BIO-
Formed in early 2003, In the Name of God set out to rejuvenate the Eugene ,OR Metal scene with one part Death Metal, one part Classical and a whole lotta evil. In the Name of God combines styles from such bands as, Slayer, At the Gates, Opeth, Bach and more. Most noticeable characteristics of the band are the intricate two and three part guitar harmonies, tortured vocals and the thundering precision of the drums. Recorded, In the Name of God immerses the listener into a thick, epic battle for the already blackened soul. Live, hell seems to channel itself into the four individuals on stage. Take notice, stand back and prepare to have In the Name of God embedded into your soul for all of eternity.
In the Name of God is:
Russ Mortenson-The five string bass and throat noises come from the bowels of Russ Mortenson. Russ has played bass for almost six years and near to all of that time, he has been involved with one band or another. Some of them include Label Me Dead and Off With Their Heads. He takes some musical and lyrical inspiration from the grey mass that constantly hovers above In The Name Of God's hometown, Eugene, OR. Known at times to go into unexplained violent fits of vomiting and demon possession, he is not to be trusted.
AJ Chordas-14 years experience and a second year music student-majoring in classical composition-Aj's song writing combines Bach's counterpoint and contemporary scandnavian metal with a 7-string guitar to create an epic death sentence to the listener.
Geoff Miller-Originally a drummer since the age of 13, Geoff makes his debut as a guitarist with In the Name of God. As one of the primary song writers, he channels his influences and handed down music theory knowledge from AJ into his 7-string guitar uniting beauty and evil into one epic tragedy of pure metal.
Wes "Bean" Robertson- Growing up in a small town, Bean learned to play drums by drumming along to recordings of Slayer, Morbid Angel, and Dream Theatre. His drumming quickly progressed into pure skill and deservingly became one of the Eugene area most desired metal drummer. A quick listen of In the Name of God will show that Bean has what it takes to give Hell a drumbeat that will lacerate your mind over and over again.
REVIEWS-
The Daily Emerald-
Local band's ripe sound defies 'metal' stereotypes
Courtesy
In the Name of God plays dark and apocalyptic music at Eugene venue WOW Hall
In the Name of God mixes a classical edge with fast-paced brutality
By Ryan Murphey
Pulse Reporter
October 07, 2004
The crowd gathers at the front of the stage as Russ Mortenson, vocalist and
bassist for the Eugene metal band In the Name of God, steps up to the microphone
to timidly mutter a greeting to the audience.
After his barely audible address, Mortenson undergoes a drastic transformation
from the man who just seconds before appeared shy and uncomfortable to a belligerent
madman screaming ferociously into the microphone. At first the sound is overwhelming,
but as you get a chance to let the music sink in, you start to pick up on
the classical inspiration behind the leads of guitarists Geoff Miller and
A.J. Chordas.
You feel the drumming of Wes "Bean" Robertson pounding in your chest
with mechanical precision, and you realize that this is not ugly, not beautiful,
not noisy, not coherent. It is not any one of these things; it is all of them.
Metal is often written off as "noise" or even "meathead music,"
but just try to find a meathead that could write a three-part guitar lead
or arrange a song like In The Name of God's, "Cancer." For many,
metal is as creative and intelligent as any music out there, and the people
who make it take their work very seriously. In the Name of God is one such
band. Tired of the increasingly homogenized metal scene in America, ITNOG's
founders Miller and Chordas got together early in 2003 to form a band that
was more than just power chords and bad vocals. Chordas is a second-year music
student majoring in classical composition with about 14 years of informal
experience on the guitar. Miller, who was a drummer before ITNOG, took notes
from Chordas and quickly caught up enough to co-write music and play on stage.
Their song-writing blends elements of classical composition with the brutality,
speed and neo-classical elements of bands like Slayer, At The Gates and Bach.
They began playing with Troy Seavers, a drummer who currently plays for the
band Satin Fury, until Seavers announced that he was more interested in playing
music that was a combination of Mr. Bungle and The Bloodhound Gang. After
parting ways with Seavers, Chordas and Miller began to look for a new drummer
and hold auditions for a bassist. They found out that another local metal
band, Off With Their Heads, had recently broken up and they started calling
the former bassist, Mortenson, who turned out to be a perfect fit. After Mortenson
became involved in the band, the highly coveted Wes "Bean" Robertson,
also from Off With Their Heads, agreed to join.
"It's like when stupid Christians say God never shuts a door without
opening a window, except we don't really believe in God," Miller said.
