Leviticus (band)

Infobox musical artist
Name = Leviticus


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Background = group_or_band
Origin = Sweden
Genre = Christian rock
Christian metal
Years_active = 1982-1989
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Leviticus was a Christian metal band from Sweden. The band formed in 1982 and was led by Bjorn Stiggson. They released four albums before breaking up in 1989.

Background

The band's early releases were glam metal typical of the 1980s style,Harvnb|Powell|2002|loc="Leviticus", p. 524] occasionally mixing other rock influences.cite web |url=http://www.tollbooth.org/2000/reviews/leviticus.html |title="I Shall Conquer" |last=Klages |first=Alex |date=2000-09-30 |publisher="The Phantom Tollbooth"] "Knights of Heaven" showed a move toward a more Petra-like rock based sound.

In 1986 the band went through lineup changes: Ez Gomer was brought in to replace Håkan Andersson on bass, and Terry Haw joined.cite web |last=Gomer |first=Ez |url=http://www.ezgomer.com/biography.htm |title=Ez Gomer Biography] Both were briefly involved in the band before breaking off to form Jet Circus.

They were more popular in Europe than the United States. Their first United States tour was in 1988, when they opened for Larry Norman and played as his backup band. That same year, they toured the United Kingdom.Harvnb|Hale|1993|loc="1645 Leviticus"] The band re-formed in 2003 to play at the final Bobfest.cite web |url=http://www.tollbooth.org/2005/reviews/lev.html |title="Live at Bobfest 2003" |last=Lloyd |first=Shari |date=2004-12-18 |publisher="The Phantom Tollbooth"]

ide projects

Gomer and Haw joined with drummer Little George to form Jet Circus in 1988.Harvnb|Hale|1993|loc="1486 Jet Circus"] Jet Circus's first album, "Step On It" (1991), had a proto-rapcore sound.Harvnb|Powell|2002|loc="Jet Circus", p. 450] It was distributed in Europe by Pila Records, and introduced to the United States by Doug Van Pelt, Editor of HM Magazine. Despite quality issues due to its mastering Van Pelt dubbed it "the most creative release in Christian metal in 1990."cite journal |last=Van Pelt |first=Doug |year=1991 |month=January |title=Album Reviews |journal=CCM Magazine |id=ISSN|1524-7848 |volume=13 |issue=7 |pages=38 ] After a long hiatus the band released "No Mercy For The Living Dead" in 2003. Ez also released a solo album - which became a Jet Circus album, when Terry left the band - entitled "Look At Death Now" in 2005. This album features artists including Mikkey Dee of Motörhead, Stefan Elmgren of Hammerfall, and The Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra.cite web |url=http://www.tollbooth.org/2005/reviews/jc.html |title="Look At Death Now" |last=Adams |first=Greg |date=2005-07-12 |publister="The Phantom Tollbooth"] They have since released a remix album entitled "Dance or Die".

Following the end of Leviticus, Stiggson formed XT with Sonny Larson. XT released three albums.Harvnb|Powell|2002|loc="XT", p. 1060-1061] Stiggson also released a solo project in 1988 entitled "Together With Friends".

Members

*Björn Stigsson - guitars
*Kjell Anderson - drums
*Håkan Andersson - bass (-1986, 1988), lead vocals (-1986)
*Ez Gomer - bass, vocals (1986-1987)
*Terry Haw - lead vocals (1986-1987)
*Sonny Larsson - lead vocals (1988)
*Nicklas Franklin - bass (1989+)
*Peo Pettersson - vocals (1989+)
*Dan Tibell - (Spring 1988+)

Discography

*1982: "Stå och titta på" (EP)
*1984: "I Shall Conquer"/"Jag ska segra" (Shadow/Talking Music, Re-Released by M8 in 2000)
*1984: "The Strongest Power" (Twilight)
*1987: "Setting Fire to the Earth" (Royal)
*1988: "Together With Friends" - Björn Stigsson (solo album with Leviticus members)
*1989: "Knights of Heaven" (Invasion)
*1993: "Best of Leviticus" (Viva)
*2003: "Live at Bobfest 2003" (BTS Records)

References

Notes

Citations

*Citation |last=Hale |first=Mark |title=Headbangers |publisher=Popular Culture, Ink |place=Ann Arbor, Michigan |publication-date=1993 |isbn=1-56075-029-4.
*Citation |last=Powell |first=Mark Allan |title=Encyclopedia of Contemporary Christian Music |publisher=Hendrickson Publishers |place=Peabody, Massachusetts |edition=First printing |publication-date=2002 |isbn=1-56563-679-1.

External links

Jet Circus:
* [http://www.ezgomer.com/main.asp Ez Gomer] 's Jet Circus site
* [http://www.ezgomer.com/reviews.html Jet Circus] album reviews