Doug Thieme

**Labels:** | * Medusa Records
* Intense Records
* Frontline Records
 **Associated Acts:** | Vengeance Rising, Once Dead, Die Happy, Sanctuary Celebration Band, Sacrifice, Vengeance

**Doug Thieme** (born September 4, 1966) is an American musician who began his career in 1985 in a band called Sacrifice, alongside Roger Dale Martin. The band eventually became Vengeance and later the famed Vengeance Rising. He would also participate in Once Dead and Die Happy.

## History

### Early Life (1966-1985)

Doug Thieme grew up in the United States. Since a young age, Thieme and Larry Farkas were close friends. Around the mid-1980s, Thieme began attending Sanctuary International Church. Thieme met Roger Dale Martin around 1984, when Martin moved to California.

### Sacrifice and Vengeance (1985-1987)

Martin and Thieme formed a band called Sacrifice alongside Steve Bertram on Drums. Thieme and Martin had been asked to form a thrash metal band by Pastor Bob Beeman of Sanctuary, which led to the formation of the band. Sacrifice's name did not last long, changing their name to Vengeance a week before their first concert. Now with the name of Vengeance, the band consisted of the lineup of Thieme, Martin, and Michael Betts (Neon Cross) on Drums. They would also hire Sharon as the Vocalist. However, only two years down the road the lineup changed with only Thieme and Martin remaining.

### Vengeance Rising (1987-1990)

Thieme and Martin formed changed their name from Vengeance to Vengeance Rising. The two hired Farkas on as their new Guitarist, essentially "stealing" him from Deliverance, according to Martin, in a comical light. The three asked Glen Mancaruso to join on as their Drummer as he had performed on the Sanctuary Worship Team, with Mancaruso agreeing to do it temporarily. The four of them included Glenn Rogers in the lineup for about two weeks, where he also wrote several structures to several songs including "Burn". Returning to the lineup of four, the band hired Roger Martinez as their Vocalist.

The new lineup recorded what became their seminal album, *Human Sacrifice*. The band was originally signed to Medusa Records before it was bought out by Intense Records. The band continued to tour across the United States. By 1990, however, Thieme and the rest of the band began to feel a disconnect with Martinez. The four would ride in their van together, while Martinez would manage to find another ride and show up before the band's show. The band would record their sophomore album, titled *Once Dead*. Following the album's release, the band embarked on the titular tour. Thieme and Martin, who were financially running the band, wanted to disband the project as they came back from the tour with a lot of merchandise. However, Martinez did not want to do this, wanting to carry the band on with a much darker image. The band met at Martin's house, where he created a document that would sign over all of Vengeance Rising's debts, music, and merchandise, leaving him the only one accountable. Martinez agreed to these terms and signed the document. The entire ordeal was covered in HM Magazine #23.

### Die Happy (1990-1994)

Thieme and the other members went their own ways following their departure from Vengeance Rising. However, he was contacted by an Intense Records representative about forming a new project. Thieme contacted Martin, Farkas, and Mancaruso to join on to the project, also attempting to hire Mike Lee (Barren Cross). However, that fell through and the project hired on Vocalist Robin Kyle Basuri (ex-Joshua Perahia, ex-Red Sea).

With the new project, the band recorded their self-titled debut album and released it in 1992. The next year, Martin departed from the band, being replaced by Greg Chaisson (Troglodyte Dawn, ex-Steeler, ex-Red Sea, ex-Sircle of Silence) on Bass. With Chaisson joining the band, they recorded their sophomore album, *Volume II*, in 1993. That year, they also recorded a live EP for Intense Records. In 1994, the band disbanded with many of the members forming new projects. Thieme, however, remained musically inactive for many years.

### Once Dead (2004-2008)

In 2004, Thieme, Farkas, Martin, and Mancaruso attempted a Vengeance Rising reunion show, with Scott Waters (Ultimatum) on Vocals. However, Martinez threatened to sue if they performed the show, which led the members to form a new project called Once Dead. In 2005, the band released a DVD titled *Return with a Vengeance*, before Mancaruso departed and was replaced by Jim Chaffin.Thieme and Farkas remained in the band as the lineup shifted drastically, with Martin and Waters both departing from the band, with their positions being taken over by Angelo Espino (Heretic, B\*tch) and Devin Schaffer (Fasedown) respectively. Glenn Rogers (ex-Vengeance Rising, ex-Deliverance, ex-Hirax, Primal, ex-Viking) joined the band as a third Guitarist.

