>>Biography
In Arlington, Texas you can go watch the
Texas Rangers, and you can ride a rollercoaster at Six Flags over Texas.
But most importantly, Arlington is the birthplace of a band called Supplication
formed in 1993, which later changed its name to Embodyment.
The first demo created by Supplication was called "Persistant Sin,"
described as metal with death-style vocals. Original members were Andrew
Godwin and Taylor Smith on guitars, Kevin Donnini on bass, Jason Lindquist
on vocals and Mark Garza on drums. After a few shows, Taylor left and
the band changed its name to Embodyment. The new death metal band produced
another demo in 1994 called "Corrosion of the Flesh."
After a few shows, Embodyment took six months off to begin writing material
for a self-titled EP album. Kris McCaddon joined the band as the new
vocalist. Jason Lindquist left the band to continue his education, and
Andy's cousin, James Lanigan became the new guitarist.
Embodyment then signed to Tooth and Nail Records in 1997. At the time
people described their music as grindcore or thrash metal. Embodyment's
first full length album was called Embrace the Eternal, released
in 1998 . The band immediately gained a larger fan base than it could
in the Dallas area.
The band went on a few tours, playing with the likes of Training for
Utopia, No Innocent Victim, Zao and P.O.D. On their return home to Texas,
another line up change occured. Jason Lindquist returned to bass and
James Lanigan and Kevin Donnini retired. Sean Corbray became the new
vocalist and Kris left the band as well.
April 2000 was a shocking month for many Christian music fans. Embodyment's
sophomore effort, The Narrow Scope of Things was released and
became a major transition album for the band. The familiar death metal
had disappeared and was replaced with a softer emo-ish style of hard
music. Some fans were confused, other were angry, and yet others embraced
the new music.
Mark Garza said in an interview, "The
change in the sound is because of member changes and natural development.
We had been playing death -grind- metal, whatever you what to call it,
for seven years so we wanted something new. We wanted to open our music
to more people."
In 2001 Embodyment continued its shift in their third release, Hold
Your Breath. Sean Corbray, who has screamed occasionally in Narrow
Scope never sceamed at all in the new album. His singing completely
took over and more melodic songs were introduced. Hold Your Breath
has more of a clear direction musically speaking, and Embodyment have
proved themselves worthy of a listen. People have compared the new music
to Sevendust and even the Foo Fighters. However, Embodyment doesn't
want to be labeled an emo band or a metal band. They'd rather be called
a rock band.
Embodyment has ended their contract with
Solid State Records (a division of Tooth and Nail) and may be looking
for a bigger label. They want to get a bigger fan base, and possibly
get some mainstream airplay. What's in store for Embodyment? We certainly
hope more people will be able to appreciate their unique style of music.
