Heaven's Force

Heaven's Force was an American Christian metal band that formed in Fort Worth, Texas in 1983. It is thought to be the first Christian thrash metal band.^[1][3] The band consisted of vocalist/drummer Dave Gryder, guitarist Chris Richie, and bassist Kelly Berger. Their debut demo, Aggressive Angel, was released in 1983 and their self-titled second demo was released the following year before the group disbanded in late 1984. In 2008, Richie committed suicide after a long time of depression.^[4] After this unfortunate event, Gryder stated during an interview in 2014 that the band would never reunite without their friend.^[4] The band re-released their demos via Open Grave Records on the compilation album Aggressive Angel in 2009.^[5] The band has been compared to Slayer, Venom, and Exciter.^[6]

Heaven's Force
Origin	Fort Worth, Texas, United States
Genres	Christian metal, thrash metal,[1][2] power metal,[1] speed metal[1]
Years active	1983–1984
Labels	Independent, Open Grave Records
Past members	Dave Gryder Kelly Berger Chris Richie

Members

Last known lineup

• Dave Gryder – vocals, drums
• Christopher "Chris" Richie – guitar (died 2008)
• Kelly Berger – bass guitar

Discography

Heaven's Force discography
Compilation albums	1
Demos	2

Demos

• Aggressive Angel (1983)
• Heaven's Force (1984)

Compilation album

• Aggressive Angel (2009)

Compilation appearances

• Texas Metal Archives Volume One (2009; Metal Rising/Brainticket Records)
• Back in the Day: An Old School Compilation (2018; The Bearded Dragon Productions)