Bio

Habakkuk 1:5 “Look at the nations and watch, and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told.”

This is the scripture that has been spoken over Saving Grace since their inception in 2005 in a small coastal beach town in one of the world’s smallest countries… New Zealand.

From starting out playing shows in a garage in front of 20 friends to signing multi-national record deals, 5 star reviews, headlining tours and festival appearances across Australasia to touring the world proclaiming the message of Christ to thousands of people… The Lord’s favour upon Saving Grace and the doors that He has opened have by far exceeded the band members’ initial visions, hopes and childhood dreams.

Since their humble beginnings Saving Grace have gone on to share stages and tour with some of the worlds finest hardcore and metal acts including Parkway Drive, Bleeding Through, As I Lay Dying, Darkest Hour, Misery Signals, Bring Me The Horizon, August Burns Red, For Today and many more with a strong tour history across New Zealand, Australia, Mexico and the United States.

Their hard work, dedication to touring and ever-growing fan base has gained the band the reputation of the most successful spirit-filled hardcore act downunder.

Playing an aggressive style of music influenced by mid 90s hardcore bands such as Arkangel, Reprisal and Earth Crisis as well as legendary extreme metal classics Slayer, Sepultura, Morbid Angel and Cannibal Corpse, Saving Grace create a blend of brutal metallic hardcore unlike many of their modern day contemporaries.

Combining relentless metal-driven riffs, big breakdowns and mosh parts with the intensity and ethics of traditional hardcore, Saving Grace deliver a blistering, crowd engaging live show never failing to leave venues upturned and drenched in sweat.

The band’s songs deal with many personal and social topics including addiction, betrayal, violence and abuse, with the main lyrical focus being one of friendship, hope, faith, salvation and redemption through the Cross on which Christ was crucified before He rose from the dead.

Saving Grace released their debut studio album Behind Enemy Lines in 2008 which secured 3 international record deals for it’s release and was followed by highly successful touring and mass press worldwide which thrust the band onto the radar of many fans across the globe.

Their sophomore album entitled Unbreakable was released on Strike First Records in January 2010 followed by touring and festival appearances throughout the year all over Australasia.

2011 saw the band play their first appearance at the annual Facedown Fest in California before embarking on the INRI Clothing Youngbloods Tour across North America alongside Sovereign Strength, Creations, The Burial and Stand Your Ground.

Saving Grace returned to Australia for their 3rd Easter stint at Easterfest 2011 co-headlining the metal showcase alongside The Chariot and Oh, Sleeper.

Shortly after their return home to New Zealand Saving Grace announced their signing to Facedown Records.

The band’s highly anticipated crushing third full length album The King is Coming was released on November 22, 2011 on Facedown Records and helped further propel the band to a wide international audience solidifying Saving Grace as a force to be reckoned with in modern metal.

Highly successful tours and festival appearances worldwide in support of the critically acclaimed The King is Coming including Facedown Fest 2013 and The 15th Annual New England Metal & Hardcore Festival in Worcester, MA alongside the likes of Hatebreed, Exodus, Suicidal Tendencies and Anthrax gained the attention of US based management company Crimson Management (The Acacia Strain, Job For A Cowboy, Shadows Fall) who have partnered with the band to help further develop and expose the band to metal and hardcore audiences worldwide.

In November 2013, Facedown Records and Saving Grace finally announced some long awaited news in regards to the band’s highly anticipated brand new studio album The Urgency.

The band along with their management and label with some help from their fans and friends seeded a series of five ominous symbols and a hashtag all over social media sites in early November for #theurgency and announced that ‘All will be revealed 11.11.13? creating a lot of hype and speculation.

Produced and Engineered in New Zealand by California’s Zack Ohren (The Ghost Inside, First Blood, Carnifex, All Shall Perish), The Urgency is the band’s most raw and aggressive effort to date and sees a return to earlier roots of their original sound which is heavily influenced by traditional European metalcore and mixed with stylings of American hardcore and death metal.

Original artwork for The Urgency was created by UK artist Colin Marks (Whitechapel, Impending Doom, Oceano, All Shall Perish).

The band's first single Ablaze which was released in late December debuted at #1 on the iTunes Metal Chart #2 on the Rock Chart and also earned a place in the Official New Zealand Music Charts with a debut at #17 on the New Zealand Top 20 singles chart making history as the heaviest single in New Zealand to feature on the mainstream charts.

The Urgency was released globally on January 21st 2014 to an overwhelming response from fans, media and critics. Numerous magazine features and reviews lay claims of the album to be the best metal release of the year and HM Magazine was quoted as saying "This is the blueprint for the future of Heavy music".

The highly anticipated album debuted at #3 on the New Zealand Top 20 albums chart alongside multi-platinum sellers Lorde and Sol3 Mio and also debuted at #57 on the Billboard Hard Music Chart and #59 on the Billboard Heatseekers Chart in the United States.

Saving Grace announced dates at two of New Zealand’s biggest summer events including Parachute Festival 2014 alongside The Devil Wears Prada, MXPX and more and Westfest 2014 alongside KoRn, Megadeth and Rob Zombie before announcing their return to the United States in March for the 2014 Facedown Records tour with War of Ages and Mouth Of The South, with a final appearance in California at the annual Facedown Fest in Chino.

Band Members:
Josh Bain (vocals)
Vasely Sapunov (guitar)
Ross McDougall (guitar)
George White (bass)
Shaun Anderson (drums)

Links

• Artist Website
• Facebook Page