Deliverance (metal band)

For other uses, see Deliverance (disambiguation).
Deliverance
Genres Heavy metal, thrash metal, speed metal, progressive metal, Christian metal
Years active 1985–1996, 2000–2002, 2006–2011, 2012–present
Labels Intense, Brainstorm Artists Intl., Indie Dream, Magdalene, Retroactive, Roxx
Website deliverancerocks.com
Members Jimmy P. Brown II
Mike Phillips
Manny Morales
Jayson Sherlock

Deliverance is an American Christian thrash metal band which later shifted more towards heavy metal and progressive metal. Founded by Jimmy P. Brown II in 1985, many members have either stayed in the lineup for a number of years, or left and returned to the lineup. Jimmy P. Brown II has been the only persistent member of Deliverance.

History

Early career and rise to near fame (1985–1991)

Deliverance formed in 1985 as a speed metal outfit, where the Christian metal community first encountered them on the compilation album California Metal. They put forth their self-titled debut album Deliverance in 1989 with Jimmy P Brown II (guitars and lead vocals), Glenn Rogers (lead guitar), Brian Khairullah (bass), and Chris Hyde (drums). In 1989, Deliverance's track "If You Will" from their self-titled album appeared on Hot Metal Summer II along with a recorded interview.

Deliverance garnered significant attention in the Christian metal community with their 1990 release Weapons of Our Warfare. During this time, the band replaced guitarist Glenn Rogers with George Ochoa. Deliverance released a video on MTV for the title track of Weapons. The track was also included on Intense Records compilation album Hot Metal Summer III Hot Licks - Cold Facts.

During the production of their third album, What A Joke, Brian Khairullah and Chris Hyde were replaced with Mike Grato and Kevin Lee respectively. The album did not perform as well, and tensions within the band resulted in the departure of George Ochoa.

Four more albums and first breakup (1992–1996)

Their fourth album was a major change in direction for the band musically. Stay of Execution went in a more progressive metal direction, complete with new guitarist Mike Phillips.

In an interview with Doug Van Pelt of HM Magazine, when asked about the musical change, Jimmy P. Brown explained:

"I got tired of being labeled 'Oh, there's Deliverance.... the Metallica clones are back.' You know, that got really old. Because in a sense we were kind of ripping them off. But I definitely know that the Lord wants us to be original. I want to be original. So I think it was time."
—HM Video Magazine

While this move did anger fans at the time, others feel that Stay represents Deliverance's best work. Their fifth album, Learn, continued in a progressive direction with new bassist Manny Morales and lead guitarist Jonathan Maddux. From this time on, the other positions in the band changed with increasing frequency, but the core of the band remained Jimmy Brown and Manny Morales.

Deliverance released River Disturbance in 1994 and Camelot in Smithereens in 1995. Camelot was the poorest seller in the Deliverance catalog at the time.

Reunion and second hiatus (2000–2010)

After a four-year hiatus, Deliverance resurfaced in 2000 and began recording their next studio album, Assimilation, which was released in the following year. Assimilation represented another change in style with a shift towards a more electronic/industrial sound. Deliverance again retreated until 2006.

In 2006, Deliverance reformed with a lineup of Jimmy P. Brown II, Mike Phillips, Corin Jae Scott, Tim Kronyak, and Mike Reed. The bands next album As Above - So Below was released on April 24, 2007.[1] Full length songs from the album can currently be heard on the band's official MySpace page.[2] The album featured a mix of all their past material (musically) with some more modern metal elements.

Deliverance announced they would be releasing a new album sometime in 2010 called The Annals of Subterfuge. This would mark Deliverance's 25th Anniversary. Though rumors persist of reuniting with past members, it became apparent that Jimmy would be recording the upcoming album with Mike Phillips.

Though the group officially disbanded in 1996, there have been fan demands for concert performances and new albums which caused the intermittent reunions every 4–5 years. Jimmy P. Brown II has spent the past 10 years working in the casino industry in Las Vegas, but currently resides in Alabama continuing his career with the casino industry. Jimmy has been quoted as saying: "I moved to Alabama to be close with my family, and to try regain normalcy for my family. Having lived in the fantasy land of Las Vegas for the past 10 years, I wanted to stay in the casino biz, but didn't want my kids growing up the Vegas way".

Third breakup and another reunion (2011–present)

On May 20, 2011 Mike Phillips announced that Deliverance was finally coming to end and would be performing their final show in August 2011.[3] However, by July 2012, Deliverance had resurfaced again[4] and been working on their tenth studio album Hear What I Say!, which is due for release on September 3, 2013 on Roxx Records and will be their final album.[5][6]

Outside Deliverance

After Deliverance, Jimmy Brown started to work on a new project, electronica-industrial-gothic group Fearful Symmetry. The name is taken from the poem "The Tyger" by William Blake. The group has published two albums, This Sad Veil of Tears in 2002 and A Loss of Balance in 2005.

Also in 2005, Jimmy formed an outfit called Jupiter VI along with Brian Khairullah, Trevor Shannon, Mike Reed and Tiberius Ahan. This band provided an outlet for Jimmy to express his love for glam rock, cited influences from Bowie, T-Rex, DA, Iggy Pop and others from the genre. They released one album titled "Back From Mars". Jupiter VI is currently working on their second release titled "A Message From Home Pt. I".

Brian Khairullah, former bass guitarist, has since renounced his faith and has unflattering things to say about religion.[7]

References to Queensrÿche

Jimmy P Brown II has made several references to Queensrÿche throughout his career in Deliverance, not the least of which is the band name itself, taken from the title to track 3 on Queensrÿche's 1984 album, The Warning. Jimmy has never been bashful about honoring other musicians who have influenced him greatly. Along with his true musical heroes, David Bowie and Terry Scott Taylor, there is no question that Jimmy's greatest band influence will always be Queensrÿche.

Other references include:

Criticism

Along with other Christian metal groups, Deliverance was often accused of copying mainstream bands. Most notably, they were criticized for copying Metallica's style. Jimmy Brown brought this up in multiple interviews, noting the band was mocked as "Metalliclones".

Discography

Studio albums

Other albums

Other Releases

Members of Deliverance

Current members

Former members

Guitars

Bass

Drums

Keyboards

Studio Members

Visual Timeline of Members

References

  1. ↑ "DELIVERANCE: 'As Above - So Below' Release Date Announced". Blabbermouth.net.
  2. ↑ "Official Deliverance MySpace".
  3. ↑ "The Last Deliverance Concert". Christian Metal Realm.
  4. ↑ "The Return Of DELIVERANCE". Blabbermouth.net.
  5. ↑ "DELIVERANCE To Release Final Album In September". Blabbermouth.net.
  6. ↑ "Deliverance Announces Final Album "Hear What I Say!"". MetalUnderground.com.
  7. ↑ http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=267217971&blogId=495823910
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 "Deliverance - About". Facebook. 28 May 2012. Retrieved 2 June 2012.
  9. ↑ While Jesse never actually played with Deliverance live or in the studio, he was hired by bassist Manny Morales to play for Deliverance while Jimmy was living in St. Louis. The plan was when Jimmy moved back to California, they would regain focus. Jimmy then detoured to Las Vegas and never did make it to California which led to Manny's departure from Deliverance.

External links