Oh, Sleeper

Oh, Sleeper is an American metalcore band from Fort Worth, Texas that formed in 2006 with former members of Terminal. In over a decade's span, Oh, Sleeper has released four full-length albums, two EPs, and toured worldwide as an opening act. After independently releasing The Titan EP and traveling in the full Van's Warped Tour 2013, the band went on hiatus to allow clean vocalist and lead guitarist Shane Blay to join As I Lay Dying members in starting California-based metal band Wovenwar. The band's fourth full-length album, Bloodied / Unbowed, was released on July 12, 2019.[1]

Oh, Sleeper
Oh, Sleeper 2016 promotional photo
Background information
OriginFort Worth, Texas, U.S.
GenresMetalcore
Years active2006–present
LabelsSolid State
Associated actsTerminal
WebsiteOh, Sleeper on Facebook
MembersMicah Kinard
Shane Blay
Zac Mayfield
Past membersJames Erwin
Lucas Starr
Ryan Conley
Matt Davis
Johno Erickson
Nathan Grady

History

Oh, Sleeper was founded in April 2006 after Ryan Conley, former member of the rock band Terminal, got together with former Evelynn and Between the Buried and Me guitarist Shane Blay and former Terminal bassist Lucas Starr (who was at the time with As Cities Burn). Eventually they found a vocalist in Micah Kinard, formerly of Keeping Lions, and began practicing. The four members experienced typical problems of a band start-up (no place to practice, no money and different schedules), but the biggest obstacle was finding the final member. Countless awkward auditions failed to fill the missing position, until long time friend and fellow Terminal member James Erwin was found. After his addition to the lineup, the band released an EP, The Armored March, through 1x1 music.

The band signed with Solid State Records in mid-2007. Their debut album, When I Am God, was released on October 23, 2007. On December 28, 2007, Oh, Sleeper performed at the Plano Center in Plano, Texas along with the briefly reunited Terminal. Oh, Sleeper also supported Demon Hunter on their tour, along with Living Sacrifice, Advent, and The Famine. The tour in support of Norma Jean was drummer Ryan Conley's last with the band. Conley was replaced the following year by Matt Davis.

Son of the Morning was released on August 25, 2009. In an interview, Kinard stated that with this album, they wanted to combine crowd favorites such as "Vices Like Vipers" and "Charlatan's Host" from the previous album in order to make Son of the Morning stay true to their sound and please the fans. The lyrics on this album are much more straightforward than on their debut wherein Son of the Morning is a concept album based on the final battle between the Devil and God.[2] The first single from the record was the title track, "Son of the Morning" and later in the year, Oh, Sleeper played the entire album for the first time in Waco Texas at Art Ambush. The cover of Son of the Morning is known as a "broken pentagram", which has to be distinguished from the broken pentagram used by black magicians with only one triangle left. The symbol was designed by Ryan Clark of Demon Hunter and it follows the same pattern as a pentagram with the horns missing.[3] The album debuted on the Billboard 200 at No. 120 and also charted at No. 46 on the Rock Albums chart, at No. 7 on the Christian Albums chart and at No. 12 on the Hard Rock Albums chart.[4]

On February 23, 2011 Lucas Starr announced his departure from the band. He was replaced by Nate Grady who had filled in on tour the year before.[5]

The first single from Children of Fire, "Endseekers", was released on August 2, 2011 while "Hush Yael" was uploaded to their Facebook page on August 23. The album itself was released digitally on September 6, 2011 and physically in stores on September 27.[6] James Erwin explained in an interview that the new album takes place after Son of the Morning and followed the life of a priest and his atheist daughter. The album is a spin on the rapture and explored how people would react in end times. At the beginning of the record, the priest takes the role of judge now that he thinks God is dead and follows the daughter's path of finding God throughout the record.[7]

In November 2012, rhythm guitarist James Erwin announced his departure from the band. It was subsequently announced that Nate Grady would switch from bass to rhythm guitar to take Erwin's position in the band.[8] The band announced that Johno Erickson (formerly of Sky Eats Airplane) would fill-in on bass while touring with Fit for a King and in Directions as well as playing several other shows and festivals. Erickson's position was later made permanent.[9]

On April 24, 2013 the band announced they had completed their contract with Solid State Records and were going to record an independent EP via an Indiegogo fund-raiser.[10] On May 24, 2013 their goal of $30,000 was reached. By the end of the fund-raiser the band had raised $54,577 and announced they would be able to record a second EP later the same year using the additional funds. The Titan EP was released July 2, 2013 and is just under 20 minutes long. The album's concept is about a campaign (The Titan) that has taken over the world offering artificial upgrades to a persons body & mind for a service contract (time-debt). The debts accumulate and are passed to your family upon your death.

In 2014, after the sentencing of As I Lay Dying's vocalist Tim Lambesis, the remaining members of the band recruited Shane Blay to be the vocalist in their new band, Wovenwar, and have completed work on their self-titled debut album set to be released in the summer via Metal Blade Records.[11]

The band released a single, "Oxygen",[12] and announced that they would be releasing an album, Bloodied/Unbowed, in mid-2017.[13][14] After some time, on November 30, 2018, the single "Decimation & Burial" was released, which marked their return to Solid State Records.[15] On May 17, 2019, a third single entitled "Fissure" was released, along with an official release date and pre-orders for the new album.[16] On June 27, 2019, their fourth single entitled "The Island" premiered on Altpress.com, and released on all streaming platforms June 28.[17]

Former bassist and founding member Lucas Starr died of colon cancer at the age of 34 on December 7, 2018, four months after his stage four cancer diagnosis.[18][19]

