year and a half or almost two years. It's also important to remember that you have to put up with your bandmates for over a month in the

METAL

Skillet and Theft have just been confirmed as special guests for select dates on Creed's "$20-10 $Tour" dates, with Red also appearing at several concerts. "The $20-$10 Tour" kicks off on July 28th in Washington D.C., and was named because the first 2,010 reserved seats are $20 all-in.

Crystavox and Roxx Records are very proud to reveal the full release details and new cover art for their brand new Limited Edition release The Twenty Year Mix. This two disc set is scheduled to be released May 25th, 2010 and will consist of both a full length CD and a very special DVD release.

Join us for one special weekend as we celebrate 25 years of Heaven’s Metal Magazine! Two days of heavenly metal from artists that have in the past, and still do today, grace the pages of Heaven’s Metal magazine! But wait, not only will we be celebrating 25 years of Heaven’s Metal magazine; we will also be celebrating several seminal anniversaries from some of the key artists that helped shape the magazine, many of which still continue to grace the pages of the magazine today!

Norma Jean revealed the cover art for their upcoming fifth album Meridional in a unique way. With an intense, self-generated video that also debuts a snippet of a new song. The clip, which debuted yesterday on AOL’s Noisecreep is now up on the band’s website and You Tube: [www.youtube.com/ watch?v=mX-4zg1Y_D8] Meridional is set for release on July 13. Norma Jean will tour in support of it on this summer’s Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival.

We Are The Fallen, released their debut album Tear The World Down on May 11th, 2010. The first single from this iconic band ‘Bury Me Alive,’ is already making its way up the modern and active rock charts.

In June, We Are The Fallen will return to Europe for performances at the Download Festival and Rock am Ring/Rock im Park. Summer U.S. touring plans are also in the works and will be announced shortly.

This summer, As I Lay Dying will launch the “Cool Tour” with Underoath, Between The Buried And Me, Blessthefall, The Acacia Strain, Architects, Cancer Bats, and War of Ages. The “Cool Tour” will launch July 12 in Orlando; for pre-sale tickets and more information, visit: [cooltour10.com]. Making their national TV debut May 22 on the Revolver Golden Gods Awards, As I Lay Dying appeared with such artists as Slash, Dave Grohl, Lemmy Kilmister, Rob Zombie, Zakk Wylde, Fear Factory, The Devil Wears Prada, and Brian Posehn’s all-star band featuring Scott Ian, Brendon Small, John Tempesta and Joey Vera, to name a few. For more info, visit: [revolvermag.com/golden-gods].

The UK ice-cold legionaires, Wintersoul, released their debut full length Frozen Storm Apocalypse May 17, 2010. The album will be released in the USA by Nokternal Hemizphear and in the June/July timeframe will reach the shores of Europe!

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August Burns Red are excited to announce the very first Japanese tour dates in the band's history - a string of headlining shows June 17-20 that extend the boundaries of the band's ever-expanding empire.

While the band has spent nearly all of its time on the road since the release of 2009's Constellations, criss-crossing North America, Europe and Australia, the band is thoroughly excited for its first trip to Japan.

"We're excited for the opportunity," explains guitarist JB Brubaker. "It's always amazing to be able to connect with fans on tour and we're thrilled to be able to perform in Japan for the first time!"

Megadeth and Slayer, who last toured the U.S. together nineteen years ago on the "Clash of the Titans" extravaganza, have confirmed that they will each perform, start to finish, their 1990 releases Slayer's world-wide, million-selling Seasons In The Abyss and Megadeth's platinum Rust In Peace - on the upcoming Canadian and American Carnage Tours.

The six-date Canadian Carnage kicks off July 23 in Quebec City, while the 19-city American Carnage dates begin August 11 in Glens Falls, NY

same place—it begins to be tedious but also you learn more about working together.

About the guitars—recording implements counted on line 6 pedals. The drums were recorded using Yamaha's latest technology—triggers are something that are sometimes difficult and costly in our country. All the orchestra was conducted and edited by our keyboardist, which took him over a year to complete! "For the second production, if God permits, Nephesh expect to have better tools, but the same conviction in the gospel of Christ."

What is the Christian metal scene in Colombia like? Is there a strong presence of Christians in metal there? Is it open to Christianity or hostile?

The Christian metal scene in Colombia has adopted the essence of the Christian message and at the same time taken a radical position to the hostile influences of hostile metal. Our goal with our music is to try to change the people and our purpose is to change the hostile metal into Christian metal. At this moment a strong presence of metal Christians is starting and that's because our many years of hard work and battles but there's so much yet to do, and we think in some years we're going to see thousands and thousands of metal Christians.

Of course that's the purpose—we think that's the better way to evangelize. Our motto is everybody needs to receive JESUS in everybody's heart no matter what. But there's something else you have to know—you have to be professional in this scene because the people are first going to listen to the music, and then they will listen to the message.

The content of Christian lyrics in the band makes the difference to hostile metal because we know and understand that if we don't talk about JESUS in our lyrics we will just be another simple band in the world.

Can you elaborate on what you said about your "clear vision" about Gospel lyrics? What subjects do you like to write about?

We are a band created for GOD and to worship Him all the time because He is our best inspiration to be better day by day.

All the members of this band believe that Nephesh makes a part of GOD's purpose in our lives.

Anything else you want to say to our readers?

Thanks for the interview. Nephesh is really thankful to Heaven's Metal for this opportunity!

Founding bassist Mike Giordano and lead guitarist Anthony Wayne McGinnis have recently exited Cage after many years of true metal madness, with Mike departing due to medical reasons and Anthony for family reasons. Replacing Mike is monster bassist Steve Brogden, who is the lead guitarist / vocalist for the aggressive power thrash metal band Howler.

Replacing Anthony is shredding lead guitarist Garrett Peters of the melodic death metal band Climhazzard and punk metal band Sayaka.

The new Klank release titled Numb...Reborn is available for download at [fixtstore.com/klank]. Reborn features 15 tracks of the classic Klank sound with guest appearances from Jim Chaffin, Larry Farkas and Michael Phillips.

Creed is gearing up for their summer tour - they've got shows scheduled in Charlotte, NC; St. Augustine, FL; and Fort McCoy, WI with special guest Sammy Hagar.

Glamdring will soon be releasing an album through Unblack Metal Scene..

Saturday June 26th Keokuk, IA is hosting a PreCornerstone show with 12 Christian rock and metal bands at the Music at the Mall venue - 12 Bands - 12 Hours - $10 [bombworksrecords.com/ UnrestInTheMidwestFestival.php] The Moshketeers The Downward Spiral will now see a full CD release, for the first time ever! Set to be completely restored and remastered and include several previously unreleased bonus tracks, including the rare 1997 demo.

crystavox Twenty Years Later

INTERVIEW by CHRIS BECK

In the early ‘90s, Crystavox released two high-quality albums that were nevertheless underwhelmingly received. Chalk it up as another example of the “experts” not getting it right. All these years later, the four original members are still serving the Lord and are back together to give everyone another chance to enjoy their music. We recently caught up with lead singer Adam Lee Kemp to discuss past successes and failures, as well as the band’s spiritual and musical journey that has culminated in the release of The Twenty Year Mix by Roxx Records.

Chris Beck: Crystavox hasn’t been heard from for years.What has the band been doing, both professionally and musically?

