I’ve had a bit of fun doing surprise posts on this day. In 2017 I did an overview on iconic Christian Hair Metal legends Stryper, and last year as a prank I decided to take a look at the discography of the hidden gem known as Grim Reaper. I didn’t necessarily know what to do this year, as I had a couple ideas swirling around in my head, and didn’t know what to pick. Low and behold, a suggestion on Youtube pointed me in a direction of a band that’s absolutely perfect for today. On Easter Sunday 2019, we’re gonna take a look.....at Tourniquet!
That’s right, we’re delving into the realm of Christian Metal for this review! Like their 80s counterpart Stryper, there were a band known for speaking the good word without the holier-than-thou preaching, and for crafting some fantastic music. However, while Stryper was rooted in Hair Metal and the early years of Power Metal, Tourniquet was all about Thrash Metal. From 1990 all the way until last year, they wielded their instruments & vocals as wild as any other Thrash band, but stayed truth to their faith in their own unique way. I figured it would be interesting to examine their first ever release, so grab some Easter candy, and take a look at my review for Stop The Bleeding. Let’s begin!
Background
Taken from wikipedia:
“The band recorded Stop the Bleeding at Mixing Lab A & B studio in Garden Grove, California. The band's line-up consisted of Ted Kirkpatrick, Guy Ritter, and Gary Lenaire. Session musician Mark Lewis played nearly half of the album's lead guitar solos.
Prior to the album's recording, during an "Artists vs. Label" softball game, a label executive accidentally ran over drummer Ted Kirkpatrick's foot (his main kick foot) while rounding second base, requiring Kirkpatrick to record the album under a great deal of pain.
The band faced other recording obstacles as well, such a power failure that forced the producer to mix the songs over again. In an interview, then-vocalist Guy Ritter reminisced:
At about 3:00 a.m., we are still trying to sleep. All of a sudden the lights go completely out in the studio! Gary was, like, "What was that?", and I said, "I think it was a power failure!" [laughing], and we looked at each other and went, "Uh-oh!" We called [producer] Bill [Metoyer], and he was screaming, "What?!" He had to come back in and mix a lot of the stuff over because of that power outage.
Another funny time was when we were recording "Tears of Korah," and we completely forgot a verse! We did not even notice it ‘cause, well, the song is, like, 35 minutes long! We used to have the joke, "Oh, it’s a Gary [Lenaire] song." The whole second side of vinyl would be just Gary songs or maybe just one, since they were so long! (laughter) "Harlot Widow" was like twelve minutes. "Tears of Korah" was like eight minutes or something. So anyway, we didn’t even notice it was missing, it was so long. And, remember, we were recording on two-inch tape, so it’s expensive to do, to put an eight-minute song down. So, I am in the vocal booth recording my parts when, all of a sudden, I go to sing the third verse, and there is nothing there. I was just stunned! The guitar solo was there, and I was supposed to sing another verse. (This is back in the days of tape.) So, what Bill did was he switched over to a couple of tracks, and I recorded the vocals to the third verse to the second verse on different tracks. I was going, "How are you going to fix this?! How are you going to fix this?!" when we were mixing the album. He bounced down the second verse to half-inch tape, and then he bounced the same verse again to the third verse to half-inch tape, and then the rest of the song to half-inch tape, and then got out a razor blade and cut it up and spliced it all back together so we had a complete song.
In the original booklet, the band gave co-production credits to Roger Martinez, vocalist of fellow California-based Christian thrash metal group Vengeance Rising. However, Metal Blade Records' Bill Metoyer actually produced the album. Ritter said about this:
Roger Martinez was asked to co-produce our first album. I think he asked to do it. (Imitates Roger:) “I need some, uh, co-producing points here. I would, uh, like to, uh, co-produce Tourniquet. Yeah, that would be really great, uh, if I could, uh, co-produce Tourniquet, yeah.” So they [Touniquet] let him. It was kind of weird, and we were okay with it just for the name on the credits. Everybody in the world at that time loved Vengeance Rising, so if they saw his name on the album, more power to Roger, but we would be in the middle of a session and Bill Metoyer would be getting everything perfect and everything set up great, and Roger would turn to Bill and say, “Yeah, um, Bill, um, yeah, can I have one more DB, please, on track two, um, yeah, one more DB?” And so Bill would pretend... I don’t think he would even change it, and Roger would say, “Yeah, sounds good, bro.” (laughter) That, to us, was one of our favorite things, and we did that continually on the next two albums. We would always say to Bill, “One more DB please.” (laughter)
Musically, the album was said to be "unlike anything else on the market at the time" and incorporates classical music to 1980s-inspired speed and thrash metal riffs. Guy Ritter's vocals on the album, which he said were inspired by glam metal vocalists, shift between low-baritone and high-falsetto vocals, although they were performed higher on the demo versions:
In some of the early demos of those songs there were lots more high parts. That whole first verse on “You Get What You Pray For” was all high. Only on the final versions in the studio are all the parts lower. So we did tone it down a little before we recorded it.
