Please answer the following question: Facts: - years active: 2002 -- present - past members: shawn nickell benson seth filkins josh sloan patrick parris patrick - origin: athens , georgia , us - label: ulterium past -rrb- records -lrb- present -rrb- , metalages records -lrb- - genre: christian metal , progressive metal , power metal - name: theocracy - background: group_or_band - image: theocracy.jpg - current members: matt smith jonathan hinds val allen wood jared oldham Based on these bullet points, write a short biography describing the life of theocracy -lrb- band -rrb- .
Answer:
theocracy is a christian progressive power metal band founded in 2002 by matt smith of athens , georgia .the group originally started out as a one-man project and all the instruments and vocals done on the debut album '' theocracy '' were performed by smith .the current lineup includes smith along with patrick nickell , jonathan hinds , jared oldham , and val allen wood .musically , the band mixes the power metal style of edguy , iced earth , and helloween with progressive influences from bands such as dream theater , symphony x , kansas and rush .the group performed at the progpower usa vii festival pre-party in atlanta , georgia .live performances from the show of the songs '' the serpent 's kiss '' and '' mountain '' were included on the progpower vii dvd .their second album , '' mirror of souls '' , was released on sweden 's ulterium records and features cover artwork by robert g. wilson , jr. .a song , '' on eagles wings '' , which is on that album , can be heard on the band 's official myspace page .'' mirror of souls '' was released on november 26 , 2008 in japan by soundholic records .the japanese version contains the bonus track '' wages of sin '' .the north american edition was released december 9 , 2008 .a picture disc lp was released through the record labels web store containing '' mirror of souls '' , '' laying the demon to rest '' , '' absolution day '' and '' the wages of sin '' .this lp was limited to 250 copies worldwide .the band 's latest album , '' as the world bleeds '' , was released on november 21 , 2011 in north america and on november 25 , 2011 in europe .after releasing their new album theocracy released their first official music video from the new album , entitled '' hide in the fairytale '' on september 5 , 2012 .the band embarked on a european tour to promote the remastered re-release of the self-titled album in november 2013 .the tour consisted of smaller venue shows as well as larger festivals including brainstorm festival in the netherlands , '' blast of...