Adam Lee Kemp: While each of us moved in separate directions professionally following the disbanding of Crystavox, each remained involved in the music and performance industries in one form or another. Loren Holmquist (bass/guitars) and I worked on several studio projects for other artists. Fred Helm (drums) worked in TV and video production, primarily in the off road racing sector, and eventually ended up directing and producing his own releases. Tony Lopez (guitars/bass) has made a name for himself as Southern California’s premier expert in studio design, building and maintenance. Finally, Loren became an audio engineering consultant. Regarding our professional endeavors, I am working as a PMPcredentialed project manager/consultant in the IT industry, Loren is a pastor, Fred is a police detective and Tony is the owner/operator of an audio support company.

in the presentation that were driving us crazy. Consequently, Loren and Fred went to work adding subtle guitar overtones, revised bass compression and new drum samples. These served to bridge those audio gaps in hopes to make the remix a more palatable project and sellable item.

For your new release, The Twenty Year Mix, additional guitars, drums, etc. were recorded. What were the reasons for doing this?

The project started out as a remix only. Given the obsessive-compulsive degree of creativity that each of the Crystavox band members retain, when we heard the original material, each of us agreed that there were immaturities and creative gaps

The release will include a DVD of live concert footage and other video clips, some of which were recently recorded. What can fans expect to see and how happy are you with the quality of the material?

While the live material for this release was from a concert that we did in 1992, the material and general disposition of the band hasn’t changed a bit, minus the

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Are there any touring or recording plans beyond the release of The Twenty Year Mix? Currently, no. However, we’re not opposed to the option. Admittedly, each of us are your typical parents (soccer dads, if you will), with kids involved in every aspect of young teenage activities, combined with each of our full-time professional endeavors that pay the bills. Nevertheless, our hearts are the same as they were when we were Crystavox. If God is leading us in a particular direction, then we will follow!

loss of a few hair follicles.  Everything being released in this package truly encapsulates the essence of what Crystavox was and still are. Ultimately, with the help of Fred’s studio and some creative upscaling, the quality of the original content is actually very good! In addition, all of the recent interview and studio footage was shot in HD. Generally, the package came together nicely and appears relatively seamless!

Let’s discuss your first two releases-the self-titled album and the followup, The Bottom Line.These albums achieved moderate success. After all these years, how do you view this time in your life and what the band was able to accomplish?

This is a frustrating subject for us.

While God always has His way for those who believe and we felt that we were prepared to serve on the world stage, our personal circumstances got the best of us and, ultimately, paralysis by analysis began to plague our decision making process instead of faith in His sovereignty. Since things didn’t seem to make sense on paper, we balked. In this regard, I blame only myself for leading Crystavox in the wrong direction. Nevertheless, God has been exceptionally gracious to each of us since that time and has coached me towards a more faith-led existence. We are continually amazed by what God continues to do with

such a small portion of work!

I’ve always felt that Crystavox, along with Holy Soldier, had the songs, talent and style to break it big. Why do you think things didn’t work out this way for the band?

Ultimately, I have to blame myself. Since I was the outspoken frontman for Crystavox, and arguably maintained a heavy hand in the decision making process, I admit that when things didn’t make sense on paper, I balked and subsequently, the band recoiled. Honestly, each of the artists in Crystavox are worthy of more recognition than I could ever give them!

Your song lyrics were quite bold and both of your albums had encouraging messages to the listeners printed in the liner notes.

What was the inspiration for doing this?

I can speak to this personally, since I wrote both the lyrics as well as the “Purpose Statement” on the first album and the “Declaration of Dependence” on the second album.

Basically, it was the band’s desire to make a difference in this world! While these goals could be perceived as juvenile and lacking in maturity, it was

our hope that God would use our work as a stepping stone to distributing His saving grace and mercy. I took writing lyrics and comments as an exceptional responsibility since, ultimately, I was tasked with accurately representing Christ and His goals through alignment with scripture. As a result and for better or for worse, I spent an inordinate amount of time ensuring that the lyrics and writings properly aligned with Biblical teachings, while taking on some of the more intense subjects that I had personally wrestled with.

“Home Again” is one of the best Christian metal power ballads ever recorded and is a beautiful take on the story of The Prodigal Son. Were you surprised the song was so widely accepted?

When originally crafting the lyrics around the scriptural Prodigal Son story, it was very personal to me, since I had done exactly that too many times to count. Nevertheless, from the moment that Tony and I began to

arrange it and practice rough versions of it, the song immediately became a band favorite. From that moment on, the Holy Spirit seemed to breathe life into it.

Do you feel you have accomplished what God has called you to do in Crystavox, or is there work left to be done?

We believe that, in spite of ourselves, we did exactly what we were supposed to do in Crystavox.

Furthermore, Christ continues to use the Crystavox name to provide forms of ministry, whether it be on MySpace, Facebook or otherwise. Beyond Crystavox, there is always more work to be done. Consequently, each of us continues to keep our eyes and ears open to what God may have for us next, whether through Crystavox or some other venue. Either way, we just keep on keepin’ on.

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Looking in the Mirror with...

Mortification

by Steve Rowe

It is truly a blessing and a privilege to be alive and well enough to continue on in the Christian music ministry. After starting my first Christian band in 1984, it has been a long and rugged road.

These past 26 years have been very rewarding (most of the time) and also very disappointing (some of the time).

My fondest early memories are recording the Lightforce 1986 demos and winning The Melbourne Hard Rock/Heavy Metal Battle of the Bands in 1987.

Winning this competition – at a time when metal had prestige and Christian metal was hugely popular – was overwhelming considering how “up front” the Jesus lyrics were! It was a great time with Lightforce, starting as a heavy rock act in 1986 and developing into a heavy metal band by 1987. Lightforce received great acclaim in the Australian metal scene in '87 through '89. Sadly, we signed a terrible record deal and by the end of '89, with the departure of the guitarist and vocalist, Lightforce was over.

As it happens, the break-up ended up being the best thing that could have happened as I regrouped with Cameron Hall and Jayson Sherlock to continue in Jesus metal ministry – extreme thrash metal style! The original idea was to present a band more along the lines of German thrash (Sodom, Kreator, Destruction) rather than continue in the street level Maidenesque vein. In 1990, after hearing British death metal bands Bolt Thrower, Napalm Death and Benediction, the obvious progression was to incorporate strong death/ grind influences and the name Mortification better suited this more aggressive sound. With the recording of the 1991 self-titled album we landed a record deal with Intense Records and Mortification just took off! All four of the early albums – Break The Curse, Mortification, Scrolls of the Megilloth and 10

Post Momentary Affliction – were highly acclaimed by both fans and media.

The best memory from those early days was signing with mainstream metal giant Nuclear Blast Records in Germany. With Intense taking good care of the Christian market, Nuclear Blast took great care of the secular market. The promotional campaign by Nuclear Blast for Post Momentary in 1993 was huge! The results were just as huge! Post Momentary was named “Album of the Month” in Germany's biggest metal magazine in mid '93. It was a rewarding time for me musically because Post Momentary presented a vast cross section of musical styles. We incorporated death metal, grindcore, thrash, power metal and rock, which set this release apart from a scene entrenched in trying to “out brutal” itself. I wanted to be the new level of original and unique. My favorite extreme metal band from the early 90's was Pestilence – highly acclaimed for being unique and original in musical presentation.

In 1993 we toured in the US to a fantastic response, especially at the famous Cornerstone Festival. We followed this with a double European tour/US tour in mid 1994 – the highlight being a main stage appearance at the With Full Force Festival in Germany, playing just before some of my favorite bands – Spermbirds, Entombed, Sick Of It All and Napalm Death. Being a long time

Mortification fan of street wise hardcore punk, Sick Of It All and Spermbirds were formidable live and Napalm Death was just so amazing that day! It was an incredible honor to share that main stage and to also receive an encore.

That concert was another turning point in my mind of artistic reinvention.

I planned on recording a very organic, street-metal album which was achieved with Primitive Rhythm Machine in 1995, followed by an album that presented some brutal power metal. This was achieved with the also acclaimed EnVision EvAngelene.

