Bruce Fitzhugh of Living Sacrifice Answers Our Questions... |

“We Are Working On New Music”

(By Eric “Core” Balbi)

What can be said about Living Sacrifice that hasn’t already been said? For us, they are a very important part of the history of White Metal, or Metal with Christian content, and their journey on the scene is a clear example of a band that has reinvented itself a thousand times over. Each of their albums is a different world, and from their beginnings in the most virulent Thrash Metal, they went through an approach to Death Metal in the ’90s and a more tribal and Metalcore sound at the end of the 20th century. With an absolute personality, Living Sacrifice has known how to take on each stage with originality and without leaving Metal behind.
In recent years, the band has gone through periods of silence, but it remains active. Their last album, “Ghost Thief,” dates back to 2013, and it seems like it’s time to release something new. In recent years, Living Sacrifice has been reissuing several albums from their discography that had been out of print, and even their latest release is a reissue of “Inhabit,” that virulent third album from 1994 that is once again available in physical format (and which we will soon have in our hands for a full review). It seems like it’s time for the band to release a new album, and to the delight of fans, there may be news soon.
But that’s not all. Living Sacrifice will visit South America for the first time in its history. They will do so in December in Brazil alongside P.O.D. and Demon Hunter, becoming (at least for us) the center of attention at those shows. Let’s hope this is the kickoff for a quick return, even to other countries in the region such as Argentina, Chile, etc.
As you can see, there was a lot to talk about with Bruce Fitzhugh, guitarist and lead singer of Living Sacrifice, and he swore that Eric Balbi, the interviewer, didn’t cover everything. He talked about a little bit of everything, from the band’s discography to their current situation. Surely there will be much more to talk about in the future, but this is the result of the conversation Eric had with Bruce…

Living Sacrifice is considered one of the pioneer bands of Christian Extreme Metal, your first album is purely Thrash Metal, how does metal come into your life and what prompted you to choose Thrash Metal as a musical and artistic expression?

“I was first introduced to Metal by my older brother who had the first Van Halen records as well as Black Sabbath and Rush. I was about 10 years old when the music really clicked for me. I loved it. Once I started playing guitar at 14 / 15, I started hearing the heavier thrash stuff starting with Metallica. Again it changed my world.”

“Nonexistence” leaned more towards Death Metal and the heavier DJ vocals, how was it in those days to experiment with heavier music?

“It was good. We wanted to differentiate ourselves a bit. The Slayer comparison was valid, but we were kids when we wrote that music, so going heavier and incorporating more Death influence suited us.”

Also, you were not very happy with the result of the production, recently a re-release came out, what do you think about that release? I would also like to know what prompted you to re-release “Inhabit”…

“I love how the remix came out for “Nonexistent”. It really brought that album to life for us. Same for Inhabit, we always intended to put re release them both. I also love the remix of “Inhabit”.

The last stage with DJ closes with one of your heaviest albums, “Inhabit” and at the same time the end with R.E.X Music, how was the break with the departure of DJ as lead vocalist and bassist and at the same time not being in the label anymore?

“It was difficult, but we were sure that we wanted to continue as a band and we had label interest right away. So we got to work writing “Reborn”.

I must admit, although I enjoy the previous album, with Reborn begins my favorite stage of the band. You changed labels, signed to early Solidstate Records, took over the vocals – in my opinion one of the best in the scene – and ventured into Hardcore. I guess those were complex decisions at that time, were you aware of the potential that the label and the album would have or did you feel some uncertainty?

“We definitely felt like we were in a better place with Solidstate. They were really great at marketing and visuals for albums. And they were making great in roads for better distribution. Back then if your distributor was bad, you did not have records in stores. Solidstate got really good with that. As for the change in style, it was actually natural, we did not want to be boxed in to a specific style of Metal. We loved it all. And my voice leaned more Hardcore than Death, but we never saw ourselves as a Hardcore Band, Always a Metal band.”

For that time in 98, you participated in the production, together with Barry Poynter, of another great album like “Where Blood And Fire Bring Rest” by Zao, can you tell me a little about that experience and how do you feel in the role of producer?

