The origins of Prayer for Cleansing can be traced back to two fairly awful hardcore bands who were striving for recognition in Charlotte, NC, in the late 1990's: Dreadseed and In the Face of Adversity. The original Prayer line up consisted of two singers, David Anthem and emo 'zine publisher Eric Phase One; future father and Prayer drummer, Will Goodyear, on guitar; vegan straight edge sell out and ex-Southern Empire liar, Gavin Glenn, on drums; that "bubble-headed motherfucker," John Latta, on bass; and a slew of other less noteworthy guitarists.
In early 1997, when Paul Headsplitta', who was currently serving time in In the Face of Adversity, was asked to join the band, he replied, "Fuck yeah." Dennis Lamb, also in In the Face of Adversity, was asked to choose between playing second guitar in Prayer or eating Skittles and listening to Carcass cds all day. He chose the former. Finding a bass player was a little more problematic, but after "Raw-Ass" Trip Gregory and Not-So-Vegan Seth failed to play the songs correctly and failed to arrive for shows, engineering student Marc Vengeance, who was currently living in Rochester, NY, attending the prestigious RIT, was enlisted to complete the line up. After Eric Phase One was asked to go on Sabbatical for a few years, the band line up was finally solidified and the writing process began.
It took two years and two practices to write the seminal hardcore album, "The Rain In Endless Fall," but when the band entered Grooveworks studio in 1999 (home to bands like Dark Horse, Warcry, and Hi-Fi and the Roadburners) to work with producer Ian the Viking in a run down suburb in Raleigh, NC, no one knew that history was in the making. After a whole two days of rigorous recording and internecine squabbling, the band's opus was complete. Tribunal Records acquired full responsibility for the album's pending success No one quite knew what the album's title referred to, but tenured college professor and author of the book, Prayer for Cleansing: How They Wrote One Horrible Album with Horrible Cover Art and Still Managed to Seduce a Nation, surmised that the title may have been an explanation for the abominable recording quality, which sounded like rain had endlessly fallen on the sound boards and on the band themselves.
The album received unprecedented praise from magazines like Jet, High Times, and Highlight and the band was quickly propelled into the metallic hardcore limelight. The band's touring schedule was indefatigable and after playing up and down North and South Carolina the band decided to venture out with friends and Daniel Quinn aficionados, Undying. Despite a tireless touring schedule the band still managed to write two more complex and visceral songs. Because the first Grooveworks experience had been so memorable, the band re-entered the studio to record their two new songs as well as the Cranberries ode to straight edge, "Salvation." So many labels were vying for the rights to the new material that the band decided to sell them to MP3.com, an underground, DIY label that had previously released the Each Against All/Scorch split 7" entitled "None Of Us Will Be Involved in the Scene in Five Years, but Mosh Anyway."
The band completed one more tour, of 3 whole days, and then Paul Headsplitta' announced that he would be leaving the band to pursue a career at PBS producing nature documentaries. Tremont Music Hall hosted the final Prayer for Cleansing show in December of 2000, where kids danced their asses off and sang along, mostly to Hatebreed, Stretch Armstrong, and One King Down. In March of 2004, the band reunited for one show back at Tremont Music Hall. 1,000 kids showed up to pay homage to .hopesfall. and Beloved, who were mistakenly scheduled for the same night. Clothing designer and straight edge vigilante, Daniel Sober, approached the band about releasing "The Rain In Endless Fall" on vinyl because as he stated, "I don't have enough records." The rest is motherfuckin' history.
xDAVID ANTHEMx
PRAYER FOR CLEANSING
2004