Massivivid was a Christian band founded by Wally Shaw and Mark Nash. Their sound was based in industrial rock and electronic pop, but with a hard edge and intensity similar to that of

Nine Inch Nails Nine Inch Nails, commonly abbreviated as NIN and stylized as NIИ, is an American industrial rock band formed in Cleveland in 1988. Singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer Trent Reznor was the only permanent member of the band ...

The Smashing Pumpkins The Smashing Pumpkins (also referred to as simply Smashing Pumpkins) are an American alternative rock band from Chicago. Formed in 1988 by frontman and guitarist Billy Corgan, bassist D'arcy Wretzky, guitarist James Iha and drummer Jimmy Chamb ...

. Massivivid was founded as a live side project to

Deitiphobia Deitiphobia is a Christian rock, Christian Industrial music, industrial, Electro music, electro and techno band from the United States formed in 1990 consisting of the duo of Wally Shaw and Brent Stackhouse. Known originally as Donderfliegen (tran ...

. They released BrightBlur to critical acclaim, garnering a

Dove Award A Dove Award is an accolade by the Gospel Music Association (GMA) of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the Christian music industry. The awards are presented annually. Formerly held in Nashville, Tennessee, the Dove Awards ...

Background

The band was born in 1996 as a project of

Michael Knott Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name "Michael" * Michael (archangel), ''first'' of God's archangels in the Jewish, Christian an ...

's record label ''Ear Candy''. They produced an EP that year and held their first show at the 1997

Cornerstone Festival Cornerstone Festival was a Christian music festival put on by Jesus People USA and held annually around July 4 near Bushnell, Illinois, drawing some 20,000 attendees each year. In a given year, many artists that played at Cornerstone also playe ...

. After producing a demo for the label they were picked up by Tattoo Records and produced their first album, ''BrightBlur''. The name of the album refers to a line in

C. S. Lewis Clive Staples Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963) was a British writer and Anglican lay theologian. He held academic positions in English literature at both Oxford University (Magdalen College, 1925–1954) and Cambridge Univers ...

's ''

Letters to Malcolm ''Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer'' is a book by C. S. Lewis posthumously published in 1964. The book takes the form of a series of letters to a fictional friend, "Malcolm", in which Lewis meditates on prayer as an intimate dialogue bet ...

'' where Lewis describes

God In monotheism, monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator deity, creator, and principal object of Faith#Religious views, faith.Richard Swinburne, Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Ted Honderich, Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Ox ...

as a "bright blur becoming brighter and blurier". Several other Lewis references appear on the album: to ''

The Space Trilogy ''The Space Trilogy'' or ''Cosmic Trilogy'' is a series of science fiction novels by C. S. Lewis. The trilogy consists of '' Out of the Silent Planet'' (1938), '' Perelandra'' (1943), and ''That Hideous Strength'' (1945). A philologist named ...

'' in "Deep Heaven", and quotes from ''

Mere Christianity ''Mere Christianity'' is a Christian apologetical book by the British author C. S. Lewis. It was adapted from a series of BBC radio talks made between 1941 and 1944, originally published as three separate volumes: ''Broadcast Talks'' (1942), ' ...

'' in "Unmade". Lyrically ''BrightBlur'' is centered on the struggles faced by humanity, specifically the contrasts that technology introduces to society. The album propelled Massivivid to take the 1998

for "Hard Music Album." The band toured heavily throughout 1999. The follow-up record, ''Dressed To The Nines...Armed To The Teeth'', was released in 2002 on Accidental Sirens, an indie label partially owned by Allan Aguirre of

Scaterd Few Scaterd Few was a Christian punk band originating from Burbank, California. ''CCM'' magazine described their music as "pure punk for dread people," stating that it was a cross between Janes Addiction and Charlie Mingus. History ''Sin Disease'' ...

. A review in ''

HM Magazine ''HM Magazine'' is a monthly, digital and print on demand publication focusing on hard music and alternative culture of interest to Christians. It is headquartered in Houston, Texas. The magazine states that its goal is to "honestly and accurate ...

'' was heavily critical of the album, stating that its "fuzz-tone guitar based electro industrial" sound had at best the quality of a demo. One of the songs on ''BrightBlur'', Gripped, would appear as one of the songs in the OST for the video game, SCORE International Baja 1000.

Discography

*1999: ''BrightBlur'' (Tattoo Records, Reviews:
Cross Rhythms
', ''

7ball ''7ball'' is a discontinued Christian music magazine, first published in 1995. They focused on rock, hip-hop, and other "alternative" forms of Christian music. The magazine was initially published by the Royal Magazine Group (a division of Thoma ...

'', '' YouthWorker'') *2002: ''Dressed To The Nines... Armed To The Teeth'' ( Accidental Sirens, Review: ''HM Magazine'')

Members

*Sheri Shaw *Wally Shaw *Mark Nash *John Hogan *Wil Foster *Tom Wilson *Bob Carlton *Jesse Davis *Jason Scott *Keith Konečnik

References

External links

Massivivid featuring members of DeitiphobiaDeitiphobia/Massivivid discography
{{Authority control American Christian musical groups Musical groups established in 1996