Charred Walls of the Damned is an American
heavy metal supergroup formed in 2009 consisting of drummer
Richard Christy
Thomas Richard Christy Jr. (born April 1, 1974) is an American drummer and radio personality, best known for being the former drummer for several heavy metal bands since the early 1990s, most notably Death, and his tenure on ''The Howard Stern ...
, bassist
Steve Di Giorgio, vocalist
Tim "Ripper" Owens
Timothy S. "Ripper" Owens (born September 13, 1967) is an American heavy metal singer who currently performs with KK's Priest, Spirits of Fire, the Three Tremors and A New Revenge. He first gained attention as the lead singer of Judas Priest ...
and guitarist
Jason Suecof
Jason Suecof (born April 3, 1980) is an American record producer, audio engineer and guitarist best known for his work with heavy metal bands such as Trivium, Battlecross, Death Angel, All That Remains, Bury Your Dead, The Black Dahlia Murder ...
.
The band was formed by Christy after a five-year absence from the metal scene since joining ''
The Howard Stern Show
''The Howard Stern Show'' is an American radio show hosted by Howard Stern that gained wide recognition when it was nationally syndicated on terrestrial radio from WXRK in New York City, between 1986 and 2005. The show has aired on Howard 100 a ...
'' in 2004. They have released three studio albums.
History
Formation
While
Iced Earth
Iced Earth is an American heavy metal band formed in Tampa, Florida and currently based in Columbus, Indiana. They were formed in 1984 under the name the Rose, then Purgatory, by guitarist and main songwriter Jon Schaffer and original drummer ...
were on their 2004 ''
Glorious Burden'' tour, drummer Richard Christy decided to depart from the band, thus postponing upcoming dates in
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
. He became a finalist in "Get John's Job", a listener contest on ''
The Howard Stern Show
''The Howard Stern Show'' is an American radio show hosted by Howard Stern that gained wide recognition when it was nationally syndicated on terrestrial radio from WXRK in New York City, between 1986 and 2005. The show has aired on Howard 100 a ...
'' to replace
"Stuttering John" Melendez, who left to become the announcer for ''
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jay Leno that first aired from May 25, 1992, to May 29, 2009. It resumed production on March 1, 2010 and ended on February 6, 2014.
The fourth incarnation of the ...
''. Having not participated would have made him "regret it every day of
islife". On July 1, 2004, Christy won the contest with 30% of the listener vote.
With his busy work schedule in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
, Christy kept in touch with his musical roots. He built confidence in his guitar playing and song writing, putting together an entire
demo album
Demo, usually short for demonstration, may refer to:
Music and film
* Demo (music), a song typically recorded for reference rather than release
* ''Demo'' (Behind Crimson Eyes), a 2004 recording by the band Behind Crimson Eyes
* ''Demo'' (Deafhe ...
of material. He returned from a -year absence from music, announcing his new band, Charred Walls of the Damned. The origin of its name was explained on May 20, 2009. It derives from a series of radio
prank calls he and
Sal Governale
Throughout its run spanning four decades and multiple media, ''The Howard Stern Show'' has been home to a number of staff members and contributors.
Current staff
These staffers currently work for and appear on the show on a regular, if not ...
made to a
Tradio
Tradio is a type of talk radio show format, though now considered archaic, where listeners call in to buy or sell items. The concept is analogous to classified ads in local newspapers and most prevalent in the south and midwest.
"Tradio" is a p ...
show on a
Christian radio
Christian radio is a Christian media radio format that focus on programming with a Christian message. Many such broadcasters play contemporary Christian music, though many programs include sermons, radio dramas, as well as news and talk progra ...
station. In response to the pranks they received, the host described how he prays for them, thus "saving their soul to be saved by God's grace...not in the devil's hell where you'd be putting your nails in the charred walls of the damned".
Debut album and tour
The band's first single, "Ghost Town", was released on December 1, 2009.
Their debut album, ''Charred Walls of the Damned'', was released on
compact disc
The compact disc (CD) is a Digital media, digital optical disc data storage format that was co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. In August 1982, the first compact disc was manufactured. It was then rele ...
and
iTunes
iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...
on February 2, 2010.
Blabbermouth.net
Blabbermouth.net is a website dedicated to heavy metal and hard rock news, as well as album and music DVD reviews. Blabbermouth.net was founded and is run by Borivoj Krgin. The first version of the website was launched in March 2001; in Octob ...
reported around 2,200 copies were sold in the United States in its first week of release. The Japanese version of the album includes a cover version of "Nice Dreams" by
Minneapolis
Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...
metal group
Powermad
Powermad is an American thrash/speed metal band formed in Minneapolis in 1984. The group has been called an "innovative and often forgotten speed metal band...who infused progressive metal styles and European styles into abstract American speed ...
