Christian Death - Knowledge

1515::} It was a lot of things, I don't know... when I have those metal downs and things happen like that I just get in that mood where everything seems bad. At that point I was doing a lot of drugs and doing a lot of drinking, was really drunk, and we'd been doing acid a lot, 6 or 7 times a day. I was having a bad time with Linda too. For some reason something else that was bothering me was that we were getting ready to go on tour, and I'd never been on tour before in the US. Ron and Rozz were at their peak at that point... they were just very public and open in their action... making out in public, running around holding hands together and dressed like that Nothing against it, but just the one thing I kept picturing was in my head... I just pictured us in the south. That would've been ok but they were talking about bringing an ounce of heroin on tour with them and that just capped it... I pictured them acting like that at a truck-stop getting in a big old fight, Ron slices some guy open, cops come... they look at us... they find the heroin and they just throw away the key... so we're getting ready to go... all of a sudden I just snap... I got in the car and just told him 'let's go, let's go...!' and that's when I left the band. 592:

not to, as that would also mean separating Kand from their child together. Following Williams' departure, the remaining members made an effort to change the band's name to Sin and Sacrifice, transitioning to that name through booking their next tour as the Sin and Sacrifice of Christian Death. However, the promoters did not adhere to this change, instead having them booked as simply Christian Death. This issue then became exacerbated once they were offered a record deal by Supporti Fonografici which they could only accept if they continued on as Christian Death. Augmented by bassist Johann Schumann and guitarist and keyboardist Barry Galvin, the band recorded an EP for Supporti Fonografici titled

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band were getting ready for a domestic tour, Agnew, distressed by his own drug use and troubles in his relationship, began to experience panicked episodes where he would imagine Williams and his boyfriend Ron Athey being subject to homophobic attacks in Southern states and the band being arrested for drug possession. This culminated in him leaving the band as they were preparing to go on stage. The band then hired Mikaleno Amundson to play guitar, who moved in with Figueroa. However, when Amundson and Figueroas' girlfriends fell out with each other, Amundson was forced to move out and leave the band after "about three to five shows." Because of this,

2611: 576: 31: 1546:: I quit my job and moved to LA to join the band... about three to five shows. This is the sad part; Rod and I were living together with our girlfriends, the girls got into a huge fight so we moved across the street and had nothing to with them after that. I felt really sorry for Roz who didn't understand what was happening and why... 1726:: All I know is Rozz said somebody called him, and that was Yann Farcy, 'I just got a phone call from this record company and I don't know how to deal with it. I told him that he should talk to you... he's gonna call tomorrow, will you speak to him?' So I spoke to Yann; Rozz never did any negotiations with Yann, to my knowledge. 1417:: James and I went to see the Adolescents at the Starwood and it was announced on stage that this was Rikk's last show... after the show Rikk comes over and asks me how things are going with Christian Death... I told Rikk about Jay and that we were trying to find a guitar player 'what about me?' 'Really that would be awesome...' 1229:: James met Rozz hanging out outside a show. I believe it was at the Starwood... we agreed to meet at Rozz's house the following week; I met Jay there... we spoke about music and the fact that James and I had been jamming with each other... Rozz asked James and I what I thought about the name Christian Death 'sure... why not...' 468:

songs then Darrow finishing the set. This incident angered Albert, who left the band permanently mid-set. Subsequently, Christian Death was halted, with Albert and Williams forming noise band Daucus Karota with drummer Mary Torcivia. Williams, McGearty and Belanger regrouped a few months later, now accompanied by guitarist

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All the same, Celtic Frost were clearly also utilizing a much wider spectrum of influence, including that of gothic rock acts such as Bauhaus and Christian Death, and were already beginning to demonstrate the decidedly innovative approach to songwriting (evident in the restrained but notable use of

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It seemed for a while that Christian Death wasn't gonna exist; I remember Rozz was "...well, fuck those guys!" and we were gonna do this other band... Daucus Carota... I know that band existed at least for a while after I left Christian Death... Mary Torcivia was the drummer... Mary couldn't really

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Catastrophe Ballet, a calmer, more melodic album, which definitively buried the punk fury for a more subtle and more literary music. Rozz's plaintive voice gives way to more sedate parts that further highlight his qualities as a performer and lyricist. There is no doubt that the two new musicians,

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EP in 1992. Williams' reclamation of the Christian Death name sparked a fierce battle with Kand. However, Kand already had the rights to the name due to Williams' departure from the band and subsequent neglect of the moniker. Williams consequently billed his version of the band as "Christian Death

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In mid-1985, Williams departed from the group, frustrated by Kand's increasing control of the band and perceived disregard for how touring affected the members' ventures outside of music. He originally planned to do this under the pretext that DeMone would also be leaving, however she soon decided

