Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Email
Answers.com

Vengeance Rising

 
Artist: Vengeance Rising
 
Home > Library > Entertainment & Arts > Pop Artists

Similar Artists:

Flux of Pink Indians

Performed Songs By:

Roger Martinez

Formal Connection With:

Die Happy, Mortification, Recon
  • Formed: 1987
  • Genres: Rock
  • Representative Albums: "Released Upon the Earth," "Realms of Blasthemy," "Once Dead"

Biography

Vengeance Rising has one of the most entertaining and bizarre stories in the realm of heavy metal. Formed in 1987 by singer Roger Martinez, guitarists Larry Farkes and Doug Theime, bassist Roger Dale Martin, and drummer Glenn Mancaruso, the band was a Christian variation on the emerging death metal scene. This lineup produced two albums that were huge successes in the world of Christian music, making them one of the few bands in the genre to cross over into the secular music scene. They played both religious and non-religious festivals and tried to spread their message as far as possible. Martinez became very involved in the lifestyle, producing video tapes about Christianity and forming alliances with other big-name Christian leaders. Unfortunately, when they checked their bank account after the Once Dead tour, they discovered that they had mismanaged their funds and were hopelessly in debt. Everyone but Martinez bailed and formed Die Happy, and he scrambled to form another lineup. He found drummer Chris Hyde and guitarist Derek Sean and continued forward with himself on bass. Despite releasing two more albums and selling a respectable amount of copies, he was nowhere near to clearing his financial woes and the band fell apart in the early 90s. Struggling with his faith and the strain of his situation, he vehemently broke from the religious environment he had surrounded himself with and began the second half of his career by announcing his atheism. He began to make tapes counteracting the tapes he made during his Christian career, and re-formed Vengeance Rising with a new lineup and a decidedly angrier message. He formed a website that renounced his previous output and posted articles about Christian leaders that were aimed at making them look foolish. His previous associates in the religious world were outraged and his name became synonymous with "falling from grace," something Martinez reveled in and emphasized. He released the Satanic Realms of Blasthemy on Halloween of 2000, while he continued his efforts through a hilarious and somewhat disturbing interview in the magazine Mean, where he provided a counterpoint to the opinions of Christian leader Bob Larson. When the tragic terrorist hijackings of 2001 happened, Martinez offered a free album from his site for military personal only to encourage the holy war he constantly talked about. Providing endlessly entertaining fodder for interviews, Martinez managed to re-create his own career in such a unique way that his story continues to be interesting years after the most significant part of his musical career. ~ Bradley Torreano, All Music Guide
Search unanswered questions...

Enter a word or phrase...
All Community Q&A Reference topics

 
Wikipedia: Vengeance Rising
Top
Home > Library > Miscellaneous > Wikipedia
Vengeance Rising
Origin Los Angeles, CA
Genre(s) Thrash Metal
Was Christian Metal
Years active 1987 - 1992
Label(s) Intense Records

Vengeance Rising was a Christian thrash metal band from Los Angeles, CA.[1] Fronted by vocalist Roger Martinez, they originally formed as Vengeance in 1987, but changed their name in 1989 to avoid conflict with another band from the Netherlands.[2] Band members Larry Farkas, Doug Thieme, Roger Dale Martin, and Glenn Mancaruso left following Once Dead and formed the band Die Happy.[3] Roger Martinez stayed on to record two more studio albums, but aside from him, Vengeance Rising's lineup changed for each subsequent album. While the group was a ground breaking Christian metal band, nowadays Vengeance Rising is known for vocalist Martinez' turning from Christianity to satanism to atheism,[4] since he has continuously done interviews about it. Allmusic describes Vengeance Rising's history as "one of the most entertaining and bizarre stories in the realm of heavy metal"[5]

Contents

Biography

The band was known for its fascination with violent themes, as reflected lyrically in their first two albums.[2] Their first two albums, before the split into Die Happy, are considered their best. Their debut Human Sacrifice was called "the most radical Christian album ever released" by HM Magazine editor Doug Van Pelt.[6] Their penchant for violence extended to the stage, and the band would graphically portray the crucifixion of Christ at their shows.[1] Extreme graphics also appeared in the cover art of the bands' albums. Both Human Sacrifice and Once Dead were pulled from some Christian book sellers at least partially because of their violent graphical content.[7][8]

Frontman Roger Martinez had a background in the Pentecostal Foursquare Church, and was baptized there.[2][9] He eventually rose to be pastor of a Hollywood area church, though by Released Upon The Earth he had left to pursue music full time.[2] While there, he began to look into the practice of "faith healing", and he claimed to have found it to be a fraud.[9]

In the mid 1990s, Martinez left the Christian faith, telling HM that he was a committed atheist in 1997.[2] Today, Martinez has obtained rights to the band name for future projects. According to Scott Waters and Steve Rowe, Martinez began to make tapes counteracting the tapes he made during his Christian career. He created a website that renounced his previous output and posted articles portraying Christian leaders in a negative light. Martinez then began making death threats to individuals he claimed "stabbed him in the back," which included friend Steve Rowe of Mortification, a band Martinez helped get their first record contract.

