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Sacred Reich
American thrash metal band From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Sacred Reich is an American thrash metal band from Phoenix, Arizona, formed in 1985. Since 2019, the band's lineup has consisted of vocalist-bassist Phil Rind, lead guitarist Wiley Arnett, rhythm guitarist Joey Radziwill, and drummer Dave McClain. Former members include rhythm guitarist Jason Rainey and drummer Greg Hall. Their music often features mid-tempo song structures as well as musical and lyrical influences from punk rock and hardcore punk, with their lyrics focusing on political and social topics. The band is credited (along with Testament, Destruction, Death Angel, and Dark Angel) with leading the second wave of thrash metal in the late 1980s.
Sacred Reich gathered initial success with the release of their debut album, Ignorance (1987), but remained relatively underground. Upon the release of their first EP, Surf Nicaragua (1988), and second album The American Way (1990), the band gained significant acclaim, with the latter reaching No. 153 on the Billboard 200 chart. Their subsequent albums, Independent (1993) and Heal (1996), failed to attract attention, leading to Sacred Reich's disbanding in 2000. They reunited for a series of live shows in 2006, eventually reforming as a live act. In 2018, they began recording their first album after their reformation, Awakening, which was released in August 2019.
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History
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1985–1989: Formation, early years, Ignorance, and Surf Nicaragua
Sacred Reich formed at Coronado High School in Scottsdale, Arizona in 1985.[1] The original lineup consisted of rhythm guitarist Jason Rainey, lead guitarist Jeff Martinek, bassist Mike Andre, vocalist Dan Kelly, and drummer Ray Nay. Soon after, Phil Rind replaced Andre as the bassist and Greg Hall replaced Nay on the drums,[2] and Rind became the vocalist after Kelly became ill.[1] After Draining You of Life's release later that year,[a] Martinek left Sacred Reich to join the military, and the band hired guitarist Wiley Arnett.[1]
With Arnett, they re-recorded the song "Sacred Reich" alongside a new song, "Ignorance". In 1987, recommended by Flotsam and Jetsam bassist Jason Newsted, "Ignorance" appeared on the Metal Blade Records compilation Metal Massacre VIII—bringing the band outside attention.[1] Soon after, Metal Blade signed a record deal with the band and released their debut album, Ignorance, in October of that year.[1][4] Ignorance was influenced by punk rock and hardcore,[5] and featured political and social commentary in their lyrics[6]—using themes of war, racism, and political oppression among others.[7] Ignorance was generally well received, with reviews citing its political themes and lyrics.[4] On the album, Hit Parader proclaimed: "Intelligence and metal are two things not normally associated with each other, but in the case of Sacred Reich, they blend to form a powerful musical message." Kerrang! labeled the album the "best debut thrash LP this year."[8] The band's members received several offers from other bands, including Flotsam and Jetsam offering positions to Rind and Arnett, Dark Angel offering Rind a vocalist slot,[4] and Slayer offering Greg Hall a drummer position during drummer Dave Lombardo's first departure.[4][9]
In 1988, Sacred Reich released the EP Surf Nicaragua. Surf Nicaragua was more crossover-oriented than previous releases[9] and featured better production, and slower tempos while the band continued to grow as musicians.[10] The album marked Sacred Reich's entry into the world market,[1][3] leading to the band to begin a world tour.[1] The touring included an appearance at Dynamo Open Air in 1989 which was recorded and released as their first live album, Alive at the Dynamo.[4]
1990–2000: The American Way, Independent, Heal, and disbanding
In 1990, Sacred Reich released their second album, The American Way.[4][11] The album saw Sacred Reich progress further from their debut Ignorance, featuring less use of double bass pedals and shredding[9] and favoring slower tracks for more diverse tempos and tone.[5] As with previous releases, the album focused heavily on sociopolitical topics,[4][5] but moved towards a more personal direction. Rind stated: "Although there are some political songs/overtones, we've tried to deal more with people than political systems."[12] The album peaked at No. 153 on the Billboard 200 chart on September 1, 1990,[13] staying on the chart for nine weeks.[14][15] Sacred Reich toured for nearly two years in support of The American Way, including co-headlining with Sepultura and Napalm Death on the New Titans on the Bloc tour in 1991.[16] In 1991, the band released an EP titled A Question.[1] Later that year, Greg Hall parted ways with Sacred Reich and was replaced by former S.A. Slayer member Dave McClain.[1]
Sacred Reich signed with major record label Hollywood Records and released their third album, Independent, in 1993.[17][4] On the album, they continued experimenting with groove metal.[18] The album received little recognition upon release stemming from the drop in popularity of thrash metal[19] and the gap between album releases.[1][19] Dave McClain departed Sacred Reich to join Machine Head after receiving several offers from them earlier that year.[20] Their fourth album, Heal (1996), received little to no recognition for similar reasons to their previous album Independent.[21] Later that year, Greg Hall rejoined the band, but drummer Chuck Fitzgerald took over drumming duties for the world tour.[1][22] The band released a live album, Still Ignorant, in 1997,[18] but remained relatively inactive outside of touring. The band disbanded between 1999 and 2000.[23][18]
