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Sacred Reich
Sacred Reich at Wacken Open Air 2012
Background information
Origin	Phoenix, Arizona, United States
Genres	Thrash metal
Years active	1985–2000 2006–present
Labels	Metal Blade Enigma Hollywood
Members	Phil Rind Wiley Arnett Dave McClain Joey Radziwill
Past members	Greg Hall Dan Kelly Jeff Martinek Jason Rainey

Sacred Reich is an American thrash metal band from Phoenix, Arizona, formed in 1985. The band has been credited (along with Testament, Destruction, Death Angel, and Dark Angel) for leading the second wave of thrash metal in the late 1980s.

Throughout its 40-year career, Sacred Reich has released 5 albums, 2 live albums, a box set, and 3 extended plays. With the exception of their hiatus from 2000 to 2006, Sacred Reich has performed live globally, including playing at clubs, theaters, arenas, and festivals.

History

1985–1989: Early years, Ignorance, and Surf Nicaragua

Sacred Reich were formed at Coronado High School in Scottsdale, Arizona in 1985, with their original lineup consisting of guitarists Jason Rainey and Jeff Martinek, drummer Greg Hall, and vocalist-bassist Phil Rind. Originally, vocalist Dan Kelly was intended to be the band's vocalist, but Rind became the vocalist after Kelly became ill. Later that year, they debuted with a demo tape, titled Draining You of Life. Martinek left the band shortly after, and in 1986 was replaced by Wiley Arnett. The band's then lineup remained stable, despite offers from Flotsam and Jetsam sent to Arnett and Rind, a vocalist position slot from Dark Angel offered to Rind, and acclaimed band Slayer offering Hall their then-empty drummer position. With Arnett, they re-recorded the tracks "Sacred Reich" and "Ignorance"; and in 1987, with support from then-Flotsam and Jetsam bassist Jason Newsted, the song "Ignorance" appeared on the Metal Blade Records compilation Metal Massacre VIII, which brought them significant attention. Metal Blade released the band's debut studio album, Ignorance, in October of that year, and they began touring soon after.

In 1988, Sacred Reich released the EP Surf Nicaragua to significant positive reception, and they began a world tour afterward; they toured alongside bands such as Atrophy and Forbidden in the United States, before touring alongside Motörhead in Europe. The band also appeared at Dynamo Open Air in 1989, where their performance was recorded and later released that year as their first live album, Alive at the Dynamo.

1990–2000: The American Way, Independent, Heal, and break-up

In 1990, Sacred Reich released their sophomore album, The American Way, which signaled a maturation in the band's sound since their first album, Ignorance. The album received significant positive recognition, debuting at No. 153 on September 1, 1990, on the Billboard 200 charts, lasting for nine weeks. Sacred Reich toured for nearly two years in support of The American Way, headlining major tours with Atrophy, Obituary, and Forced Entry. They also supported Venom in Europe and for Sepultura on their Arise tour in both Europe and North America. In 1991, the band released an EP, titled A Question. Drummer Greg Hall, who found their extensive touring to be difficult, was replaced by Dave McClain, formerly of S.A. Slayer, later that year.

After several albums on Metal Blade Records, Sacred Reich signed to the major record label Hollywood Records and released their third album, Independent, in 1993. Upon release, the album received little recognition, in part because of the drop in popularity of thrash metal and the gap between album releases. However, the band toured for almost two years in support of Independent, which included opening for Pantera and Danzig on their respective tours for Vulgar Display of Power and Thrall-Demonsweatlive, and performing in Australia for the first time while supporting Sepultura on their Chaos A.D. tour. In 1995, they contributed the Black Sabbath cover "Sweet Leaf" to the Hempilation: Freedom Is NORML compilation album to benefit NORML. In December of that year, Dave McClain left Sacred Reich to join Machine Head.

It just felt like things were winding down. You know, we had done Heal and it just felt like the interest was waning quite a bit. Dave left and joined Machine Head and we had this guy Chuck playing drums. I was having some personal issues in my life with my family and stuff, and if you had your finger to the wind, it just felt like, "We had a good run, 10 years, made some cool records and that was it." It wasn't anything really more than that.

On their fourth album, Heal (1996), Sacred Reich returned to Metal Blade Records to produce the album. Upon release, the album received little to no recognition, for similar reasons to their previous album, Independent. Later that year, Greg Hall rejoined the band; however, drummer Chuck Fitzgerald took over drumming duties for the world tour. The band released a live album, Still Ignorant, in 1997, but they remained relatively inactive (outside of touring) until they officially disbanded in 2000. Wiley Arnett went on to form The Human Condition with St. Madness vocalist Prophet in July 2000; however, the project was put on hold when Arnett was injured in a car accident. Arnett and Hall appeared as guest musicians on Soulfly's cover of the song "One Nation" in 2001.