Although he has stated that he is currently working on future material to be released under the name "Vengeance Rising" with more of an anti-Christian, Satanic Atheism theme,[2][9] no albums have been released. Vocalist Scott Waters of Ultimatum and "Once Dead" stated on his metal music review website that "Allmusic lists two releases... both of which I doubt ever existed... Former drummer Shannon Frye claims that Roger was impossible to work with and could not hold on to members long enough to even record a demo." He also claims that Martinez only kept the name of Vengeance Rising because of "continued curiosity from metal fans and Christians alike."

After the September 11, 2001 attacks occurred, Martinez offered free albums from his website for military personnel to encourage a "holy war against Christians." Former fans and critics believe this to be an attack on former bandmates and Christianity, due to the straining situation of debt that he was left with when band members departed after the "Once Dead Tour".

Former founding members of Vengeance Rising along with Ultimatum vocalist Scott Waters reformed in 2004 to play a reunion show at a small club called Chain Reaction in Anaheim, California. Since Martinez owns the rights to the name "Vengeance Rising," they used the name "Once Dead." They released a DVD of that show called "Return with a Vengeance."

Discography

Members

Many members have participated in other projects.
  • Roger Martinez - vocals/rhythm guitar
  • Larry Farkas - (1987 - 1990) guitars
  • Doug Thieme - (1987 - 1990) guitars
  • Roger Martin - (1987 - 1990) bass
  • Glenn Mancaruso - (1987 - 1990) drums
  • Chris Hyde - (1991) drums
  • Derek Sean - (1991) lead guitar
  • Jamie Mitchell - (1991 Session) lead guitar
  • Victor Macias (aka Joe Monsorb'nik) - (1991 Session) bass
  • Jimmy Brown (aka Simon Dawg) - (1991 Session)
  • Johnny Vasquez - (1991 - 1992) drums
  • George Ochoa - (1992 Tour) guitars
  • Daniel Cordova - (1992 Tour) guitars
  • Michael Wagel - (1992 Tour) bass

Side projects

  • Larry Farkas, Doug Thieme, Roger Martin, and Glenn Mancaruso played in Die Happy.
  • Jamie Mitchell played in the punk band Scaterd Few.
  • Chris Hyde played in Deliverance.
  • Daniel Cordova made a guest appearance on "Sons of Thunder" CD by Driver.
  • Roger Martinez produced a demo for the band Ritual in 1991.

References

  1. ^ a b Hale, Mark (1993). "3119". Headbangers (First edition, second printing ed.). Ann Arbor, Michigan: Popular Culture, Ink.. p. 376. ISBN 1-56075-029-4. 
  2. ^ a b c d e f Powell (2002). "Vengeance Rising". Encyclopedia of Contemporary Christian Music. pp. 993–994. 
  3. ^ Powell, Mark Allan (2002). "Die Happy". Encyclopedia of Contemporary Christian Music (First printing ed.). Peabody, Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers. pp. 256–257. ISBN 1-56563-679-1. 
  4. ^ Majalahti, Michael (2004-03-02). "The Best Kept Secrets in Rock". Imperiumi. Open Publishing. http://www.imperiumi.net/col_2.php?id=42. Retrieved on 2007-09-19. 
  5. ^ Torreano, Bradley. "Vengeance Rising Biography". Allmusic. AMG. http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:k9fwxqe5ldse~T1. Retrieved on 2007-09-22. 
  6. ^ Van Pelt, Doug (November 1988). "Metal Reviews / Human Sacrifice". CCM Magazine 11 (5): 35-36. ISSN 1524-7848. 
  7. ^ Van Pelt, Doug (February 1989). "Mosh For The Master". CCM Magazine 11 (8): 20–21. ISSN 1524-7848. 
  8. ^ Van Pelt, Doug (March 1990). "On The Beat / Metal". CCM Magazine 12 (9). ISSN 1524-7848. 
  9. ^ a b c "Roger Martinez: Where Is He Now?". HM Magazine (66). July/August 1997. ISSN 1066-6923. http://web.archive.org/web/20000620020648/www.hmmagazine.com/archives/RogerMartinez.htm. Retrieved on 2007-04-30. 
  10. ^ a b Cranson, David (February 1999). "Vengeance Rising - Human Sacrifice/Once Dead". Cross Rhythms (49). 
  11. ^ Caughey, Dave (September 1990). "Vengeance Rising - Once Dead". Cross Rhythms (03). 
  12. ^ Cummings, Tony (February 1992). "Vengeance Rising - Destruction Comes". Cross Rhythms (10). 

External links


This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

 
 

 

Copyrights:

Artist. Copyright © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC. Content provided by All Music Guide ®, a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Vengeance Rising".  Read more

Related answers
» More
 
Answer these
» More