Spineshank
is an American Grammy-nominated nu metal [1] band.
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SPINESHANK TICKETS
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The Union Underground & Spineshank Tickets 7/10 | Jul 10, 2025 Thu, 6:00 PM |  | The Union Underground & Spineshank Tickets 7/11 | Jul 11, 2025 Fri, 6:30 PM |  | The Union Underground & Spineshank Tickets 7/12 | Jul 12, 2025 Sat, 7:00 PM |  | The Union Underground & Spineshank Tickets 7/13 | Jul 13, 2025 Sun, 6:00 PM |  | The Union Underground & Spineshank Tickets 7/15 | Jul 15, 2025 Tue, 7:00 PM |  |
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History
Formed in February 1996, Spineshank was assembled from the remains of a previous musical endeavor called "Basic Enigma". That band included future Spineshank members in vocalist Jonny Santos, guitarist Mike Sarkisyan and drummer Tom Decker.
Upon hearing
Fear Factory's 1995 release
Demanufacture
, a new bassist in Robert Garcia was recruited, and with a refined musical style, Spineshank was formed.
The band soon befriended Fear Factory guitarist
Dino Cazares. After hearing their demo tape he offered to have them open a show for Fear Factory at a concert held at the Whiskey A-Go-Go in
Los Angeles. This led to other coveted opening slots, with such popular acts as
Coal Chamber,
Snot,
Soulfly,
Sepultura and
Danzig. As a result of these shows, Spineshank gathered interest from several record labels. Eventually, the band signed with
Roadrunner Records, and released their debut album
Strictly Diesel
on
September 22,
1998. Fear Factory vocalist
Burton C. Bell provides vocals on the track "Stain". Spineshank joined Fear Factory and Kilgore on a European tour that year.
Spineshank's second album
The Height of Callousness
was released on
October 10,
2000. Unlike their debut album,
The Height of Callousness
has a strong
industrial metal influence. The band was featured at
Ozzfest 2001, and toured with such artists as
Disturbed,
Hed PE,
Orgy and
Mudvayne in support of the album's release. The songs "Synthetic" and "New Disease" were released as singles.
The band's third album
Self-Destructive Pattern
was released on
September 9,
2003. The album's lead single "
Smothered" was nominated for a
Grammy in the category of
Best Metal Performance (2004). Shortly after the album was released the band went on a European tour with Ill Nino and Chimaira. A show in Holland was filmed on October 6, and was to become a DVD entitled Roadrage. However, it was never released. Since the departure of Santos the band released a greatest hits CD, Released on January 29, 2008.
Departure of Santos
In January 2004, it was reported that Santos had officially left Spineshank. Drummer Tommy Decker stated that the split was "amicable" and was mainly due to "musical differences".
[2] A day after the news was reported, Decker vowed that the band would continue, and stated that the musical differences were due to the fact the rest of the band wanted to play heavier music than Santos.
[3]
On
January 17,
2004, Spineshank launched a search for a new vocalist
[4], and on
November 7,
2005, Spineshank's official website announced that they would be working with Brandon Espinoza. They also stated that they had already been working together for five months at the time, and had produced five songs. At the time, the band did not intend to continue to use the name Spineshank.
On
July 7,
2006, Espinoza posted an update on the band's message board, and stated that they were still in the process of writing material. Then,
February 7,
2008, after almost two years of silence about the band, Espinoza announced that the band had broken up due to the lack of chemistry between its members.
[5] Later on, in
February 2008, the band (excluding Espinoza) announced open tryouts for a new unnamed project.
[6]
Santos after Spineshank
See also: Silent Civilian
On
January 14,
2004, Santos reiterated that he left Spineshank due to musical differences, and that he was in the studio tracking demos for a new unnamed project.
[7] In April of that year, the project had been named Temper, and two demo tracks titled "Erase" and "Energy" were made available for download.
[8] After the quick demise of Temper, Santos put out an advertisement in late November seeking musicians for a new project.
[9]
In January 2005, it was announced that Santos' new project dubbed was "Silent Civilians," and had signed a record deal with
Corporate Punishment Records.
[10] In November, it was reported that Santos had changed the name of his new band from Silent Civilians to
Silent Civilian. It was also reported that the band had parted ways with Corporate Punishment, and signed a new deal with Mediaskare Records for their debut album.
[11] On
May 2,
2006, Silent Civilian released their debut album titled
Rebirth of the Temple
.
Jonny Santos Returns & New Material
In 2008, Spineshank reunited with Santos, and in August of that year recorded a demo. In September they announced that they had started writing material for an upcoming album. They posted a demo version of "Born Conform Repent", one of five songs completed.
[12]
By, December, they said they had recorded ten songs, but that these recordings would not be the final masters.The band has also been confirmed to tour with
Disturbed as part of the Music as a Weapon tour in 2009.
So far, the new songs have shown a significant evolution in the band's music, shifting from the nu-metal label to a music that mixes Alternative Metal with elements of Metalcore and Electronica.
Members
Current
- Jonny Santos – vocals (1996-2004),(2008-Present)
- Mike Sarkisyan – guitar (1996-Present)
- Robert Garcia – bass (1997-Present)
- Tom Decker – drums (1996-Present)
Discography
Album Title
|
Strictly Diesel
- Released: September 22, 1998
- Chart Positions: #13 (Top Heatseekers)
- U.S. Sales: 100,000
- Label: Roadrunner Records
- Singles: Shinebox
|
The Height of Callousness
- Released: October 10, 2000
- Chart Positions: #183 (Billboard 200)
- U.S. Sales: 180,000
- Label: Roadrunner Records
- Singles: Synthetic, New Disease
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Self-Destructive Pattern
- Released: September 9,2003
- Chart Positions: #89 (Billboard 200)
- U.S. Sales: 250,000
- Label: Roadrunner Records
- Singles: Smothered
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The Best of Spineshank
- Released: January 29,2008
- Chart Positions:
- U.S. Sales: 5,000
- Label: Roadrunner Records
- Singles:
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References
- MusicMight Biography
- It's Official: SPINESHANK Part Ways With Vocalist JONNY SANTOS. Posted January 9, 2004.
- SPINESHANK Drummer: 'We Wanted To Play Heavier Music Than JONNY Did'. Posted January 10, 2004.
- SPINESHANK Launch Singer Search. Posted January 17, 2004.
- Brandon Espinoza: Its sad to say but were parting ways.... Posted February 7, 2008
- Ex-Spineshank Members Looking For Vocalist For New Band. Posted April 2, 2008.
- Former SPINESHANK Singer Explains His Departure. Posted January 14, 2004.
- Former SPINESHANK Singer Resurfaces In TEMPER: Audio Available. Posted April 8, 2004.
- Former SPINESHANK Singer Looking To Form 'Straight-Up Metal' Band. Posted November 30, 2004.
- Former SPINESHANK Frontman Signs Record Deal For SILENT CIVILIANS Project. Posted January 7, 2005.
- Ex-SPINESHANK Frontman's New Band SILENT CIVILIAN Signs With MEDIASKARE. Posted November 5, 2005.
- Spineshank Press Release. Posted April 2, 2008.