Another huge contributing factor at the time was the invention of truly satanic black metal. Death metal died a death here and Mortification was no longer accepted by the Australian extreme metal community. Most bands switched to boring black metal styles. Well, I guess it was easier!

Record your band on a ghetto blaster, make 3rd generation copies and then sell it as art! What a joke!!!

1996 was a highlight year, with a very successful tour of the US and New Zealand. One of the most memorable performances was Busking on the street in New Zealand. The "Christian" promoter of the all ages show had not organized anything? Our club show went ahead on the Friday night after a day where I contacted the city council to arrange access to power to perform live on the street, outside a cathedral, near the city square. This was achieved and we played for 50 minutes on Saturday night at 6PM to most of the people from the club show and their younger brothers and sisters, plus many fascinated passers-by. We had a guitar case out for people to throw coins into and sold CDs and tees on the street! I believe “real Christianity” involves doing this type of street level evangelism. If you do not have a club, then play on the street! It is amazing the doors that God opens if we are willing to be fools for Jesus’ name!

Of course, later in 1996, I was diagnosed with leukemia and thus started a huge battle for my life. I was very seriously and terminally ill! After contracting cancer of the spinal fluid 4 months after a bone marrow transplant, my life looked set to end. Doug Van Pelt, editor of this fine publication, can attest to just how close to death I was in mid 1997, as he was at my bedside when I was given just hours to live. It was tremendous for me that my great friend Doug travelled all the way here to be by my side in my dying hours along with the rest of my family and close friends.

Without Doug, none of us involved in Christian hard music would have ever had the opportunities that we have had! To think that HM and Heaven's Metal are still in hard copy format is a huge blessing to this scene and I hope more and more Christians realize just what lengths Doug has gone to these past 25 years to give all of us a platform from which to present Christian hard music! And like Busking on the street, Doug is willing to get his hands dirty and be with his friends when they are in most need – even if they live half a world away!

Please never take HM and Heaven's Metal for granted. Send as many letters of gratefulness to Doug as you can! Staying in hard copy format is as difficult as continuing to release hard copy CDs in a selfish world where people steal using the Internet! Are you killing the music art that you love by stealing? Please go to hmmagazine.com, and if you feel that HM and Heaven's Metal deserve your support you can donate via Paypal on the HM site. If you donate you will receive some great free Christian hard music, including a rare live version of the Mortification song, “Mephibosheth,” that I wrote with Doug in 1994!

Final Thoughts I came through the two cancers very scarred and suffer from paraplegia, 50% loss of eyesight and countless medical conditions. Through it all, God has strengthened me, my marriage to my wonderful wife Kate and given me the miraculous ability to solider on! In '98 we toured in the US, in '99 in Europe and in 2001, with all odds against us, completed a three and a half month world tour. This tour is absolutely the highlight victory of the past 20 Years! Taking in Australia, South Africa, Europe, the US, Mexico, Chile, Argentina and Brazil! Truly, this was a remarkable trek. Consider this also: God gave me the ability and vision to book every show myself. To God be the glory for this!

I have always given each of the fourteen studio albums the maximum amount of thought and effort possible, never wanting to present the same 'ol thing every time – something for which I have been widely criticized.

But consider this: being willing to be inventive to the point where we have performed acoustically and to great reception says to me, as it says to most true fans – Jesus is the master of reinvention!! Even down to reinventing my ability to even be able to still perform! Truly, I feel privileged to be an ambassador for Jesus through music!!

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Leaving a

legacy

By Jeff McCormack

Ah, the 1980’s were great! So much hair, so much flair, so many great melodic metal bands to choose from in an age where Christian “metal” was still looked at as a questionable style. Unfortunately, there were quite a few good bands that got lost in the massive wave of hairspray and torn jeans. Ohio’s own Legacy was one such band. With a sound reminiscent of Stryper, Dokken and the like,they released a couple of high quality tapes between 1987 and the early 90’s, and made a big enough blip on the screen to have songs included on compilations albums by both Pure Metal and Star Song.

Doug Meacham (vocals), Fred Blanchard (Guitar), Matt Rice (guitar), John Rice (bass) and John Jenkins (drums) seemed poised on the shore, ready to jump into the ocean of metal missionaries with a label backing them for a full release. Unfortunately, it never happened. Jump ahead twenty years and we now have a CD reissue of those original tapes, leaving a LEGACY for the world to enjoy.

JM: So guys, fill us in with a brief rundown of the band’s history.

John: In September of 1987, my brother Matt and I received a call from a youth pastor friend looking to put together a Christian rock band. Matt and I had been playing around with a drummer friend of ours at the time. He also put in a call to Fred to see if he knew of any singers that were available, and Fred’s band had just broken up so he and the singer were available.

JM: Share some of highlights or accomplishments for the band?

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John: We won a battle of the bands at the Alroa Villa in Columbus, which was actually a pretty big accomplishment because in that day it was the place for heavy metal. That contest had multiple rounds and went on for a couple months. We also competed in the “New Band Showcase” at the Cornerstone festival and came in second. First prize was a recording contract with Pure Metal, and even though we came in second, they offered us a contract too.

We were eventually offered a record deal with Star Song. We were under contract for a year during which they would release one song that would appear on a compilation album they putting out. At the end of the year, they had an option to pick us up for a full length LP. That never happened either.

JM: So how did it Legacy come to an end?

John: After four and a half years, in the spring of 1992, Doug and I just said, hey, let’s call it quits.

Matt had left in ’90 to pursue a full-time preaching ministry, and that kind of took the wind out of our sails. Shortly afterward, Fred left too. We tried out various replacements, but it just never reached the same momentum as we originally had. Then of course came grunge and it just seemed like our kind of music wasn’t so hot anymore.

Doug: We were also able to open up for Mylon LeFevre and Rez Band for a huge New Year's Eve event at the Ohio Center Arena in downtown Columbus, which was great.

JM: So, what are your hopes for this reissue?

Matt: Our hopes for this issue are that our kids would think we are cool…just kidding. Actually, I find it very satisfying that the music we created almost 20 years is being released again. Ultimately

JM: How did the reissue come about?

In the summer of 2008, I was contacted by Stephen Craig who said he had seen us at Cornerstone in ’89, and told us what he was doing with Eonian. I told the guys and we were all pretty into the idea.

I think we would all love to see the message of our music somehow reach the hearts of listeners – the message that Jesus Christ is real and that He changes lives.

John: I always regretted that we never signed to at least have had an album that was professionally produced and packaged with album art and everything that I could put in my. At the very least, we will have that now.

Doug: Plus, it has re-kindled the friendship within the group.

JM: Any chance this may lead to a reunion and new recordings for Legacy?

John: I don’t know, we all kind of have our own things going. We have talked about new music. A lot of that is finding the time.

Doug: We've talked about possibly recording a couple of new songs. We will be working on doing something like that as we rehearse for our CD release party.

JM: What are some of your thoughts on today’s Christian music and how things have changed in 20 years?

John: Honestly, I don’t keep up much on specific bands today. My experience from two decades ago kind of soured me on the Christian music industry and I never really got back in to it.

Honestly I feel that there is a lack of understanding of where Christian rock came from and what it was like for those of us who grew up on it back

in the 70’s and 80’s. In the secular world, there is reverence for bands like The Stones, The Who, and Van Halen. Kids today know the history and it’s cool. I’ll ask kids today who are into Christian rock if they’ve heard of Rez Band, Mylon or Petra, and they’ve never heard of them. Some of them have heard of Stryper but don’t seem to be into them that much. Whether they like the music or not is beside the point. I thank God for the pioneers that didn’t bow down to the people who linked their music with the devil. I think it could be beneficial for the kids of today to know where it came from.