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The following year Belanger left the band after becoming disheartened by the growing darkness of the band's image and increasing drug abuse. Belanger's role was filled by Rod "China" Figueroa, whose first performance with the band was a record signing on April 10, 1982. Later that year, while the

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Guitarist John "Jay" Albert, vocalist Rozz Williams, bassist James McGearty and drummer George Belanger formed Christian Death in October 1979. At this time, the band was a punk rock band musically indebted to the Germs. As the band progressed their music slowed and began to incorporate religious

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After a physical altercation involving Belanger took place, he was left unable to play drums for their upcoming show on February 14, 1981. Williams asked Steve Darrow to fill in, however Belanger decided moments before their set to still try and play, leading to Belanger performing the first few

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officially joined the band. After Williams was approached by Yann Farcy of French record label L'Invitation au Suicide to record another Christian Death album and tour Europe, the band hired bassist Constance Smith (later Redgrave) and changed their name to Christian Death. This culminated in

1797:: Most of it was half written, the other stuff just kinda came into its own... we literally wrote probably a third or more of that record in the studio... or at least Valor was writing stuff... Rozz was working on things of course, sometimes wrote the melody and does all the lyrics. 508:. Following this, Michael Montano and Johnnie Sage both began playing guitar in the band, and they played again with Pompeii 99. By the end of the year, McGearty had left the band. With Williams as the only founding member remaining, Christian Death disbanded. 1873:: Rozz's version was that he told Valor not to book any shows for six months, as he had some other things/projects/personal concerns he was involved in, and when Valor phoned with a full tour itinerary, Rozz said 'I told you not to do this... I'm not going'... 524:

Around this point, Pompeii 99 too were going through a number of lineup changes. Subsequently, six months after Christian Death's disbandment, Williams joined Pompeii 99, which at that time consisted of only guitarist and vocalist

548:, Wales, much of this album's instrumentals were written by Kand, with Williams contributing entirely to lyrics and partially to melody writing. It was a departure from the band's angry punk-influenced style and was dedicated to 1255:: At the time we became Christian Death there was hardly any religious symbolism at all, we were just playing wild, fast music... then gradually it became something else. Christian Death started as a Germs style punk band... 438:, in 1985, Williams left the band and Kand became frontperson, with no original members of the band remaining. This resulted in a divide in the band's fanbase and created controversy that has continued to this day. 2109: 2542:

Perry's vision gelled with it. Christian Death, 45 Grave, the Super Heroines-all those other bands approached their art from a pure Hollywood punk stance. Perry dreamed of excising the punk middleman altogether.

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wrote that Christian Death experiments "with dirgey guitars, tribal drums and overtly spooky imagery". According to author Liisa Ladouceur, along with "spooky guitars and keyboards", elements of genres such as

1234:: I remember not liking 'Christian Death' but there was this other hanger-on who said 'no, that's a great name' 'ok, whatever...' it didn't strike me one way or the other but he wanted to go with that name. 1837:: After a particularly difficult show I think I told her mother I didn't know how much more I could handle, that I was feeling quite unstable... she told Gitane who told Valor, who replaced me... 1301:: ...they came out and first song got booed off the stage... the crowd got hostile with them so they were done. Don came over and asked if we would play since the Squad wasn't ready to play yet. 658:

contributing guitar as well as vocals. Billing themselves as the original Christian Death, they were rejoined by first-album guitarist Agnew for a 1989 tour of Canada. The band was signed to

1949:: Here were are in the north of Italy... a guy comes and offers is a record deal... I say 'ok, we're gonna call it Sin and Sacrifice'... he argued that we had to call it Christian Death. 1816:

assisted by David Glass on drums and Constance Smith on bass, have been able to channel the expiatory rage of their singer to serve the cause. Explicitly dedicated to André Breton.

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Prayers proclaims inspiration and admiration for postpunk British dark wave music, such as the Pet Shop Boys, along with American punk and gothic bands, such as Christian Death.

1372:: I left in the middle of the whole thing... I literally just walked out the door, got in the car with a friend, went and got drugs, got loaded and never thought about it... 775:

In 2014, the band embarked on the 30th Anniversary Catastrophe Ballet tour, beginning in Europe and continuing through the year's end in North, South and Central America.

1541:: Mike was working at Wright Marine cleaning boats and him and I were pretty hot and heavy. Rod/China came up and told us this band he was in needed a guitar player... 2160: 2387: 391:, James McGearty on bass guitar and George Belanger on drums. This line-up was responsible for producing the band's best known work, their 1982 debut studio album 2043: 619:, recorded by a revamped line-up of Kand, DeMone, Glass, guitarist James Beam and bassist Kota. Longtime drummer Glass left the group following the release of 1628:: 'Let's try two guitar players...' so they got this other guy, Johnnie Sage, and for a while there it was basically them, with James still playing bass... 2065:"Christian Death, The Root of All Evilution album, Gothic (news, biography, releases, downloads, line-up, tour dates) | Season of Mist, Metal Label" 2772: 2765: 1051: 1043: 596:, credited to "For Sin and Sacrifice Must We Die a Christian Death". The EP was later reissued in Germany and the U.S., credited to Christian Death. 2272: 2110:"Christian Death Announce New Album Evil Becomes Rule For May 2022 Release Alongside Spring 2022 US Tour Dates, Share New Track "Blood Moon" -" 2558: 1396:

play but she'd keep a simple beat; she was okay for a band like Daucus, which was more noise and seen as a sort of experimental side project.

