Death Flower is an American Metal band from Newark, New Jersey formed in 1997. The band has released six stuido albums, one compilation album and a live DVD/CD. Death Flower has played Ozzfest and Metal Oceania.
History[]
Formation and debut album (1999-2000)[]
Vocalist and lead guitarist Chris Davenport moved to Newark, New Jersey in 1994, when he was eighteen. There he met Luke and Jeremy Johnston, and they decided to form a band. They recruited Caleb Edwards as drummer in 1999, when the band was officially "Death Flower". After releasing their independently produced and recorded self-titled EP "Death Flower" in 1999, they were signed to Roadrunner Records and recorded their first album, "Eviscerating Sons of Chaos" that year. They released it in 2000, and it sold around 50,000. However after Death Flower's success with the followup Soulsucker two years later, sales in "Eviscerating Sons of Chaos" went up again.
Soulsucker and Edwards' drug abuse (2000-2002)[]
Chris Davenport has said that "recroding Soulsucker was one of the hardest things for the band to do, with Caleb's drug problems and getting us all to concentrate and write some good songs". Caleb Edwards, drummer, was in fact the only member of the band who took drugs, mainly ecstasy and cocaine, possibly from age 17. According to an interview in 2006, he said that his arrest in 2001 for drug abuse was a wake-up call for him. When he left rehab in early 2002, the band finished "Soulsucker" that March. This skyrocketed Death Flower to mainstream success, and the album sold 150,000 copies.
Broken Wings (2002-2004)[]
After Caleb Edward's road to recovery and Soulsucker's release and success, Death Flower began recording album #3 in early 2003. They release more than a year later, on June 22, 2004. Broken Wings only made Death Flower even more successful, selling over 250,000 copies. The first single from Broken Wings, "Revolutionare" was available in demo on Death Flower's official website from May 30, 2004. The single was officially released on June 5, 2004. Five more followed, Broken Wings on June 15, Monoliths on June 21, Rapture 2004 on June 30, Suicide and Cyanide on July 5, and Offspring of Mine on June 15. Following the album's release on June 25, 2004, Dawn In Pieces was released on August 2, 2004.
Virus In The Blood (2004-2006)[]
Death Flower's former label, Batched Records, had produced their first three albums: Eviscerating Sons of Chaos, Soulsucker, and Broken Wings. According to Christ Davenport, lead singer, both the band and Batched Records felt that they should go their separate ways. After listening to their material for a fourth album, Jacob Vindic picked them up quickly and proposed a six-record deal with Vindictive Records. After deliberation Davenport and the others agreed, and entered the studio on January 15, 2005. Recording ended on March 25, 2005, and after two months of recording the band still felt unfinished. Davenport had at least five extra songs that were supposed to be released with Broken Wings, but could not. The band decided to re-record the five songs and add them to the album, upping the song count to 17. The album was ready, and set for a July 12 release date. However legalities got in the way. The guitar riff for the song, and first single off the album, Disease In Me, was reportedly "stolen" from the 1998 song "Except The Rest" by thrash metal band Defunct Dungeon, who broke up in 2002. Former lead singer Leo Priestly sued the band for plagiarism. The case was dropped when Luke Johnston proved the difference in the riffs, that his was on a slightly lower key. The case was closed and no problems occurred for Death Flower. Vocalist for Lacuna Coil, Cristina Scabbia lent her voice for two songs on the album.
The first single off the album, Disease In Me, was released on August 21, 2006, and debuted at #7 on the Metalix Maniac Metal Countdown. However, the song "Love and Loss" was shown as a demo on the band's website, but unnamed. A following single, You and I, featuring vocals from Lacuna Coil singer Cristina Scabbia, was released on August 29. The third Totality was released on September 15, and the fourth and final before the albums release, I Saw You Walking Alone, was released on September 24, four days before the album's release. After the album's release, three more singles were released: Virus In The Blood, Falling, and Beautiful In Death.
Sickened Offspring and the death of Leon Davenport (2007-2009)[]
Band members[]
- Current members
- Chris Davenport - lead vocals, lead guitar, rhythm guitar (1999–present)
- Luke Jonhston - lead guitar, rhythm guitar screaming vocals, (1999–present)
- Jeremy Johnston - bass guitar, backing vocals (1999–present)
- Caleb Edwards - drums, percusion (1999–present)
Discography[]
- Studio albums
- (2000) Eviscerating Sons of Chaos
- (2002) Soulsucker
- (2004) Broken Wings
- (2006) Virus In The Blood
- (2008) Sickened Offspring
- (2010) The War of A Thousand
- Compilation albums
- Death Flower: Blood Orchid (2007)
- Live albums
- Flowering Shadow: Death Flower Live In Berlin (2005)