Deathline International are an American
industrial rock
Industrial rock is a fusion genre that fuses industrial music and rock music. It initially originated in the 1970s, and drew influence from early experimental and industrial acts such as Cromagnon, Throbbing Gristle, Einstürzende Neubauten a ...
group based in
Oakland
Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay A ...
,
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
, known for experimenting with multiple electronic music styles. The original nucleus of the band comprised composers Shawn Brice (Wiz Art, Spawn) and Christian Petke (Count Zero). The band released five studio albums on
COP International
COP International, also shortened to ''COP Int'l.'', is a music label, based in Oakland, California.
Initially, the label was founded in 1991 by Christian Petke (a.k.a. Count Zero of Deathline Int'l.) in Frankfurt, Germany. A few months later, K ...
: ''
Reality Check'' (1993), ''
Zarathoustra'' (1995), ''
Arashi Syndrom'' (1997), ''
Cybrid'' (2001), ''Pax Americana'' (2022).
History
Deathline International was formed in 1991 out of
Oakland
Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay A ...
,
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
, by composers Shawn Brice and Christian Petke.
The band made their debut with 1993's ''
Reality Check'', released by
COP International
COP International, also shortened to ''COP Int'l.'', is a music label, based in Oakland, California.
Initially, the label was founded in 1991 by Christian Petke (a.k.a. Count Zero of Deathline Int'l.) in Frankfurt, Germany. A few months later, K ...
.
The album was a fusion of orchestral
samples with
electro and
heavy metal.
The
EP ''
Venus Mind Trap'' was released in April 1995 and produced with the musical imput of John Carson of
Grotus
Grotus, stylized as G̈r̈oẗus̈, was an industrial rock band from San Francisco, active from 1989 to 1996. Their unique sound incorporated sampled Folk music, ethnic instruments, two drummers, two bassists, and featured angry but humorous lyri ...
,
Rey Osburn
Tinfed were an alternative rock group started in Sacramento, California. The final line-up consisted of vocalist and instrumentalist Rey Osburn, guitarist Eric Stenman, drummer Matt McCord, and bassist Rick Verrett. They released three studio a ...
of
Tinfed
Tinfed were an alternative rock group started in Sacramento, California. The final line-up consisted of vocalist and instrumentalist Rey Osburn, guitarist Eric Stenman, drummer Matt McCord, and bassist Rick Verrett. They released three studio al ...
, Suzanne Santos of Hydro Chi Non and Evan Sornstein of
Battery
Battery most often refers to:
* Electric battery, a device that provides electrical power
* Battery (crime), a crime involving unlawful physical contact
Battery may also refer to:
Energy source
*Automotive battery, a device to provide power t ...
.
They followed that release in November with the band's second album ''
Zarathoustra''.
Their second album was produced with the collaborative efforts of most of the COP Intl. roaster.
The band provided a
cover
Cover or covers may refer to:
Packaging
* Another name for a lid
* Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package
* Album cover, the front of the packaging
* Book cover or magazine cover
** Book design
** Back cover copy, part of co ...
of
Soft Cell's "
Tainted Love
"Tainted Love" is a song composed by Ed Cobb, formerly of American group the Four Preps, which was originally recorded by Gloria Jones in 1964. It attained worldwide fame after being covered and reworked by British synthpop duo Soft Cell in 198 ...
", originally written for and performed by
Gloria Jones
Gloria Richetta Jones (born October 19, 1945) is an American singer and songwriter who first found success in the United Kingdom, being recognized there as "The Queen of Northern Soul". She recorded the 1965 hit song "Tainted Love" and has wo ...
, to COP Intl.'s ''
Chaos Compilation'' in 1994.
The band's third album ''
Arashi Syndrom'' and second EP ''
Wild Boys
''Wild Boys'' is an Australian television period drama series that began airing on the Seven Network on 4 September 2011. It is produced by Julie McGauran and Sarah Smith from Southern Star and John Holmes. The series is set in and around the ...
'' were released in 1997,
with the former peaking at number twenty-one on
CMJ's Dance Top 25.
The album was commended for its synthesis of their brand of coldwave
industrial music
Industrial music is a genre of music that draws on harsh, mechanical, transgressive or provocative sounds and themes. AllMusic defines industrial music as the "most abrasive and aggressive fusion of rock and electronic music" that was "initiall ...
with
new wave while showcasing the band's expanded compositional diversity.
Founding member
Shawn Brice departed from the band to pursue his own musical interests after deciding that ''Arashi Syndrome'' would be his final album writing credit with Deathline International.
Keyboardist G.W. Childs joined the band, and in 2001 the band released their fourth album ''
Cybrid''.
The band began releasing new material again on COP Intl. with the
EP ''
Eisbär
"Eisbär" (; ) is a 1980 cult hit composed by the Swiss Neue Deutsche Welle band Grauzone. It first appeared on the 1980 compilation album ''Swiss Wave - The Album''. The shorter single version was later collected on the Grauzone album ''Die Sunris ...
'' in 2016. The following years saw the release of several more EPs, including ''
Spin Zone'', ''
Breaking'' and ''
Spin Zone II''.
In 2020 the band covered
The Vibrators
The Vibrators are a British punk rock band that formed in 1976.
Early career
The Vibrators were founded by Ian ' Knox' Carnochan, bassist Pat Collier, guitarist John Ellis, and drummer John 'Eddie' Edwards. They first came to public notice ...
"
Troops of Tomorrow", which they originally covered for 1997's ''Arashi Syndrom'', with
Dead Kennedys
Dead Kennedys are an American punk rock band that formed in San Francisco, California, in 1978. The band was one of the defining punk rock, punk bands during its initial eight-year run.
Dead Kennedys' lyrics were usually political in nature, sa ...
frontman
Jello Biafra
Eric Reed Boucher (born June 17, 1958), known professionally as Jello Biafra, is an American singer, spoken word artist and politician. He is the former lead singer and songwriter for the San Francisco punk rock band Dead Kennedys.
Initially ac ...
and released it as a single on
Bandcamp
Bandcamp is an American online audio distribution platform founded in 2007 by Oddpost co-founder Ethan Diamond and programmers Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt and Neal Tucker, with headquarters in Oakland, California, US. On March 2, 2022, Bandcamp ...
.
Discography
Studio albums
* ''
Reality Check'' (1993,
COP Intl.)
* ''
Zarathoustra'' (1995, COP Intl.)
* ''
Arashi Syndrom'' (1997, COP Intl.)
* ''
Cybrid'' (2001, COP Intl.)
* ''Pax Americana'' (2022, COP Intl.)
Extended plays
* ''
Venus Mind Trap'' (1995,
COP Intl.)
* ''
Wild Boys
''Wild Boys'' is an Australian television period drama series that began airing on the Seven Network on 4 September 2011. It is produced by Julie McGauran and Sarah Smith from Southern Star and John Holmes. The series is set in and around the ...
'' (1997, COP Intl.)
* ''
Eisbär
"Eisbär" (; ) is a 1980 cult hit composed by the Swiss Neue Deutsche Welle band Grauzone. It first appeared on the 1980 compilation album ''Swiss Wave - The Album''. The shorter single version was later collected on the Grauzone album ''Die Sunris ...
'' (2016, COP Intl.)
* ''
Spin Zone'' (2018, COP Intl.)
* ''
Breaking'' (2019, Distortion/COP Intl.)
* ''
Spin Zone II'' (2020, Distortion)
References
External links
*
*
*
*
*
*
{{Authority control
Musical groups established in 1991
1991 establishments in California
American electro-industrial music groups
American industrial rock musical groups
COP International artists