Living Sacrifice was one of the first
Christian death metal bands along with
Sacrament and
Mortification. The band, whose name is derived from , formed in 1989 by Darren "D.J." Johnson (bass, vocals),
Bruce Fitzhugh (guitar), and
Lance Garvin (drums);
Jason Truby later joined in on guitar. The band would perform their debut show on December 1, 1989, in front of a hall of
nurses. They released a three-song demo in 1990,
Not Yielding to Ungodly, which got into the hands of Kurt Bachman and Joey Daub from
Believer, who signed them to
R.E.X. Records. In 1991, Living Sacrifice's
self-titled debut album was released on R.E.X. Records. The album was recorded at
Catamount Recording Studio in Iowa with Kurt Bachman acting as a producer. The album received many comparisons to
thrash metal groups of the time, especially
Slayer. On November 17, 1992, Living Sacrifice released their second album,
Nonexistent. On this album, Living Sacrifice switched from thrash metal to down-tuned death metal, and D.J. started experimenting with a
death growl in his vocal approach. The members have said that they were disappointed with the experience of making this album and that the producer was to blame. After this recording R.E.X. went bankrupt, and Living Sacrifice signed onto
Solid State Records seeking to widen their audience. After this, D.J. left the band to follow non-musical ministry, and Bruce took over vocals.
Reborn is considered the most influential of all Living Sacrifice records and earned them a larger non-Christian fanbase. After this record, Chris and Jason left the band and close and longtime friend Jay Stacy filled in on bass while
Cory Brandan Putman played on guitar. Stacy has lived down the street from Garvin and had known the band for a longtime. The band embarked on a few tours with the line of Fitzhugh, Garvin, Stacy, and Putman, including a tour with
Cannibal Corpse and
Angelcorpse. In 1999, Stacy stepped down from the band to focus on his family and was replaced by
Arthur Green, formerly of
Eso-Charis. Cory played guitar for a tour through
Norway and
Sweden but was then replaced by
Rocky Gray (who would go on to play drums in
Evanescence and
We Are the Fallen and guitar in
Soul Embraced.) At the end of 1999,
Matthew Putman joined Living Sacrifice as a percussionist. In 2000, Living Sacrifice recorded their fifth full-length album,
The Hammering Process, with a more rhythmical sound—more oriented towards groove metal. Bruce also sang in one Evanescence song, "Lies". In 2001,
A Tribute to Living Sacrifice was released. The album contains covers of many Living Sacrifice songs by other metal bands and former members, and a Living Sacrifice song from a split EP,
Metamorphosis, released in 1993. In 2002, Living Sacrifice entered the studio again, resulting in the album
Conceived in Fire. In June 2003, Living Sacrifice canceled the rest of one of their tours and announced that Living Sacrifice was disbanding. Each of the band members had other commitments, such as
Lance Garvin and
Rocky Gray's
Soul Embraced, and felt it was time to move on. In March 2005,
In Memoriam was released by Solid State Records. It is a "best of" album, containing three "newly written and recorded songs by Lance Garvin, Rocky Gray and Bruce Fitzhugh", two songs from each Living Sacrifice album, plus "Enthroned", a 1998 cover of a song originally released on 1992's
Nonexistent. The three new songs are "In Christ", "Killers", and "The Power of God". In 2007, Bruce Fitzhugh was featured on the song "Sixteen", on
Demon Hunter's fourth album
Storm the Gates of Hell. On February 4, 2008, a newly created official MySpace page was updated to announce the reformation of the band. They also announced their support of Demon Hunter in the "Stronger Than Hell" tour from May 26 through July 5, 2008. On June 10, 2008, Living Sacrifice released a two-song, online-only sampler,
Death Machine. On the same day at the Dallas, Texas date of the "Stronger Than Hell" tour, vocalist and rhythm guitarist Bruce Fitzhugh announced that the band was working on a new CD which they hoped to release in 2009. The album release was delayed by Solid State and eventually came out on January 26, 2010. A music video for their lead single off
The Infinite Order, "Rules of Engagement", was aired December 22. The band's seventh studio album,
The Infinite Order, was released January 26, 2010, via Solid State Records. The album features the voices of David Bunton from
The Showdown,
Joe Musten from
Advent and
Beloved, and guitarist Jason Truby. The album was mixed and mastered by
Andy Sneap,
Hell guitarist. Released in November, the deluxe edition contained three additional tracks, two live songs and a new track. In 2013, after three years of touring, Living Sacrifice recorded their eighth album,
Ghost Thief, released November 12, 2013, on Solid State Records. The first song named "The Reaping" was premiered on October 17, 2013, on the Solid State
YouTube page. The album features the guest voices of
Ryan Clark from
Demon Hunter on "Screwtape", and
Dave Peters from
Throwdown on "Despair". The title song, "Ghost Thief", premiered November 6, 2013, on
Revolver magazine website. Living Sacrifice is featured on the
Killing Floor 2 Soundtrack. The band performed their first shows of 2017 on the ShipRocked cruise alongside bands such as
Pop Evil,
Breaking Benjamin,
Papa Roach,
Sevendust and
Lacey Sturm. According to former vocalist DJ Johnson, a friend of the band's is developing a documentary of the band. Due to
COVID-19, however, the premiere of the documentary was postponed. In 2022, Nordic Mission released a remaster of their second album Nonexistent on Vinyl and CD. == Musical style and legacy ==