CD Gallery - Tourniquet

Tourniquet were formed in California 1989 by Ted Kirkpatrick (drums), Guy Ritter (vocals), and Gary Lenaire (guitars). Tourniquet is one of the more well-known and popular Christian thrash bands for some time, and with good reason --they are simply excellent. The earlier albums focused more on faster thrash, while some of the newer material is more power metal based, but no less heavy. The most recent album, "Microscopic View," is their most technical and diverse album yet and a return to the mix of power-thrash and intelligent lyrics from their earlier albums.

Tourniquet-Stop the Bleeding (Intense) 1990
Tourniquet-Stop the Bleeding (Pathogenic) 2001 reissue

1. "The Test for Leprosy" (4:39)
2. "Ready or Not" (3:30)
3. "Ark of Suffering" (4:13)
4. "Tears of Korah" (6:19)
5. "The Threshing Floor" (4:11)
6. "You Get What You Pray For" (3:23)
7. "Swarming Spirits" (3:23)
8. "Whitewash Tomb" -instrumental (4:24)
9. "Somnambulism" (4:38)
10. "Harlot Widow and the Virgin Bride" (7:44)

2001 REISSUE BONUS TRACKS
11. "Ark of Suffering" -live (4:39)
12. "The Test for Leprosy" -live (5:19)
13. "Whitewash Tomb" -demo(4:40)
14. "Tears of Korah" -demo (6:31)
15. "Ark of Suffering" -demo (3:56)
16. "Concert Intro 1999" -live (1:25)

Tourniquet's first disc is much different from anything else they have done since. When I bought this disc as a new release, I was reminded of Mercyful Fate, especially in some of the vocals. The music, however, is much more technical and mixes in bits of speed metal, thrash, and even some slow Black Sabbath-like doom stuff while retaining a very melodic nature. Since this album never saw release in anything but Christian stores, it is the least known of any Tourniquet album, but in my opinion it is one of the best-if not the best Tourniquet album. Roger Martinez , front man for Vengeance Rising, produced and mixed this album. The original is tough to find these days, but Tourniquet, in March 2001, re-released this disc with new artwork, tons of photos, and a bunch of live bonus tracks. KMG has also reissued this album, along with "Psycho Surgery," on a special 2-disc set, which unfortunately includes none of the original liner notes, photos, or artwork. (In other words, it's cheap!)

A video was done for the song "Ark of Suffering," which is an animal rights song. In the video there is graphic footage of animals in labs and meat houses. The video was banned by MTV as too graphic. It was later released on "Video Biopsy" and on "Hot Metal 4" video.

2001 REISSUE BONUS TRACKS
Darn, when KMG released their cheesy re-issues, I was able to ignore them since they contained no new material and the packaging was so darn cheap. Now, however, Tourniquet releases their first three albums with bonus tracks, killer packaging, and the disc is REMASTERED, using 24 bit technology with IDR (increased digital resolution). The songs are LOUDER and way more "up front"! I swear I had heard this album a million times over the years but never noticed the intricate double bass work and fast triplets in songs like "Ark of Suffering." The mastering alone makes these discs a nice addition to my Tourniquet collection, although there is no replacing the originals. The new packaging includes 12 page full color booklets with lyrics, new photos and new liner notes by Ted Kirkpatrick. The bonus tracks are all demo tracks or recent live recordings with Luke Easter on vocals.

Tourniquet-Psycho Surgery (Metal Blade/Intense) 1991
Tourniquet-Psychosurgery (Pathogenic) 2001 reissue

1. "Psycho Surgery" (4:14)
2. "A Dog's Breakfast" (4:27)
3. "Viento Borrascoso (Devastating Wind)" -instrumental (3:06)
4. "Vitals Fading" (2:46)
5. "Spineless" (5:12)
6. "Dysfuntional Domicile" (5:01)
7. "Broken Chromosomes" (5:21)
8. "Stereotaxic Atrocities" (4:21)
9. "Officium Defunctorium" (5:26)

2001 REISSUE BONUS TRACKS
10. "A Dog's Breakfast" -live (5:34)
11. "Broken Chromosomes" -live (6:56)
12. "Stereotaxic Atrocities" -demo (4:27)
13. "A Dog's Breakfast" -demo (4:38)
14. "Concert Intro 2000" -live (:59)

