Chokt is an American

industrial rock Industrial rock is a fusion genre that fuses industrial music and rock music. It initially originated in the 1970s, and drew influence from early experimental and industrial acts such as Cromagnon, Throbbing Gristle, Einstürzende Neubaute ...

band featuring Pete Murray of

Lo-Pro Lo-Pro is an American rock band formed in 2002 by Pete Murray and Neil Godfrey after the disbandment of their previous band, Ultraspank, in 2001. After attracting the attention of Aaron Lewis of Staind, the band signed to a major record label ...

and

Ultraspank Ultraspank was an American metal band from Santa Barbara, California, United States. They released two albums, a self-titled album in 1998, and a follow-up, ''Progress'', in 2000. The band disbanded shortly after the release of ''Progress'' in 20 ...

, Walter Flakus of

Stabbing Westward Stabbing Westward is an American industrial rock band. Christopher Hall and Walter Flakus formed the band in 1985 in Macomb, Illinois. The band released an extended play in 1992, followed by four studio albums: '' Ungod'' (1994), '' Wither ...

, and John Stevens of Ghost Machine and

The Clay People The Clay People are an American heavy rock band based in Albany, New York. Singer Daniel Neet has been the only constant member throughout the band's history, providing lyrics and a frontman persona. Guitarist Brian McGarvey and drummer Dan Dinsm ...

. The trio recorded an album's worth of material together, releasing songs one by one over the course of 2006 to 2009. It served as an outlet for Murray for songs that didn't quite fit the hard rock sound of Lo-Pro, during the six year gap in between Lo-Pro releases.

History

Formation (2002-2004)

Pete Murray released two albums as the frontman of

nu metal Nu metal (sometimes stylized as nü-metal, sometimes called aggro-metal) is a subgenre of that combines elements of heavy metal music with elements of other music genres such as hip hop, alternative rock, funk, industrial, and grunge. Nu m ...

band

, and when the band broke up, he eventually formed the hard rock band

with guitarist

Neil Godfrey Lo-Pro is an American rock band formed in 2002 by Pete Murray and Neil Godfrey after the disbandment of their previous band, Ultraspank, in 2001. After attracting the attention of Aaron Lewis of Staind, the band signed to a major record label, ...

. They released one self-titled album in 2003. However, after touring in support of the album, they were dropped from the Geffen record label. The band went through a six-year period before releasing music as a band again, with the band spending searching for a new label while continually writing new material and reworking unsatisfactory material. During this time, Murray worked with

Ivan Moody Ivan L. Moody (born Ivan Lewis Greening on January 7, 1980) is an American singer and songwriter who is the lead vocalist of heavy metal band Five Finger Death Punch (FFDP). He performed for several other bands including Motograter and Gho ...

, who afterward formed

Five Finger Death Punch Five Finger Death Punch, also abbreviated as 5FDP or FFDP, is an American heavy metal band from Las Vegas, Nevada, formed in 2005. The band originally consisted of vocalist and keyboardist Ivan Moody, rhythm guitarist Zoltan Bathory, lead g ...

, and

Jon Stevens Jon Stevens (born 8 October 1961) is a New Zealand singer, best known for his work with Noiseworks and ''Jesus Christ Superstar''. Biography 1980–1986: career beginnings and ''Jezebel'' Stevens was born in Upper Hutt, New Zealand, and is ...

, past guitarist of

, in their band Ghost Machine. Murray produced their albums '' Ghost Machine'' and ''

Hypersensitive ''Hypersensitive'' is the second album by American rock band Ghost Machine. It was released on November 21, 2006 via Corporate Punishment Records. The original track listing of the album, displayed on sites like Amazon and AllMusic AllMu ...

''. After the sessions, Murray and Stevens continued to work together outside of Ghost Machine, eventually deciding to form a new band, called Chokt, with Walter Flakus of

''Chokt'' releases (2005-2009)

The band began recording material in 2005. The band opted to pursue an

sound, reminiscent of Flakus's work in Stabbing Westward and Steven's work in The Clay People. Murray used the band as an outlet for the music that wasn't fitting the traditional hard rock sound he aimed for with Lo-Pro. Murray performed vocals, while the other two both contributed "guitar, bass, and programming", while using a drum machine for the drum work. Members were never actually in the same room together when working on music, but rather, they used

Pro-Tools Pro Tools is a digital audio workstation (DAW) developed and released by Avid Technology (formerly Digidesign) for Microsoft Windows and macOS. It is used for music creation and production, sound for picture ( sound design, audio post-prod ...

and emailed each other parts back and forth. The band started streaming songs in 2006, and continued to stream a few per year up through 2009. Most debuted on the band's Myspace, but occasionally from Murray's Myspace as well. Chokt ceased releasing tracks after the 2009 track "Only You", which was released just before Murray became active with Lo-Pro again, with them releasing the ''

Letting Go EP ''Letting Go'' is the EP of Lo-Pro, initially available only during concerts in July and August during the "Stimulate This" Tour with Staind, Shinedown, Chevelle and Halestorm. It was reported to be released digitally in September 2009, but wa ...

'' in October 2009 and ''

The Beautiful Sounds of Revenge ''The Beautiful Sounds of Revenge'' is the second full-album by Lo-Pro, originally scheduled to be released was May 25, 2010, but was delayed to June 8, 2010,

Discography

;''Chokt'' sessions songs # Train Home to Nothing (2006) # Passion (2006) # Burning (2006) # Distress (2006) # Magazine (2007) # Launch Pad (2008) # Tonight (2008) # Only You (2009)

Band members

* Pete Murray – vocals * Walter Flakus – guitars, bass, programming * John Stevens – guitars, bass, programming

References

{{Lo-Pro American industrial metal musical groups American alternative rock groups American alternative metal musical groups Musical groups established in 2006 American musical trios