Christianity

In an interview with Wayde Flowerday of MusicReview.co.za, Micah Kinard spoke about the Christianity of the band, saying that, "At the beginning of the band, we were definitely an outspoken Christian band; but as the years have gone by, we have gone through certain member changes. Not all of our members share the Christian view, they support us and our beliefs, but they don't necessarily engage in that same belief. I myself am a Christian, and when I write passionately from my heart, that view will still come out, which the band supports. We would be lying if we said we can still operate under the Christian umbrella, and say everything we do is characterized by a Christian motivation."[20]

Band name

In an interview, vocalist Micah Kinard stated that the band's name was derived from the Epistle to the Ephesians on passage 5:14; which reads: "Therefore it says, 'Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.'" (English Standard Version)

Members

Timeline

Discography
Year Title Label Chart peaks
US US Heat US Rock US Hard Rock Christian[22]
2007 When I Am God Solid State — 19 — — 33
2009 Son of the Morning 120 7 46 12 7
2011 Children of Fire 142 — 32 1 7
2019 Bloodied / Unbowed — —[upper-alpha 1] — — 6

EPs

Videography
  • "We Are the Archers" – The Armored March (2006)
  • "Vices Like Vipers" – When I Am God (2007)
  • "Son of the Morning" – Son of the Morning (2009)
  • "The Finisher" – Son of the Morning (2009)
  • "Endseekers" – Children of Fire (2012)
  • "Hush Yael" – Children of Fire (2013)
  • "Fissure" – Bloodied / Unbowed (2019)

Notes
  1. Bloodied / Unbowed did not enter the Billboard Heatseekers Albums Chart, but peaked at No. 10 on the Billboard Independent Albums chart.[23]
gollark: I have a custom program bridge them to Discord.
gollark: It's better than email subscriptions because they can be managed more on your end.
gollark: My RSS reader application checks them every few hours and displays a list of ones I haven't read yet.
gollark: Most websites offer RSS feeds which contain a list of recent posts.
gollark: Really Simple Syndication.

References
  1. "New Oh Sleeper Track, "Fissure" |". Indie Vision Music. Retrieved May 17, 2019.
  2. "Solid State Records | Oh, Sleeper | Son of the Morning". Solid State. Archived from the original on July 3, 2011. Retrieved July 19, 2011.
  3. "Oh, Sleeper - Explanation of "Son of the Morning" Album Concept & Broken Pentagram Artwork (Video Interview)". Bands on Fire. Archived from the original on October 1, 2011. Retrieved July 19, 2011.
  4. "Oh, Sleeper chart history" Billboard
  5. "Oh, Sleeper bassist leaves band | News | Lambgoat". Lambgoat & Oh, Sleeper. Lambgoat. Retrieved June 30, 2013.
  6. "Tooth & Nail, News | Solid State, & BEC April Update | Indie Vision Music". Solid State. Indie Vision Music. Archived from the original on April 10, 2011. Retrieved July 20, 2011.
  7. "The Collision Podcast - Episode 56 |". Collision College Ministry. Retrieved September 14, 2011.
  8. "Oh, Sleeper reveals new guitarist, writing album | News | Lambgoat". Lambgoat & Oh, Sleeper. Lambgoat. Retrieved June 30, 2013.
  9. "Oh, Sleeper Recruit Ex-Sky Eats Airplane Bassist For Immediate Touring | Theprp.com - Metal, Hardcore And Rock News, Reviews And More". wookubus(user). Theprp.com. Retrieved June 30, 2013.
  10. "OH SLEEPER | Indiegogo". Oh, Sleeper. Indiegogo. Retrieved June 30, 2013.
  11. "Members of As I Lay Dying announce new band, Wovenwar". Alternative Press. Retrieved April 14, 2014.
  12. Gogia, Nikhali (December 15, 2016). "Oh, Sleeper premieres their first single in four years—listen". Alternative Press. Retrieved December 20, 2016.
  13. "The JFH Concert Reviews and Dates: Oh, Sleeper February 2016 Tour". Retrieved September 16, 2016.
  14. "Dates Finalized For Oh, Sleeper & The Ongoing Concept Summer Tour - Theprp.com – Metal And Hardcore News Plus Reviews And More". July 13, 2016. Retrieved September 16, 2016.
  15. "Oh, Sleeper Debut New Song "Decimation & Burial"". November 29, 2018. Retrieved December 8, 2018.
  16. "Oh, Sleeper MerchNow". Retrieved May 17, 2019.
  17. "Oh, Sleeper embark in a new direction in "The Island"—listen". Retrieved June 29, 2019.
  18. "Lucas Starr July 2, 1984 - December 7, 2018". lucasfuneralhomes.com. Retrieved December 14, 2018.
  19. Beard, Mason (December 8, 2018). "Lucas Starr (ex-Terminal, ex-Oh, Sleeper) passes away". themetalonslaught.com. Retrieved December 12, 2018.
  20. "Interview: Oh, Sleeper (Micah Kinard) – "Let the Fans Become our Record Label | MusicReview.co.za - South Africa's largest independent music site". MusicReview.co.za(user). MusicReview.co.za. Retrieved July 1, 2013.
  21. Zachariah Mayfield (May 29, 2019). "Seth Webster of Oh Sleeper - Help Me Out Here Podcast #024". www.zachariahmayfield.com/ (Podcast). Zachariah Mayfield. Retrieved August 14, 2019.
  22. Billboard. "Oh, Sleeper - Chart history: Christian Albums". Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved November 19, 2016.
  23. "Billboard Independent Albums — Week of July 27th, 2019". Retrieved July 23, 2019.
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