Divine Horsemen were a punk/roots band founded in 1983 by Chris D.

Chris D.

Chris D., real name Chris Desjardins, is a punk poet, rock critic, singer, writer, actor and filmmaker. Chris D. is best known as the lead singer and founder of the early Los Angeles punk/deathrock band The Flesh Eaters. Desjardins was a feature writer at Slash magazine in 1977, when he formed a...

 (Desjardins), formerly of L.A. punk rock

Punk rock

Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...

 band The Flesh Eaters

The Flesh Eaters (band)

The Flesh Eaters are an American punk rock band, formed in Los Angeles, California in 1977. They are the most prominent of the bands which have showcased the compositions and singing of their founder, punk poet Chris Desjardins, known as...

. The band developed a distinctive (and at the time, very new) alt country- type sound. They took their name from a voodoo term; a worshiper who is possessed by loa

Loa

The Loa are the spirits of the voodoo religion practiced in Louisiana, Haiti, Benin, and other parts of the world. They are also referred to as Mystères and the Invisibles, in which are intermediaries between Bondye —the Creator, who is distant from the world—and humanity...

 during a ceremony is said to be being ridden by The Divine Horsemen. The term was also used as a song title by The Flesh Eaters

The Flesh Eaters (band)

The Flesh Eaters are an American punk rock band, formed in Los Angeles, California in 1977. They are the most prominent of the bands which have showcased the compositions and singing of their founder, punk poet Chris Desjardins, known as...

Desjardins re-worked several old songs by The Flesh Eaters

The Flesh Eaters (band)

The Flesh Eaters are an American punk rock band, formed in Los Angeles, California in 1977. They are the most prominent of the bands which have showcased the compositions and singing of their founder, punk poet Chris Desjardins, known as...

, notably "Poison Arrow", and exercised his literary side by namechecking Chester Himes

Chester Himes

Chester Bomar Himes was an American writer. His works include If He Hollers Let Him Go and a series of Harlem Detective novels...

, Jim Thompson

Jim Thompson (writer)

James Myers Thompson was an American author and screenwriter, known for his pulp crime fiction....

, Donald Goines

Donald Goines

Donald Goines was an African American writer of urban fiction. His novels were deeply influenced by the work of Iceberg Slim.-Life:...

, James Ellroy

James Ellroy

Lee Earle "James" Ellroy is an American crime fiction writer and essayist. Ellroy has become known for a so-called "telegraphic" prose style in his most recent work, wherein he frequently omits connecting words and uses only short, staccato sentences, and in particular for the novels The Black...

, Harry Crews

Harry Crews

Harry Crews is an American novelist, playwright, short story writer and essayist. He was born in Bacon County, Georgia in 1935 and served in the Marines during the Korean War. He attended the University of Florida on the GI Bill, but dropped out to travel...

, Ambrose Bierce

Ambrose Bierce

Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce was an American editorialist, journalist, short story writer, fabulist and satirist...

 and James Joyce

James Joyce

James Augustine Aloysius Joyce was an Irish novelist and poet, considered to be one of the most influential writers in the modernist avant-garde of the early 20th century...

 amongst others on the track "What Is Red" from the "Snake Handler" lp.

Personnel

Other band members included Julie Christensen (Chris' then-wife), Matt Lee and Peter Andrus, as well as Flesh Eaters stalwart Robyn Jameson. They were joined at times by members of L.A. punk bands like Kid Congo Powers

Kid Congo Powers

Kid Congo Powers is the stage name of Brian Tristan , an American rock guitarist and singer, best known as a member of The Gun Club, The Cramps and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds.-Biography:...

 of The Gun Club and The Cramps

The Cramps

The Cramps were an American rock band, formed in 1976 and active until 2009. The band split after the death of lead singer Lux Interior. Their line-up rotated much over their existence, with the husband and wife duo of Interior and lead guitarist Poison Ivy the only permanent members...

, Jeffery Lee Pierce of The Gun Club. They broke up in 1988.

Note on Record Labels

The information below provides the record label at the time the album was released. Most of these labels are now defunct or no longer include these albums in their catalog. They have currently been relicensed and reissued by Atavistic Records.

• 1984 Time Stands Still Enigma Records
  Enigma Records
  Enigma Records was a popular rock and alternative American record label in the 1980s. It was initially a division of Greenworld Distribution, an independent music importer/distributor, which it split-off from in 1985 to become its own company...
  
  
  • Track Listing
    • When The Rain Comes Down
    • Lily White Hands
    • Past All Dishonor
    • Frankie Silver
    • Sanctuary
    • Heat From The Sun
    • Little Sister
    • Hell's Belle
    • Time Stands Still
    • Tears Fall Away
    • My Sin (Chris D.- Matt Lee -Divine Horsemen)
    • Devil's River
    • Mothers Worry
    • Tenderest Kiss

• 1986 Devil's River on SST Records
  SST Records
  SST Records is an American independent record label formed in 1978 in Long Beach, California by musician Greg Ginn. The company was initially called Solid State Transmitters through which Ginn sold electronics equipment...
  
  
  • Track Listing
    • My Sin (Chris D.- Matt Lee -Divine Horsemen)
    • Sapphire
    • Devil's River
    • He Rode Right Into Town
    • Come Into This Place (aka Poison Arrow Of Flame)
    • Tenderest Kiss
    • Love Call
    • Too Young To Die
    • It Doesn't Matter
    • Middle Of The Night

• 1986 Middle of the Night on SST Records
  • Track Listing
    • Middle Of The Night
    • Field Of Stone
    • If Only I Could
    • Little Sister
    • Mother's Worry
    • It Doesn't Matter
    • Gimmie Shelter
    • Voodoo Idol

• 1987 Snake Handler on SST Records
  • Track Listing
    • Snake Handler
    • Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye
    • Stone By Stone (Fire Is My Home)
    • Curse Of The Crying Woman
    • Someone Like You
    • Fire Kiss
    • What Is Red
    • Blind Leading The Blind
    • That's No Way To Live

• 1987 Handful Of Sand EP on SST Records
  • Track Listing
    • Handful Of Sand
    • Curse Of The Crying Woman
    • Frankie Silver (Live)
    • Past All Dishonor (live)
    • Sanctuary (Live)