So, you MAY have heard of Pitchshifter in the 90s when they broke out with hits such as “Genius” and “W.Y.S.I.W.Y.G,” but they have been long since forgotten, so I thought I would tell all of you about them, because they are freaking amazing.
At first, this band was actually one of the only UK Heavy and almost Death Metal bands. They had the screaming lead singer, Mark Clayden, and the crazy drums and all that stuff. It is now referred to as “Death Industrial” because of the Death Metal like vocals but electronic drums and samples.
A bit later, J.S. Clayden stepped up to the mic from being only backing vocals. He had about the type of singing/screaming as Mark, but changed to their trademark sound for their breakthrough album, www.pitchshifter.com. You may have heard songs from that album in Twisted Metal 3 and Test Drive 5 as “Genius” was the theme to Test Drive 5, “W.Y.S.I.W.Y.G.” was in a level of Test Drive 5, and “W.Y.S.I.W.Y.G.” and “Innit” was featured in the Hanger 18 and Tokyo level of Twisted Metal 3. (I own these games, I know.)
Sadly, in 2003, they had their last show of their “Farewell for Now” club tour, but do come together every now and then for random festivals.
Fun Facts (Thanks Wikipedia!):
1: Pitch Shifter played the Phoenix Festival in Long Marston, UK in 1995. The band’s manager, armed with a tractor, arranged for an enormous crop circle replica of the band’s famous “eye” symbol to appear in the adjoining field to the festival site during the night prior to Pitch Shifter’s performance there. The crowd’s enthusiasm for Pitch Shifter when they performed (in support of their Desensitized album) was so high that they rushed the stage, making Pitch Shifter’s performance the first in the history of the festival to be stopped early.
2: Pitchshifter’s music has been used in video games such as: Test Drive 5, Rallisport Challenge 2, MX Superfly,Twisted Metal 4 and Twisted Metal III, as well as movies, trailers and soundtracks such as: Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, The Crow, Salvation, Brainscan, Catwoman, Paycheck, and lastly in commercials such as the Volkswagen ‘Vortex’ bug.
3: The band has released eight studio albums and numerous singles & EPs.
Well, hope you enjoyed this and hope you check out this band!
