Artist description Imagine the sound of two naked, sweaty, pissed-off Vikings beating the living shit out of each other!

Music Style Punk...Metal...Pop? Who cares! Just listen to it!

Musical Influences Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Mary Poppins, The Sound of Music, Oliver!

Similar Artists Andrew Bird Anthrax Beatles Blink 182 Brainiac Damned Dead Kennedys Dead Milkmen Erasure Green Day Guttermouth L7 Manson Megadeth Misfits Mr Bungle Nirvana NOFX NoMeansNo Primus Sabbath System Vandals

Artist History Shiloh Church was born in 1994, when a group of bored teenagers from central Iowa started making up songs for the fun of it. Throughout the years, the music has evolved from those off-the-cuff improvisations to the current carefully-crafted numbers, and many fine players and writers have taken part. The spirit of the music, however, has remained constant. The songs are always instantly catchy, and the lyrics always innovative and imaginative. Shiloh Church writes and plays for the sake of creating good art, and having fun doing it. The current members are Eli Hernandez (vocalist/writer), Darius Hernandez (drummer/writer), Atom Clark (guitarist/vocalist/writer), and Justin Clark (bassist). Previous members include Eric Hoyt (guitarist/writer), Troy Higgins (vocalist/writer), James Six (bassist/writer) and Jesse Hernandez (guitarist). The contributions of members past and present have made Shiloh Church into a unique form of punk rock that’s hard to describe. It really must just be heard.