Doug: The CCM market has changed a lot since the Legacy days. It seems bands are making the choice to either play modern worship music where the songs are all about praising God/Jesus or they are going the route of trying to "crossover" to the general market, where they sing songs about about things that happen in life overall. It's tough for groups to figure out where they fit in the market today.

Matt: I think the quality of Christian music has definitely improved, but I wonder if some of the evangelistic “edge” that we saw in the 80’s has been lost. I will never forget the night we opened for Mylon Lefevre in 1988. He played half his set and then proceeded to preach for 20-30 minutes.

When he gave an altar call for people to sell out to Jesus, hundreds of people filled the altars. That really made an impact on me. It seems like there used to be more of a focus on the ministry side of things. That is not to say that bands today are not concerned about evangelism and reaching the lost,

it just seemed like it was a little more “in your face” twenty years ago – the artistic product was not seen as an end in itself, but a means whereby the gospel could reach the lost.

Today you hear a lot of people say, “we are not a Christian band - we are just individual Christians who happen to be in a band.” I think I understand what artists mean when they make such statements, but I wonder why the distinction has to be made. What is wrong with being known as a Christian band?

I remember reading that the late Keith Green used to say that if he could ever find something more effective than his music was in reaching people for Christ, he would quit his music and do what was more effective for souls. For Keith, the music was about the Kingdom of God first. It was about reaching people for Christ first. I think we need more people and bands that are sold out to that type of thinking - that every project, performance and opportunity are given to us for one purpose – to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

In eternity, it will not matter whether we played before thousands of people. What will matter is whether we used our opportunities to reach souls for Christ.

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Living sacrifice in review: Living Sacrif ice

1990-2002

As one who is more fond of being able to understand lyrics, this debut release still stands as a favorite from the band's catalog. After being impressed by their early 3-song demo, this full length release was a pleasant full-serving of their heavy, forceful and aggressive thrash sound. DJ's vocals were often compared to those of Slayer's, and they had the power and intensity to enhance the musical journey, while maintaining decipherability of the lyrics. With DJ's departure, the band's sound changed radically, making this release stand out as unique in their catalog. – Jeff McCormack

Nonexistent

I really enjoyed Living Sacrifice's debut of straight-forward thrash, so when the ultra-cool negative effects ads came out for Nonexistent, I was stoked. The sophomore release was completely different, however. The speed-metal attack of the self-titled record was gone in favor of a more complex, and varied tempo approach to death metal. The vocals on this release will always be controversial, but this record will stand as a significant chain of progression in the LS catalog. – Loyd Harp

Inhabit

With each album it seemed as if they were leaving the thrash behind and embracing brutality, and this was the culmination of that progression. With vocals that actually sound forced from a dark inner place and the more aggressive approach to playing, this is where Living Sacrifice ripped out a home in my heart. Nothing beats growling along to the lyrics of Inhabit either. All together now, “Praise the Lord, God Almighty...” – Michael Larson

Reborn

With a sound that was more groove-oriented than their previous mix of thrashy-growly death metal, these guys – in addition to rebirthing the band – essentially resuscitated a dead metal world when this was originally released back in 1997 (and later reissued in 2004 on Solid State). Fitzhugh took over the mic, and with an urgency and clarity that we had never before heard from this band, they just dared to be ignored. Lyrically the band was as centered as ever – a genuine emotional outpouring combined with a passionate, yet gut-wrenching humility before the Lord.

Every one of these brutally percussive, technically brilliant songs just smoked – the monstrous lurching and buzzing guitar riffing enough to make you wanna pound your fists and cry, “Arrrrrggggh!” What made this album so great?

Perhaps it was the way old-school metal was so seamlessly intertwined with the new; or the way Fitzhugh’s harsh, yet discernable vocal assault so perfectly complimented the musical aggression; or perhaps it was the way in which space between notes was so cleverly employed; the clean production, the diversity, etc. Regardless, with Reborn they left their indelible mark on the scene – one which would spawn such greats as Extol, As I Lay Dying and Demon Hunter. – Jonathan Swank

The Hammering Process

The Hammering Process showed Living Sacrifice re-inventing itself by adding a second percussionist in Matthew Putman. In concert he banged on trash cans and real heavy cymbals and whatnot. It gave the intensely heavy band a tribal feel a la Sepultura. Possibly the band's finest moment, although it can be argued that they even built on it and improved with the next one… – Doug Van Pelt

Image credit - Bianca Montes

Conceived in Fire

With each release LS grew stronger and tighter, so it wrenched my metal heart to see the band break up for a few years after this release. Borrowing liberally from thrash/death giant Sepultura's percussion-heavy format, Conceived in Fire displayed a high degree of technicality, while throwing out LS' most infectious and haunting melodic riffs. High point: “Symbiotic. – Chris Gatto

The Inf inate Order

The legends are back with the highly anticipated new chapter in their repertoire.

Perhaps you're like me and Dave Stagg's recent LS review in HM "didn't meet your expectations." Let me reassure you that right from the gate with "Overkill Exposure" the death metal assault will leave you bruised and broken on your living room floor. And when the beating lets up for "Love Forgives," "God is My Home," and the acoustic guitars into Mortification inspired closer "Apostasy," your bleeding ears won't notice, because you'll be too busy licking your wounds. Every LS album has been an improvement over the last and The Infinite Order is no exception.

Always incredibly tight and technical, with Sepultura influences still in place, this album displays more of a thrash appeal, ala Testament, but fits right in with current heavyweights like Lamb of God. LS were more than pioneers in Christian metal – they were ahead of their time – and apparently now is their time. It's been said that for a proper execution one needs a sharp axe and a sure aim – hard and fast – and so it is with great heavy metal. Preordered discs include an accidental 12th bonus track, intended for Europe. – Chris Gatto

18 Surf this: soundmass.com, facedownrecords.com, toothandnail.com, ulterium-records.com, myspace.com/f irstbornrock, tourniquet.net, metalblade.com, myspace.com/stairway

album reviews DEAD MOONS GREY DMG Upon hearing tracks from their myspace, I was eagerly anticipating this addition to the sludge/southern metal field.

Unfortunately, on DMG, mixed results are achieved. The terrific intro to “Visions” gets ruined by some rough, almost demo-quality rhythms when the guitars and drums collide; and some off-key singing during the bridge of “Mother Truth” hinders that track. “Savior” has a cool acapella intro with some southern-inspired harmonic singing, but the effects are lost when the acoustic guitar joins in. However, “True Colors” is a haunting acoustic number with a unique sound seemingly inspired by Led Zeppelin's or Alice in Chains' approach to balladry. That song plus the album closer “Cast” are the highlights. The latter features heavy as a Caterpillar, repetitive sludgey riffing, and leads this writer to hope the band explores this direction more in the future. Overall the vocals are an acquired taste, but the strong point is definitely the riffing—when they let loose and get heavy. Aside from some weak moments in the tightness and soloing department, DMG is a reluctantly welcome addition to the southern fried metal scene. [Soundmass] Loyd Harp WAR OF AGES ETERNAL The warriors of metal are back and ready to fight … and WIN! Production is clean and powerful, music is stronger than ever, and we hear amazing guest vocals from Tim and Josh of As I Lay Dying, and Sonny from POD. Layering a brutally heavy bottom end, massive drums and dueling guitars underneath a blast of growls, singing and battle cry vocals, this is sure to appeal to fans of Hatebreed, Throwdown and other metalcore monsters. [Facedown] Jeff McCormack PROJECT 86 PICKET FENCE CARTEL P86 have consistently released strong records, and have not let us down with this latest. With a slightly heavier, more metallic sound, they have kicked it up a level musically and with some of the most spiritual and powerful lyrics to date. If you were not as pleased with 2007’s Rival Factions, be of good cheer, this will make you fall in love them all over again. [Tooth and Nail] Jeff McCormack

GRAVE FORSAKEN FIGHT TO THE DEATH Back with their fourth album, Grave Forsaken crank out another album full of thrash anthems. This time, the BayArea sound comes through even more – riffing is tighter than ever and the soloing is top notch! Lyrically, the band still pulls no punches tackling subjects of spirituality and life choices through the recurring themes of war and violence. The only low point on the album is an attempt at a thrash ballad. Complete with female vocals, I'm still unsure of how I feel about it. It's not that I'm against a thrash band trying some slower stuff, I'm just not sure the results in this case are positive. Nonetheless, this is still a great album, 7 out of 10. [Soundmass] Loyd Harp SINBREED WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE Power metal – European style!

