John Christ

For information about the bass guitarist of Avenged Sevenfold, see Johnny Christ.

John Christ, born John Wolfgang Knoll on February 9, 1965(1965-02-09) is a musician best known as the original guitarist for the metal band Danzig. Christ first started playing guitar in his early teens, having previously taken piano lessons.^[1] Christ attended Towson University studying Jazz before dropping out and moving to New Jersey to join Glenn Danzig's band Samhain in 1987, which became the band Danzig later that same year.^[1] Upon his arrival in New Jersey, Christ would share an apartment with Samhain drummer London May, for whom Christ performed his first band audition.^[1] When May left the band he shared an apartment with new drummer Chuck Biscuits, where they came up with Christ's original stage name "John Von Christ", before it was shortened to avoid it clashing with bassist Eerie Von.^[1] During his time with Danzig, Christ's main guitar was a BC Rich Bich customised with the Danzig skull symbol. The guitar is currently on display at the Hard Rock Cafe in Orlando.^[2] After four albums and one EP, Christ officially left Danzig on July 5, 1995 citing a breakdown in communication within the band as the reason behind his departure.^[3][4] In 1997 Christ was part of the short lived band Juice 13, which also included Randy Castillo, former drummer for Ozzy Osbourne.^[5] Christ's guitar work has been used by TV stations ABC and Nine Network.^[3][6] In 1999 Christ released his debut solo album Flesh Caffeine.^[6] He has been known for his bluesy metal sound and frequent use (like Zakk Wylde) of the pinch harmonic. Christ was ranked 63rd in Guitar World's list of The 100 Greatest Metal Guitarists.^[7]

Discography

Solo discography

• 1999 - Flesh Caffeine

Discography with Danzig

• 1988 - Danzig
• 1990 - Lucifuge
• 1992 - Danzig III: How the Gods Kill
• 1993 - Thrall: Demonsweatlive
• 1994 - Danzig 4
• 2001 - Live on the Black Hand Side
• 2007 - The Lost Tracks of Danzig

Discography with Samhain

• 1990 - Final Descent

Others

• 1987 - Less Than Zero Soundtrack by Various Artists (Contributed the track You and Me (Less than Zero) with Glenn Danzig & the Power and Fury Orchestra)
• 1994 - Guitar Practicing Musicians 3 by Various Artists (Contributed the track For Christ's Sake, also featuring Chuck Biscuits)
• 1996 - Guitars That Rule the World, Vol. 2: Smell the Fuzz: The Superstar Guitar Album by Various Artists (Contributed the track One Song)
• 1999 - Black Glue by Mike Hartman
• 2001 - Metallic Assault: A Tribute to Metallica by Various Artists (Contributed the track Enter Sandman, also featuring Robert Trujillo, Burton C. Bell and Tommy Aldridge)

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d} "Speaking with Former Samhain & Danzig Guitarist, John Christ". TV Casualty. June 5, 1999. http://tvcasualty.com/articles/a_jchrist.html. Retrieved 2009-09-25. 
2. ^ "John Christ Danzig Guitar". Hard Rock. http://memorabilia.hardrock.com/?item=012246. Retrieved 2009-09-17. 
3. ^ ^{a b} Stephanie Cabral and Katherine Turman. "John Christ". 440music. http://www.440music.com/John_Christ/epk/. Retrieved 2009-09-17. 
4. ^ "20 Questions with John Christ". Metal Sludge. December 14, 1999. http://metalsludge.tv/home/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=115&Itemid=37. Retrieved 2009-09-25. 
5. ^ "Juice 13". Music Might. 2009. http://www.musicmight.com/artist/usa/los+angeles/juice+13. Retrieved 2009-09-30. 
6. ^ ^{a b} "John Christ Bio". Misfits Central. http://misfitscentral.com/bios/john-christ.php. Retrieved 2009-09-17. 
7. ^ "Top Metal Guitarists". Ultimate Guitar. January 26, 2004. http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/news/general_music_news/top_metal_guitarists.html. Retrieved 2009-10-03. 

External links

• Official website
• John Christ's MySpace