Decyfer Down

Decyfer Down
Decyfer Down performing in Jacksonville, Florida on March 29, 2011.
Background information
Origin	Morehead City, North Carolina, United States
Genres	Christian rock, hard rock,[1] post-grunge, alternative metal
Years active	1999–present
Labels	Fair Trade Services
Website	www.decyferdown.com
Members	TJ Harris Brandon Mills Christopher Clonts Benjamin Millhouse Chris Furr
Past members	Caleb Oliver Josh Oliver

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Decyfer Down is a Christian rock band formed in 1999 and based in Morehead City, North Carolina. Until 2002 – the year that Christopher Clonts joined the band – they went by the moniker Allysonhymn (pronounced All-eyes-on-Him). Following Clonts' arrival they switched to the current name, Decyfer Down. Decyfer Down is well known in the Christian music,but the band is also known for their mainstream success having toured with bands like Puddle of Mudd, Breaking Benjamin.

Biography

Decyfer Down was originally formed in 1999 as Allysonhymn by guitarist Brandon Mills and drummer Josh Oliver. Formerly an acoustic outfit, the group eventually switched to a more rock-oriented sound. Josh Oliver's brother Caleb Oliver joined the band later that year as a bass player and vocalist. In 2002 guitarist Christopher Clonts joined, cementing their sound. The band changed their name to Decyfer Down, then began writing and touring heavily. They have toured with artists such as Puddle of Mudd, Breaking Benjamin, Crossfade and Adema. The band has shared the stage with acts such as Pillar, Thousand Foot Krutch, Day of Fire, The Showdown, Skillet, Disciple, Hawk Nelson, and many more.^[2] In 2008, Caleb, appeared with Skillet on their "Comatose Comes Alive" tour. On the song "Those Nights" he played the bass.

A record deal with INO Records led to the band's debut album, End of Grey, which was released on June 2006. The album had five singles "Fight Like This", "Break Free", "Burn Back the Sun," "No Longer" and "Life Again" all of which reached No. 1 on the Christian rock charts. The album peaked at No. 43 on the Billboard Top Christian Albums.^[3] "Fight Like This" was featured in UFC promo which aired on September 7, 2007 for twelve hours on the front page of YouTube. On July 7, 2008 Decyfer Down's released the lead single off their upcoming album; "Crash" to radio. "Crash" went on to peak at the No. 1 spot on the Christian Rock charts and No. 20 on the ChristianRock.net end of year charts.^[4] The song was also used to promote the Jeff Hardy vs. Matt Hardy match at WrestleMania XXV. In support of their upcoming album the band released a 3 song EP to iTunes on September 30. The EP contained "Crash" as well as two other new songs entitled "Best I Can" and "Now I'm Alive". Some claim that Decyfer Down had already started selling signed, physical copies of the entire Crash album (containing all songs except "Desperate" and "Moving On") before its release, during their live shows, which means that Caleb Oliver had finished recording his Vocals on all songs of the Crash album and those were sold as pre-ordered copies. However, no legitimate proof exists on the internet, and Decyfer Down hasn't said anything about it.

The band announced in September 2008, that original lead singer/bassist Caleb Oliver (brother of drummer Josh) had left the band. T.J. Harris formerly of Fighting Instinct joined a few weeks later. On February 3, the second single "Fading" was released. Fading peaked at No. 1 on the Christian Rock Charts, making it their second No. 1 single from their new album and sixth consecutive No. 1 single. It is their first official public studio recording TJ Harris. On February 17, the band released an updated EP with TJ's vocals, containing the songs "Crash", "Fading", and "Moving On".

On May 5, 2009 Decyfer Down's second studio album, "Crash" was released. It debuted at No. 66 on the Billboard 200 in its first week, selling nearly 9,000 copies, and stayed for three weeks, dropping to No. 128 and then to No. 181 before falling off the chart.^[5] Drummer Josh Oliver stated in an interview in July that the record had sold upwards of 30,000 copies in three months. On December 3, 2009 it was announced that Crash had been nominated for a Grammy for Best Rock or Rap Gospel album of the year, which they did not win, but being nominated was a huge success for the band.^[6]

In March 2010, the band announced that they had begun writing for a third album.Template:Scarecrow In September 2010, the band posted a short video of them in the studio, working on a new song. In June 2013, the band announced their new album would be titled Scarecrow and would be released on August 27, 2013. The album arrived and continued the radio-friendly format of accessible hard rock. The riffs and songwriting are a bit heavier and more aggressive than heard on previous outings and a tighter band cohesiveness is evident. Highlights include the title track as well as "Westboro".

On May 12, 2015, original member and drummer Josh Oliver announced that he would be stepping down from the band.

On September 26, 2015, Decyfer Down announced an upcoming EP consisting of six songs,^[7] which would be their first independent EP. They started a campaign on IndieGogo ^[8] to get some support via Crowd Funding. On October 23, 2015, Decyfer Down announced that they have added 4 bonus tracks to the project, and converted the EP to an album, consisting of ten songs.^[9] The estimated release date of this album is in February, 2016. On November 14, 2015, Decyfer Down revealed the name of their new album to be "The Other Side of Darkness".

On November 27, 2015, they released a single from the album, called "Nothing More", which went on to peak the Christian Rock charts. They also released acoustic EPs and an acoustic version of their song "Anchor Me" exclusively to people who contributed to their campaign.

Nothing More also ranked #8 on ChristianRock.net in top 30 for a week!

Members

Present Members

• TJ Harris - Lead Vocals, Rhythm Guitars (2008–present)
• Chris Clonts - Lead Guitars, Rhythm Guitars, Backing Vocals (2002–present)
• Brandon Mills - Lead Guitars, Rhythm Guitars, Backing vocals (1999–present)
• Benjamin Millhouse - Drums (2015–present)
• Chris Furr - Bass Guitar (2013–present)

Former Members

• Caleb Oliver - Lead Vocals, Bass Guitar (1999–2008) (recorded bass guitar for eight tracks on the album "Crash", in addition to co-writing)
• Josh Oliver - Drums (1999–2015)

On Tour

• Kevin Young(Disciple) - Bass Guitar (Comatose 2009)
• Joey West(Disciple) - Drums (Reload and Rock 2014)
• Andrew Welch(TFK) - Rhythm Guitar (Comatose 2009)
• Glenn Hartzog - Bass Guitar (Multiple Tours; before Chris Furr joined)

Discography

Studio albums

EPs

Compilations

Singles

2015

"Nothing More"
 The Other Side Of Darkness

References

External links

• Official website
• Decyfer Down Official Youtube
• Decyfer Down on Vevo