Shotgun Messiah was a Swedish

glam metal Glam metal (also known as hair metal or pop metal) is a subgenre of heavy metal music, heavy metal that features pop music, pop-influenced Hook (music), hooks and guitar riffs, upbeat arena rock, rock anthems, and slow Sentimental ballad#Powe ...

band from

Skövde Skövde () is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality and urban centre in Skövde Municipality and Västra Götaland County, in the Västergötland, Västergötland (Western Gothland region) in central southern Sweden. Skövde is situated around 150 k ...

. The band was formed in 1985 by guitarist Harry Cody and bassist

Tim Sköld Tim Skold (born Thim Sköld; 14 December 1966) is a Swedish musician and record producer who produces solo work and has also collaborated with multiple musical groups including Shotgun Messiah, KMFDM, Marilyn Manson (band), Marilyn Manson and ...

, with singer Zinny J. Zan and drummer Stixx Galore taking part in their most commercially successful lineup. The band released three studio albums, ''

Shotgun Messiah Shotgun Messiah was a Swedish glam metal band from Skövde. The band was formed in 1985 by guitarist Harry Cody (musician), Harry Cody and bassist Tim Sköld, with singer Zinny J. Zan and drummer Stixx Galore taking part in their most commercial ...

'', ''

Second Coming The Second Coming (sometimes called the Second Advent or the Parousia) is the Christianity, Christian and Islam, Islamic belief that Jesus, Jesus Christ will return to Earth after his Ascension of Jesus, ascension to Heaven (Christianity), Heav ...

'' and ''

Violent New Breed ''Violent New Breed'' is the third and final album by Swedish rock band Shotgun Messiah, released on 28 September 1993 through Relativity Records. Breaking from their previous albums, ''Violent New Breed'' featured a more industrial rock/Industri ...

'', with Cody and Sköld being the only constant members of the band. Shotgun Messiah disbanded in 1993.

History

First era: 1985–1991

Shotgun Messiah was originally formed under the name Kingpin in 1985 in

by bassist Thim "Tim Tim" Sköld and guitarist Harry "Harry Cody" Kemppainen, with drummer Pekka "Stixx Galore" Ollinen and singer Jukka "J.K. Knox" Kemppainen completing the first lineup. The band recorded the album ''

Welcome to Bop City ''Welcome to Bop City'' is the first album from Swedish glam metal / hard rock band Kingpin, released in 1988 on the CMM (Club Mariann Music) label in Sweden and in 1989 on the Music For Nations label in the UK. The album was later remixed and re ...

'' released by CMM Records in 1988, which yielded a number 1 single in the Swedish charts titled "Shout It Out." In the US, the song rose to the top 100 of the

Billboard Album Chart The ''Billboard'' 200 is a record chart ranking the 200 most popular music albums and EPs in the United States. It is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists. Sometimes, a record ...

. During the recording of ''Welcome To Bop City'', Knox was replaced by

Easy Action ''Easy Action'' is the second studio album by the American rock band Alice Cooper, released by Straight Records in March 1970. The title comes from a line from one of the band's favorite films, the musical ''West Side Story''. As with '' Prett ...

singer Bo "Zinny J. Zan" Stagman. Following the release of the album, the band moved to

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

and secured a record deal with

Relativity Records Relativity Records was an American record label founded by Barry Kobrin at the site of his vinyl record shop, Important Record Distributors (IRD) in metropolitan New York City. The IRD distribution name was later known as RED Distribution and ag ...

. They soon discovered that a

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

band had a copyright on the name Kingpin, and subsequently changed their name to Shotgun Messiah. The band remixed ''Welcome To Bop City'' and released it in September 1989 as ''

''. ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'' called their music "cocky, loud and rough", and the album would go on to sell almost 500,000 copies. Shotgun Messiah embarked on their first North American solo tour to support the album.

Second era: 1991–1993

Frontman Zan departed the band in 1990 and bassist Sköld took over vocal duties. Shotgun Messiah drafted an American bassist, Bobby Lycon from New York band Battalion (which also featured future

Michael Monroe Matti Antero Kristian Fagerholm (born 17 June 1962), better known by his stage name Michael Monroe, is a Finnish rock musician who rose to fame as the vocalist and saxophonist for the glam punk band Hanoi Rocks and has served as the frontman ...

guitarist Jon Rae Sierra), to fill Sköld's former position. In 1991, the band's follow up album ''

'' was released, including their most recognizable hit "Heartbreak Blvd". Stylistically, the band's music evolved into a hybrid of metal, rap, pop, and classical. In 1992, Shotgun Messiah released ''I Want More'', an EP featuring covers of songs by the

Ramones The Ramones were an American punk rock band formed in the New York City neighborhood Forest Hills, Queens in 1974. Known for helping establish the punk movement in the United States and elsewhere, the Ramones are often recognized as one of th ...

The Stooges The Stooges or Iggy and the Stooges, originally billed as the Psychedelic Stooges, were an American rock band formed in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 1967 by singer Iggy Pop, guitarist Ron Asheton, drummer Scott Asheton, and bassist Dave Alexande ...

, and the

New York Dolls New York Dolls were an American rock music, rock band formed in New York City in 1971. Along with the Velvet Underground, the MC5, and the Stooges, they were one of the first bands of the early punk rock scenes. Although the band never achieved ...

