A study in contradictions, or the expansion of musical boundaries? Never
clear-cut and always managing to slip through the cracks, The RaZor
Skyline ignore the pigeonholing of a genre specific industry to make music that is both a personal and stylistic
interpretation of the world around them.
Formed in late 1994, TRS is the brainchild of The_Gun (keyboards,
guitars, programming) and Karen Kardell (lyrics, vocals). Corey's
influences brought a love of 80's wave and metal while Karen had
followed early 80's punk and underground music. Both had found
themselves part of the Seattle electro-goth-industrial scene, (The_Gun
previously played guitar for the NEC band Shallowhead) but neither wished to
form a project that was merely another copy of: (insert name here).
Originally called Journal of Trauma, the two put together a three-song
demo tape in mid 1995. On advice from Shane of Noxious Emotion, the demo
was sent to label COP International. COP called back, meetings and
e-mail sessions ensued, and on New Year's Eve 1995, the deal was finalized.
Just prior to the release of their first album in October 1996, the
group was faced with a legal challenge when the medical periodical
Journal of Trauma demanded a name change. Thus, The Razor Skyline was
born, a compromise was reached, and Journal of Trauma became the name of
one of the most successful debut albums in COP International's history.
Hailed by critics and fans alike as a bold, provocative effort, Journal
of Trauma laid the foundation for the band's sound and remains a
standard for goth-electro-industrial crossover. The song "Queen of
Heaven" is recognized as a dancefloor staple.
Not content to only be a studio project, the band performed live shows
almost immediately after its inception with a various line-up of
supporting musicians over the years including former
percussionist IoEjekta, Kim Furumori, Mary Werner, Mark27 (ex-Sunshine Blind, Assemblage23) and guitarist Robin Jacobs (ex-Switchblade
Symphony). Following their first West Coast tour and performance at
net-goth festival Convergence 3, tensions erupted and clashing ideas and
personalities led to Karen's departure. Charlotte Shai, who provided
vocals for "Exit Zero" on the Diva X Machina II (COP-1998) compilation
and "Torture Chamber" on the Silicon Warfare compilation (Arts
Industria-1998), replaced her. A hilariously fun cover of "One Night in
Bangkok" featuring The_Gun on vocals (speaking in Russian with a very
sexy accent) was also released on Newer Wave II (21st Circuitry-1998).
Something just wasn't quite right though. After a year apart, both Karen
and The_Gun realized that they each reached new heights when working
together, one of those rare musical chemistries that takes on a life of
it's own. In late 1998, The_Gun and Karen again joined forces and "Fade
& Sustain", the second full-length TRS album, was released in late May
1999. During this time, drummer Onyx was added. Robin Jacobs stepped in
during the recording of "Fade & Sustain" to contribute his guitar work
on the song "See the Light", and the circle felt complete. Energized by
the release of the new album, the band toured the west coast and then
headed off to the midwest for the "Hallowed Sky" tour with Bella Morte
in the fall of 1999. The new material was warmly received by audiences
and critics alike. After a few more shows in 2000, including a show with
Faith and the Muse in Seattle, the band took some much needed time off
to begin working on the next album entitled "The Bitter Well".
After 3 months of recording at the Blue Door Studios in Seattle, the album was finished and given to COP International who released it to rave reviews in summer 2003.
Currently, the_gun and Onyx are working on another project - Flatline Transmissions
