Divine Horsemen served as the vehicle for Chris D., also known as Chris Desjardins, and his brooding, shape-shifting songwriting. The group cultivated a devoted cult audience through its unpolished yet skilled fusion of punk, roots rock, and blues, where the carefully shaped melodies stood in sharp relief against the film noir atmosphere of the lyrics. The ensemble also stood out for the contrasting vocal styles of Chris D. and Julie Christensen, whose sweetly ferocious delivery created a vivid counterpoint to his rawer, more unrelenting approach. Their combustible sound made a striking entrance on the 1984 debut Time Stands Still, reached full intensity with 1986’s Devil’s River, and resurfaced in uncompromising form with the 2021 reunion release Hot Rise of an Ice Cream Phoenix.
After the Flesh Eaters disbanded in 1983 following A Hard Road to Follow, Chris D. assembled Divine Horsemen from the remnants of that fiery punk-blues-art rock unit. What began as a planned solo project drew in an array of associates from X, Green on Red, the Gun Club, and Tex & the Horseheads. By then involved with Julie Christensen, he brought her into the sessions, where she became a steady contributor. He adopted the name Divine Horsemen—previously a Flesh Eaters track drawn from voodoo tradition—and Time Stands Still appeared in 1984.
Following their marriage, D. and Christensen formalized Divine Horsemen as a working band for both recording and live work. Cam King and Wayne James handled guitars, Robyn Jameson (a veteran of the Flesh Eaters’ final lineup) played bass, and Rex Roberts sat behind the drums. SST Records issued the second album, Devil’s River, in 1986; Middle of the Night arrived the next year. Snake Handler followed later in 1987 after Cam King and Wayne James departed, leaving Peter Andrus as the lone guitarist. Meanwhile the couple’s relationship frayed amid mutual struggles with drugs and alcohol; Christensen chose sobriety while D. continued using, though he overcame his addiction in 1996. The final release, the 1988 EP Handful of Sand, preceded their divorce and the group’s dissolution.
In the aftermath, Chris D. briefly led Stone by Stone, whose album I Pass for Human surfaced in 1989, then reactivated the Flesh Eaters for 1991’s Dragstrip Riot. Though he stayed musically engaged, by the late 1990s he focused primarily on writing fiction, essays, and two volumes on Japanese genre cinema, while also teaching film studies and curating programs for Los Angeles’ American Cinematheque. Christensen established herself as a sought-after backing vocalist, touring and recording extensively with Leonard Cohen and contributing sessions for Van Dyke Parks, Rufus Wainwright, and Exene Cervenka; she also released her own album, Love Is Driving, in 1996.
The Flesh Eaters reconvened in 2019 for I Used to Be Pretty, prompting D. to enlist Christensen for backing vocals on several tracks and a handful of tour dates. Their renewed collaboration led to plans for a fresh Divine Horsemen album. They worked with guitarist Peter Andrus, bassist Bobby Permanent (who replaced Robyn Jameson after her death from injuries sustained while aiding a stranger under attack), and drummer D.J. Bonebrake. The resulting collection of new songs, re-recordings, and covers, Hot Rise of an Ice Cream Phoenix, appeared on In the Red Records in August 2021.
