God Forbid

God Forbid is an American metalcore band formed in 1996 in East Brunswick, New Jersey.

Biography

Building up a following in the late 1990s by touring with bands such as GWAR, Nile, Cradle of Filth and Candiria, their first full album Reject the Sickness was released by 9 Volt Records in 1999. This album received heavy rotation from WSOU-FM in the New York City area and the band was subsequently signed to Century Media Records, releasing the album Determination in 2001. They played on the MTV2 Headbanger's Ball tour with Shadows Fall and Lamb of God. In 2004, they released Gone Forever, which increased their profile considerably and earned them a spot on Ozzfest. The next year, they released IV: Constitution of Treason, a concept album about the end of the world. It was their first album to enter the Billboard 200, debuting at #118. In 2005 - 2006, they supported Trivium on their UK tour along with Mendeed & Bloodsimple. In late 2006 and early 2007 they headlined the Chains of Humanity tour featuring Goatwhore, Mnemic, The Human Abstract, Byzantine, and Arsis. In 2006, God Forbid's "To the Fallen Hero," won the Independent Music Award for Best Hard Rock/Heavy Metal Song.
They released a DVD on June 10, 2008, and their fifth studio album, Earthsblood, was released on February 24, 2009, and landed at #110 on the Billboard 200. God Forbid toured across the United States and Canada in the No Fear Energy Music Tour featuring Lamb of God, Children of Bodom, As I Lay Dying and Municipal Waste in April. In March 2009, Dallas Coyle announced that he would not be joining the band on their US tour, leading to unconfirmed rumours that he was planning to leave the band. On March 31, these rumours were confirmed by Dallas's brother and bandmate Doc Coyle. Due to the timing of the announcement, many God Forbid fans believed the announcement to be a prank. His replacement for the upcoming tour was named as former Darkest Hour guitarist Kris Norris. He was later replaced by Matt Wicklund. In July 2009, God Forbid participated in the Rockstar Mayhem Festival along with Trivium, Bullet For My Valentine, Cannibal Corpse, All That Remains, Slayer, Marilyn Manson and many others. In April 2010 the band issued an update that they have started work on a new, currently untitled album.

Members

 Current line up

• Byron Davis — lead vocals (1997—present)
• Matt Wicklund — rhythm guitar (ex-Himsa) (2009—present)
• Doc Coyle — lead guitar, clean vocals (1996—present)
• John "Beeker" Outcalt — bass (1997—present)

Former members

• Dallas Coyle — rhythm guitar, clean vocals (1996—2009)
• Kris Norris — rhythm guitar (touring replacement for Dallas Coyle) (2009)