Oh, Sleeper

Oh, Sleeper

Oh, Sleeper is an American metalcore band from Ft. Worth, Texas signed to Solid State Records. A Christian group, they have recorded two full-length albums to date, the most recent being their second album Son of the Morning, released on August 25, 2009.

History

Formation and The Armored March EP

Oh, Sleeper was founded in April 2006 after former member, Ryan Conley, of the short-lived rock band Terminal got together with former Evelynn and Between the Buried and Me guitarist Shane Blay and former Terminal bassist Lucas Starr (who was at the time with As Cities Burn). Eventually they found a vocalist in Micah Kinard and began practicing. The four members experienced typical problems of a band start-up (no place to practice, no money and different schedules), but the biggest obstacle was finding the final member. Countless awkward auditions failed to fill the missing position, until long time friend and another Terminal member, James Erwin was found. After his addition to the lineup, the band released an EP, titled The Armored March, through 1x1 music.

When I Am God

The band signed with Solid State Records in the summer of 2007. Their debut album, When I Am God, was released on October 23, 2007. On December 28, 2007, Oh, Sleeper performed at the Plano Centre in Plano, Texas along with the briefly reunited Terminal. This was the only Terminal reunion show, with all original members, that took place after their break-up in 2005. Oh, Sleeper also supported Demon Hunter on their Stronger Than Hell tour, along with Living Sacrifice, Advent, and The Famine. The Anti-Mother tour in support of Norma Jean was drummer Ryan Conley's last with the band.

Ryan Conley's departure

Ryan Conley left Oh, Sleeper after he announced that he was joining the Navy Seals. After Oh, Sleeper's final song with Conley, he made a speech about how much he loves his band members and God. At the end of this speech he proposed to Lynn Cole.

Son of the Morning

Oh, Sleeper announced in early 2009 that they would release a new album entitled Son of the Morning, which was released on August 25. In an interview, Kinard stated that with this album, they wanted to combine crowd favorites such as "Vices Like Vipers" and "Charlatans Host" from the previous album in order to make Son of Morning stay true to their sound and please the fans. The lyrics on this album are much more straightforward than on their debut LP. The album is a concept album based on the final battle between the devil and God. The first single was the title track, "Son of the Morning". The cover of Son Of The Morning is a "Broken Pentagram" according to Micah. The last breakdown and chant of the album is "I'll cut off your horns!" in the song "The Finisher". The album cover follows the same pattern as a pentagram with the horns missing. Oh, Sleeper played their new album for the first time in Waco Texas at Art Ambush.

The album debuted on the Billboard 200 at #120 and also charted at #46 on the Rock Albums chart, at #7 on the Christian Albums chart and at #12 on the Hard Rock Albums chart.

Members

Current members

• Micah Kinard - lead vocals, additional guitars, programming (2006–present)
• James Erwin - lead guitar (2006–present)
• Lucas Starr - bass (2006–present)
• Shane Blay - guitar, clean vocals (2006–present)
• Zac Mayfield - drums (2010–present)

Former members

• Ryan Conley - drums (2006–2008)
• Matt Davis - drums (2009–2010)
• Josh Moon - vocals (2006)
• Micah Pats - bass (2006)

Discography

Year	Title	Label	Chart peaks
			US	US Heat	US Rock	US Hard Rock
2007	When I Am God	Solid State	—	19	—	—
2009	Son of the Morning		120	7	—	46

EPs

• The Armored March (2006, 1x1)

Music videos

• "We Are The Archers" - Armored March (2006)
• "Vices Like Vipers" - When I Am God (2007)
• "Son of The Morning" - Son of The Morning (2009)
• "The Finisher" - Son of The Morning (2009)

External links

• Official website