Bringing together soaring melodic vocals and aggressive, yet melodic song structures, the band includes members from Blind Guardian and Seventh Avenue. Produced by Markus Teske (who has worked with Symphony X), Neal Morse and others, you kind of know what to expect. For fans of Narnia, ReinXeed, Harmony and Helloween and other such high quality melodic metal bands. This release sets the bar high for future 2010 euro-metal releases.

[Ulterium] Jeff McCormack FIRE BORN DIRT MOUTH It took a handful of listens to get past the mediocre mix and the often off-key background vocals to find a band with fierce potential waiting to be revealed with a better recording budget.

This PA band has vague hints of Disturbed peeking throughout, packing the disc with sixteen songs of mid-tempo grinding metal, with vocalist Luke laying down gritty, heavy vocals on top. [Independent] Jeff McCormack Ted Kirkpatrick ODE TO A ROADKILL Wow, he wasn’t kidding – stoner rock for sure. Slowgrinding, gritty, distorted, heavy, hypnotic tunes, overlaid with real wild animal sounds as the only “vocals” on this album. It makes a sort of atmospheric soundtrack of life, and the animal sounds bring it to life. Don’t buy this expecting anything close to Tourniquet’s sound – but if you enjoy stoner/doom metal, grab it. I thoroughly enjoyed the release; it is so different than anything else I own. [Pathogenic] Jeff McCormack

AS I LAY DYING THE POWERLESS RISE Picking up where An Ocean Between Us left off, then soaring to new heights. While continuing with the melodic singing choruses and the normal growls expected, this time around we find an added depth of even deeper, darker, death metal growling moments. Lyrics discuss issues surrounding society’s backward way of thinking, and ways to address these problems. Lyrically, musically, and structurally, this release sets new standards for the band, and dare I say for metalcore as a whole.

[Metal Blade] Jeff McCormack ONWARD TO OLYMPUS

THIS WORLD IS NOT MY HOME

Beautifully Brutal! - the term that tore into my mind after only three tracks. Guitars attack and rip into you with heavy crunch riffs, while beating you into submission with some seriously tight and precise drumming. Imagine the energy/power of War of Ages combined with the progressive side of Becoming the Achetype. Vocals styles range from medium low, mid and melodic ranges. Progdeath-metal-core? Whatever you wish to call it, I call it beautifully brutal – and I do so at extremely loud volumes. [Facedown] Jeff McCormack STAIRWAY INTERREGNUM Album five finds this band doing what they have consistently done well. While most might consider their sound as dated – and I admit, the style, the lyrics, and the production give it a sound like it came right out of 1981-83; though this is not a bad thing for those of us rocking at that time.

Production again sounds thin and I would love to hear it beefed up to give it more power. Another fine slab of screaming guitar-solo laced gritty heavy rock. [Independent] Jeff McCormack FOR CHRIST SAKE DEATH IS BUT A BREATH AWAY This Northern Ireland band brings us four tracks of thrashing metal with vocal styles alternating and covering almost all styles of extreme metal, from death growls, to black shrieks, to actual singing. Better than average production for this style, shows promise for even better future releases.

[Independent] Jeff McCormack

19 ulterium-records.com, bombworksrecords.com, retroactiverecords.net, roxxproductions.com, soundmass.com, eonianrecords.com, solidstate.com, divinemetaldistro.com

AUDIOVISION FOCUS The latest Audiovision release, entitled Focus, is a top tier melodic hard rock/metal album. Focus is full of high energy rock n roll – a true compendium of rock anthems with epic chorus’s, melodic guitar solos and driving rhythms.

Fans of Narnia, Stryper, Europe and Dio should be obtaining this release in droves. The emphasis on the melodies and hooks is so apparent I couldn’t help but start to sing along and bust out my trusty air guitar. After such scorchers as“WeWill Go,”“Keep the Fire Burning” and“Invitation” there can really be no mistake, this is 80’s sounding metal with up to date sensibilities that just kicks butt. [Ulterium] Keven Crothers DISAFFECTION BEGIN THE REVOLUTION With a strong mixture of old school thrash metal, modern sensibility and clean production values this release is a keeper for sure. A musical style that is very akin to early thrash metal of the 1980’s. Whether it’s the fast riff-a-matic style of Slayer, Destruction, or the tempo changes of Exodus, Disaffection bring it to a boil. Charging full speed ahead with ‘Metal Kombat’ through ‘I Wanna See the Chaos’ these guys rip the doors off. Power saw guitar parts with banging double bass and slicing vocals you know Disaffection mean business. [Bombworks] Keven Crothers TITANIC/FINAL AXE MAIDENVOYAGE/SCREAMING IN SILENCE/ BEYOND HELL’S GATES For those who can’t get enough of Menchen’s heavy metal thunder, here are 3 more versions of these releases replete with new artwork, remastering and – here’s the major plus – rerecorded drums courtesy of Robert Sweet.

While Maiden Voyage – in terms of the original recordings – was the best of the bunch (nice catchy, heavy riffs and vocals), BHG is the release here that really benefits the most from the new recording. These revitalized tunes have been reworked in some areas (and include 3 new tracks) and its on this one that Robert really “let’s loose” with his skills, showing us a more flamboyant style than we’ve ever heard from him before. The tasty drum solo alone (“Area 51”) may be enough for you Sweet fans to justify the purchase. [Retroactive] Jonathan Swank

MORTIFICATION BREAK THE CURSE Twenty years ago, the band released this slab of molten death metal into the world. This two-disc set includes the album, plus the studio version of “Time Crusader,” an older Light Force recording “Eyes of Destruction,” and the hard to find EP Noah Sat Down and Listened…. The second disc is the 1990 DVD of the first ever crossover concert by the band, and while it is bootleg quality, it is still a nice piece of history to own. [Roxx Productions] Jeff McCormack LEGACY LEGACY Remember Ohio’s Legacy, who followed closely in the footsteps of Bloodgood, Whitecross and Stryper and had a credible sound and an uncompromising message? Unfortunately, they were never rewarded a major label debut. Eonian Records, in cooperation with the former band members, has compiled and digitally remastered 14 songs spanning the bands’ short, but spirited career. Lead by Doug Meacham’s charismatic vocals, they mixed melodic metal rockers with radio-friendly ballads in a sincere and authentic manner. In retrospect, most of these songs, like “Soldiers Unite,” “One Way or the Other” and “What A World,” rock pretty hard. And the packaging and liner notes make this a “must grab” collectable for fans of 80’s hair metal. It’s great to see these guys – who had their hearts in the right place – finally get their tunes into the light of day. [Eonian] Jonathan Swank VA CHRISTIAN METAL FELLOWSHIP COMP. VOL. II This compilation is an excellent place to start if you are into extreme metal and want to check out some of the current bands out there, or as a gift for a friend, ministry tool, etc. It's a grouping of several record labels and encompasses several styles- namely, black metal, death metal, one grindcore band- Rehumanize, and any combination thereof, including some bands with classical influences. Ecthirion, A Hill to Die Upon, Monotheist, Nephesh, and In Grief stand out among the 16 tracks here in digipak format. [divinemetaldistro] Chris Gatto

WINTERSOUL FROZEN STORM APOCALYPSE From the opening blasts on “Frostland,” it’s clear that Wintersoul aren’t messing around.