Instruments yes

Press Reviews "DEMOH" REVIEW BY JEREMY IRWIN OF ICON -These days, with Slipknot being heralded as Des Moines' greatest export since...well, ever, it's understandable why the town's other rock bands would want to give the great masked ones a run for their money, as well as reclaim the dignity of our capital city. While they may be hard-pressed to dethrone the reigning kings of shock rock, Des Moines-based, spiky-haired hooligans Shiloh Church certainly prove there are finer sounds rising up from the underbelly of the Des Moines rock scene. On its debut release, Demoh, Shiloh Church give themselves a mere seven songs to not only stake their claim among Des Moines' elite but press every speck of the band's obnoxious punk-rock fury onto a tiny compact disc. Although the CD's cover boasts a mockup of a Rice Krispies cereal box - with each member cartoonishly depicted as a lovable little cereal elf - the music contained within is certainly not for the mouths (or ears) of children. Song titles like "Uterus," "Leper Supper" and "Shitland Pony" may sound like wholesome fun, but when the lyrics of vocalist Eli Hernandez are comprehensible enough to be understood, you'll wish you hadn't heard what you think you just heard. On "Leper Supper," Hernandez's theatrically obnoxious crooning exposes his love of all things leper - including lost limbs and torsos - from which he concocts a tasty leper stew. The less sadistic "Punks and Monks," however, tells the tale of a rather unlikely (unholy?) alliance. Additionally, the chorus cleverly contains a possible punk rock milestone; Monk-chant backing vocals. With each track belted out at breakneck speed, the album barely reaches the 20-minute mark; yet with the level of pure-punk sarcasm reaching its peak on nearly every cut, Demoh packs a mighty punch. If you can still remember early '80s hardcore punk - when the Germs and Dead Kennedys were still rowdy brats - you'll find Demoh to be some of the best noise you'd ever imagine could come out of Des Moines. ***** "DEMOH" REVIEW BY TOM BRAZELTON OF DES MOINES MUSIC ONLINE - It's a pretty safe bet that merry punk jesters from Perry, Shiloh Church, has created the funniest album cover for a local release in recent memory and damned if they didn't make music to match on their bullet-paced first release "Demoh" Clocking in with only seven songs and twenty minutes of music, somehow Shiloh Church packs in more comedy and tragic intensity than a clown being thrown of a 30-story building. With track titles like "Uterus", "Leper Supper", and "Shitland Pony", you'd probably expect a vulgar mess of a band. Vulgar? Maybe. A mess? Hardly. True to punk form, Shiloh Church conjures a pulverizing wave of sonic fury. Offset only by the sometimes audacious, often ludicrous lyrics of lead singer Eli Hernadez, the rest of the group sticks closely to a musical formula that's worked since the 70's - still as infectious as ever. What's great about Shiloh Church is that take this conventional approach and turn it on its head with skewering lyricism. They're laughing at both the genre they perform as well as themselves. How else could you explain the beyond strange "Punks and Monks" with its lampooning rant delivery comparing the pious to the riotous? Mixing somber chanting with multiple punk rock "Oi!" shrapnel at the chorus has created the most sublimely bizarre melding of styles since Christina Agulera shared the stage with Fred Durst at this year's MTV Video Music Awards. Naysayers might dismiss Shiloh Church for trying to gain notoriety by being intentionally bratty while thumbing their nose at the standards of punk rock. I say good for them. Punk has been taking itself WAY too seriously lately. Too many people wandering around muttering "I remember punk when?" I welcome the fact that these guys can have a sense of humor with subject matter and have fun doing it - something that's been lost on the glut of navel-gazing hardcore acts that have surfaced in the wake of Slipknot. If that doesn't convince you, buy the record. I defy you not be motivated to mosh by their sound, or at least entertained with their humorous lyrical twist on the ordinary. "Demoh" is a solid record from the first grinding chord to the last crash on the high hat. FINAL GRADE: A ***** "DEMOH" REVIEW BY MICHELLE DAUGHERTY OF SPANK FANZINE - This release goes from pop to ugly metal, and has momentary flashes of both the Fixtures and Anthrax without being nearly as serious or threatening-sounding as either. Instead, Shiloh Church apply this method to songs called "Uterus" and "Punks and Monks". This record makes me laugh - "Heart Attack" is a snappy song about dropping dead at the corner store and "Leper Supper" talks of a fondness for leper stew that was sparked by finding shoes with the feet of a leper still inside. My favorite is "Clown Town" - a menacing, kick-ass song about ... clowns: "mimes are cute/harlequins are pretty/but I bet they don’t have their own city". I'm sorry, every once in a while, this is just what you need to listen to (or is it just me?). *** "OCTOH" REVIEW BY KYLE MUNSON OF THE DES MOINES REGISTER - "Shiloh Church puts a silly spin on punk scene" Those who could use a dose of levity this week should turn to Shiloh Church, the funniest and quirkiest band ever to rise out of the peaceful town of Perry. When I first witnessed the Shiloh boys live four years ago, they were spewing paint and performing other goofy antics on stage while bashing out primitive yet infectious punk rock riffs. They've refined their sound considerably for "Octoh," their new, sophomore album. Its eight songs (plus a hidden and cheeky techno dance remix of the song "Drink Through Your Eye!") are squeezed into less than 20 minutes - as long as the average TV sitcom might last if we didn't have to put up with all the annoying commercials. Laughs certainly are the business on "Octoh." These guys aren't politically preachy punks. Think of irreverent '80s band the Dead Milkmen combined with spacey concepts worthy of funk maestro George Clinton. Shiloh's songs are populated by odd oceanic creatures, roaming zombies, sexual aides and Vikings, Vikings, Vikings. ("Vikings are cool! They just kick ass!" the band proclaims in "I Am a Viking.") As the band's own promotional biography states: "All Shiloh Church lyrics are written for humor's sake. We're not at all focused on sending a message." Shiloh's message is giggly chaos, and because it comes fast and quick, with enthusiasm and catchy melodies to spare, it goes down easily, before you start to feel as if you've endured too much of a "Beavis & Butthead" marathon. By the time the sixth track hits, the boys hardly have to articulate the fact that they want to go "Berzerk." But they do anyway, God bless 'em. The "Octoh" CD booklet even describes the band members' musical roles in humorous language. Drummer Darius Hernandez is responsible for the "boom boom," bassist Adam Clark for the "throb throb," guitarist Jesse Hernandez for the "whah whah" and singer Eli Hernandez for the "la la." Within the context of all the craziness, closing the album with an instrumental track (before the bonus techno mix) is an odd choice for a punk band, leaving a rather soft impression of what is otherwise a raucous blast. ***** "OCTOH" REVIEW BY MICHELLE DAUGHERTY OF SPANK FANZINE - This band is certifiable - seriously, you can tell. You can sense the little voices getting louder and louder and louder - and by listening to songs like "Drink Through Your Eye!" and "I Am a Viking!" (or, perhaps, "Dead"), it's easy to conclude that whichever personality is present at that particular time is just trying to drown out the voices with the music (and their own voice, of course). If Shiloh Church didn't have such solid rhythms or such a super skronky guitar to solidify their songs into the catchy little bastards that they are, I'd definitely recommend institutionalization.

Additional Info One day, Ganty was lonely (like he is every day)...so he played his favorite record. Find out what happens to Ganty (and get a steamy, smelly, heaping pile of Shiloh Church news, reviews, pics, sounds, lyrics, links, show info and more) at http://shilohchurchonline.com

Location Des Moines, IA - USA

Copyright notice. All material on MP3.com is protected by copyright law and by international treaties. You may download this material and make reasonable number of copies of this material only for your own personal use. You may not otherwise reproduce, distribute, publicly perform, publicly display, or create derivative works of this material, unless authorized by the appropriate copyright owner(s).