Tony Cummings examines the unexpected comeback of American thrash metallers BELIEVER

Believer

16 years is a long time to wait between albums. But then Pennsylvania-based Believer aren't your typical metal band. When they broke onto the scene with three devastating albums, 1989's 'Extraction From Mortality', 1990's 'Sanity Obscure' and 1993's 'Dimensions', they were doing much, much more than demonstrating that Christians could play fast and furious thrash/speed metal like their non-Christian counterparts. They were throwing down a creative gauntlet to all those Christian bands who thought it sufficient to ape big selling non-Christian bands with no sign of originality. The band's long time lead singer and guitarist Kurt Bachman told Cross Rhythms broadcaster Greg Sammons, "It was almost like there was this identity crisis within that genre. You had the Christian market at the time, basically wanting to almost rip-off the secular market. You'd have bands, or tee shirts, that were Christian tee shirts, but they were identical to non-Christian tee shirts; they just had a different saying on them. There wasn't a real individualistic identity in the Christian market at that time. And we came out, and we were not into doing what any other band was doing; we were trying to break new ground musically, lyrically, whatever it may be. And I think it was a hard pill to swallow for a lot of people during that time."

One of the ways in which Believer enthused and bemused metal fans in equal measure was the opera and classical elements. Kurt spoke about Believer's use of such unexpected musical elements in an interview he gave to the Sputnikmusic website: "We've always been into classical music and stuff and I played cello in high school. Scott Laird was my music teacher at the time and he was fresh out of college. We kind of got together and started playing some stuff and I said hey, we have this record that we're writing, 'Sanity Obscure'. . . actually it was for 'Extraction' ['Extraction From Mortality' from their debut] because he did a little piece on 'Extraction' for our very first album, that's what it was. And then coming into 'Sanity Obscure' we said, let's write a whole tune, and his sister [Julianne Laird Hoge] was an opera singer at the time and we said why don't we incorporate some of that; that would be kind of different. So, we did that and then 'Dimensions' came and we said OK, let's push the envelope and let's do this and then be done with it. We didn't want to become confined. . .or have a label placed on us. What we were playing, it was really experimental. The musicians that were around at the time; it was something that wasn't being done so we said let's do it. The reaction of the fans was interesting. We'd have a fan say, 'This first half of the album sucks and the orchestra part is awesome' then we'd get another fan say, 'The orchestra part sucks and the first half of the album is great'. We kind of had both sides."

As it turns out Believer's comeback album 'Gabriel' has none of the operatic experimentation of old. As they told Greg Sammons, "I think the whole opera-style aspect has run its course for us. We find that we try to do a little experimentation here and there on every album just to make it different, to make it more creative for us. I mean we really, we try not to rehash what we've done before and even if a song does sound like something we would have done in the past we try to add something to it."

Believer were formed in the mid '80s by Kurt Bachman and drummer Joey Daub. After a demo, 1987's 'The Return', the early lineup of Bachman, Daub, guitarist Dave Baddorf and bassist Howe Kraft landed a deal with the East Coast indie Christian label R.E.X. Music and the band's debut 'Extraction From Mortality' created an immediate buzz and got picked up for mainstream distribution by Roadrunner. It was that label that released the band's second offering, 'Sanity Obscure'. With a new label and bassist, Wyatt Robertson replacing Kraft, Believer set out in support of 'Sanity' with a European tour and an extended tour of the States with fellow thrashers Sacrifice and Bolt Thrower. Upon completion of the tour, Bachman and Daub parted ways with Baddorf and Robertson.

After their third album, 1993's operatic-tinged 'Dimensions', things slowly wound down for Believer. They disbanded and Kurt returned to college. Eventually after years of study Kurt got his degree in cancer biology. Today Bachman is a cancer researcher running his own cancer genetics lab. But as has been proven often in rock history, it's easier to take the man out of rock than rock out of the man. In 2008 after a 16 year hiatus an informal jam session was to lead to the reformation of Believer. Kurt told Greg Sammons, "Joey and I didn't sit down and say, 'hey, let's get the band back together', or anything like that. I moved closer to where the studio is, and to Joey, and we decided to get together one day just to jam, have some fun, for old times' sake. And then we started writing some riffs and writing some tunes, and it was like, 'oh, these aren't bad; maybe we should record them'. We have our own studio so we have the luxury of being able to do that. And one thing led to another and some of our friends in the industry were like 'you guys should really put this out; maybe there's some Believer fans out there that wouldn't mind hearing this'. So we recorded the record. We actually were thinking about putting it out ourselves at first, and then we got in touch with Howard Jones from Killswitch Engage, and he wanted to do something on the record. During that time in the studio he said, 'Look, I'm actually starting my own imprint label through Metal Blade'. Him and Brian Slagel were talking, and he was like, 'I'd really like to put this out with you guys', and that's kind of how it happened. So we didn't really go into it thinking, 'okay we're reuniting the band, and we have to put out something that's going to top everything else we did'. We were just writing the music that we felt at the time, and that we liked, that made us feel good about what we were writing."

Believer circa 1989

The sound of 'Gabriel' has been alluded to by one reviewer as "a sick, insane cross between Tool, Vowod, NIN and Destruction." Certainly, it shows the wisdom of Bachman and Daub surrounding themselves with new creative blood in keyboardist/programmer Jeff King, guitarist Kevin Leaman and bassist/programmer Elton Nestler. Backman admitted that 'Gabriel' contains a more personal approach to lyric writing than previously. "These lyrics came from our everyday lives actually this time. And 'History' is an example of this. It was something that Geoff, the keyboard player, was going through at the time; a really rough patch in his life. I don't want to say exactly what it was about because then it becomes the world's and it's not Geoff's. But one of the things about our lyrics, and to make people think about what we're talking about, is we love it when people personalise what we're trying to say, and make it part of their lives. And they put their own back story to it, or how it affects them."

One of the most intriguing quests on 'Gabriel' was Deron Miller of the band CKY who contributes a blistering solo on the album's opener "Medtwon". Explained Kurt to the Sputnikmusic website, "CKY was actually playing in our area and he had contacted Roadrunner and said, 'Hey I heard Believer is putting out a new record. I'm a big fan, is there any way you could get in touch with them so I could play on the record'. And then they were playing in the area and he came over to my house and we sat here for a long time through the night and we talked and he was playing - I think he had a really good time. It was cool. It was very cool and the solo is fantastic."

A review by Trey Spencer spelled out the significance of 'Gabriel': "It seems ironic that the bands that really appear to be bringing about quality, unique music right now are the ones that have members well into their thirties or forties, but it's true. As odd as it might sound, this album is actually a breath of fresh air for a metal community that is becoming increasingly stagnant. With 'Gabriel' the band has managed to bring back that old-school thrash sound, but also mix in a large dose of technicality and originality while still sounding very current."

With Believer signed by Metal Blade to produce two more albums let's hope that their reinvention of thrash metal continues to get the accolades they deserve.