The Crucified

The Crucified is an American Christian hardcore and crossover thrash band from Fresno, California that formed in 1984.[1] Its lineup is vocalist Mark Salomon, guitarist Greg Minier, bassist Jeff Bellew, and drummer Jim Chaffin. The Crucified released two studio albums and three demos. They toured California for the majority of their career and appeared at the Cornerstone Festival outside of Chicago several times. The band broke up in 1993 due to personal differences, but reunited in 2009.

The Crucified
Also known asKids in God's Blessings (K.G.B)
OriginFresno, California, U.S.
Genres
Years active1984–1993, 1995, 2009–present
LabelsNarrowpath, Ocean, Tooth & Nail
Associated actsArgyle Park, Chatterbox, Stavesacre
Websitewww.thecrucified.net
Members
Past members
  • Wayne Stonecipher
  • Kirk Palmer
  • Trevor Palmer
  • Mark Johnson

History

Formation (1984-1985)

In late 1984, drummer Jim Chaffin, guitarist Greg Minier, bassist Kirk Palmer, and vocalist Wayne Stonecipher started a band named K.G.B. in Fresno, California[2][3] The four teens knew each other as high school classmates. The name K.G.B. had no meaning to it, the members just thought initials "sounded cool".[4] In early 1985, K.G.B. was looking for a new vocalist due to the departure of Stonecipher. Minier asked his friend Mark Salomon to try out as vocalist.

Salomon was accepted into the band after singing a few songs the band wrote with Stonecipher.[4] Sensing pressure to have a meaning behind the name K.G.B., the band said the initials stood for Kids in God's Blessings. Not long after, the band thought the name sounded juvenile and changed it to The Crucified. The name came from Chaffin thinking of random names that would fit a Christian band. The Crucified added the Bible verse to the name whenever they wrote it. "For I have been crucified with Christ, therefore I no longer live, but Christ lives in me."[5]

Demos and The Crucified (1985-1991)

After almost a year of writing and practicing in the Palmer's living room, the guys recorded 10 songs on a demo tape under the name K.G.B., but it was never circulated. Soon after, Kirk Palmer left the band and was replaced by his brother Trevor. In 1986, The Crucified gathered together a small amount of money and recorded 15 songs on a tape named Take up Your Cross under their new name, The Crucified, and distributed the demo throughout their local area and via mail order. "Nailed", the band's second demo, was recorded the following year and the band's exposure continued to grow. Shortly after "Nailed" was recorded, the band members graduated from high school and Palmer left the group and was replaced by Mark Johnson. The band recorded "Live at the New Order" in March 1989.

Greg Sostrom saw The Crucified at a few shows and offered them a recording contract with his new start-up label, Narrowpath Records. The band accepted the offer and started to record songs at Casbah Studios in Southern California.[6] The 15-track album was titled The Crucified. It was released in compact disc format, which was a new format in the late 1980s.[6] After the album's release, the band started to tour around California, including appearances at the Cornerstone Festival as well as opening for D.R.I., G.B.H., and Pantera.[7] Johnson was fired from the band due to personal differences and the guys started looking for a new bassist. Chaffin responded to an ad in a newspaper posted by Jeff Bellew, citing The Crucified as an influence. Bellew joined the band and drove for four hours from his home in So Cal to Fresno every weekend to practice. Eventually the drive became too costly, and he moved to Fresno to practice with the band.[8][9]

The Pillars of Humanity and breakup (1991-1995)

After recruiting Bellew, the band started to write and record for their second studio album, The Pillars of Humanity. When the album was released 1991 on Ocean Records the band did not tour very much for the album. In 1992 the band was broken up, but 1993 is when the band announced their breakup. According to Bellew, Minier had been kicked out of the band at the time due to a controversy that the band did not want to address.[9] With Minier out of the band, the band briefly hired Jon Maddux of Deliverance to fill in on guitar.[10] By this time, Salomon had moved away to a different part of California and struggled with finding a job and the meaning of his life, which left Bellew and Chaffin as the only members remaining nearby, until Chaffin disbanded the group.[10]

In 1995 the band reunited and played their final show at Cornerstone Festival. The members all went on to join new projects including, Stavesacre, Neon Horse, The Blamed, CHATTERbOX, and Applehead.