2006–2017: Reunion

In November 2006, Sacred Reich announced that they would play several shows in the summer of 2007 in Europe, including Wacken Open Air; however, they made no promises to re-enter the studio. A three-disc box set with remastered versions of Ignorance and Surf Nicaragua with additional bonus material, including the "Draining You of Life" demo tape and a live DVD, was released in June of that year by Metal Blade Records. They performed at Wacken Open Air again in 2009, which was recorded and later released as a live album, Live at Wacken, in 2012. In the spring of 2017, they announced their first North American tour in 21 years, titled "30 Years of Ignorance" after the 30th anniversary of their debut album, Ignorance; they toured alongside Byzantine for the duration of the tour, which ended on October 7 that year.

2018–present: Awakening and upcoming sixth studio album

In January 2018, Sacred Reich signed to Metal Blade Records and began working on their fifth studio album, Awakening. The album was produced by Arthur Rizk, who previously worked with Power Trip and Cavalera Conspiracy. However, during the album's production, the band experienced major lineup changes. Later in January, Greg Hall was removed from the band and was replaced by drummer Tim Radziwill as a touring musician in August. In September, Machine Head announced that Dave McClain was leaving their band, officially rejoining Sacred Reich in December. In April 2019, Sacred Reich released the split single "Don't Do it Donnie", alongside Iron Reagan, later co-headlining a monthlong tour with them in May. In April, founding guitarist Jason Rainey was replaced by Joey Radziwill.

Awakening was released on August 23, 2019. It is the band's first full-length studio album since 1996's Heal, and their first studio album since their reunion in 2006. Awakening was met with positive reception, with Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average rating, giving the album a 76 out of 100 rating based on 4 reviews; The album was also featured at No. 9 on Decibel's 40 Best Metal Albums of 2019. In support of the album, Sacred Reich toured in Europe, alongside Night Demon, and supported Gwar on their Use Your Collusion tour that year.

Founding member and former guitarist Jason Rainey died on March 16, 2020, at the age of 53 from an apparent heart attack.

In 2021, Sacred Reich was scheduled to support Sepultura on their Quadra tour in both North America and Europe, however, it was canceled due to the COVID-19 situation; the tour was postponed to fall of 2022 and was completed later that year. Sacred Reich also appeared at the Rock Hard Festival in August of that year. In 2023, the band co-headlined a tour alongside Carcass and Municipal Waste.

At the beginning of 2024, Sacred Reich began recording their upcoming sixth studio album.

Members

Timeline

Discography

Studio albums

• Ignorance (1987)
• The American Way (1990)
• Independent (1993)
• Heal (1996)
• Awakening (2019)

EPs

• Draining You of Life (demo) (1986)
• Surf Nicaragua (1988)
• A Question (1991)

Live albums

• Alive at the Dynamo (1989)
• Still Ignorant (1997)
• Live at Wacken (2012)

Compilations

• Ignorance/Surf Nicaragua (2007)

References

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35. • "SEPULTURA Announces 'North American Quadra' 2022 Tour With SACRED REICH And CROWBAR". Blabbermouth.net. July 29, 2021. Archived from the original on October 6, 2022. Retrieved November 24, 2024.
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36. "Kompletter Auftritt auf dem Rock Hard Festival ist online - RockHard". www.rockhard.de (in German). Archived from the original on December 3, 2024. Retrieved December 3, 2024. SACRED REICH standen am 3. Juni bei der diesjährigen Ausgabe unseres ROCK HARD FESTIVALS auf der Bühne. [SACRED REICH were on stage at this year's edition of our ROCK HARD FESTIVAL on June 3rd.]
37. Kennelty, Greg (January 31, 2024). "CARCASS, MUNICIPAL WASTE, SACRED REICH & CREEPING DEATH Announce North American Tour". Metal Injection. Archived from the original on May 25, 2024. Retrieved November 24, 2024.
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39. • Michels, Alexandra. "Sacred Reich: Neues Album für Ende 2024 geplant - RockHard". Rock Hard Magazine (in German). Archived from the original on June 29, 2023. Retrieved November 24, 2024. (a) Wie SACRED REICH-Gitarrist Wiley Arnett im Gespräch mit "The Meista - Brews & Tunes" verrät, wollen die Thrasher Ende 2024 ein neues Album auf den Markt bringen." (b) Unser Ziel ist es, hoffentlich Anfang 2024 ins Studio zu gehen, mit der Veröffentlichung gegen Ende des Jahres. [(a) As SACRED REICH guitarist Wiley Arnett reveals in an interview with "The Meista - Brews & Tunes", the thrashers want to release a new album at the end of 2024." (b) "Wiley comments: ... Our goal is to hopefully go into the studio in early 2024, with the release towards the end of the year.]
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• 1985 establishments in Arizona
• American musical quartets
• American thrash metal musical groups
• Heavy metal musical groups from Arizona
• Musical groups from Phoenix, Arizona
• Musical groups established in 1986
• Musical groups disestablished in 2000
• Musical groups reestablished in 2006
• Political music groups
• Metal Blade Records artists