PERSEVERANCE is a new studio band bringing a message of hope through hardcore steeped in a great love of the early Revelation Records releases.
In 1994, Billy Fraser conceived PERSEVERANCE as a project to satisfy his hardcore side while he was busy drumming with OBLATION, a promising Dallas area death metal band: “I have loved hardcore since being introduced to it around 1988 through scene-heavy friends. Most bands that were in the Christian hardcore scene lacked what I desired and looked for in hardcore. I decided then it was only right to start writing songs that I felt should be constructive in both the musical and spiritual sense of my world and where I was coming from.â€
Shortly thereafter, Billy laid down the first PERSEVERANCE tunes on a 4-track. Entitled "Spiritual Stupidity," the 5-song demo received rave reviews in zines, where writers praised its sincerity and authentic hardcore spirit.
It was the 1998 debut disc by Billy's studio death metal project DISCERN, however, which caught the ear of "Metal" Mark Fields, a hardcore/metal fanatic from the Boston area, and a friendly email dialogue ensued.
Mark: "We talked a lot about metal, so it was quite a while before I mentioned my hardcore band, PROCLAMATION, to Billy. Billy told me about PERSEVERANCE, and we traded recordings. I really liked the demo, and he was freaking out over PROCLAMATION, so I began suggesting that we should collaborate somehow, even though we live a long way apart."
Billy: “When I heard the PROCLAMATION CD, I was floored. I thought Mark's voice was great, and the only logical choice for any future Perseverance recordings."
And so, after a lot of talk and a lot of delays, plans began to take shape; and two sessions in 2005 and 2006 yielded 10 PERSEVERANCE songs with the invaluable assistance of Bombworks Records owner Rob Colwell at the Bombworks Sound studio in northern Texas.
Billy: "We really do not sing about political issues, but rather focus on eternity issues, including the issue of where the listener may spend eternity after they die. The main focus of PERSEVERANCE is the Good News of Jesus and the life changing message of the Cross of Christ.â€
Mark: "I hope that our love for Jesus and our love of 1980's hardcore come across to everyone who hears us."
PERSEVERANCE hopes to release all 10 songs in the near future.
