Sound Barrier was a heavy metal

Heavy metal music

Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...

 band from Los Angeles

Los Ángeles

Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

 from 1980 to 1987.

Biography

Sound Barrier was most notable for the fact that all four original members were African American

African American

African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...

, which gained them significant publicity, but did not result in commercial success. They were signed by MCA Records

MCA Records

MCA Records was an American-based record company owned by MCA Inc., which later gave way to the larger MCA Music Entertainment Group , of which MCA Records was still part. MCA Records was absorbed by Geffen Records in 2003...

; their first album, Total Control, sold just 12,000 copies, and MCA dropped the group. The self-released EP Born to Rock (1984) sold poorly. Its bassist Stanley E. left the band in 1986, and was replaced by Emil Lech, a Caucasian. The Metal Blade

Metal Blade Records

Metal Blade Records is a record label which was founded by Brian Slagel in 1982. The U.S. corporate office for Metal Blade is located in Agoura Hills, California. It also has offices in Arizona, Germany, Japan, Canada, and the UK. The label is distributed in the U.S. by Sony BMG Music...

 LP Speed of Light (1986), also sold poorly, and the band split up in 1987. Lead vocalist Bernie Kimbell (aka Bernie K.) and drummer Dave "Skavido" Brown briefly joined the metal band Masi (led by Italian

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 guitarist Alex Masi

Alex Masi

Alex Masi is an Italian guitarist.He was born in Venice, and studied at the Conservatory of Music in Verona. He formed the heavy rock band Dark Lord in 1984 and recorded two EPs with them...

). The same two members also were part of the band Total Eclipse, which released its only album in 1992.

Members

• Bernie K. - vocals
  Singing
  Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
  
  
• Spacey T. - guitar
  Guitar
  The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
  
   (born Tracey Singleton)
• Stanley E. - bass
  Bass guitar
  The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
  
   (1980 — 1986)
• Emil Lech - bass
  Bass guitar
  The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
  
   (1986 — 1987)
• Dave "Skavido" Brown - drums
  Drum kit
  A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
  
  

External links

• [ Allmusic.com profile]
• Brief profile of Sound Barrier at BNR Metal