The current members of Tourniquet are Ted Kirkpatrick (drums), Luke Easter (vocals), and Aaron Guerra (guitar, vocals).
Former members include Gary Lenaire, Guy Ritter, Victor Macias, Erik Mendez, Steve Andino (bass) and Vince Dennis.
The band is named after a tourniquet which is a surgical device for arresting hemorrhage by compression of a blood vessel. According to the band, tourniquet is a metaphor for "a lifelong spiritual process by which a personal God, through the atoning blood, death, and resurrection of His only Son—Jesus Christ—can begin to stop the flow of going through life without knowing and serving our Creator. He is our Tourniquet."
Tourniquet was formed as a christianthrash metal band. The group was one of many bands who were, at the time, affiliated with a church group called Sanctuary - the rock and roll refuge in Los Angeles. They started out with Ted Kirkpatrick(drums), Guy Ritter (vocals) and Gary Lennaire (guitaris/vocalist).
Their first record Stop the Bleeding was produced in 1990, by Bill Metoyer of Metal Blade Records, and released by Intense Records. While it was mostly distributed to Christian bookstores, Stop the Bleeding was a notable Christian thrash metal album in its time. Tourniquet's characteristic style broke new ground and quickly gained them fans all over the world. In their early line up, Guy Ritter sang the more melodic vocal parts while Gary Lenaire did the aggressive, thrash metal shouts. The band brought forth their first single Ark of Suffering, which received some minor airplay on MTV, but was pulled down due to video shots of animal abuse. Because of the song and it's subsequent video, the band became known for its stance on animal rights.
In 1991, Tourniquet abandoned most of its 1980's metal influences and recorded a more modern album titled Psycho Surgery. On the song Spineless the band experimented with rap rock in the vein of Anthrax and Faith No More long before the style became popular later in the 1990's. Psycho Surgery showcased the classical music influences more clearly than on 'Stop The Bleeding', and the drummer’s background in the pharmaceutical industry became more apparent: many of the songs utilized medical terminology as metaphors for social/spiritual issues. On Psycho Surgery. Tourniquet continued to work with producer Bill Metoyer, and eventually signed a distribution agreement with Metal Blade Records, which released Psycho Surgery to a far wider general market audience than the band was able to reach with Stop the Bleeding. However, Intense Records still released Psycho Surgery and distributed it to Christian retail
In 1993, Tourniquet recorded what is considered their most technical and dark album, Pathogenic Ocular Dissonance. Guy Ritter left the band during the recording of Pathogenic Ocular Dissonance. Pathogenic Ocular Dissonance quickly became one of the most popular of the band's albums among Tourniquet fans, and it was voted Favourite Album of the 1990's by the readers of HM Magazine. As with the previous album, Metal Blade Records released Pathogenic Ocular Dissonance to the general market and Intense Records released it to the Christian market. Luke Easter, who had formerly sung in a more pop rock oriented group, replaced Ritter, joining Tourniquet for the Pathogenic Ocular Dissonance tour. On this tour, Tourniquet was scheduled to play the Milwaukee Metalfest in 1993, but professed satanist Glen Benton of Deicide, the festival headliner, refused to play with a Christian band. The festival was forced to cancel Tourniquet's performance. This brought more publicity and notoriety to Tourniquet.
The band's sound took a sharp turn from their early thrash metal days, following the departure of original vocalist Guy Ritter. In the interim, the band recorded a "live in studio" album with Les Carlsen of Bloodgood. The following album, Vanishing Lessons was much more hard rock, but no less technical. After another EP, Gary Lennaire left the band.
The band's latest release, Where Moth and Rust Destroy, features special guests Marty Friedman, formerly of Megadeth, and Bruce Franklin, formerly of Trouble, on lead guitar (tourniquet had previously covered Trouble's The Tempter on their live EP).
America
Tourniquet Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Between the years of 1861-1865,
Over 620,000 Americans died from gunshot,
Disease or sickness
In the bloodiest battles of our nations history -
The Civil War.
Fear and hate,
A different battle rages on to this day.
But in Christ, we are all one people -
United in our commitment to God and each other -
Because it is He who First loved us...
The lyrics of Tourniquet's song America reflect on the history of the United States, primarily focusing on the Civil War, and how the nation is still battling through prejudice, fear, and hate. The opening lines of the song state the number of casualties during the Civil War emphasizing the extent of violence involved. The lyrics suggest that the war was not just fought based on political grounds, but it was also fueled by prejudice, fear, and hate. These emotions caused Americans to turn against their fellow countrymen and engage in brutal acts of violence.
The song goes on to recognize that even in contemporary America, the battle against prejudice, fear, and hate continues. The lyrics try to evoke a sense of unity by emphasizing that in Christ, we are all one people. It suggests that our shared faith in God and a commitment to each other is what can bring us together and ultimately defeat the hate and division that plagues society today. These lyrics carry a deeper message than the simple glorification of war or soldiers; instead it puts emphasis on the power of love and uniting in times of division.
Line by Line Meaning
Between the years of 1861-1865,
During the period of 1861-1865, a devastating conflict took place in America
Over 620,000 Americans died from gunshot,
More than 620,000 people lost their lives due to firearms during the Civil War
Disease or sickness
Apart from violence, illness and diseases also claimed many lives during the war
In the bloodiest battles of our nations history -
The battles fought during the Civil War were the most violent and fatal ones in the history of America
Through the instrument of prejudice,
Prejudice is the tool which is responsible for causing division and hatred among people
Fear and hate,
Due to an atmosphere of fear and hate, people are getting more and more divided
A different battle rages on to this day.
Even today, a new kind of war is being fought which is about discrimination, oppression, and intolerance
But in Christ, we are all one people -
Only through the blessings of Christ, we all can become one community without any divide of race, religion, and gender
United in our commitment to God and each other -
Our mutual commitment towards God and our fellow beings encourages us to unite and work together
Because it is He who First loved us...
It's only possible to love and respect all humanity when we learn to embrace and appreciate God's love
Lyrics © OBO APRA/AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
oion eagle
Great song Ted you're an amazing musician. Your band is phenomenal.
pfballard
Thanks for sharing Ted. Enjoyed it. When you going to be touring in Texas? - pfballard
Gavin Hurlbut
Actually, to my mind, the song isn't "America", but rather "God Save The Queen", where the tune originated from... As in the national anthem of Britain. :) Ironic that the USA fought for independence from Britain, and then uses their national anthem as a patriotic song. Still a great song.
Jonathan Barnes
Many of the old tavern songs made way to hymnals after lyrical adjustment.
Nothing says victory like old standards reworked.
Michael Schmidt
Ironic, perhaps, but I like to think of it more as another middle finger--er, thumbing of the nose at the old foe. ;)