Spineshank

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Spineshank

Background information
Origin	Los Angeles, California, United States
Genre(s)	Nu Metal Industrial Metal
Years active	1996 – 2007 (To be confirmed)
Label(s)	Roadrunner Records (1998-2004)
Website	www.spineshank.com (Link dead as of 02:43, 20 January 2007 (UTC))
Members
Brandon Espinoza Mike Sarkisyan Robert Garcia Tom Decker
Former members
Jonny Santos

Spineshank was a four-piece nu metal/industrial metal music group from Los Angeles, California, USA. The band has abandoned their name, and as of April 2007, is working a new album namelessly. It has been announced that the remaining members of the band had found a replacement for former vocalist Jonny Santos in Brandon Espinoza.

1 History
- 1.1 Members
2 Discography
3 External links

[edit] History

Spineshank was originally formed in February of 1996. The musical ensemble was derived from the remains of a previous musical endeavor, the band "Basic Enigma" which included future Spineshank members Jonny Santos (vocals), Mike Sarkisyan (guitar) and Tom Decker (drums). Basic Enigma broke up upon hearing Demanufacture, the 1995 release by the industrial metal group Fear Factory. Soon enough, they reformed with a different name, a new bassist (Robert Garcia) and a refined musical style.

The band soon befriended Fear Factory guitarist Dino Cazares. After hearing their demo tape, he offered them to open a show for Fear Factory at the "Whiskey A-Go-Go" show in Los Angeles. This led to other coveted opening slots, with such popular acts as Coal Chamber, Snot, Soulfly, Sepultura and Danzig among others. This also resulted in interest from record labels. Eventually, Roadrunner Records signed the band to a contract. Their debut, Strictly Diesel (1998) featured yet another tie-in with their favorite band, Fear Factory. Their vocalist Burton C. Bell sings on the track "Stain". Their sophomore effort, The Height of Callousness (2000) contained two singles in "Synthetic" and "New Disease". The band would hold a second stage slot at the Ozzfest Tour in 2001, and for the majority of that summer as well as touring with the likes of Disturbed, (həd) pe, Orgy and Mudvayne. The band's third album, Self-Destructive Pattern (2003) is notable for containing the Grammy nominated song "Smothered" - for the Best Metal Performance in 2003.

2004 saw the departure of vocalist Jonny Santos. The band stated that it was an amicable split mainly due to musical differences. Almost two years later, Santos revealed in an MTV report that "I wasn't having fun anymore" and he wanted to go out on a high note after being nominated for a Grammy Award. Jonny Santos' new band, Silent Civilian, was later formed and they released their debut album titled, Rebirth of the Temple on May 4, 2006. Silent Civilian's style is vastly different from Spineshank's, as it falls into the metalcore category, and incorporates various different styles of metal.

On November 7, 2005, the website of Spineshank posted in the News Section that band has worked with Brandon Espinoza for 5 months and has produced 5 songs. It is noted that the songs are slightly darker and rawer compared to their previous work. Their main concern now is focusing on writing music and getting to know each other.

On July 7, 2006, vocalist Brandon Espinoza posted an update on the band's message board saying that they are still in the process of writing material.

As of January 21, 2007, www.spineshank.com is no longer a registered domain name. This is due to the band's decision to no longer go by the name Spineshank. The group hope to be back on the road and playing shows sometime in 2007.

[edit] Members

Current:

Brandon Espinoza – Vocals
Mike Sarkisyan – Guitar
Robert Garcia – Bass
Tom Decker – Drums

Former:

(1996-2004) Jonny Santos – Vocals

[edit] Discography

Album Cover	Date of Release	Title	Label
	September 22, 1998	Strictly Diesel	Roadrunner Records
	October 10, 2000	The Height of Callousness	Roadrunner Records
	September 9, 2003	Self-Destructive Pattern	Roadrunner Records