Valient Thorr
Encyclopedia
History
Valient Thorr began playing together in 2000. Their first show was on Easter of 2001. They released two demos, "Raw" and "We Come From The Morning Star". Following the demos, Valient Thorr self-released their first album on July 1, 2003 (only pressing 1000 copies which were sold at shows), Stranded on Earth, which had the same musical setup as present, but one of the guitarist, Jjinn Thorr, used a keyboard, 'ic. They packed hometown shows all over North Carolina and at their local favorite venue Kings Barcade. They did their first major tour of the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
shortly afterward, doing 47 shows in 52 days.
After replacing original drummer Donn Thorr with current drummer Lucian Thorr and ditching the keyboard entirely live and on release, they were soon signed to Volcom Entertainment
Volcom Entertainment
Volcom Entertainment, officially founded in 1995, in Newport Beach, California, and currently based in Costa Mesa, CA is the brainchild of Volcom founder Richard Woolcott and theLINE's singer/guitarist Ryan Immegart. Ryan being Volcom's first sponsored snowboarder and having a love for music...
, where their full-length album Total Universe Man was released on June 7, 2005. At that point, upon completion of several master's degrees, the group members gave up their regular jobs and set out on the road. They performed on the Volcom stage on the Warped Tour
Warped Tour
The Warped Tour is a touring music and extreme sports festival. The tour is held in venues such as parking lots or fields upon which the stages and other structures are erected. The BMX/skateboarding shoe manufacturer Vans, among others, has sponsored the tour every year since 1995, and it is...
2005, for the entire tour, except for a few shows where they played the main stage. They continued touring, taking only six days off for Thanksgiving and ten for Christmas. Along the way, they lost their original rhythm guitarist, Jjinn Thorr, and replaced him with Bjorn Thorr to finish off the end of the year. They played in Hawaii with Andrew WK and then began 2006 by going on tour with Hot Rod Circuit
Hot Rod Circuit
Hot Rod Circuit is an American emo band from New Haven, Connecticut established in 1997.-Early years:The band was originally known as Antidote under which they released the album Mr. Glenboski, which won the group the award of Best Unsigned Band of 1998 by Musician Magazine...
and Piebald
Piebald (band)
Piebald is an American alternative rock band. Piebald started as a hardcore band in Andover, Massachusetts, out of the same scene that produced legends Converge. They later moved to the Boston suburb of Somerville and became a staple of the Greater Boston indie rock scene. Two members still live in...
. After his departure, Eiden Thorr took Jjinn's old position at shows, moving from Stage Right (the position he held since the band's inception) to Stage Left.
In February 2006, they stopped briefly in Costa Mesa, California
Costa Mesa, California
Costa Mesa is a city in Orange County, California. The population was 109,960 at the 2010 census. Since its incorporation in 1953, the city has grown from a semi-rural farming community of 16,840 to a primarily suburban and "edge" city with an economy based on retail, commerce, and light...
to write the follow-up to Total Universe Man.
After Bjorn Thorr's brief stint, guitarist Odinn Thorr was asked to join the band. On July 11, 2006 they released their follow-up album, Legend of the World. They toured the entire Warped Tour
Warped Tour
The Warped Tour is a touring music and extreme sports festival. The tour is held in venues such as parking lots or fields upon which the stages and other structures are erected. The BMX/skateboarding shoe manufacturer Vans, among others, has sponsored the tour every year since 1995, and it is...
again for the summer of 2006 playing the Volcom Stage, with the exception of a few main stage slots, including the hometown stop in Raleigh
Raleigh, North Carolina
Raleigh is the capital and the second largest city in the state of North Carolina as well as the seat of Wake County. Raleigh is known as the "City of Oaks" for its many oak trees. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city's 2010 population was 403,892, over an area of , making Raleigh...
