Soul Embraced

Soul Embraced emerged when Living Sacrifice members Lance Garvin and Rocky Gray formed the project to house songs that fell outside their main band's direction. The music leaned squarely into death metal, shedding Living Sacrifice's experimental tendencies in favor of the raw style that defined the group's earliest records. Gray launched the effort in 1997 simply to occupy time between albums, teaming briefly with a friend. Following their contribution of one track to a compilation, the pair went their separate ways until 1999, at which point Gray recruited his brother-in-law, Chad Moore, as vocalist. With Gray handling drums, they laid down several songs before committing to a full-length debut, For the Incomplete, issued in 2000. Garvin joined on drums for the sessions, and the album appeared through a modest independent label. Seeking wider reach for their recordings, the members shifted the project to Solid State Records and tracked the follow-up, This Is My Blood, in 2002.