1893:: I got together with Eric and Rozz and told them why: I just didn't feel right about taking the away from the dad, didn't feel it was right 1453:: We wanted to get more and more darker, more and more serious about our presentation and stuff but he started going the opposite direction. 3439: 1613:: The Christian Death lineup with Eva, China, etc, was only for a brief minute; at one point they had this guy Michael playing guitar... 3479: 3454: 1695:: Six months had gone by before we considered joining forces; I knew Rozz, he joined our band '...would you like to join this band'... 3464: 2854: 2647: 2498: 2135: 3444: 627: 2540:

For a short time, even without a Batcave-like home base to call its own, goth gelled even in the brilliant sunshine of California.

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in 1991. Her first concert with Christian Death took place at the Contemporary Festival, held at the Anfitheatro delle Cascine in

3449: 2186: 3474: 3419: 3414: 3129: 476:. With this lineup, they made their first vinyl appearance with the song "Dogs" on the 1981 L.A. scene compilation album 376:. With major line-up changes over the years, Christian Death has retained "a relentlessly confrontational stand against 3429: 2422: 702:(1990), on which Kand conducted the English Abbey Choir and the Commonwealth Chamber Orchestra. The band added bassist 529:

and drummer David "Glass" Parkinson. Under Williams' suggestion, the band's session keyboard player and Kand's partner

2361:"Sharp Tongues Of Hungry Animals: An Oral History of Christian Death's 'Only Theatre Of Pain' On Its 40th Anniversary" 3434: 2252: 2222: 948: 2392: 2088: 786:. The album was digitally released on August 14, 2015, by Knife Fight Media, and on vinyl on October 16, 2015, by 3469: 2470: 1961: 2758: 2533: 2334: 1705:: Then I was told Rozz was interested in having me play keyboards, so I went to his birthday party and met him. 1035: 632: 369: 68: 1792:: We did the Catastrophe Ballet album at a farmhouse/studio in Monmouth, on the border of England and Wales... 2847: 2640: 2044:"Christian Death announce new Pledge Music album 'The Root OF ALL Evilution' – check out the Pledge extras!!" 1868:: As Valor became more dominant force within the band Rozz gradually became more frustrated and despondent... 1206: 943:. The band's bleak, anti-Christian aesthetic and lyrics were also particularly influential on the bands of 3216: 2982: 2821: 1200: 1149: 960: 2388:"The 69 Eyes singer Jyrki69 to host traditional vampire party in New Orleans; Christian Death confirmed" 630:

with the 1987–89 singles "Sick of Love", "Church of No Return" and "Zero Sex" and the 1988 studio album

2282: 2942: 1367:: I actually DID play this set, at least 2 or 3 songs. George may have played the first few songs... 555:. While in France, Smith departed from the group due to a mental health struggle, being replaced by 3424: 3376: 3231: 3221: 2840: 2804: 2633: 1633:: That Christian Death line-up never recorded, but we (45 Grave) played with them and Pompeii 99... 478: 3003: 2998: 2554: 556: 3206: 3196: 2977: 2751: 1787:: We were swept away on tour and Valor was writing for the album in hotel rooms at all hours... 1027: 698:

Meanwhile, Kand's Christian Death continued performing and recording, issuing the studio album

615: 3459: 2597: 1847:: Dave Robert, yeah I don't know how it happened, it must've been a Valor connection as well. 2022: 1983: 1327:: Next thing I knew, George had put his fist through the glass door entrance to the store... 623:

and returned to California, where he eventually worked with several Williams side projects.

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by Cleopatra. Williams pursued other projects before committing suicide on April 1, 1998.

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violin and female vocals) that would increasingly earn them the "avant-garde metal" tag).

1489:: George was out of the band by the time the signing happened so China was playing drums. 912: 840:

and are often about topics like "blasphemy, morbidity, drug use, and sexual perversity".

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In 2000, Christian Death added drummer Will Sarginson and toured Europe with Britain's

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concept album (1989) in collaboration with Nick the Bastard, which spawned the double

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John Albert, who had co-founded Christian Death with Williams, died on May 3, 2023.

