Society's Finest
Society's Finest is a Christian metal band from Dallas, Texas. Their first full-length album, The Journey...So Far, was released on Solid State Records in May 2000. Due to member changes and personal matters the band took a break from touring and recording to focus on their personal lives. During this hiatus, vocalist Josh Ashworth toured with the Christian metal band Zao.
When re-forming in 2004, the band joined Hand of Hope Records. With this label, they released Love, Murder, and a Three Letter Word in mid-2004. It contained new songs, along with old songs from their debut EP, Private Conflicts and Suicides. Their third album, And I, the Drunkard, was released in June 2006.
Vocalist Josh Ashworth is the only remaining original member. Past members have gone on to join other bands including As I Lay Dying, Demon Hunter, and The Famine. The band has shared stages with P.O.D., Zao, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Stretch Arm Strong, Hatebreed, and Stavesacre.
History
Society's Finest started in 1997 with the original members of Josh Ashworth, Rob Pruett, Kris McCaddon, Joel Bailey, and Chad Wilburn. The band recorded their debut EP, a split with My Spacecoaster, and their debut album, The Journey...So Far between 1998 and 2003.The band reunited in 2004 with Ashworth, Bailey and multiple new members including Nick Nowell, Daniel Clark and Stephen Poole. The band recorded their second album, Love, Murder, and a Three Letter Word, in 2004. Nowell and Poole left the band in 2006.
The band replaced Nowell and Poole with Guy Turner and former drummer Chad Wilburn. However, in the process of writing, Wilburn quit. The band could not find a replacement, so they hired former Between the Buried and Me drummer Jason Roe. Roe recorded part of the album before they found a replacement, Jesse Smith, formerly of Zao. Though Smith stated he never actually joined the band. And I, the Drunkard was released on Alveran Records in 2006. The band broke up for the second time in 2011.
With a whole new line-up, Ashworth reunited the band with Tyler Berry, David Cezero, and Jason Roe in 2014, for a celebration of the life of former guitarist Randall Watts. The band stated that they were currently writing for a new album, but no further information has been released. In 2017, Ashworth did an interview claiming that the band now consisted only of himself and former guitarist Eli Bowser.
Discography
; Studio albums| Year | Title | Tracks |
| 2000 | The Journey...So Far
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| 2004 | Love, Murder, and a Three Letter Word
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| 2006 | And I, the Drunkard
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- Private Conflicts and Suicides
- The Difference Between Us
- My Spacecoaster & Society's Finest
Members
| Name | Instrument | Years | Other groups | Notes | - |
| Kris McCaddon | guitar | 1997–2001 | Demon Hunter, The Famine, Embodyment | - | |
| Nick Nowell | guitar | 2004–2006 | The Famine, The Monarch, Thorn vs. Side, Sunrise Cemetery | - | |
| Tim Lambesis | guitar | 2000–2001 | As I Lay Dying, Austrian Death Machine | released on parole since December 17, 2016 | - |
| Joel Bailey | bass guitar | 1997–2003, 2004–2006 | Sixpence None the Richer, The Kinetic Sense, Stir the Silence | - | |
| Rob Pruett | guitar | 1997–2000 | The Kinetic Sense | - | |
| Guy Turner | guitar | 2004–2011 | - | ||
| James Allain | drums | 2001–2002 | - | ||
| Daniel Barton | bass guitar | 2006–2011 | - | ||
| Randall Watts | guitar | 2004–2005 | deceased | - | |
| Stephen Poole | drums | 2004–2005 | Inked in Blood, Imperial | - | |
| Jordan Brady | bass guitar | 2014 | - | ||
| Pete Rose | bass guitar | 2003 | - | ||
| Daniel Clark | guitar | 2001–2003 | The Kinetic Sense | - | |
| Kane Kelly | guitar | 2000 | Spy Glass Blue, die Strömms | ||
| David Cerezo | bass guitar | 2014–2016 | - | ||
| Tyler Berry | guitar | 2014–2016 | - | ||
| Jason Roe | drums | 2006, 2014–2016 | Between the Buried and Me, Baring Teeth, Evelynn | - |