Can somebody explain Tourniquet?

I'm a big fan of Tourniquet's pre-Easter material so I might be a bit uninformed about their recent ways. Still I'm at a loss about that Black Sabbath tribute album. Why is it happening? For me personally it feels as if Mortification would start to make a Benediction tribute album. I'm not trying to judge but to be honest I don't understand it at all. Thanks a lot!

First off it's Ted doing the Sabbath tribute not the tourniquet name or brand. 

It's simple, Ted likes they're music and respects those who came before to establish Metal and heavy rock as a genre enough to do a tribute to them.

How about read the lyrics of the songs Ted chose to cover?

Ted (Kirkpatrick) has a passion for doom metal. He played in Trouble for a short time and his "Ode To A Roadkill" album and songs like "In Death We Rise" are pure doom metal. It would be weird if Sabbath wouldn't be one of his biggest influences. Ted also used two or more Sabbath riffs for his own songs - so there were already tributes to Sabbath before the tribute album.
Ted knows that Black Sabbath isn't a "clean" band from a Christian perspective. But Sabbath always had a broad variation of lyrical topics and the "coloration" of those lyrics. On the one hand there are clear influences of the occult and heavy drug abuse. On the other hand there are sociocritical topics and songs with Christian influences. There is no other band that deserved the name "Heaven and Hell" (the name they adopted for a while when they recorded and played without Ozzy) as much as Black Sabbath did. It would be stupid to call Sabbath a Christian band based on some of their lyrics. But it would also be a mistake to call them "evil" or "satanic" because they also sang about stuff like that. Sabbath never glorified Satan or evil things - except drugs.

So yeah... I understand people who are wondering why a Christian is recording a tribute to such a controversal band but I think there are good reasons to really look into Sabbath's music and lyrics. Ted has chosen only songs that have a strong connection to Christianity or a Christian worldview.
Might sound a bit strange but I also believe that secular bands often write lyrics that can be much more relevant for a Christian than lyrics most Christian bands are writing.

These and vy "these" I mean thw two similar threads of tourniquet and Stryper questions should be directed to the band (or band members os said bands) we (fans) will only speculate and nothing else. The motives, the heart or whatever THEY (the bands) are doing what they are doing is something only THEY know. Why they do it? only them know. Why they don't want to be labelled? Only they know (although Gipperman AKA Michael Sweet has been very outspoken about it)

I have considered to ask them directly but I went with asking here because I came to the conclusion that they would have enough judgemental email messages every day and I simply thought I should leave them at peace. I appreciate all your answers. I think that they were quite clear and leave not much room for speculation. At least that is what I think about the matter. I have nothing against Christian bands covering secular bands but I don't want to be stigmatized for my finding it at least confusing, either.

A secular band that cites the Bible or that speaks about injustice, starvation or preaches against war doesn't necessarily mean that the lyrics of the particular song are meant to be or do good, or that they are okay from a more or less humanistic perspective,  so I don't think that this is proper base to take it or to reject it. I don't care for Black Sabbath lyrics or music but that is me.
 
Don't get me wrong, please. I'm just thinking that lyrics who ain't blatantly anti-christian are not automatically good or that they are evidence to deem a band  okay, spiritually.

Well, I would say that Tourniquet is Ted Kirkpatrick and vice-versa.

He is the kind of guy that stands for what he stands and that is it. He doesn't seem to be worried about people liking everything he releases or not. He does it anyway.

It is alright by me as well, i just won't buy an album of Sabath cover, as I don't mind them.

It can be confusing.  One thing to remember is that for the guys like Stryper and Ted and these (cringe) older musicians is they didn't have "Christian" metal bands to grow up listening to.  They listened to Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Deep Purple... so when they pay tribute to their influences, that's where they go.  Sure, there are some questionable lyrics in some of their songs, so they pull out songs that aren't.  I don't think covering Black Sabbath songs means we should assume these they are endorsing the lyric content of the whole catalog.

Explain Tourniquet?  Well, when people get really bad cuts/gashes where bleeding out can be a major risk, a touriquet is a cloth or band that you tie above the cut but below the heart to stop the bleeding.

Does that make sense?

I am a helper!!! 

LOL

I'm a big fan of Tourniquet's pre-Easter material so I might be a bit uninformed about their recent ways. Still I'm at a loss about that Black Sabbath tribute album

Because maybe he is a fan and was inspired by them growing up? I know crazy talk.

Stryper did a covers album on the bands that inspired them, Deliverance has covered Black Sabbath as Stryper has too. If its questionable to you dont listen to it.

Aaron C wrote:

I'm a big fan of Tourniquet's pre-Easter material so I might be a bit uninformed about their recent ways. Still I'm at a loss about that Black Sabbath tribute album

Because maybe he is a fan and was inspired by them growing up? I know crazy talk.

I love how if anyone has a different view, the mind set of "your wrong, or how can you think that way" comes out of the woodwork to show its face.

Hardcore Christian wrote:

Aaron C wrote:

I'm a big fan of Tourniquet's pre-Easter material so I might be a bit uninformed about their recent ways. Still I'm at a loss about that Black Sabbath tribute album

Because maybe he is a fan and was inspired by them growing up? I know crazy talk.

