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Artist description
Vehemence has taken pretty much a chunk from
every spectrum of death metal: the brutality
of the East Coast, the melody of Northern Europe
and the songwriting ability of Florida, and
simply blended the sounds together to create a
special album that should appease almost every
fan of classic or modern death metal. |
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Music Style
Melodic Death Metal |
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Musical Influences
Cathedral, early Pyogenesis, Testament, Carcass, Cannibal Corpse |
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Similar Artists
Opeth, Gorefest, Ill Disposed, Embraced, A Canorous Quintet, Theory In Practice, Mutant, Arch Enemy, At the Gates, and Suffocation |
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Artist History
Vehemence started with Nathan and Scott Wiegand
(our old guitarist) back in 1995 (high school
days). They were writing together in the vein
of old Pyogenesis and Cathedral. Bjorn met up
with those guys his senior year. The first time
they actually hung out was at a Suffocation show,
during the Pierced From Within tour. We started
jamming together and the musical direction
changed from atmospheric, to death metal
influenced by bands like Carcass and
Suffocation. Our first song was Banished
to Infinity. Bjorn, Nathan, and Scott
recorded it at a friends house with a
drum machine. Our first version of No
One Wins was recorded there too.
In 1997, Bjorn and Scott went to a party to
check out some bands, and there they heard
Mistaken Identity. That was Mark and Andys
punk band with this other member named Tony
Ash. Bjorn and Scott noticed that Andy was
doing double-bass drumming to punk rock. They
could just tell by his style that he was into
metal, so after their set, Vehemence asked him
if he wanted to jam. He said yes, and that’s
pretty much the beginnings of the band.
Vehemence thought they already had a bass
player, but he flaked out on the band. Andy
told Vehemence that Mark would be interested,
but Vehemence didnt think that would work
out at first, since he was going to school
in Tucson. Fortunately, Mark quit school to
join Vehemence, move back to Phoenix.
Vehemence practiced at Bjorns parents house for
a while and in early 1998, we released our first
demo tape. That tape is poorly recorded, but
Vehemence thought it was good representation at
the time. The song material wasnt bad, but
wasnt played to the songs full potential.
The track listing was, The Death of Me,
Banished to Infinity, No One Wins,
Whore, Cunt, Die, Crusade of Hypocrisy,
Mota Para Mi, and Her Beautiful Eyes.
We only made 150 demo tapes, sold them to
friends and at local shows, but really didn’t
get anywhere with it.
In late 1998, Vehemence got their own rehearsal
studio and became playing more professionally.
More songs were created and they saved up some
money so the band could record their first 8
song 60 min CD entitled The Thoughts From Which
I Hide. By November of 1999, Vehemence were
ready to record. Vehemence went to Jason
Coleman who owns a home studio called AAA Audio.
Jason did a good job on the recording, and was
way cheaper than most anyone else in town.
The CD was done, but Vehemence had no money to
put it out. Then in January of 2000, Scott
(guitars) left the band for his own personal
reasons. This was a shock to all of us, but
fortunately Vehemence got John Chavez as a
replacement. His previous band Brides of Christ
were at a stop point and he decided to he joined
Vehemence for greater success. Finally in August
of 2000, Vehemence put out our CD, thanks to a
loan from Andy’s dad, Digger.
Vehemence sent the CD everywhere, trying to
promote in radio, zines, and magazines.
Vehemence had no label at the time and had
to do what it takes to get recognized. But
thanks to the Internet, we were able to spread
our media around much quicker. Vehemence even
booked our own tour for the summer of 2001.
Vehemence covered 7 states, out for a 15 day
period and met many of their diehard fans, and
gained new fans. Overall, the tour was a success,
and a great experience.
In 2001, Vehemence were offered a deal with
Metal Blade Records. Brian Slagel found out
about Vehemence through Ray from Fates Warning,
a friend named John from a restaurant, and their
bass players dad. Vehemences first work for
Metal Blade was a demo of three songs recorded
By Aaron Carry at Pipeline Studios; one of which
will be used on an upcoming Metal Blade
compilation entitled UNCORRUPTED STEEL
which is due out in February 2002.
GOD WAS CREATED, is the title of Vehemence’s
upcoming album that was recorded in January 2002
and to be released in July of 2002. The band will
tour 3 times for the intense concept album in
United States and Europe.
From 1998 to 2002, Vehemence played some pretty
sick shows with bands like Suffocation, Six Feet
Under, Dying Fetus, Deicide, Broken Hope,
Malevolent Creation, Mayhem, Morbid Angel,
Exhumed, Hate Eternal, Kovenant, Moonspell,
Amorphis, Angel Corpse, Krisiun, Incantation,
Immolation, Mortician, The Crown, Disavowed,
Severe Torture, Disgorge, Drawn and Quartered,
Retch, Fiendead and local bands like Occision,
Structure Of Lies, Excessive Bleeding, and Motive.
Recognition of this band started immediately
after the pressing of 1000 self-released discs
hit distributors from around the world. The disc
circulated and received great reviews from
countries like Japan, The Netherlands, Germany,
Sweden, Australia, Spain, France, Canada, South
America and United States. A combination of self
promotion through the internet, word of mouth,
and doing their first 15 day tour through West
Coast America helped get the attention of Metal
Blade Records in 2002 which ended in landing a
record deal. Vehemences hard work had paid off.
Throughout the year of 2002 Vehemence has been
on tour with Incantation, Impaled, Decapitated,
Dead To Fall, Exhumed, and Dragon Lord in
support of their new release entitled God Was
Created. God Was Created was recorded at The
Salt Mine Studios in Mesa, AZ in early January
02 and engineered by Mike Schomig, assisted by
Will Solaris. It was then re-mixed in March by
Juan Urteaga & assistant Mike Blanchard at Trident Studios
in the San Francisco area. As for the cover art,
Vehemence worked with new and aspiring tattoo &
artwork artist Evil Dave (David Slaydon). |
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Group Members
Andy Schroeder - Drums
Bjorn Dannov - Guitars, Leads, Acoustic Guitars
Mark Kozuback - Bass Guitar, Backing Screams
Nathan Gearhart - Vocalist, Lyricist
John Chavez - Guitars, Leads, Samples
Jason Keesecker - Keyboard, Piano |
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Albums
August 2000 The Thoughts From Which I Hide (Self Released) and July 2002 God Was Created (Metal Blade) |
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Press Reviews
Digitalmetal-By Erik Thomas
Vehemence has recreated the same kind of
sensation when I listened to Left Hand Path
for the first time 11 years ago. That is to
say, for me, God Was Created has simply
perfected everything I personally enjoy
about death metal with uncanny precision.
Metal Judgment-By Abyss, Death, & Hel
This is a very important album. It signifies
a shift in perspective that, while it seems
obvious in hindsight, is quite innovative.
Vehemence are too melodic to be "brutal death
metal and too weighty to fit in with the
flighty melodies that drift over from
Scandinavia. They remind me of the heavier
parts of the band Opeth.
I haven't heard lyrics this poetic and
disturbing at once, since Acid Bath's When
the Kite String Pops.-Abyss
The fact that these lyrics are well-written
and exhibit both intelligence and a cohesive
theme only serve to make them more frightening
to mainstream America.-Death
Terrorizer Magazine 8/10
Metal Rules-By: JP
havent been this impressed with a
traditional death metal release since
Nile hit the world five or six years ago.
Metal Blade is maintaining their long-standing
tradition of dabbling in gore-metal bands
(Cannibal Corpse, Broken Hope, etc…) and they
seem to have a knack for picking our some of
the better ones.
In Depth E-Zine - By:Anthony Pagano
of the most taboo and graphic things that
you can, imagine them on film for a second...
you probably cant and it would be illegal
BUT if you have an active imagination then
you will clearly be able to depict the tales
told here by Vehemence. Like they say, music
is art, and this is just one example.
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Additional Info
God Was Created is a concept album. |
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Location
Phoenix, Arizona - USA |
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