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For Christian Death's 2003 tour, they were augmented by Cradle of Filth guitarist

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also is a topic that has been used in Christian Death's lyrics. Liz Ohanesian of

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briefly became the band's guitarist. On October 30, 1982, this lineup opened for

473: 397:, which was highly influential in the development of the style of music known as 1878:: Well I was going to leave the band, there was no particular affinity going on. 1690:: The next thing I heard was David and Valor were going to be playing with Rozz. 552: 3348: 3325: 3269: 3252: 3226: 3160: 3008: 2967: 2937: 2889: 2797: 2593: 2303: 936: 896: 787: 651: 171: 152: 2563: 1929:: We sent them the artwork in advanced saying we were going to be called that. 1357:: George decides all of a sudden that night he can play and he's gonna play... 575: 434:

on vocals and guitar. Following the release of the band's third studio album,

3408: 3304: 3274: 3093: 3088: 3058: 3053: 2972: 2911: 2713: 2698: 2688: 2311: 2191: 1766:: To be honest, I was up for anything, whatever 'Let's do Christian Death...' 908: 892: 606: 530: 373: 306: 249: 218: 2136:"It's a Cruel World After All - Christian Death prepares for Goth mega-fest" 3369: 3284: 3083: 3038: 2947: 2475: 2161:"John Albert, punk pioneer and chronicler of L.A.'s underbelly, dies at 58" 928: 916: 880: 868: 749: 610: 461: 406: 3320: 3299: 3279: 3262: 3170: 3114: 3048: 2879: 2703: 944: 876: 856: 841: 837: 833: 813: 779: 741: 688: 684: 654:, Williams resurrected his own version of Christian Death, with his wife 402: 293: 82: 1883:: ...and Rozz was 'go ahead and I'll stand by you and I'll leave too..." 511: 3330: 3247: 3078: 3068: 3013: 2884: 2693: 2668: 2616: 2602: 1988: 900: 828:, Christian Death's music "relied on slow, doomy, effects-laden guitar 817: 760: 745: 549: 526: 505: 469: 431: 427: 398: 384: 365: 235: 190: 87: 42: 2588: 1914:: This was the time we tried to change the name to 'Sin and Sacrifice' 1582:: It was at SIR studios, which was this pro rehearsal place in town... 778:

In January 2015, Christian Death announced the planned release of the

3393: 3294: 3257: 3023: 2906: 2896: 2499:"Paradise Lost guitarist Greg Mackintosh: My 8 favourite goth albums" 2277: 1291:: Let's see, there was this opening band called the Killer Pussies... 852: 846: 456:

symbolism. Their first live performance was an impromptu set at the

350: 3355: 3289: 2927: 1934:: Tried to let the public know this was the 'Sin and Sacrifice...'. 1746:: So we learned some of the OToP material that Rozz wanted to do... 1577:: Pompeii 99 were booked in to play a show with Angelic Upstarts... 1281:: Their first real gig was out here in LA, at the Hong Kong Cafe... 1154: 920: 825: 821: 707: 636:. Following the "Zero Sex" single, DeMone opted to leave the band. 545: 410: 93: 2832: 2625: 1761:: There was a tour coming up but it had to be 'Christian Death'... 30: 3175: 2606: 1159: 924: 888: 671:

featuring Rozz Williams". After this, Williams' version released

584: 446: 1888:: At the end of the day she didn't leave Valor... at least then. 1741:: So record found a good way to go to Europe and do some shit... 3150: 1811:

Camion Blanc Afterpunk highlights L'ère de la glaciation sonore

1924:: So we did posters as 'Sin and Sacrifice of Christian Death'. 1377:: That was the last time that Jay played with Christian Death. 1342:: Christian Death had another show booked at PAL Boxing Gym... 683:-era members Williams, Agnew and Belanger (along with bassist 3033: 2708: 1536:: I was Rikk Agnew's replacement after he went off the tracks 1322:: I got pissed at this fucking hippie, he was talking shit... 655: 497: 298: 1458:: I was losing interest and I felt like I was losing myself. 1150:"Christian Death – Music Biography, Credits and Discography" 710:, Italy on 12 July 1991. The band released the studio album 691:' Patriot Hall was recorded and later released in 2001 as a 563:. In autumn 1984, the band returned to America and recorded 940: 867:

Artists that have been inspired by Christian Death include

829: 136: 1638:: Yeah... us, 45 Grave, Twisted Roots and Christian Death. 1332:: The guy's lucky George hit the window and not his jaw... 2448: 1944:: But when we got there it was still 'Christian Death'... 692: 2089:"CHRISTIAN DEATH – The Root Of All Evilution (Digipack)" 1260:: ...their personality was nothing like the later image. 1183:(Press release). Box 22, Sun Valley, California, 91352: 1556:: Then they went through a million different lineups... 836:". According to Huey, Christian Death's lyrics involve 790:. A CD release was announced for December 18, 2015, on 1907: