Cold as Life

The Story Continues

1988 Detroit was one of the harshest, if not the harshest cities in the United States. The surrounding desolation, destruction and heartbreak led to two people’s desire to form a band. Roy Bates (drums) and Jeff Gunnels (guitar) came together on the west side of Detroit to play music that reflected their angst. This began the Apathetic Degenerates. After the addition of Rawn Beuty (vocals) and Jay West (guitar) the band morphed into the Mattress Rats and began writing and performing music that reflected the violence and harsh surroundings of Detroit.

The original lineup of Rawn, Roy, Jeff and Jay Way were joined by many different bassists, most notably Craig Holloway and Jake Loch rounding out the original lineup. Rawn eventually changed the name of the group to Cold As Life after one of their songs with the same title. This lineup recorded a series of demos which were compiled in 2004, and developed the signature sound that would make them infamous in the world of hardcore.

The early 1990s saw Cold As Life perform with many punk rock legends, most notably opening for Agnostic Front at the Capital Theater in Flint. Agnostic Front found new blood in Cold As Life and brought them to the East Coast many times, giving them worldwide exposure and recognition.

As the band was on the rise, Rawn’s urban legend at shows grew as did his reputation. Unfortunately, he was tragically murdered on September 15, 1993 by his former friend, Richard Worstein. The murder led the band into silence and discussions of breaking up. Eventually the surviving members made the decision to carry on with Jeff and Jay Way becoming the stewards of the vocal duties with Jake Loch backing them up. This group went into the studio with engineer, Bill Kozy, and recorded a demo in 1995, which was the first recording without Rawn and featured the first song written after his death, All Alone.

In 1996, the band imploded with Jay Way and Jake Loch leaving after the Detroit hardcore scene suffered another murder of Steve Krass of the Feisty Cadavers leaving Cold As Life with only two original members, Roy and Jeff. Cold As Life was forced into yet another decision. They decided to continue and recruited Mike Couls, who was 16 at the time, on bass and Johnny Hate (Meyers) on guitar. This lineup recorded the 1996 demo and began playing bigger shows. After receiving offers from many record labels and people in the industry, Cold As Life decided to turned down the offers and release their first, full length “Born to Land Hard” in 1998 independently. The release was followed by a North American tour including Canada and as support in Europe.

Jeff Gunnells eventually moved to vocal duty and the band recruited Big Dog from the legendary ALD on guitar. Cold As Life were most active during this time and this lineup would go on to record their second full length, “Declination of Independence” which was released in 2000. The band broke up in 2001.

After the death of Johnny Hate, the band reunited once again and did a short tour in 2007 featuring three of the four living members and continued to play sporadically until 2011.

Cold As Life reformed with Dominic Capo on vocals after the loss of Dan Meader (May 2015) for Motor City Fest and began the new short-lived formation of the band.

In today's cutthroat world, you can get swept away before ever getting your feet on the ground and the year 2016 was a testament to that as Cold As Life returned to the stage with new members, Jesse Adkins on vocals, Matt Martin who started out on bass but eventually moved to guitar after former Cold As Life member, Craig Holloway returned on bass.

The name Cold As Life embodies Detroit. Self-made, determined, unrelenting, a survivor!

Deceased Members:

R.I.P.

Rawn Beuty – Murder, September 15, 1993

Jake Loch – Overdose, August/September 2001

Johnny Meyers (Johnny Hate) – Overdose, Summer 2006

Emery Keathly (E-war) – Heart Attack, July 22, 2009

Members:

Mattress Rats: 1988

Rawn Beuty – Vocals

Roy Bates – Drums

Jeff Gunnells – Guitar

Jay Way (Jeff West) – Lead Guitar

Name Change to Cold as Life: 1988-1993

Craig Holloway – Bass

Jake Loch – Bass

Also playing bass for various shows:

Jay Navarro

Todd Pratt

Jay Clifton

Ron Parmiter

Jamie Bates

Lineup after Rawn’s death in 1993:

1994:

Jeff Gunnells – Guitar/Vocals

Jay Way – Guitar/Vocals

Jake Loch – Bass/Vocals

Roy Bates - Drums

Recorded 1995 demo

1996:

Jeff Gunnells – Guitar/Vocals

Roy Bates – Drums

Mike Couls – Bass/Vocals

Johnny Hate – Guitar/Vocals

Records “Born to Land Hard”

Big Dog (John Literacki) – Guitar

Records “Declination of Independence”

2007:

Roy Bates – Drums

Mike Couls – Bass/ Vocals

Big Dog – Guitar/ Vocals

Enzo Dufour – Vocals

Emery (Ewar) Keathley – Guitar

2015:

Roy Bates – Drums (founding original member has also played and plays with SBLC, H8 Inc., Hobo Gangbang, The Fiesty Cadavers, and Halo of Vultures.)

Mike Couls – Bass/ Vocals (Played on both full length albums and is a member of Halo of Vultures and Vehement Serenade, was a member of Merauder, Agents of Man, and Sworn Enemy, and has played for: Skarhead, Cromags, Agnostic Front, Terror, Murphy’s Law, Madball, and Universal Stomp)

Dominick Capo – Vocals (Singer of SBLC)

Chad Kirk – Guitar(Member of Halo of Vultures and SBLC)

2016:

Roy Bates (founding original member) – Drums (H8 Inc., Hobo Gangbang, The Feisty Cadavers)

Matt Martin – Guitar/Vocals (Wulfhook)

Jesse Adkins – Vocals (All My Blood, BornDead, Defense, Caged)

Craig Holloway (former early member) – Bass (Cold As Life, Ricochet, Die Fast, Blunt Force Trauma, Confused)

Many others joined the Cold as Life movement in transition and fill in positions:

Mike (need a last name) (Elephant Ear)– lead guitar/ vocals for the first two shows with Mike Couls before Johnny Hate joined. 1996 (Krass Benefit @ St. Andrews Hall, Show in Ypsilanti)

Matt Fraiser (Execration/Necrolotry, Chalk, 1000 Yard Stare) – Guitar on the next two shows until Johnny Hate was hired. 1996 (Pontiac, and Pharaoh’s Golden Cup)

Jake Dufour (H8 Inc., Dog of War, ALD) – Guitar after Emery’s passing. 2010-2011

Tom Maniaci (Beast) (H8 Inc.) – wrote lyrics for 2 songs and music for 1 on “Declination of Independence” and originally asked to sing for the band in 2007 but declined.

TJ (Smash Your Enemies) – Guitar 2011, “Last show”

Studio albums

  • 1998:Born to Land Hard(CTYC Productions, +/- Records)
  • 2000:Declination of Independence(CTYC Productions)

Splits

  • 2001:Split with Ringworm(Stillborn Records)

Demos

  • 1989:1989 Demo
  • 1991:1991 Demo
  • 1992:1992 Demo
  • 1995:1995 Demo
  • 1997:1997 Demo

Compilation Albums

  • 2004:1988-1993 (CTYC Productions)

Non-album Tracks

  • 1996:Detroit Is Distraught Compilation 1996- "How Much Longer"
  • 1997:Feisty Cadavers and the Brotherhood(Idol Records) - "Live Like Vampires"
  • 1999:Only the Strong Survive: 1999(Victory Records) - "My Own Worst Enemy"
  • 1999:The Spirit Lives On: A Tribute to Raybeez and Warzone(Hate Core Records) - "Fight the Opressor"
  • 2007:United States of Hardcore(Hate Core Records) - "Pete's Sake (S.O.I.A.)"