Randy Rampage

Randy Rampage
Randy Rampage in 2007 at an art exhibit.
Background information
Birth name	Randall Desmond Archibald
Born	(1960-02-21)February 21, 1960 Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Died	August 14, 2018(2018-08-14) (aged 58) North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Genres	Hardcore punk, thrash metal
Instruments	bass, vocals
Years active	1977–2018
Labels	Sudden Death Records, Century Media
Associated acts	D.O.A. Stress Factor 9 Annihilator
Website	http://www.randyrampage.com

Randall Desmond Archibald (February 21, 1960^[1] – August 14, 2018), better known by stage name Randy Rampage, was a Canadian musician who was a founding member, bass player and vocalist of the Canadian hardcore band D.O.A., and the lead singer of the thrash metal band Annihilator in 1988–1989 and again from 1998 to 2000.

Musical career

He played on D.O.A.'s seminal early punk albums Something Better Change and Hardcore '81, along with vocalist/guitarist Joey Shithead, drummer Chuck Biscuits and guitarist Dave Gregg in Hardcore '81. Rampage left D.O.A. in 1981 but returned in the year 2000 after a nearly two-decade absence. He played on their 2002 Win the Battle album but then left the band again. He rejoined D.O.A. in 2007, remained in the lineup through 2008 and was featured on their album, Northern Avenger, produced by Bob Rock. On the eve of the Northern Avenger tour, it was announced that Rampage was leaving D.O.A. once again.

Rampage was occasionally the vocalist for the Canadian speed metal/thrash metal band Annihilator. He first joined the band in 1988, appearing on their debut album Alice in Hell (1989), and left after its accompanying tour. Around 1998, Rampage returned to Annihilator and recorded another album with them Criteria for a Black Widow (1999), after which he left once again to rejoin D.O.A.

Randy spent substantial time being filmed for the documentary film Bloodied But UnBowed, a historical look at the evolution of punk rock on the West coast of North America during the 1978–1983 timeframe. His appearance in this film along with Art Bergmann, Jello Biafra, Joe Keithley, Duff McKagan, Henry Rollins, Ron Reyes (ex-Black Flag), Penelope Houston, Ginger Coyote, Buck Cherry and many others.

Rampage had also been the frontman of metal band Stress Factor 9 along with Annihilator drummer Ray Hartmann, guitarist Francis Frightful of Singapore band Opposition Party, guitarist Kick of Vertical After, and bass player Duane Chaos of 22nd Century. He reunited to play a single show with longtime friends William Chobotar, Brad Kent and Mary Armstrong as 'The Sick Ones' and joined SNFU drummer Jon Card, Duane Chaos and Jimmy Cummins to play bass for the art-punk act I, Braineater.

In late 2012, Rampage booked a show with a new band named 'Rampage'. They debuted backing up D.O.A. on the start of their farewell tour on January 18, 2013, at the Rickshaw Theatre in Vancouver. The band was composed of lead guitarist Duane Chaos, Drummer Zippy Pinhead and newcomer bassist Tim Bitz (Tim Plommer).

In 2013, following an appearance at the San Francisco, CA Punk Homecoming Festival, bassist Bitz and drummer Pinhead left the band. The duo's departure made way for seasoned professionals to join including former The Real McKenzies bassist Brent Johnson, Kick Axe lead singer "Danny Nargang" and former D.O.A. drummer "The Great Baldini". The band, under Randy's direction, started to record the first album in 2016 at Tom Lavin's Blue Wave Studios. Most of the material was a collaboration between Chaos and Rampage who had played together continuously since 2006. Danny Nargang left the band to focus on Kick Axe and was replaced by guitarist Joe Turner. The studio work was almost complete when Randy's band made a short road tour to Vancouver Island. Near the end of the tour, bassist Brent Johnson died from a drug overdose on April 22, 2017. Johnson's death devastated members of the band including Turner, who left the band in late 2017. Randy was unable to complete the recording citing grief over the loss of Johnson. During the same time, Randy was also consumed by grief over the losses of several other former bandmates including Brad Kent, Dave Gregg and Brian Roy Goble during the same era.

Shortly after, bassist Tim Bitz re-joined the band along with Randy's friend and guitarist Pinto Stiletto to re-launch the recording process with legendary keyboardist and producer John Webster, who has worked with Aerosmith, Bon Jovi, Metallica, Mötley Crüe and many others. The band recorded the new album at the former Little Mountain Sound Studios in Vancouver, BC. Randy's final album production was completed in early August 2018.

Rampage died on August 14, 2018,^[2] less than two weeks before the scheduled release of the album. The remaining band members have hinted it will be released as a tribute to Randy Rampage.^[3]

Discography

D.O.A.

• Something Better Change (1980)
• Hardcore '81 (1981)
• Win the Battle (2002)
• Northern Avenger (2008)

Annihilator

• Alice in Hell (1989)
• Criteria for a Black Widow (1999)

Stress Factor 9

• Brainwarp Mindspin (2006)

Randy Rampage

• Randy Rampage EP^[4] (1982)

Death

Rampage died on August 14, 2018 at his home in Vancouver from an apparent heart attack, aged 58.^[5]

References

External links

• Stress Factor 9
• Bloodied But Unbowed