So much black metal these days is just an excuse to put out underproduced, simplistic-yet-harsh, noise. If that’s how you like your metal, do not look to Frozen Storm Apocalypse. Stylistically, they ride the line between traditional black metal and atmospheric. It’s incredibly fast-paced with lots of blast beats, and yet there are some programming effects that are present but not relied upon too heavily. Male and female vocals play off of each other nicely, while the instrumentation is top notch. Lyrically, the entire album is a metaphor with the winter theme. The world in which we live has become cold, cynical and spiritually devoid. Unlike some of their un-black contemporaries, the message isn’t a fire-and-brimstone salvation message so much as a pointing to what happens in life/society when the light isn’t present. It’s a bleak picture that Wintersoul have painted—one that doesn’t point to hope but rather the void created when hope isn’t present.

[Nokternal Hemizphear] Loyd Harp BRUCE E. MOORE METAL MISSIONARIES: THE ASSIMILATION OF EXTREME CHRISTIAN METAL Take twenty-four of the most extreme bands in Christian music, hit them all with a series of similar questions, and you end up with this very interesting eBook exploring the darkest realms of metal. Read what Frost Like Ashes, Holy Blood, Corpus Christi, Drottnar, Becoming the Archetype, Grave Robber, For Today, Pantokrator and many others have to say when asked: “Do you get tired of defending the genre of your band?” – “Do you think that the music or artwork might be too dark?” – “How do you reconcile touring with secular bands?” … and much more. An in-depth look behind-the-scenes and into the minds of Christians sincerely seeking to serve in areas most Christians seek to ignore. [Undark] Jeff McCormack

21

throwing down the gauntlet

By Steve Rowe

Bridging the Generation Gaps It is quite weird growing older and trying to stay abreast of what is going on in age groups older and especially younger. At 45, I am in a world that, on one hand, does not understand why I do not use Facebook and Twitter and still make phone calls and write checks. Then on another hand, the older people do not understand that I like to keep fit and as young as possible by keeping up with modern rock music while dying the grey out of my hair and beard and moisturizing my aging face.

I figured a couple of years back that generation gaps can be bridged. What I liked as an 8 year old – rock music and skating – 8 year old kids still love today. At 45, people still love rock music and standing around eating sausages in bread with their friends at a barbeque. As we get older skateboards are replaced by cars, RVs and sometimes high powered motorbikes. Many biker gangs and Christian biker squads are full of guys and gals in their 50's and 60's, and they to still love their rock!

So what is the perfect way to bridge the generation gaps? I got it!! Start a high energy Jesus Rock band, play at a skate park, have a free barbeque and invite some Christian bikers to bring their Harleys and put on a burn out display!

Everyone loves burn outs – kids, parents and bikers alike! Well, it was not all my idea but what came together for the first show for my Jesus Rock band.

Everyone enjoyed the rock in their own way and one thing that unites generations more than rock music is the Christian message! While sound checking before the show, I was singing our opening track “The Spirit of the Rock.” Jesus is the rock, and when we accept him as our saviour he sends his Holy Spirit to empower us to live as Christians! The band then kicked in and we all played the first section of “The Spirit of the Rock” together to check all of the sound levels.

Before we started playing I welcomed the crowd and a skater kid yelled out, “Play the ‘Spirit of the Rock’” Everyone laughed! Instant unity!! We played our set, the skaters skated, the parents ate the sausages along with the kids and the bikers, and then the bikers did their mighty burnout display.

Two hours after the show I was taking a bathroom break and overheard 2 very young kids skating down a nearby alleyway. They were about 6 or 7 years of age and one kid was singing “The Spirit of the Rock” over and over, teaching the words to his friend. Guitarist Lincoln Bowen overheard the kid teaching his friend the song line say, “Wow, there was a band, skating competition, motorbikes and everything! You should have been here earlier!”

Seeds of faith were sown in young minds and generation gaps bridged! The truth of the Christian faith bridges all gaps – both generational and cultural – to a much higher degree than even the might of the rock concert!

from the 80’s and 90’s

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METAL TRACKS

News bullets

METAL TRACKS Hard-news-for-metal-heads

NEPHESH NEPHESH Introducing

The extreme metal subculture is an extremely fickle lot.

What's hyped one day disappears the next. And theBy Loyd Harp black metal sub-genre is probably even worse than most.

The same is often true for extreme bands who proclaim Christ. Every once in a while a band comes along that shows great promise for bucking that trend. Colombians Nephesh are trying ust that.

Where are you from and when/how did the band form?

Nephesh was born in 2003, in Bogota, Colombia. After a year of being together, and through member changes, the band took the direction towards black metal with progressive influences. Each member has a clear vision about having a Gospel message and Christian lyrics.

[ hmmag.com/heavensmetal ]

Tell us a little bit about how you came to play black metal.

Nephesh takes its influence from the majority of musicians who make up the band, who all liked this kind of music.

At the same time, it was a challenge to reach the darkest point of metal with the gospel message.

How did you come to work with Nokternal Hemizphear?

Today the internet is the network that lets everyone interact and I believe that was the key tool for our work. Nokternal Hemizphear is known at a musical level, and we also know that God was good and allowed Jason to appreciate and believe in our work.

Tell us about the recording process of your buzzworthy debut "Inter Armas Silent Leges."

The recording process was very hard— we had to spend long nights without sleep, because when was finished, we were not satisfied. We had to start over the recording of a guitar or a part and the drums were all that were kept.

Those who are musicians understand this process. In the meantime, God gave us better tools and implements of recording. The whole process took about a year and a half or almost two years. It's also important to remember that you have to put up with your bandmates for over a month in the same place—it begins to be tedious but also you learn more about working together.

About the guitars—recording implements counted on line 6 pedals.

The drums were recorded using Yamaha's latest technology—triggers something that are sometimes difficult and costly in our country. All the orchestra was conducted and edited by our keyboardist, which took him over a year to complete! For the second

Skillet and Theft have just been confirmed as special guests for select dates on Creed's "$20-10 $Tour" dates, with Red also appearing at several concerts. As previously announced, "The $20-$10 Tour" kicks off on July 28th in Washington D.C., and was named because the first 2,010 reserved seats are $20 all-in. This means fans pay a flat rate with no added service charges, and the remaining seats will be priced at $20 or $10, plus applicable ticketing fees. A full itinerary and lineup can be found below. Tickets for "The 20-10 Tour" concerts will be available through all Ticketmaster outlets, through LiveNation.com, or charge-by-phone at 1-800-745-3000 (except the show on August 20th in Gilford, NH). Dates and times are subject to change without notice. Tickets for the August 20th Meadowbrook U.S. Cellular Pavilion concert in Gilford, NH will be available through the venue's Box Office, by calling 603-293-4700 and at select ticket locations. Check [http://www.meadowbrook. net/?page=ticket_info] for additional information.

Crystavox and Roxx Records are very proud to reveal the full release details and new cover art for their brand new Limited Edition release The Twenty Year Mix. This two disc set is scheduled to be released May 25th, 2010 and will consist of both a full length CD and a very special DVD release.