In my opinion this is the classic Tourniquet line-up . Guy Ritter-vocals, Gary Lenaire-guitars, Ted Kirkpatrick-drums, Eric Mendez-guitars, and Victor Macias-bass. This album was the beginning of the long bizzare titles and the pre-occupation with medical terminology. Still, this is my favorite Tourniquet disc. "A Dog's Breakfast" has one of the coolest riffs ever. "Broken Chromosomes" is just plain cool. I'm not sure why I love this song so much, perhaps it's the cool vocals, or the awesome drumming and guitar playing. "Spineless" is a rap-metal song that features P.I.D. (1991! Before rap-metal was cool!) This entire album is one of the best power thrash discs ever, regardless of the Christian label that is often put on it. I have a crappy tape of this album as well that is signed by Ted Kirkpatrick.

2001 REISSUE BONUS TRACKS
Lots of cool bonus tracks on this one. I really dig hearing the pre-production demo sessions of "A Dog's Breakfast" and "Broken Chromosomes." Could have done without the "Concert Intro" or it would have been cool to put it before the live tracks. Well, I suppose I have to complain about something. Also note that the "Psycho Surgery" is now titled "Psychosurgery." Apparently Ted always felt that it should be one word, so now it is.

Tourniquet- Pathogenic Ocular Dissonance (Metal Blade) 1992
Tourniquet- Pathogenic Ocular Dissonance (Pathogenic) 2001 reissue

1. "Impending Embolism" (2:05)
2. "Pathogenic Ocular Dissonance" (4:26)
3. "Phantom Limb" (5:41)
4. "Ruminating Virulence" (5:31)
5. "Spectrophobic Dementia" (5:16)
6. "Gelatinous Tubercles of Purulent Ossification" (5:12)
7. "Incommensurate" (5:48)
8. "Exoskeletons" (3:55)
9. "Theodicy of Trial" (4:29)
10."Descent into the Maelstrom" -instrumental (1:31)
11."En Hakkore" (3:38)
12."Skeezix Dilemma" (10:02)

2001 REISSUE BONUS TRACKS
13. ""Pathogenic Ocular Dissonance" -live (5:27)
14. "Bearing Gruesome Cargo/drum solo" -live (10:30)

Heavier, faster, more technical and darker than anything Tourniquet had done before. Apparently Guy Ritter was unhappy with this new heavier direction the band had taken and decided to part ways in the middle of the recording. His vocals are on about half the material with guitarist Gary Lenaire taking over a majority of the lead vocal work. Still, this is one of Tourniquet's best discs, and probably their last great work for a long time to come as they would begin to experiment with their sound with each new album. Tempter is a Trouble cover that is on the Metal Blade Records version only.

2001 REISSUE
Not as much bonus tracks to speak of on this one, but there is a killer five minute drum solo in "Bearing Gruesome Cargo." I wonder why Ted decided to release a track off "Vanishing Lessons" on this disc. Hmm...does this mean there will not be a reissue of "Vanishing Lessons?" the live version of "Pathogenic" is charged up and furious as well.

1. "Phantom Limb" (6:28)
2. "Medley: Ark of Suffering/Sterotaxic Atrocities" (5:21)
3. "Whitewash Tomb" -instrumental (4:22)
4. "The Skeezix Dilemma" (7:37)
5. "The Tempter" (6:11)
6. "The Messiah" (4:52)

This short "live in the studio" disc was part of a series that Intense put out in the early 90's. Tourniquet was in a transition period during the recording of this disc as they had recently lost their original vocalist and had not yet hooked up with Luke Easter. Guitarist Gary Lenaire took up the vocal duties for most of the songs. This was not unusual for him as he had shared vocals duties on all Tourniquet's former albums as well. The parts usually performed by Guy Ritter were sung by guest vocalist Les Carlson (Bloodgood). Having been a fan of both Bloodgood and Tourniquet for many years it was weird to hear Les singing Tourniquet songs. The tune he does the best at is, of course, Tourniquet's cover of Bloodgood's "The Messiah." However, Les pulled off all the songs very well, proving that he is a very talented and versatile singer. One of the best parts of this disc is the awesome cover of Trouble's "The Tempter." (Drummer, Ted Kirkpatrick, formerly a member of Trouble for a short time.) This same version of this song later appeared on the Metal Blade version of "Pathogenic Ocular Dissonance." Nice packaging that includes a bio of the band and session notes by executive producer Terry Taylor.