Box-set, Pillars re-issue and live shows (2008–present)

In September 2008, the band was able to acquire their music from Ocean Records and put together a commemorative box-set released through Tooth & Nail Records on June 30, 2009. The band also began offering new merchandise on their website and MerchNow. And on November 17, 2009, Tooth & Nail Records re-released The Pillars of Humanity.

The band played their first show in 14 years on June 14, 2009 at the Calvary Chapel Golden Springs in Diamond Bar, California, and also played at the Cornerstone Festival on the night of July 3, 2009.[11]

The band performed their first show overseas on October 31, 2009 at the Nordic Festival in Oslo, Norway.

Members
Current members
Name Instrument Years Other groups
Mark Salomon vocals 1985–1993, 2009–present CHATTERBoX, Neon Horse, Outer Circle, Stavesacre, White Lighter
Greg Minier guitar 1984–1993, 2009–present Applehead, Minier
Jeff Bellew bass 1990–1993, 2009–present Argyle Park, CHATTERBoX, Stavesacre,
Jim Chaffin drums 1984–1993, 2009–present Fasedown, The Blamed, Deliverance, Once Dead, Lifesavers Underground, Mortal, Left Out, Sarge Loda, Three Kings
Former members
Name Instrument Years Other groups
Wayne Stonecipher vocals 1984–1985 (with KGB)
Kirk Palmer bass/keyboards 1984–1986 (with KGB)
Trevor Palmer bass 1986–1988
Mark Johnson bass 1988–1989 Martyr, Blessing the Hogs, Snail, P.A.S.T.E.
Jon Maddux guitars 1993 Deliverance
Timeline

Discography
Studio albums
Year Album details
1989 The Crucified
  • Released: 1989
  • Label: Narrowpath
  • Format: CD, LP, cassette
1991 The Pillars of Humanity
  • Released: 1991
  • Label: Ocean
  • Format: CD, cassette,
2009 The Complete Collection
Demos
Year Demo details
1985 KGB
  • Released: 1985
  • Label: independent
  • Format: cassette
1985 Take up Your Cross
  • Released: 1986
  • Label: independent
  • Format: cassette
1986 Nailed
  • Released: 1987
  • Label: independent
  • Format: cassette
1989 Live at the New Order
  • Released: 1989
  • Label: independent
  • Format: cassette
1992 Nailed/Take up Your Cross

References
  • Salomon, Mark (2005). Simplicity. Relevantbooks. ISBN 0-9760357-6-6.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)

Notes
  1. Debendictis, Matt (January 28, 2010). "The Crucified's Religion Never an Issue when Playing with Thrash Legends". Noisecreep. Retrieved April 10, 2016.
  2. Salomon 2005, p. 51
  3. Van Pelt, Doug (2005). "The Crucified interview 2005". HM: The Hard Music Magazine. Archived from the original on 2012-02-07. Retrieved 2008-03-19.
  4. Salomon 2005, p. 53
  5. Salomon 2005, p. 54
  6. Salomon 2005, pp. 91–92
  7. Salomon 2005, p. 94
  8. Salomon 2005, p. 95
  9. Bellew, Jeff (September 10, 2017). "Jeff Bellew of Stavesacre". Interviewed by Travis Turner. Retrieved January 16, 2020.
  10. Bellew, Jeff (September 10, 2017). "Jeff Bellew of Stavesacre". As The Story Grows Podcast. Interviewed by Travis Turner. Retrieved January 16, 2021.
  11. "Cornerstone 2009 Bands". Archived from the original on 2011-10-08. Retrieved 2009-07-14.
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