Join us for one special weekend as we celebrate 25 years of Heaven’s Metal Magazine! Two days of heavenly metal from artists that have in the past, and still do today, grace the pages of Heaven’s Metal magazine! But wait, not only will we be celebrating 25 years of Heaven’s Metal magazine; we will also be celebrating several seminal anniversaries from some of the key artists that helped shape the magazine, many of which still continue to grace the pages of the magazine today!

Norma Jean revealed the cover art for their upcoming fifth album Meridional in a unique way. With an intense, self-generated video that also debuts a snippet of a new song. The clip, which debuted yesterday on AOL’s Noisecreep is now up on the band’s website and You Tube: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mX-4zg1Y_ D8] Meridional is set for release on July 13. Norma Jean will tour in support of it on this summer’s Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival.

We Are The Fallen, released their debut album Tear The World Down on May 11th, 2010. The first single from this iconic band ‘Bury Me Alive,’ is already making its way up the modern and active rock charts. In June, We Are The Fallen will return to Europe for performances at the Download Festival and Rock am Ring/Rock im Park.

Summer U.S. touring plans are also in the works and will be announced shortly.

This summer, AS I LAY DYING will launch the “Cool Tour” with Underoath, Between The Buried And Me, Blessthefall, The Acacia Strain, Architects, Cancer Bats, and War of Ages.

The “Cool Tour” will launch July 12 in Orlando; for pre-sale tickets and more information, visit: www.cooltour10.com.

Making their national TV debut May 22 on the Revolver Golden Gods Awards, As I Lay Dying appeared with such artists as Slash, Dave Grohl, Lemmy Kilmister, Rob Zombie, Zakk Wylde, Fear Factory, The Devil Wears Prada, and Brian Posehn’s all-star band featuring Scott Ian, Brendon Small, John Tempesta and Joey Vera, to name a few. For more info, visit: [http://www.revolvermag.com/golden-gods].

AN ISSUE OF ANNIVERSARIES In an attempt to catch up from our fanzine "drought," and to get back on schedule, we are delivering this new issue as June/July.

Although it wasn’t originally planned this way, it worked out that we are celebrating the 20th anniversaries of Legacy, Crystavox and CRYSTAVOX Mortification. And each band has a new release out – packed with all kinds of gems – to coincide with the occasion. Thanks to Bill Bafford at Roxx Productrions and Stephen Craig at Eonian Records for their support and help with this issue, along with our own Steve Rowe for his special contribution. And, speaking of anniversaries, think of this current issue as a “prequel to the sequel,” because with LEGACY issue 86 we will be bringing you an expanded, special edition of the fanzine in commemoration of Heaven’s Metal’s 25th birthday.

We have much planned for this issue. In addition to the featuring a mix of newer and older bands, we will be revealing the top 100 REVIEW: Christian metal albums of all time! Trust me; you won’t want to LIVING SACRIFICE IN1990-2002 miss this issue. So, if you aren’t signed up already, do it now. And while you’re at it, buy a subscription for a fellow metalhead.

Travelling Musicianaries

BY MICHAEL LARSON

In the early‘90s, Crystavox released two high-quality albums that were nevertheless underwhelmingly received. Chalk it up as another example of the“experts”not getting it right. All these years later, the four original members are still serving the Lord and are back together to give everyone another chance to enjoy their music. We recently caught up with lead singer Adam Lee Kemp to discuss past successes and failures, as well as the band’s spiritual and musical journey that has culminated in the release of The Twenty Year Mix by Roxx Records.

Chris Beck: Crystavox hasn’t been heard from for years. What has the band been doing, both professionally and musically?

Adam Lee Kemp: While each of us moved in separate directions professionally following the disbanding of Crystavox, each remained involved in the music and performance industries in one form or another. Loren Holmquist (bass/guitars) and I worked on several studio projects for other artists. Fred Helm (drums) worked in TV and video production, primarily in the off road racing sector, and eventually ended up directing and producing his own releases. Tony Lopez (guitars/bass) has made a name for himself as Southern California’s premier expert in studio design, building and maintenance. Finally, Loren became an audio engineering consultant.

Regarding our professional endeavors, I am working as a PMP-credentialed project manager/ consultant in the IT industry, Loren is a pastor, Fred is a police detective and Tony is the owner/ operator of an audio support company.

For your new release, The Twenty Year Mix, additional guitars, drums, etc. were recorded. What were the reasons for doing this?

The project started out as a remix only. Given the obsessive-compulsive degree of creativity that each of the Crystavox band members retain, when we heard the original material, each of us agreed that there were immaturities and creative gaps in the presentation that were driving

Heaven's Metal Fanzine June/July 2010 Issue #85

TABLE

OF

ELEMENTS

06 Metal tracks Nephesh, August Burns Red, Klank, and many others.

08 CRYSTAVOX Chris Beck talks with lead singer Adam Lee Kemp

about the band's journey.

10 Mortification Steve Rowe chronicles his own musical metal journey.

us crazy. Consequently, Loren and Fred went to work adding subtle guitar overtones, revised bass compression and new drum samples. These served to bridge those audio gaps in hopes to make the remix a more palatable project and sellable item.

Are there any touring or recording plans beyond the release of The Twenty Year Mix?

Currently, no. However, we’re not opposed to the option. Admittedly, each of us are your typical parents (soccer dads, if you will), with kids involved in every aspect of young teenage activities, combined with each of our full-time professional endeavors that pay the bills. Nevertheless, our hearts are the same as they were when we were Crystavox. If God is leading us in a particular direction, then we will follow!

The release will include a DVD of live concert footage and other video clips, some of which were recently recorded. What can fans expect to see and how happy are you with the quality of the material?

While the live material for this release was from a concert that we did in 1992, the material and general disposition of the band hasn’t changed a bit, minus the loss of a few hair follicles.  Everything being released in this package truly encapsulates the essence of what Crystavox was and still are. Ultimately, with the help of Fred’s studio and some creative upscaling, the quality of

12 LEAVING A LEGACY Jeff McCormack talks about the reissue of the

8

band Legacy's music.

14 IN REVIEW Spanning over two decades of music, Living Sacrifice in

Leaving a

BY JEFF MCCORMACK

AH, THE 1980’S WERE GREAT! SO MUCH HAIR, SO MUCH FLAIR, SO MANY GREAT MELODIC METAL BANDS TO CHOOSE FROM IN AN AGE WHERE CHRISTIAN “METAL” WAS STILL LOOKED AT AS A QUESTIONABLE STYLE. UNFORTUNATELY, THERE WERE QUITE A FEW GOOD BANDS THAT GOT LOST IN THE MASSIVE WAVE OF HAIRSPRAY AND TORN JEANS. OHIO’S OWN LEGACY WAS ONE SUCH BAND. WITH A SOUND REMINISCENT OF STRYPER,

DOKKEN AND THE LIKE, THEY RELEASED A COUPLE OF HIGH QUALITY TAPES BETWEEN 1987 AND THE EARLY 90’S, AND MADE A BIG ENOUGH BLIP ON THE SCREEN TO HAVE SONGS INCLUDED ON COMPILATIONS ALBUMS BY BOTH PURE METAL AND STAR SONG. DOUG MEACHAM (VOCALS), FRED BLANCHARD (GUITAR), MATT RICE (GUITAR), JOHN RICE (BASS) AND JOHN JENKINS (DRUMS) SEEMED POISED ON THE SHORE, READY TO JUMP INTO THE OCEAN OF METAL MISSIONARIES WITH A LABEL BACKING THEM FOR A FULL RELEASE. UNFORTUNATELY, IT NEVER HAPPENED. JUMP AHEAD TWENTY YEARS AND WE NOW HAVE A CD REISSUE OF THOSE ORIGINAL TAPES, LEAVING A LEGACY FOR THE WORLD TO ENJOY. JM: SO GUYS, FILL US IN WITH A BRIEF RUNDOWN OF THE BAND’S HISTORY.