, where they closed out the night after NOFX
NOFX
NOFX is an American punk rock band from Los Angeles, California .The band was formed in 1983 by vocalist/bassist Fat Mike and guitarist Eric Melvin. Drummer Erik Sandin joined NOFX shortly after. In 1991 El Hefe joined to play lead guitar and trumpet, rounding out the current line-up...
and AFI
AFI (band)
AFI is an American alternative rock band from Ukiah, California that formed in 1991. They have consisted of the same lineup since 1998: lead vocalist Davey Havok, drummer and backup vocalist Adam Carson, with bassist Hunter Burgan and guitarist Jade Puget, who both play keyboard and contribute...
on one of the two mainstages to a packed crowd. They continued to tour throughout 2006, including a tour with Joan Jett
Joan Jett
Joan Jett is an American rock guitarist, singer, songwriter, producer and actress.She is best known for her work with Joan Jett & the Blackhearts including their hit cover "I Love Rock 'n' Roll", which was #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 from March 20 to May 1, 1982, as well as for their other popular...
and the Black Hearts, Eagles of Death Metal
Eagles of Death Metal
Eagles of Death Metal is an American rock band from Palm Desert, California, formed in 1998 by Jesse Hughes and Josh Homme. Despite their band name, Eagles of Death Metal are not a death metal band. Hughes stated that a friend was introducing Josh Homme to the death metal genre...
, and ending the year touring with Gogol Bordello
Gogol Bordello
Gogol Bordello is a Gypsy punk band from the Lower East Side of Manhattan, formed in 1999 and known for theatrical stage shows and persistent touring.Much of the band's sound is inspired by Gypsy music...
. Valient Thorr played 272 shows in 2006. Taking no time off for Thanksgiving in 2006, and only 2 days for Christmas, they drove back to California to play New Year's Eve at the Viper Room in Hollywood. In January 2007 Odinn Thorr was replaced by Voiden Thorr(guitarist for Texas metal duo Golden Axe). Valient Thorr continued to tour right through 2007, beginning with a four month tour with Fu Manchu
Fu Manchu
Dr. Fu Manchu is a fictional character introduced in a series of novels by British author Sax Rohmer during the first half of the 20th century...
. They did two months in the US, and then traveled overseas for the first time, playing Europe, the UK, and Scandinavia. They returned home, and co-headlined the very first Volcom Tour with labelmates the Riverboat Gamblers. They ended the year by returning to Germany to tour with Motörhead for three weeks, and then returned home without a day off to do three weeks with the Sword. Valient Thorr wrote the follow-up to "Legend of the World" in Costa Mesa, California
Costa Mesa, California
Costa Mesa is a city in Orange County, California. The population was 109,960 at the 2010 census. Since its incorporation in 1953, the city has grown from a semi-rural farming community of 16,840 to a primarily suburban and "edge" city with an economy based on retail, commerce, and light...
, which was produced by Jack Endino
Jack Endino
Jack Endino is a producer and musician based in Seattle. Long associated with Seattle label Sub Pop and the grunge movement, Endino worked on seminal albums from bands such as Mudhoney, Soundgarden, and Nirvana...
and recorded by him in Seattle. It was named "Immortalizer", and was Valient Thorr's fourth album in five years. It was released on June 17th, 2008.
The song "Fall of Pangea" is an unlockable song in Harmonix's game Guitar Hero II
Guitar Hero II
Guitar Hero II is a music video game developed by Harmonix Music Systems and published by RedOctane. It is the second installment in the Guitar Hero series and is the sequel to Guitar Hero...
.
The song "Heatseeker" was featured in Rob Dyrdek's Fantasy Factory, and is used as a song track in EA
Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts, Inc. is a major American developer, marketer, publisher and distributor of video games. Founded and incorporated on May 28, 1982 by Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer games industry and was notable for promoting the designers and programmers...
's racing video game Need for Speed: Carbon
Need for Speed: Carbon
Need for Speed: Carbon, also known as NFS Carbon or NFSC, is an Electronic Arts video game belonging to the Need for Speed series. Released in 2006, it is the tenth installment, preceded by Need for Speed: Most Wanted, succeeded by Need for Speed: ProStreet in release order and succeeded by Need...
.
The song "Man Behind The Curtain" appeared in EA
Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts, Inc. is a major American developer, marketer, publisher and distributor of video games. Founded and incorporated on May 28, 1982 by Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer games industry and was notable for promoting the designers and programmers...
's skate.
Skate (video game)
Skate is a skateboarding video game developed by EA Black Box for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. It was released in North America on September 17, 2007 for the Xbox 360 and September 24, 2007 for the PlayStation 3 and in Europe on September 28, 2007 for the Xbox 360 and October 5, 2007 for the...
video game.
