Prototype (band)

Infobox musical artist
Name = Prototype


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Origin = Los Angeles, California, United States
Genre = Progressive metal
Thrash metal
Years_active = 1994 - present
Label = Nightmare, MetalAxe, WWIII Music/AMC, Massacre, Sublevel
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URL = [http://www.prototypeonline.com/ Official website]
Current_members = Vince Levalois
Kragen Lum
Nic Ritter
Kirk Scherer
Past_members = Pat Magrath
Damion Ramirez
Mike Bear
Steve Gambina

Prototype is an American progressive/thrash metal band from Los Angeles, California formed in 1994.

History

1990s

Prototype was formed in 1994, when vocalist and guitarist Vince Levalois and guitarist Kragen Lum left the Los Angeles band Psychosis and decided to form a new band. They quickly hired a drummer, Damion Ramirez, and a bassist, Steve Gambina, and began recording new compositions of their debut release, a demo titled "Seed". The critically acclaimed cassette contained only three songs: "Seed", "Shine", and "Dead of Jericho". All three tracks later appeared on two more of the band's albums. Critics worldwideWho? praised the demo and even referred to it as a benchmark for modern progressive metal.

In 1997, new drummer Pat Magrath and new bassist Mike Bear were added to the band, replacing Damion Ramirez and Steve Gambina respectively. The new Prototype line-up began recording the band's debut EP, "Cloned", which was released in 1998.

In 1999, Mike Bear was replaced by a new bassist, Kirk Scherer.

2000s

In 2002, Pat Magrath left Prototype. The same year, the band appeared on "Phantom Lords - A Tribute to Metallica" covering Metallica's song "Battery".

The band's third album, "Trinity", was released in 2002. The following year, five songs from the album were featured on the soundtrack for the video game "".

The band's fourth and latest album, "Continuum", was released in 2006. Pat Magrath guested on one track.

Lum, Levalois, and Scherer were endorsed by Jackson Guitars for two years and appeared in the product catalogs. Lum's custom seven string Soloist was featured in the catalog's custom shop guitars.

In 2008, Prototype enlisted drummer Nic Ritter, who also performs in another Los Angeles thrash metal band, Warbringer.

Members

Current line-up

Vince Levalois - vocals, guitar
Kragen Lum - guitar
Kirk Scherer - bass
Nic Ritter - drums

Discography

tudio albums

In pop culture

*In 2004, an instrumental version of the Prototype song "Probe" was featured on the MTX Mototrax video game.
*In 2006, the song "Synthespian", from "Continuum", appeared on the Wii game "Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam".
*Prototype's song, The Way It Ends, is on the smash hit video game as a bonus track. It is considered one of the harder songs on the game because of the rapid strumming, chord changes, and the extremely fast solo.fact|date=August 2008

Trivia

*Kragen Lum is also a member of thrash metal band Heathen, who were part of the Bay Area thrash scene of the 1980s.

External links

* [http://www.prototypeonline.com Official Website]
* [http://www.myspace.com/prototypeonline Official MySpace page]