. The album entered ''
Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
s "Heatseekers", "Independent Albums" and "Hard Music Albums" charts at No. 6, 37 and 46 respectively. It also reached No. 85 on the Canadian "Independent Chart". On January 5, 2011, Christy reported the album sold 20,000 copies worldwide.
Overall, the album was well received by critics. English on-line music magazine Rocksnail, with its award of 3.5 out of 5, noted the band's potential if they convey such material live. Dom Lawson of Bravewords praised the album with an 8.5 out of 10, hailing it as "a platinum-plated triumph" which "absolutely lives up to every expectation on a musical level." He pointed out the pairing of Christy and Di Giorgio as a "particularly inspired touch", particularly on "Blood on Wood".
Chris Akin from Pitriff, who awarded the album 8 out of 10, identified a "distinct chemistry" between the four musicians, with the album delivering "terrific, old school sounding metal".
Though he believed the album achieved its "pure, out-and-out metal" aim, Andy Lye from Jukebox:Metal argued it "sounds somewhat disjointed ... like parts of it were recorded very separately and only partially successfully spliced together afterwards." Lye believed at 35 minutes the album was "far too short", believing it "could and should have been so much better given the talent involved."
In July 2010, the band performed for the first time in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
and
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
. The nine-date tour featured replacements John Comprix and Matt Sorg on guitar and Ed Stephens on bass.
''Cold Winds on Timeless Days''
Christy began writing new material for the second album during the mixing of their first, making a conscious effort to write that catered the playing style of each member, including Suecof's method of production. The result was a 12-song demo tape that sounded similar to the first album which the band developed their ideas from.
During the 2010 Christmas period, Christy recorded his drum tracks at
Criteria Studios
Criteria Studios is a recording studio in North Miami, Florida, founded in 1958 by musician Mack Emerman. Hundreds of gold, platinum, and diamond singles and albums have been recorded, mixed or mastered at Criteria, for many notable artists and ...
in
Miami, Florida
Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...
in two-and-a-half days. The rest of the album was recorded in January and February 2011 at Audiohammer Studios.
''Cold Winds on Timeless Days'' runs for 58 minutes and was released on October 11, 2011. The album sold nearly 1,500 copies in its first week of release in the US, and peaked at No. 14 on the ''Billboard'' Heatseekers Chart.
''Creatures Watching Over the Dead''
The band reconvened at Audiohammer Studios for their third album in productive recording sessions. Christy put down his drum parts in one day and DiGiorgio had finished recording in two. ''Creatures Watching Over the Dead'' was released on September 23, 2016.
Band members
*
Richard Christy
Thomas Richard Christy Jr. (born April 1, 1974) is an American drummer and radio personality, best known for being the former drummer for several heavy metal bands since the early 1990s, most notably Death, and his tenure on ''The Howard Stern ...
–
drums
A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...
*
Steve Di Giorgio –
bass guitar
The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...
*
Tim "Ripper" Owens
Timothy S. "Ripper" Owens (born September 13, 1967) is an American heavy metal singer who currently performs with KK's Priest, Spirits of Fire, the Three Tremors and A New Revenge. He first gained attention as the lead singer of Judas Priest ...
–
lead vocals
The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...
*
Jason Suecof
Jason Suecof (born April 3, 1980) is an American record producer, audio engineer and guitarist best known for his work with heavy metal bands such as Trivium, Battlecross, Death Angel, All That Remains, Bury Your Dead, The Black Dahlia Murder ...
–
guitar
The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...
Discography
Studio albums
* ''Charred Walls of the Damned'' (2010)
* ''Cold Winds on Timeless Days'' (2011)
* ''Creatures Watching Over the Dead'' (2016)
Singles
* "Ghost Town" (2009)
* "Zerospan" (2011)
* "The Soulless" (2016)
Videography
* ''The Making of Charred Walls of the Damned'' (2010)
References
External links
Charred Walls of the Damnedat
Metal Blade Records
Metal Blade Records is an American independent record label founded by Brian Slagel in 1982. The US office for Metal Blade is located in Agoura Hills, California. It also has offices in Germany, Japan, Canada, and the UK. The label is distrib ...
Richard Christy Official SiteTim "Ripper" Owens Official Site
{{Authority control
Musical groups established in 2009
Heavy metal musical groups from New York (state)
Heavy metal supergroups
Metal Blade Records artists