In late May 2008 Valient himself went under the blade in order to donate
Organ transplant
Organ transplantation is the moving of an organ from one body to another or from a donor site on the patient's own body, for the purpose of replacing the recipient's damaged or absent organ. The emerging field of regenerative medicine is allowing scientists and engineers to create organs to be...
his kidney
Kidney
The kidneys, organs with several functions, serve essential regulatory roles in most animals, including vertebrates and some invertebrates. They are essential in the urinary system and also serve homeostatic functions such as the regulation of electrolytes, maintenance of acid–base balance, and...
to his diabetic
Diabetes mellitus
Diabetes mellitus, often simply referred to as diabetes, is a group of metabolic diseases in which a person has high blood sugar, either because the body does not produce enough insulin, or because cells do not respond to the insulin that is produced...
earth father
Father
A father, Pop, Dad, or Papa, is defined as a male parent of any type of offspring. The adjective "paternal" refers to father, parallel to "maternal" for mother...
Three weeks after recovering from kidney donation surgery Valient Himself and the band returned to Europe and played their biggest shows to date including the Download Festival in Donington, and Graspop in June 2008. They continued to tour Europe that summer and returned home to tour with Early Man, Monotonix, and Skeletonwitch and then again in the fall with Motorhead, the Misfits, Year Long Disaster, and ASG on the Volcom Tour 2008.
The next few months were filled with events.
-On November 11, 2008 Valient Thorr released In Heat, a feature length documentary about the last five years on the road.
-They also played ECFU Turbojugend Fest in Atlanta on Halloween 2008, The Fest in Gainesville, Florida in November, and toured Hawaii in December.
-On January 30, 2009 they did a full set for a local charity playing as Funkadelic in Raleigh, NC.
-On February 5 they played in East River Park with Anthrax for Red Bull's Snowscraper Event.
-On March 7 they played the Harvest of Hope festival in St Augustine Florida and toured the US out to SXSW 2009.
In June 2009 they went back to Europe, touring with Mastodon in the UK and Paris, and headlining all over western Europe. In the fall they toured the US again with Early Man, and Red Fang. In November and December they went back to Europe again to play in Scandinavia and eastern Europe.
In March 2010 Valient Thorr have announced they will record their 5th album and followup to Immortalizer with Jack Endino.
In February 2010, it was announced that Valient Thorr would be supporting Mastodon on their US headlining tour.
In early 2011, Valient Thorr was announced as the supporting act for Motörhead's 2011 North American tour in support of The Wörld is Yours
The World Is Yours
The World Is Yours was the world's first color television series, making its debut on June 26, 1951, on five stations of the CBS television network in the eastern United States. This half-hour daytime program was produced and hosted from New York by naturalist and author Ivan T. Sanderson, and...
.
Members
- Valient Himself - Vocals (2001–Present)
- Eidan Thorr - Guitars (2005–Present)
- Dr. Professor Nitewolf Strangees - Bass (2001–Present)
- Sadat Thorr - Guitars
- Lucian Thorr - Percussion (2004–Present)
Inactive Members
- "Donn Thorr"
- "Jinn Thorr"
- "Bjorn Thorr"
- "Odinn Thorr"
- "Voiden Thorr"
Discography
| Title | Release Date | Label |
|---|---|---|
| Stranded On Earth Stranded on Earth Stranded on Earth is an album by Valient Thorr, released in 2003.- Track listing :# "One Tuff Customer"# "Bigger Badder"# "Radiation"# "Time Zone"# "The Apprentice"# "Don’t Stop"# "Stuck"# "Running The Gauntlet"# "Swallows Of Love"... |
July 1, 2003 | Self-Released |
| Total Universe Man Total Universe Man - Track listing :# "Prologue: Civil Blood Makes Civil Hands Unclean" - 1:50# "Showdown" - 4:01# "Palm Reader" - 2:59# "Man Behind the Curtain" - 4:08# "Intermission: Thesis of Infinite Measure" - 2:30# "I Am the Law'" - 4:02# "Sticks and Stones" - 3:36... |
June 7, 2005 | Volcom Entertainment Volcom Entertainment Volcom Entertainment, officially founded in 1995, in Newport Beach, California, and currently based in Costa Mesa, CA is the brainchild of Volcom founder Richard Woolcott and theLINE's singer/guitarist Ryan Immegart. Ryan being Volcom's first sponsored snowboarder and having a love for music... |