I love how if anyone has a different view, the mind set of "your wrong, or how can you think that way" comes out of the woodwork to show its face.

I love how people take things so out of context. It makes me all warm and tingly inside

Funny I never once said he was wrong, nor did I imply he was wrong, I dont imply I simply state it. How about getting the right context before you go and assume things...

Aaron C wrote:

Hardcore Christian wrote:

Aaron C wrote:

I'm a big fan of Tourniquet's pre-Easter material so I might be a bit uninformed about their recent ways. Still I'm at a loss about that Black Sabbath tribute album

Because maybe he is a fan and was inspired by them growing up? I know crazy talk.

I love how if anyone has a different view, the mind set of "your wrong, or how can you think that way" comes out of the woodwork to show its face.

I love how people take things so out of context. It makes me all warm and tingly inside

Funny I never once said he was wrong, nor did I imply he was wrong, I dont imply I simply state it. How about getting the right context before you go and assume things...

Its hard to take things in a certain context when, its text on the internet.

Then knowing that you should'nt assume

Easy...

Aaron, regardless of how you meant it, your "crazy talk" comment did come off a bit condescending.

But you've cleared up that that's not how you meant it so let's all just move on.  

I would say this yes SOME sabbath tunes appear to have Christian meaning  HOWEVER being a former sabbath fan, all eras,  I had many cd's of theirs and MOST of their music we really pretty satanic lyrically which is why I gave sabbath up a couple of years ago.  I am not as concerned about the cover album, though I will not buy it, as I am the cover of the nude woman behind glass.  That cover coming from a Christian?  Not classy.

lhversaw wrote:I am not as concerned about the cover album, though I will not buy it, as I am the cover of the nude woman behind glass.  That cover coming from a Christian?  Not classy.

I'm squinting as hard as I can, wishing to see the naked woman in the cover, even a bit of breasts, maybe a tiny sight of a nipple.

No.

I can't see a naked woman in that cover. I can see clothes on that woman much more clearly than I see anything even resembling nakedness. She's wearing some sort of a nightgown, and no matter how hard I try, I can't even see through it.

Now, joking aside and to be fair, there is something in a "strategic" place. There is a mix of black and red, forming something that looks a bit like a rose (more like the dried roses in the back cover), but is probably a mix of dirt in the mirror and blood. It's right about in a place where one could imagine a nipple would be and it could be mistaken for one if you just take a quick look and see it in the corner of your eye. But if you take a straight look at it, it's nothing like a boob or a nipple. The red in it has spread in a wider area, so I'm quite sure the red is supposed to be blood on that nightgown. Anyways, it's very easy to even see the strap from that clothing to go over her shoulder.


If that image troubles you and you find it tempting or whatever else, then of course you should steer clear of it. It's not a nude picture though, so I think it's not wise to give false information about that either.

Yes, Larry, we've gone through this before.  The woman in the picture is clearly wearing clothing.  But as Airola said, if it bothers you, don't buy it.  But stop spreading false information about this.

I am not sure if the woman is naked or not, however I do not see it as a big issue. I mean, she is not intended to seduce anyone, so I am ok with it.

The worst artcover that Ted K. was involved with, however, is the Tourniquet Antiseptic Bloodbath album. I had to cut the artcover from my cd, otherwise I would never feel ok with it.

Thiago-Brazil wrote:I am not sure if the woman is naked or not, however I do not see it as a big issue. I mean, she is not intended to seduce anyone, so I am ok with it.

The worst artcover that Ted K. was involved with, however, is the Tourniquet Antiseptic Bloodbath album. I had to cut the artcover from my cd, otherwise I would never feel ok with it.

I think this new Black Sabbath cover is cool. I don't see anything 'wrong' or even naked about it. Anyway ... I agree with you about "Antiseptic Bloodbath" being a terrible, terrible cover. Worst cover in Christian Metal history to be sure. I never understood it. Does Ted think a cow can be compared to Christ somehow? Is he "that" animals rights? I'm for animal rights too ... though I'm not a vegan at all. But still ... to put a cow up by Christ like that. Yeah - that felt weird. That offends me worse than any satanic album cover does. At least I know they are of satan.


Yeah ... I'm not really a big fan of Tourniquet anymore anyway. I really only like their first album.

I sum up old Tourniquet with this.....






....great metal with scriptural lyrics.

Of course i can:

Tourniquet is a Christian metal band that was formed in 1989 by Ted Kirkpatrick, Guy Ritter and Gary Lenaire in Los Angeles, California, United States. The band primarily performs a mixture of thrash, neoclassical and progressive metal, and is influenced by additional, non-rock forms of music such as classical and world music. It has earned six GMA Dove Award nominations and won multiple recognitions from the readers of HM Magazine, including "Favorite Band of the 1990s" and "Favorite Album of the 1990s" for Pathogenic Ocular Dissonance. It has released seven studio albums, one compilation album, one EP, one acoustic album, five video releases and three DVDs, and sold more than 300,000 albums.^[4] In addition to its use of classical music, the band is known for frequently using medical terminology in its album and song titles and lyrics.<sup>[5][6]

Thanks for asking!</sup>