“It was great! We had played shows with those guys and loved the energy they put forth. The funny thing though is that It was a completely new band from previous Zao album. I heard some very rough demos, and was not sure what to expect at first, but they were prepared for the studio and had some great songs. And Dan just crushed it vocally. Amazing time.”

Whose and how was the decision to include percussion in The Hammering Process?

“That was Lance’s idea. We had been messing with it on “Reborn” in 1997 and in live settings having our friends come up and add percussion on certain parts of songs.”

I recently read that you were at the historic “Furnace Fest” festival again, performing this entire album for the occasion…

“It was a great experience. We played the entire album and brought in percussion player for it. We had a lot of fun. We had Mark Soloman of Stavesacre/The Crucified sing the song “Perfect” with us. There is Video here and there of it online.”

Also in that same festival, last year, you were the lead singer of a cult European band like Extol, how was that call and that experience?

“Again, super fun and amazing that they asked me to do that. It took a lot of work. Such a different style for me, but I tried my best to do Peter, Ole, Christer and David justice to the songs and music.”

The trilogy of “Reborn/The Hammering…/Conceived In Fire” (Maybe I would add “Inhabit”), to my personal opinion, seems to stand the test of time and age really well after many years, how do you receive that?

“Honored…truely honored.”

Then in their last stage in studio albums, when I listen to them, I feel that the band in “The Infinite Order” went back to their Thrash roots and then in “Ghost Thief”, you looked for a balance between the two facets of Living Sacrifice, what do you think about that and what can you tell me about that return?

“You are absolutely right! We wanted “The Infinite Order” to be fast and thrashy and that is what it was. I am very proud of “Ghost Thief”. I love those songs.”

Do you plan to release new music or a new album? In that case, are you producing something new? Do you know what musical style it would be?

“Yes, we are working on new music. Slower than we hoped, but it is coming in 2026.”

We just found out that you will be visiting Brazil at the end of the year with P.O.D. and Demon Hunter. Could you tell us how this opportunity came about and how you feel about playing in South America for the first time? Are you planning to tour other Latin American countries in the future? As an Argentine, I have to say that I am looking forward to seeing you on stage in Argentina someday.

“Yes, we had been speaking with the promoter there for a while, but no offer to play came through until they already had P.O.D. and Demon Hunter booked for it. Then he decided to add more shows and wanted us for them. Fortunately it worked out for our schedules.”

To close, Living Sacrifice is a band with christian members, I would like to know, how important is the faith in Christ for you and why?

“I think for all of us, our faith is what grounded us as young men and then showed us how to be men of character. I am not saying that we are perfect and never will be, but our faith gave us all the conviction to try to be better for our families, friends and loved ones.”

The final words are yours and thank you for your time and disposition to answer…

“Thank you for the opportunity to speak to you and I hope we get to play in Argentina one day!”

Of course, that’s our wish too. For now, the only thing we have (and closest) are the shows that Living Sacrifice will do with P.O.D. and Demon Hunter in Brazil. Hopefully in the future we’ll be able to see them live both in Argentina and the rest of South America.
In the meantime, as we wait for the new music promised by Bruce Fitzhugh for 2026, we have the reissues of Living Sacrifice’s first albums. Among them are “NonExistent” (which we had the opportunity to review) and their most recent release, “Inhabit,” which even has a new cover.
We would have liked to ask many more questions, but space is as limited as time. It is not easy to summarize Living Sacrifice’s career, but that was the attempt. The most interesting thing is that the band is preparing new material, so it seems that we will have Living Sacrifice for a while….
Here are their social media coordinates so you can stay up to date with all the latest news about Living Sacrifice, where to get tickets for their December shows in Brazil, and a glimpse of their latest performance at “Furnace Fest 2025”…

https://www.facebook.com/livingsacrifice

https://www.instagram.com/livingsacrificemetal

https://www.clubedoingresso.com

https://linktr.ee/enhakkorerecords