| Legend of the World Legend of the World Legend of the World is the third studio album by the American rock band Valient Thorr, released in 2006.-Track listing:# "Heatseeker" - 4:06# "Rezerection" - 4:24# "Exit Strategy" - 3:56# "Lime Green Net" - 4:20# "Stormstris" - 3:26... |
July 11, 2006 | Volcom Entertainment Volcom Entertainment Volcom Entertainment, officially founded in 1995, in Newport Beach, California, and currently based in Costa Mesa, CA is the brainchild of Volcom founder Richard Woolcott and theLINE's singer/guitarist Ryan Immegart. Ryan being Volcom's first sponsored snowboarder and having a love for music... |
| Immortalizer Immortalizer Immortalizer is the fourth studio album by the American rock band Valient Thorr, released in 2008.-Track listing:# "I Hope the Ghosts of the Dead Haunt Yr Soul Forever" - 3:21# "Infinite Lives" - 3:20# "Mask of Sanity" - 4:19# "Tomorrow Police" - 4:26... |
June 17, 2008 | Volcom Entertainment Volcom Entertainment Volcom Entertainment, officially founded in 1995, in Newport Beach, California, and currently based in Costa Mesa, CA is the brainchild of Volcom founder Richard Woolcott and theLINE's singer/guitarist Ryan Immegart. Ryan being Volcom's first sponsored snowboarder and having a love for music... |
| In Heat (DVD) | November 4, 2008 | Volcom Entertainment Volcom Entertainment Volcom Entertainment, officially founded in 1995, in Newport Beach, California, and currently based in Costa Mesa, CA is the brainchild of Volcom founder Richard Woolcott and theLINE's singer/guitarist Ryan Immegart. Ryan being Volcom's first sponsored snowboarder and having a love for music... |
| Stranger Stranger (Album) Stranger is the fifth studio album by the American rock band Valient Thorr, released in 2010.-Track listing:# "Gillionaire" - 3:02# "Sleeper Awakes" - 3:16# "Disappearer" - 3:08# "Double Crossed" - 4:19# "Night Terrors" 4:51... |
September 14, 2010 | Volcom Entertainment Volcom Entertainment Volcom Entertainment, officially founded in 1995, in Newport Beach, California, and currently based in Costa Mesa, CA is the brainchild of Volcom founder Richard Woolcott and theLINE's singer/guitarist Ryan Immegart. Ryan being Volcom's first sponsored snowboarder and having a love for music... |
Television appearances
- Fuse TVFuse TVFuse is an American national television network dedicated exclusively to music. It features original series and specials, exclusive interviews, live concerts and video blocks....
, Warped Tour special (behind the scenes) - G4 TV, Attack of the Show!Attack of the Show!Attack of the Show! is an American live television program shown weeknights on G4, G4 Canada and Fuel TV in Australia. The program is hosted by Kevin Pereira and Candace Bailey...
(performance) - Warped: Inside and Out (six episode show on Fuse) - four episodes (performance, and behind the scenes, narration)
- Game HeadGame HeadGameTrailers TV with Geoff Keighley is a television show about video games hosted by video game journalist Geoff Keighley. Originally titled Game Head, on January 25, 2008, the show relaunched under its current name with a slightly different format and further incorporation of GameTrailers hosts,...
, episode from The Warped Tour - Daily Habit, episode on Fuel TV
- Fuel TVFuel TVFuel TV is a U.S. cable and satellite specialty channel that launched on July 1, 2003. It focuses on the cultures of such extreme sports as skateboarding, snowboarding, wakeboarding, motocross, surfing, BMX and FMX. It is a unit of Fox Cable Networks and is currently available to 26-million...
, episode of Check 1,2
External links
- Official site
- Volcom Entertainment
- Valient Himself Interview at REDEFINE Magazine, December 2005
- August 2008 Interview with L.A. RecordL.A. RecordL.A. Record is an independent music magazine originally published weekly as a broadsheet poster. The poster usually depicts a local Los Angeles musicians and according to the magazine editors is meant to recreate an iconic album cover. In March 2008, it began publishing as a monthly magazine with a...
- Review on Punk76.com on Immortalizer
- Interview with Valient Himself from The Liberty Movement Zine
- The Bitchslap Magazine Valient Thorr Interview 2010