1. "Bearing Gruesome Cargo" (4:36)
2. "Pecking Order" (5:53)
3. "Drowning Machine" (4:47)
4. "Pushin' Broom" (5:36)
5. "Vanishing Lessons" (4:22)
6. "My Promise" (4:31)
7. "Acid Head" (4:24)
8. "K517" -instrumental (2:12)
9. "Twilight" (4:04)
10. "Your Take" (3:22)
11. "Sola Christus" (5:02)

I would say this album is still as heavy as anything Tourniquet had done up to this point, and I would also say I like this album as much as anything Tourniquet had done. However, this was the beginning of a new direction once again, as Tourniquet abandoned the complicated lyrics and the technical power thrash that they had done before. New vocalist Luke Easter is a competent vocalist with a lower register voice than Guy Ritter's. I would also say that Luke's voice has slightly less range that Guy's. Actually Luke reminds me quite a bit of Anthrax/Armored Saint singer John Bush. Despite this "Vanishing Lessons" is a good metal album that has some great riffs. Also contained Tourniquet's first big Christian mainstream hit in the ballad "Twilight."

TOURNIQUET
1. "Bearing Gruesome Cargo" (4:35)
2. "Acid Head" (4:23)
3. "K517" (2:09)
4.-8. Ted Kirkpatrick talks"

MORTIFICATION
1. "Your Life" (4:15)
2. "J.G.S.H." (:29)
3. "Love Song" (4:03)
12. "Steve Rowe talks" (1:59)

A cool little collector's split disc. Mortification being another of my favorite bands. The Mortification songs are all from "Blood World" and the Tourniquet songs all from "Vanishing Lessons." The Steve Rowe interview is taken from the "Live Planetarium" video. Ted Kirkpatrick's short interview being the only thing on here that is new. Probably not a disc for the casual fan of metal, but a true jem for the Mortification or Tourniquet collector.

1. "Carry the Wounded" (5:01)
2. "When the Love is Right (to Lizett)" (4:41)
3. "Oh Well" (2:33)
4. "My Promise" (3:17)
5. "Heads I Win, Tails You Lose" (3:50)

A short little (under 20 min.) EP that Tourniquet took a lot of heat over, due to it's somewhat mellow contents, as compared to past Tourniquet discs. Song 1, a good mid-paced Tourniquet song; Song 2, acoustic love ballad written for Ted's fiance; song 3, Fleetwood Mac cover; song 4, acoustic version of a ballad off "Vanishing Lessons" complete with violins; song 5 a slightly commercial mid-paced Tourniquet song. Didn't go over to well. Tourniquet lost some fans on this one. Still, I like it. It's an EP. EP's usually have B side material, and that is exactly the kind of stuff on this disc.

1. "Acid Head/Test for Leprosy" (9:57)
2. "Bearing Gruesome Cargo" (6:00)
3. "Vanishing Lessons" (4:36)
4. "Broken Chromosomes/Ted Kirkpatrick drum solo" (12:50)
5. "Phantom Limb/Pathogenic Ocular Dissonance" (7:54)
6. "Spineless/Ark of Suffering" (19:57)

Recorded live on the "Vanishing Lessons" tour, this CDR bootleg is pretty rare. As with most bootlegs, the production is pretty thin. This is not one of those discs that you'd want to pull out and listen to daily. The vocals are very loud and on top of the music. New vocalist Luke Easter, pulls off some songs perfectly, but on others, like "Acid Head" he is very strained and out of key. "Bearing Gruesome Cargo" is one of the better vocal performances. Another problem with this bootleg is that tracking is not done correctly. The first two songs are track 1, etc. Ahh, what did I expect from a bootleg, at least they spelled the names of all the songs correctly. The highlight of this cd is finally getting a Ted Kirkpatrick drum solo on compact disc.

