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Spineshank

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Spineshank
Spineshank in 1998
Spineshank in 1998
Background information
OriginLos Angeles, California, U.S.
Genres
Years active
  • 1996–2004
  • 2008–2016
Labels
Past members
  • Jonny Santos
  • Mike Sarkisyan
  • Robert Garcia
  • Tom Decker
  • Marlo Gonzalez
  • Brandon Espinoza

Spineshank was an American nu metal / industrial metal band from Los Angeles. The band released four studio albums: Strictly Diesel (1998), The Height of Callousness (2000), Self-Destructive Pattern (2003), and Anger Denial Acceptance (2012).

History

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Early works, formation and signing with Roadrunner (1996–1997)

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Before Spineshank formed in 1996, vocalist Jonny Santos, guitarists Marlo Gonzalez and Tim Mankowski, and drummer Tom Decker were members of a band called Basic Enigma. They released a demo EP in 1994 named Drunk With Power.[1][2] According to Decker, they learned "everything not to do" in Basic Enigma, and were heavily inspired by Pantera, Slayer, and White Zombie at the time. Upon hearing Fear Factory's Demanufacture, the band took a new approach, writing songs and recording them before actually playing them. This made them realize they needed to change the way they did things. Around the same time, Mike Sarkisyan replaced Mankowski on guitar.[3]

Basic Enigma later broke up but soon reformed as Spineshank. They then started recording demos and handed them out at several shows in Los Angeles. After the release of a demo in 1996, Gonzalez departed from the lineup; thus, Sarkisyan became the band's sole guitarist.[4] Eventually, Fear Factory guitarist Dino Cazares heard one of their demos and gave them a chance to open a show for Fear Factory and Coal Chamber at a concert held in Los Angeles with other notable bands such as Snot, Soulfly, Sepultura, and Danzig. As a result of these shows, Spineshank piqued the interest of the A&R director of Roadrunner Records, Kevin Estrada. Estrada liked them because of their experimentation but was hesitant to sign them due to their lack of a bass player, and he didn't like that Santos played the bass and sang because he felt playing the bass "inhibited" him from singing. After several lineup changes, the band eventually found Robert Garcia, who became their bass player.[2][5][6]

Estrada worked with them on a song that later became "Detached," and after multiple performances, Estrada was pleased and wanted to do a demo deal. After speaking with Roadrunner, they were so impressed with the demos that they wanted to skip the demo deal and sign the band instead. Spineshank went on to sign a seven-album deal with Roadrunner, guaranteeing $30,000 for their first album plus an extra $10,000 for subsequent records with the label.[7][8]

Strictly Diesel, The Height of Callousness and Self-Destructive Pattern (1998–2003)

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Spineshank released their debut album Strictly Diesel on September 22, 1998. Fear Factory vocalist Burton C. Bell provides vocals on the track "Stain". Spineshank joined Fear Factory and Kilgore on a European tour that year.

Spineshank's second album The Height of Callousness was released on October 10, 2000. Unlike their debut album, The Height of Callousness has a strong industrial metal influence. The band was featured at Ozzfest 2001, and toured with such artists as Disturbed, Hed PE, Orgy and Mudvayne in support of the album's release. The songs "Synthetic" and "New Disease" were released as singles in 2000 and 2001, respectively.

The band's third album Self-Destructive Pattern was released on September 9, 2003. The album's lead single "Smothered" was nominated for a Grammy in the category of Best Metal Performance (2004). Shortly after the album was released the band went on a European tour with Ill Niño and Chimaira. A show in the Netherlands was filmed on October 6, and was to become a DVD entitled Roadrage. However, it was never officially released.

Lineup change and hiatus (2004–2008)

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In January 2004, it was reported that Santos had officially left Spineshank. Tom Decker stated that the split was "amicable" and was mainly due to "musical differences", Decker later said a big part of why Santos left was because the band wanted "to go heavier" but Santos didn't.[3][9][10] Santos later spoke about leaving Spineshank in a 2006 interview, stating: "I think that moment in time we weren't getting along the greatest. I was not happy with the direction of the music anymore, and I also think that the band had kind of just run its course. I think that Spineshank did what it was meant to do. I don't regret ever being in that band. It's some of the best memories of my life, but I think that the day was up."[11]

On January 17, 2004, Spineshank launched a search for a new vocalist,[12] and on November 7, 2005, Spineshank's official website announced that they would be working with Brandon Espinoza. They also stated that they had already been working together for five months at the time, and had produced five songs. At the time, the band did not intend to continue to use the name Spineshank. Meanwhile, Santos went on to release two albums with his new band Silent Civilian.

On July 7, 2006, Espinoza posted an update on the band's message board, and stated that they were still in the process of writing material. Then, February 7, 2008, after almost two years of silence about the band, Espinoza announced that the band had broken up due to the lack of chemistry between its members.[13] Later on, in February 2008, the band (excluding Espinoza) announced open tryouts for a new unnamed project.[14]

Anger Denial Acceptance, reunion with original lineup and disbanding (2008–2016)

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The thing is we broke up and the Grammy thing [happened] during the same week. Things were already in motion, and it was already kind of over at the time. I mean, we were burned out. It's weird because it never set in, and we never got to be "Grammy-nominated Spineshank." It was like, okay, we got this nomination and we're done.

—Tom Decker on the band being nominated for a Grammy

In 2008, Spineshank reunited with Santos, and in August of that year recorded a demo. Drummer Tom Decker said of the reunion, "First of all, you don't have to worry about us abandoning our sound; there will be plenty of electronics/loops/synths on this record. Jonny is also singing better than he ever has, so there will be a ton of singing and melody as well. This will definitely be heavier than our previous albums but it will not be all bashing. I can wholeheartedly promise you that we will not be trying to be anything we are not. This is simply going to be Spineshank five years later. There will be a few new elements but it will be undeniably us (for better or worse!!!). . . " Santos stated in an interview that Anger Denial Acceptance "will be the Spineshank record we always wanted to make, and not what the label wanted us to make" and that it won't be a "commercially-driven record".[15]

On October 3, 2011, Spineshank debuted a new song "Murder Suicide" via Noisecreep.[16] On June 19, 2012, the band released Anger Denial Acceptance through Century Media.

After several years of silence, on February 16, 2016, Mike Sarkisyan in an online interview said that the band had completed what they had set out to do and that there were no plans to continue the band.[17]

In July 2020, Spineshank's former label Warner Music Group (who owns Roadrunner Records) released "Infected", a song that was originally a b-side on the Japanese release of their 2003 album Self-Destructive Pattern, to Spotify.[18] The song had leaked to online outlets well over a decade prior.

Musical style and influences

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Spineshank has been described as nu metal,[19][20] industrial metal,[21] and alternative metal.[22] They have been compared to the likes of Fear Factory, Orgy, Static-X, Coal Chamber, and System of a Down.[23]

Jonny Santos has cited Robb Flynn, James Hetfield, and Tom Araya as his "biggest heroes", but was inspired to start playing guitar by Randy Rhoads, and Eddie Van Halen. Slash also had a big influence on Santos as a kid, stating "That's why most of my playing is all in pretty much, like, pentatonic patterns. I stay in a certain box that I feel really comfortable with, and I use my wah pedal quite a bit. Slash, to me, is just, like, God." Santos has also cited Sepultura, Machine Head, Ministry, and Godflesh as influences for Spineshank.[11]

Band members

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Final lineup

  • Mike Sarkisyan – guitar, piano (1996–2016)
  • Tom Decker – drums, programming, keyboards (1996–2016)
  • Robert Garcia – bass, backing vocals (1997–2016)
  • Jonny Santos – lead vocals (1996–2004, 2008–2016)

Former

  • Marlo Gonzalez – guitar (1996)[4]
  • Brandon Espinoza – vocals (2005–2007)[24]

Discography

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Spineshank discography
Studio albums4
Compilation albums1
Singles7

Studio albums

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List of studio albums, with selected details and chart positions
Title Album details Peak chart positions Certifications
US
[25] 		US
Heat.
[25] 		AUS
[26] 		UK
[27]
Strictly Diesel — — — 129
The Height of Callousness
  • Released: October 10, 2000
  • Label: Roadrunner
  • Formats: CD, CS, DI, LP
 183 13 — 104
Self-Destructive Pattern
  • Released: September 9, 2003
  • Label: Roadrunner
  • Formats: CD, DI
 89 — 89 83
Anger Denial Acceptance — — — —
"—" denotes a release that did not chart.

Compilation albums

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List of compilation albums, with selected details
Title Album details
The Best of Spineshank
  • Released: January 29, 2008
  • Label: Roadrunner
  • Formats: CD, DI

Singles

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List of singles, with selected chart positions
Title Year Peak chart positions Album
US
Main.
[29] 		UK
[27]
"Stovebolt" 1998 — — Strictly Diesel
"Synthetic" 2000 — — The Height of Callousness
"New Disease" 2001 33 84
"Smothered" 2003 — — Self-Destructive Pattern
"Nothing Left for Me" 2012 — — Anger Denial Acceptance
"—" denotes a release that did not chart.
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References

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  1. ^ Drunk With Power Credits (liner notes). Retrieved July 15, 2024.
  2. ^ a b "Spineshank". Spotify. Retrieved July 13, 2023.
  3. ^ a b Murphy, Tom. "Spineshank's Tommy Decker on his approach to drumming and reconvening with Jonny Santos". Westword. Retrieved July 13, 2023.
  4. ^ a b SpineShank Credits (liner notes). Retrieved July 15, 2024.
  5. ^ Meep Meep Podcast (March 2022). "Spineshank - Strictly Diesel (1998) [w/ Rob Garcia & Mike Sarkisyan of Spineshank and Kevin Estrada, A&R]" (Podcast). Event occurs at 3:00-7:00.
  6. ^ "SpineShank Bio". roadrunnerrecords.com. Archived from the original on January 28, 1999. Retrieved June 6, 2023.
  7. ^ Meep Meep Podcast (March 2022). "Spineshank - Strictly Diesel (1998) [w/ Rob Garcia & Mike Sarkisyan of Spineshank and Kevin Estrada, A&R]" (Podcast). Event occurs at 7:00-10:30.
  8. ^ Karpe 2021, p. 155.
  9. ^ It's Official: SPINESHANK Part Ways With Vocalist JONNY SANTOS Archived October 15, 2007, at the Wayback Machine. Posted January 9, 2004.
  10. ^ SPINESHANK Drummer: 'We Wanted To Play Heavier Music Than JONNY Did' Archived October 15, 2007, at the Wayback Machine. Posted January 10, 2004.
  11. ^ a b "Live-Metal.Net - Interviews: Silent Civilian". September 27, 2007. Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. Retrieved July 13, 2023.
  12. ^ SPINESHANK Launch Singer Search Archived October 15, 2007, at the Wayback Machine. Posted January 17, 2004.
  13. ^ Brandon Espinoza: Its sad to say but were parting ways.... Posted February 7, 2008
  14. ^ Ex-Spineshank Members Looking For Vocalist For New Band. Metalunderground.com, Posted April 2, 2008.
  15. ^ Spineshank Interview 2008, May 10, 2012, retrieved July 12, 2023
  16. ^ "Spineshank Return with a Fury on 'Murder Suicide' -- Song Premiere - Noisecreep". Archived from the original on October 5, 2011. Retrieved October 3, 2011.
  17. ^ "Talk Toomey - Ep. 28 Mike Sarkisyan (Spineshank)". Archived from the original on March 28, 2016. Retrieved September 8, 2019.
  18. ^ "NEWS: Spineshank single "Infected" surfaces!". Metalnoise.net. Retrieved September 16, 2020.
  19. ^ Udo, Tommy (2002). Brave Nu World. Sanctuary Publishing. pp. 159–162. ISBN 1-86074-415-X.
  20. ^ "28 Nu-Metal Era Bands You Probably Forgot All About". NME. Retrieved February 13, 2016.
  21. ^ Chichester, Sammi (December 5, 2012). "Mike Sarkisyan of Spineshank Picks His Five Favorite Albums of the Year". Revolver. Archived from the original on June 20, 2017.
  22. ^ Riddle, Tree (June 19, 2012). "Spineshank, 'Nothing Left for Me' – Exclusive Video Premiere". Loudwire. Retrieved November 7, 2015.
  23. ^ Udo, Tommy (2002). Brave Nu World. London : Sanctuary. pp. 159–160.
  24. ^ Minus Knives (Ex-Factory 81/Spineshank) Release Debut Album, Preview Available
  25. ^ a b "Spineshank Album & Song Chart History". Billboard.
  26. ^ Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010 (PDF ed.). Mt Martha, Victoria, Australia: Moonlight Publishing. p. 264.
  27. ^ a b Zywietz, Tobias. "Chart Log UK: DJ S - The System of Life". Zobbel.
  28. ^ "Spineshank: The Height Of Callousness". British Phonographic Industry. Archived from the original on June 8, 2023. Retrieved June 8, 2023.
  29. ^ "Spineshank > Charts & Awards > Billboard Singles". AllMusic. Retrieved January 12, 2012.

Bibliography

[edit]
  • Karpe, Matt (2021). "Spineshank". Nu Metal: A Definitive Guide. UK: Sonicbond Publishing. pp. 153–159. ISBN 9781789520637.
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