Ritter's falsetto vocals are often compared to those of King Diamond:
...it is true, a lot of people used to ask me [Guy Ritter], “Have you heard King Diamond sing?” And, seriously, I had not ever heard him sing until after Stop the Bleeding came out. So many people said, “Oh, come on, you probably listened to a lot of King Diamond.” Finally, I was at Ted’s apartment, and he pulled out a CD, and he said, “Okay. You have got to listen to this King Diamond and see what you think," and I had to agree that, “Wow, this is kind of similar” (laughing).
The album cover art features a snake restrained by chains, representing the power good has over evil and how that relates to the death and resurrection of Christ, which was the ultimate victory over Satan. The bible verse 1 John 4:4, which reads in part, "Greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world," inspired this concept.”
Basic Description
Thrash Metal Surprise.
Kind of like when I delved into Stryper’s discography back in 2017, I did a double take or two when I first listened to this record. Two forces, seemingly at odds with one another in so many ways, somehow manage to compromise & create something special. The Christian side lends it’s countless stories, myths, and fables to the Thrash side, while the Thrash side sharpens the Christianity into a fine edge, and acts as a vehicle for it’s delivery into your veins. It might seem jarring at first, but Stop The Bleeding is right up there with the Thrash Metal classics of Metallica, Slayer, Sodom, and many others. Whether you believe or not, this has to be in your music collection at some point!
Best Track
Ark Of Suffering is a pretty brutal song on an album of already brutal music. Taking on the rough topic of animal rights, the lyrics are a mix between gruesome violence & exploitation intertwined with a little bit of religious doctrine. It does come across as a little condescending & preachy, but it never gets overwhelming to the point where you feel like you’re at a fanatic’s sermon. The instrumentation is Thrash to the 10th degree, and coupled with vocal work from Guy Ritter & Gary Lenaire, keeps the imagery stuck in your memory at least for a short time. The music video for the song was eventually taken off of MTV due to complaints about it being too graphic, but in a ironic twist, it was the winner of the “Rock Video Of The Year” from the Christian News Forum Contemporary Christian Music Award, and readers of Heaven’s Metal voted it their favorite music video of the year.
Ark Of Suffering (Video/Caution for shocking imagery)
Worst Track
If there was one bad thing I could say about Stop The Bleeding, it would be mainly towards the Christian crowd, and it would mainly be how they like their faith in their music. Do they like the lighthearted & fun nature of Stryper, or do they prefer a more serious interpretation/implementation. Luckily with Tourniquet, they don’t get preachy & holier-than-thou when it comes to the faith based lyrics & message. That being said, they get pretty brutal with the subject matter, especially on the previously mentioned track. Even among non-Christian metalheads, this decided factor will most definitely be the tone & vibe.
Other
If you’re curious about listening to this album, then click on the link below:
Stop The Bleeding
Overall Impression & Rating
Stop The Bleeding is two things. For starters, it is further proof that Heavy Metal never mysteriously disappeared or “died” once the 90s came around. It easily got stuck in the brains of those who listened to it, and gave further credibility to the idea that Christianity & Heavy Metal can get along in some circumstances. Secondly, the album cements itself as a classic, and Tourniquet as a Thrash Metal titan. It might be a strange experience at first for new listeners, but Stop The Bleeding is one of those albums you need to listen to at least once.
Stop The Bleeding gets a 10 out of 10. Earns every point!
And that was my surprise post for Easter 2019 everybody! Marking one of the few times that Christianity & Heavy Metal can not only get along, but can create some surprisingly awesome art! Standing alongside their hairier counterparts Stryper, both them & Tourniquet are great bands for Christians to get into if they want to try metal. Heck, they’re great bands to get into even if you’re a non-believer. Heavy Metal is for everyone, after all! I’ll see you all in about a week or so for the conclusion to Compilation Month 2.0, so put a bandage on that wound in the meantime will ya!?
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