2006–present: Reformation, Awakening, and upcoming sixth studio album
In November 2006, Sacred Reich announced they would play several shows in Europe in the summer of 2007 including Wacken Open Air,[23] before reforming as a live act that year.[22][24][25] They performed at Wacken Open Air again in 2009, which was recorded and later released as a live album, Live at Wacken, in 2012.[25][26] In the spring of 2017, they announced their first North American tour in 21 years, titled "30 Years of Ignorance" after the 30th anniversary of their debut album, Ignorance.[27]
In January 2018, Sacred Reich signed to Metal Blade Records and began working on their fifth album, Awakening.[28] Later in January, Greg Hall was fired from the band and temporarily replaced by Tim Radziwill for the demos and touring.[29] In September, Machine Head announced that Dave McClain was leaving their band, officially rejoining Sacred Reich in December.[30] In February 2019, Rainey left the band for health reasons and was replaced by Tim Radziwill's son, Joey.[2] In April, Sacred Reich released the split single "Don't Do it Donnie" alongside Iron Reagan,[22][31] later co-headlining a monthlong tour with them in May.[32] Awakening was released on August 23, 2019, being the band's first full-length studio album since 1996's Heal[28][33][34] and their first studio album in 23 years.[35] Awakening was well received by critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, giving the album a 76 out of 100 rating based on 4 reviews.[36] In support of the album, Sacred Reich toured in Europe alongside Night Demon,[37][38] and supported Gwar on their Use Your Collusion tour that year.[39] Rainey later died on March 16, 2020, at the age of 53 from a heart attack.[40]
At the beginning of 2024, Sacred Reich announced they were recording their upcoming sixth studio album, which was expected to be released at the end of the year.[41] Rind announced in a post on New Year's Eve of 2024 that the band would soon enter the studio to record their new album for a late August 2025 release.[42][43]
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Musical style and lyrics
Sacred Reich is known for their political and social lyrics,[18] which often focus on topics such as war, racism, and ecology.[3] The band's style, generally considered thrash metal,[1][18][44] frequently uses mid-tempo song structures[5][45] and takes influences from other genres such as punk rock and hardcore punk,[3] as well as elements of groove metal on their later releases.[18] The band's songs are generally short and based on simple guitar riffs; author Thierry Anzar said the songs develop a "communicative energy" reliant on strong choruses and lyrics.[3]
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Influence and legacy
![[icon]](#/media/File:Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg){kind=small} | This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (February 2025) |
Revolver named Sacred Reich as "one of the most important thrash bands of the eighties and nineties," dubbing their debut album, Ignorance, as "a milestone in the thrash movement",[22] with the album later appearing on their 25 Essential Thrash Albums list.[46] Metal Hammer dubbed the band "among the few socially conscious thrashers in the 80s".[47] The band is commonly attributed to helping lead the second wave of thrash metal during the late 1980s alongside bands such as Testament, Death Angel, Dark Angel, and Forbidden.[18][35] Sacred Reich has been credited with being a progenitor of groove metal,[48] with their 1990 album The American Way being credited as being one of the first groove metal albums—releasing a few months before Pantera's Cowboys From Hell[3] and before Sepultura's Chaos A.D.[48]
Members
Current members
- Phil Rind – bass, vocals (1985–2000, 2006–present)
- Wiley Arnett – lead guitar (1986–2000, 2006–present)
- Dave McClain – drums (1991–1996, 2018–present)
- Joey Radziwill – rhythm guitar (2019–present)
Touring musicians
- Chuck Fitzgerald – drums (1996)
- Tim Radziwill – drums (2018)
Former members
- Jason Rainey – rhythm guitar (1985–2000, 2006–2019, died 2020)
- Greg Hall – drums (1985–1991, 1996–2000, 2006–2018)
- Dan Kelly – vocals (1985–1986)
- Jeff Martinek – lead guitar (1985–1986, died 2018)
- Ray Nay – drums (1985)
- Mike Andre – bass (1985)
Timeline
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Discography
Studio albums
- Ignorance (1987), Metal Blade
- The American Way (1990), Metal Blade
- Independent (1993), Hollywood
- Heal (1996), Metal Blade
- Awakening (2019), Metal Blade
EPs
- Draining You of Life (1985) – demo
- Surf Nicaragua (1988), Metal Blade
- A Question (1991), Metal Blade
Live albums
- Alive at the Dynamo (1989)
- Still Ignorant (1997)
- Live at Wacken (2012)
Compilations
- Ignorance/Surf Nicaragua (2007)[49]
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Footnotes
External links
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