Third era: 1993

By 1993, Cody and Sköld were the only remaining members of Shotgun Messiah. In the studio, they created what would be the last Shotgun Messiah album, ''

''. The album was significantly different from the previous efforts as it focused heavily on an

industrial metal Industrial metal is the fusion of Heavy metal music, heavy metal and industrial music, typically employing repeating Heavy metal guitar, metal guitar riffs, sampling (music), sampling, synthesizer or music sequencer, sequencer lines, and Distor ...

and punk style. The duo embarked on the Violent New Breed tour to support the album. After the tour, Shotgun Messiah disbanded when their label, Relativity, began to focus on rap music.

Post-Shotgun Messiah

After Shotgun Messiah disbanded, Sköld released a solo album entitled ''

Skold ''Skold'' is the debut solo album released in 1996 by Tim Skold. The song "Chaos" was used in the video game '' Twisted Metal 4'' and the film '' Universal Soldier: The Return''. The song "Hail Mary" can be found on the '' Disturbing Behavior'' ...

''. He then joined bands

KMFDM KMFDM (originally Kein Mehrheit Für Die Mitleid, loosely translated by the band as "no pity for the majority") is a multinational industrial rock band from Hamburg led by Sascha Konietzko, who founded the band in 1984 as a performance art proje ...

and

MDFMK MDFMK was an industrial rock band formed by two members of KMFDM, Sascha Konietzko and Tim Sköld. Lucia Cifarelli, formerly of the band Drill, later joined to make a trio. History Due to "differences in vision and drive", KMFDM disbanded in 1 ...

, collaborating with the former on the album, '' Skold vs. KMFDM''. From 2002 to 2008, Sköld was a producer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist for

Marilyn Manson Brian Hugh Warner (born January 5, 1969), known professionally as Marilyn Manson, is an American rock musician. He is the lead singer and the only original member remaining of the Marilyn Manson (band), same-titled band he founded in 1989. Th ...

, which included recording two albums and touring with the band. He later formed the supergroup Doctor Midnight and the Mercy Cult in 2009 and released the album '' I Declare: Treason'' in 2011 with the band. Sköld later went on to release five additional solo albums: ''

Anomie In sociology, anomie or anomy () is a social condition defined by an uprooting or breakdown of any moral values, standards or guidance for individuals to follow. Anomie is believed to possibly evolve from conflict of belief systems and causes b ...

'' in 2011, ''The Undoing'' in 2016, ''Never is Now'' in 2019, ''Dies Irae'' in 2021, ''Dead God'' in 2022 and ''Seven Heads'' in 2023. Cody joined the short-lived project Coma with

Saigon Kick Saigon Kick is an American hard rock band from Coral Springs, FL, that formed in 1988. When they recorded their debut album and second album the band consisted of lead vocalist Matt Kramer, lead guitarist Jason Bieler, bassist Tom Defile, ...

singer Matt Kramer in 1994. In 1996, Cody teamed up with

Rhino Bucket Rhino Bucket is an American hard rock band from Van Nuys, Los Angeles, formed in 1988. The group's sound is often compared to that of AC/DC. History The band was formed in February 1988 by Georg Dolivo (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Reeve Do ...

singer Georg Dolivo to form Das Cabal. The band recorded "What Do You Want" for the ''Boogie Boy'' movie soundtrack in 1998. Cody collaborated with

Tom Waits Thomas Alan Waits (born December 7, 1949) is an American musician, composer, songwriter, and actor. His lyrics often focus on society's underworld and are delivered in his trademark deep, gravelly voice. He began in the American folk music, fo ...

, and performed guitar and banjo on the latter's 2004 album '' Real Gone'' and the '' Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards'' boxset compilation released in 2006. In 2005, Cody composed the score for the film ''Wassup Rockers''. Singer Zan and drummer Stixx reunited in 2012 as Shotgun to celebrate the 25th anniversary of ''

''. They later released a live album under the Shotgun moniker with a lineup that also included guitarist Rob Marcello, bassist Chris Laney and keyboardist Jonas Beijer. In 2019, Shotgun Messiah's original lineup was close to reuniting for festival shows, but talks eventually fell through. In 2022, Zan claimed that the reunion never took place due to Sköld's management wanting the singer's role to be limited to guest appearances.

Lineups

''Shotgun Messiah''

* Zinny J. Zan – lead vocals * Harry Cody – guitars, backing vocals *

– bass, backing vocals * Stixx Galore – drums, backing vocals

''Second Coming''

* Tim Sköld – lead vocals * Harry Cody – guitars, backing vocals * Bobby Lycon – bass, backing vocals * Stixx Galore – drums, backing vocals

''Violent New Breed''

* Tim Sköld – lead vocals, programming, bass * Harry Cody – lead guitar, backing vocals, programming * Bill Bruce – rhythm guitar (live) * Pat Guyton – bass (live) * Bjarne "B. J." Johansson – drums (live)

Discography

Singles

References

External links

*
Interview with Lead Singer Tim Skold
*
The Original Tim Skold: Sycophant Fansite
{{Authority control 1985 establishments in Sweden Glam metal musical groups from California Heavy metal musical groups from California Swedish industrial metal musical groups Musical groups established in 1985 Musical groups disestablished in 1993 Musical groups from Los Angeles Swedish glam metal musical groups Swedish hard rock musical groups Swedish musical quintets Musical groups from Västra Götaland County Culture in Skövde