1. "Perfect Night for a Hanging" (5:05)
2. "Vanishing Lessons" (4:18)
3. "Pathogenic Occular Dissonance" (4:26)
4. "Twilight" (4:02)
5. "Psycho Surgery" (4:14)
6. "You Get What You Pay For" (3:22)
7. "Acidhead" (4:21)
8. "Broken Chromosomes" (5:20)
9. "Viento Borrascoso" (3:08)
10. "Carry the Wounded" (5:01)
11. "Bearing Gruesome Cargo" (4:37)
12. "The Skeezix Dilemma" (9:52)
13. "Ark of Suffering" (4:15)
14. "The Hand Trembler" (7:55)

This is a great compilation featuring at least one song from each of Tourniquet's releases plus two new songs. The two new cuts are excellent, progressive power thrash. This is the best I have heard come out of Tourniquet since "Pathogenic." Both songs are stinkin' heavy and feature monster guitar tones. With the exception of the ballad "Twilight," the whole disc is one feast of speed metal and technical thrash. After the commercially disappointing "Carry the Wounded," I was excited that Tourniquet were again writing heavy material. The two new songs were supposed to be a promise of what was to come. What we got instead was:

1. "Claustrospelunker" (4:18)
2. "Crawl to China" (4:28)
3. "Enveloped in Python" (4:00)
4. "White Knuckliní the Rosary" (4:10)
5. "If I Was There" (5:56)
6. "The Tell-Tale Heart" (5:14)
7. "Bats" (3:58)
8. "Proprioception: The Line Knives Syndrome" (5:01)
9. "The Kicking" (3:44)
10. "If Pigs Could Fly" (4:38)
11. "Crank (The Knife)" (4:15)
12. "Stumblefoot" (3:40)
13. "Imaginary Friend" (3:59)
14. "Going, going...gone" (6:05)
15. "America" (3:00)

I have a hard time believing this disc was produced by metal guru Bill Metoyer as "Crawl to China" is barely a metal album. I had hoped this disc would be as heavy as promised, but rather what we got was an attempt to please a wide variety of people by doing a wide variety of music. There are some cool songs on this album like "White Knucklin' the Rosary" but overall it was quite disappointing. Of note, drummer Ted Kirkatrick is now the only remaining original member of Tourniquet as guitarist Gary Lenaire left to join former vocalist Guy Ritter in his new band Echo Hollow. I have an "exclusive pre-release picture disc" version of this album. A good friend went to see them live before this album was officially released and they had a few of these discs for sale. Knowing what a Tourniquet fan I was, she picked me up a copy and had them autograph it for me as well.

1. "Viento Borracoso" (2:51)
2. "Vanishing Lesson" (5:19)
3. "Claustrospelunker" (4:05)
4. "Bearing Gruesome Cargo" (4:54)
5. "Phantom Limb" (6:00)
6. "Bats" (3:23)
7. "Heads I Win, Tails You Lose" (4:13)
8. "Twilight" (4:02)
9. "If Pigs Could Fly" (5:01)
10. "Trivializing the Momentous, Complicating the Obvious" (6:36)

This little independent cd, released exclusively through the band, is a limited edition release, hand numbered and each one autographed by a member of Tourniquet. My copy is 0764 and autographed by guitarist Aaron Guerra. The first nine songs on this disc are acoustic renditions of Tourniquet songs from just about every era of the band. These acoustic versions are very well done and show the diversity of talent this band has. Song ten is an excellent heavy "plugged-in" song that is suppose to be a promise of what is to come. Let's hope so, as this songs is heavy and much better than anything on "Crawl to China." The cover on this disc is the worst cover I have seen in a long time. I should also mention that bassist Vince Dennis has recorded with Steel Prophet.

1. "Besprinkle in Scarlet Horror" (7:40)
2. "Drinking from the Poison Well" (7:33)
3. "Microscopic View of a Telescopic Realm" (6:14)
4. "The Tomb of Gilgamesh" (7:36)
5. "Servant of the Bones" (4:56)
6. "Erratic Palpitations of the Human Spirit" (6:26)
(Owww! Hand cramp, hand cramp. What's with these song titles?)
7. "Martyr's Pose" (4:19)
8. "Immunity Vector" (5:11)
9. "Indulgence by Proxy" (5:56)
10. "Caixa de Raiva" (4:12)
11. "The Skeezix Dilemma Part II (The Improbable Testimony of the Pipsesewah)" (9:59)

Drummer Ted Kirkpatrick is the only surviving original member now, but the sound is still unmistakable Tourniquet. This album is actually a return to the more technical power thrash (speed metal?) of old, proving that Tourniquet has finally began listening to the fans who have been screaming for this for years. Ted-niquet even going so far as to do "The Skeezix Dilemma Part 2," a continuation of a song from "Pathogenic.""Microscopic View," is their most technical and diverse album yet. Kudos! (Hey Ted, how about writing some song titles that we can actually remember?) Got my copy before the official release day thanks to a very generous trader. (-: