Defiance

Wiki Bio Official Biography

One of countless bands spawned by the San Francisco Bay Area's bustling 1980's thrash metal scene, Defiance first formed in 1985, but would have to wait all of four years before scoring a recording contract with Roadrunner Records. Released in 1989, their debut album, Product of Society, featured vocalist Ken Elkinton, guitarists Doug Harrington and Jim Adams, bassist Mike Kaufmann, and drummer Matt Vander Ende. But it was with the arrival of new singer Steev Esquivel for 1990's sophomore effort, Void Terra Firma and 1992's Beyond Recognition, that Defiance established a distinctive sound, less reliant on the teachings of local heroes like Exodus, Testament, and Death Angel. Alas, too late to take part in thrash metal's long past heyday, and the band broke up shortly thereafter, when Esquivel went on to launch neo-thrashers Skinlab. Defiance unexpectedly regrouped in 2005 and began working on a new album, but founding guitarist Doug Harrington sadly passed away the following year.