JOHN: IN SEPTEMBER OF 1987, MY BROTHER MATT AND I RECEIVED A CALL FROM A YOUTH PASTOR FRIEND LOOKING TO PUT TOGETHER A CHRISTIAN ROCK BAND. MATT AND I HAD BEEN PLAYING AROUND WITH A DRUMMER FRIEND OF OURS AT THE TIME. HE ALSO PUT IN A CALL TO FRED TO SEE IF HE KNEW OF ANY SINGERS THAT WERE AVAILABLE, AND FRED’S BAND HAD JUST BROKEN UP SO HE AND THE SINGER WERE AVAILABLE. JM:SHARESOMEOFHIGHLIGHTSORACCOMPLISHMENTS

FOR THE BAND? JOHN: WE WON A BATTLE OF THE BANDS AT THE ALROA VILLA IN COLUMBUS, WHICH WAS ACTUALLY A PRETTY BIG ACCOMPLISHMENT BECAUSE IN THAT DAY IT WAS THE PLACE FOR HEAVY METAL. THAT CONTEST HAD MULTIPLE ROUNDS AND WENT ON FOR A COUPLE MONTHS. WE ALSO COMPETED IN THE “NEW BAND SHOWCASE”AT THE CORNERSTONE FESTIVAL AND CAME IN SECOND. FIRST PRIZE WAS A RECORDING CONTRACT WITH PURE METAL, AND EVEN THOUGH WE CAME IN SECOND, THEY OFFERED US A CONTRACT TOO.

OF 1992, DOUG AND I JUST SAID, HEY, LET’S CALL IT QUITS. MATT HAD LEFT IN ’90 TO PURSUE A FULL-TIME PREACHING MINISTRY, AND THAT KIND OF TOOK THE WIND OUT OF OUR SAILS. SHORTLY AFTERWARD, FRED LEFT TOO. WE TRIED OUT VARIOUS REPLACEMENTS, BUT IT JUST NEVER REACHED THE SAME MOMENTUM AS WE ORIGINALLY HAD. THEN OF COURSE CAME GRUNGE AND IT JUST SEEMED LIKE OUR KIND OF MUSIC WASN’T SO HOT ANYMORE.

WE WERE EVENTUALLY OFFERED A RECORD DEAL WITH STAR SONG. WE WERE UNDER CONTRACT FOR A YEAR DURING WHICH THEY WOULD RELEASE ONE SONG THAT WOULD APPEAR ON A COMPILATION ALBUM THEY PUTTING OUT. AT THE END OF THE YEAR, THEY HAD AN OPTION TO PICK US UP FOR A FULL LENGTH LP. THAT NEVER HAPPENED EITHER. DOUG: WE WERE ALSO ABLE TO OPEN UP FOR MYLON LEFEVRE AND REZ BAND FOR A HUGE NEW YEAR'S EVE EVENT AT THE OHIO CENTER ARENA IN DOWNTOWN COLUMBUS, WHICH WAS GREAT.

IN THE SUMMER OF 2008, I WAS CONTACTED BY STEPHEN CRAIG WHO SAID HE HAD SEEN US AT CORNERSTONE IN ’89, AND TOLD US WHAT HE WAS DOING WITH EONIAN. I TOLD THE GUYS AND WE WERE ALL PRETTY INTO THE IDEA.

JM: SO HOW DID IT LEGACY COME TO AN END?

JOHN: AFTER FOUR AND A HALF YEARS, IN THE SPRING

JM: HOW DID THE REISSUE COME ABOUT?

JM: SO, WHAT ARE YOUR HOPES FOR THIS REISSUE?

MATT: OUR HOPES FOR THIS ISSUE ARE THAT OUR KIDS WOULD THINK WE ARE COOL…JUST KIDDING. ACTUALLY, I FIND IT VERY SATISFYING THAT THE MUSIC WE CREATED ALMOST 20 YEARS IS BEING RELEASED AGAIN. ULTIMATELY I THINK WE WOULD ALL LOVE TO SEE THE MESSAGE OF OUR MUSIC SOMEHOW REACH THE HEARTS OF LISTENERS – THE MESSAGE THAT JESUS

review (yes, every one of their albums is critiqued here).

18 album reviews 19 of 'em.

10

Living Sacrif ice As one who is more fond of being able to understand lyrics, this debut release still stands as a favorite from the band's catalog. After being impressed by their early 3-song demo, this full length release was a pleasant fullserving of their heavy, forceful and aggressive thrash sound. DJ's vocals were often compared to those of Slayer's, and they had the power and intensity to enhance the musical journey, while maintaining decipherability of the lyrics. With DJ's departure, the band's sound changed radically, making this release stand out as unique in their catalog. – Jeff McCormack

Nonexistent I really enjoyed Living Sacrifice's debut of straight-forward thrash, so when the ultra-cool negative effects ads came out for Nonexistent, I was stoked. The sophomore release was completely different, however. The speed-metal attack of the self-titled record was gone in favor of a more complex, and varied tempo approach to death metal. The vocals on this release will always be controversial, but this record will stand as a significant chain of progression in the LS catalog. – Loyd Harp

Inhabit With each album it seemed as if they were leaving the thrash behind and embracing brutality, and this was the culmination of that progression. With vocals that actually sound forced from a dark inner place and the more aggressive approach to playing, this is where Living Sacrifice ripped out a home in my heart. Nothing beats growling along to the lyrics of Inhabit either. All together now,“Praise the Lord, God Almighty...”– Michael Larson

Reborn With a sound that was more groove-oriented than their previous mix of thrashy-growly death metal, these guys – in addition to rebirthing the band – essentially resuscitated a dead metal world when this was originally released back in 1997 (and later reissued in 2004 on Solid State). Fitzhugh took over the mic, and with an urgency and clarity that we had never before heard from this band, they just dared to be ignored.

Lyrically the band was as centered as ever – a genuine emotional outpouring combined with a passionate, yet gut-wrenching humility before the Lord. Every one of these brutally percussive, technically brilliant songs just smoked – the monstrous lurching and buzzing guitar riffing enough to make you wanna pound your fists and cry, “Arrrrrggggh!” What made this album so great? Perhaps it was the way old-school metal was so seamlessly intertwined with the new; or the way Fitzhugh’s harsh, yet discernable vocal assault so perfectly complimented the musical aggression; or perhaps it was the way in which space between notes was so cleverly employed; the clean production, the diversity, etc. Regardless, with Reborn they left their indelible mark on the scene – one which would spawn such greats as Extol, As I Lay Dying and Demon Hunter. – Jonathan Swank The Hammering Process The Hammering Process showed Living Sacrifice re-inventing itself by adding a second percussionist in Matthew Putman. In concert he banged on trash cans and real heavy cymbals and whatnot. It gave the intensely heavy band a tribal feel a la Sepultura. Possibly the band's finest moment, although it can be argued that they even built on it and improved with the next one… – Doug Van Pelt Image credit - Bianca Montes

Jonathan "Doc" Swank

21 Column Steve Rowe sounds off.

Heaven's Metal Editorial Team: Chris Beck, Keven Crothers, Chris Gatto, Mark Blair Glunt, Loyd Harp, Johannes Jonsson, Mike Larson, Jeff McCormack, Steve Rowe, Jonathan Swank, Doug Van Pelt, Todd Walker myspace.com/heavensmetalmagazine 1-year subscriptions (6 issues): $9.99 (USA) | $21.77 (Foreign) Advertising/Editorial Info: dvanpelt@hmmag.com | 512.989.7309 | 1660 CR 424, Taylor TX 76574 Copyright © 2010 Heaven’s Metal (TM). All rights reserved.