The band, now consisting of six members, recorded their debut album, *Visions of Hell*, which was set to be released through Open Grave Records. However, following the recording of the album, Farkas dropped out of the band, claiming that he could not work with Open Grave. Thieme remained on Rhythms, while Rogers went on to perform Leads. However, Farkas returned shortly thereafter, before the album was released. In 2008, the album was released and shortly thereafter, the band seemingly went on a hiatus. Thieme again remained musically inactive for many more years.

### Vengeance Rising and Once Dead reunions (2017-present)

On August 6, 2017, it was announced that Vengeance Rising would be reuniting with the classic lineup, consisting of Thieme, Farkas, Martin, and Mancaruso, alongside Hand of Fire Vocalist Jim Settle. The lineup was set to perform at the SoCal Metal Fest 2, alongside several bands such as Hand of Fire, Consuming Fire, Sacred Warrior, Worldview, In the Midst 777, Recon, and Neon Cross. However, originally, both Vengeance Rising and Die Happy were set to play, Die Happy had to back out. The band performed their first show in years on August 12, 2017.

An interview revealed that the band members were planning a new release, however, it was revealed it would not be as Vengeance and they had a label to release the material. On August 29, 2018, it was revealed by Martin, that Thieme, Farkas, Martin, Settle, and Roger Sampson of Precious Death would be performing on the new and upcoming release, going into the studio on October 20, 2018. On October 26th, it was revealed that Martin and Sampson had finished recording their material.

## Bands

**Current**

* Once Dead (2004-present)
* Vengeance Rising (1987-1990, 2017-present)

**Former**

* Die Happy (1990-1994)
* Sacrifice (1985)
* Sanctuary Celebration Band (1986)
* Vengeance Rising (1985-1987)

## Discography

**Vengeance Rising**

* *Vengeance* (1988)
* *Human Sacrifice* (1988)
* *Hot Metal Summer II* (1989)
* *Once Dead* (1990)

**Die Happy**

* *Die Happy* (1992)
* *Volume II* (1993)
* *Intense Live Series Vol. 4* (1994)
* *Intense Live Series* (1998)

**Once Dead**

* *Return with a Vengeance* (2005)
* *Visions of Hell* (2008)
* *Return with a Vengeance: Live in Anaheim* (2010)

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Helvede (April 12, 2011). "Doug Thieme". Encyclopedia Metallum. Retrieved on December 19, 2018.
2. ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 Martin, Roger (November 12, 2017). "Jim Settle, Roger Dale Martin and Doug Thieme of Vengeance". As The Story Grows Podcast. Interviewed by Travis Turner. Retrieved on December 19, 2018.
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Skyklad (July 21, 2002). "Vengeance Rising". Encyclopedia Metallum. Retrieved on December 20, 2018.
4. ↑ thrashboy (June 26, 2018). "'Vengeance Rising' to Release Unreleased Mix of "Human Sacrifice" for 30th Anniversary, Lyric Video for 'Receive Him' Available". The Metal Resource. Retrieved on December 28, 2018.
5. ↑ "Unreleased Mixes: Unreleased mixes of 'Human Sacrifice' by Vengeance to get an airing". Cross Rhythms. September 12, 2018. Retrieved on December 20, 2018.
6. ↑ Centenari, Alberto (October 30, 2018). "Vengeance Rising - Human Sacrifice - 30 Anniversary". MetalEyes IYE. Retrieved on December 20, 2018.
7. ↑ "Heaven's Metal, Feb / March 1990 #23." CMNexus. Retrieved on December 20, 2018.
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 ck0ne (October 19, 2002). "Die Happy". Encyclopedia Metallum. Retrieved on December 20, 2018.
9. ↑ "Vengeance Rising: Former Singer Threatens To Sue Over 'Reunion' Show". Blabbermouth.net. November 19, 2004. Retrieved on December 20, 2018.
10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Beard, Mason (August 9, 2017). "Vengeance Rising reissue and reunion show". Indie Vision Music. Retrieved on December 21, 2018.
11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Roxx, Bill (June 22, 2017). "SoCal Metal Fest 2: Largest All Christian Metal Fest in 2017". Roxx Productions. Retrieved on December 21, 2018.
12. ↑ Beard, Mason (August 29, 2018). "Once Dead Returns from the Grave". The Metal Onslaught. Retrieved on December 21, 2018.