The band takes their name from a song by their favorite band, Slayer, but
Miller said they also chose the name for the irony associated with it, specifically
the atrocities that have been carried out "in the name of God" throughout
history. He also likes the fact that one of the first questions people ask
them when they hear the name is if they are a Christian band. If the lyrics
were easier to understand, inquirers would probably understand why that question
makes the band chuckle.
"My lyrics are very dark and apocalyptic," Mortenson said. "My
brain always comes up with crazy scenarios of stuff like zombies rising from
graves and devouring humanity one bite at a time. Kinda like how the world
would be if I was in charge."
For now, the farthest away from Eugene that ITNOG has performed is Portland,
but it seems to be the unanimous commitment of the band to become career musicians.
By next summer, the band hopes to have completed a West Coast tour and all
of them would like to be touring consistently in the next five years.
5/27/04
Luckeys cigar club
KWVA 88.1 FM 11TH B-DAY BASH
IN THE NAME OF GOD, THE SCHOOL PLAY, ALLOST
First band of the night was The School Play out of Portland. I found that
the band had the same
sell-out sound that I had heard a thousand times before. I found the riffs
to be trite and sounding
much like reissued licks of the 70's hair band Loverboy. Of course I can't
quite remember because
due to my disinterest I had more fun drinking at the bar. I have to say that
this band, not only
being not my cup of tea, does not deserve a spot on the up and coming Vans'
Warped Tour.
But than again, after seeing the line-up this year it actually makes more
sense.
After the travisty that was The School Play was powerhouse metal rockers In
The Name Of God.
First of all, these guys kick fucking ass. Suprisingly effecitve vocal laced
with dark screeching guitar.
The tight melodic riffing complimented the non-stop drum attacks with a kind
of symbiotic relationship
that, overall, absorbs the listener into a hynotic state of disbelife. At
first glance the members of the
band look like at any moment they could break out into a rendition of a Soundgarden
song. But the
strike the first note you know that this band is different. Harmonic screams
eminate from the lead
singers mouth like venom from a snake. The rest of the band do their parts
to perfection relesing a
sound of music that can only be described as death by sound. Overall their
stage presance was
entertaing but truly after playing like they did nothing they do onstage could
have ruined the
enjoyment of watching them perform their unique brand of black/death metal.
So kids throw the
goat and rock out and definatly do not miss their next show.
ERN
Zygote Producktions.
4/22/04
IN THE NAME OF GOD, YOB, EXHUMED
Well up first was In the name of god and I cant say anything bad about these guys they are the metal band to look out for. These guy's will stab you and fuck the wound. They bring to the stage a feel of pure evil and hate. With Russ on bass and vocals when he hit's his first note you know your going to hell. With A.J. and Geoff on guitar they bring with them a sound that you can not compare to anyone out there, they make you feel every note of the their seven strings. And there is fucking Bean not to much is know about this guy but what we do know is that they let him out of his cage to play a few show's once in awhile. And from the crowds bloody faces I knew they liked what they heard.
Next came up YOB masters of doom. With YOB you know that you are going to get your fill of slow dark and heavy rock. Mike and the boys did fucking great all tho they had a short set. They did bring out there best for this show and it was great to let kids see and hear YOB because they mostly play bar show's which was so nice that they came out to the wow hall. Im sorry that I could not see this whole set since I was running around so much, but from what I did get see and hear it top's one of the best set's that I've seen from them.
And then there is EXHUMED the great leaders of gorecore because gore is only real. I must say I was not shocked to see them pull out some old ones out on you guys & ladies which im glad there are some of you out there call me if you want to grab a beer I love the ladies that like it hard. All tho they are tame now with there stage show does not mean that they are lame with their music. These are the fathers of gorecore and I think that they showed you this. These guys played a fucking hour and a half for you of pure gore. And I must say even tho there line up has change many times in the last year that they still can fucking bring it. Im also sad I did not get to watch any of their set because im working when im at shows but I did get to see a little here and there. And every thing went well this night no one made me mad are stole from us which is good, because when you steal from us your only stealing from your self because that mean's that we cant bring you more metal bands. And the only two things that did piss me off was that there were some gutter punks that thought they could get in for free, when you do this people we all lose out because we cant fucking pay the bands. Let us know you cant pay for a show will have you work to get in. And one of those gutter fuck's pissed on the floor if I see him I may just kick him in his head. And the drunk who was throwing thing's at the band your lucky none of the kid's saw that you would be pretty fuct right now if so.
Well I would like to thank you all for showing up to the show it was a great time and I hope you start spreading the word that we are the ones for metal.
Frankie Bullet
