Only Living Witness

Cambridge, MA's Only Living Witness was formed in 1989 by vocalist Jonah Jenkins, guitarist Kevin Stevenson, bassist Roy Costa, and drummer Eric Stevenson — all of whom had cut their teeth in a failed ‘80s thrash band named Formicide before attempting to change their luck with this new, more modern-sounding metal endeavor. To wit, hardcore and thrash combined on the group's 1990 demo and 1991 single, "Complex Man," which earned them a deal with Century Media, despite the fact that Stevenson and Costa had replaced by guitarist Craig Silverman and bassist Chris Crowley, respectively, before the recording of 1993's Prone Mortal Form debut album. A sophomore effort entitled Innocents followed in 1996, but Only Living Witness had in fact already broken up in October of 1995, due to growing internal dissention and the realization that their career simply wasn't taking off like that of contemporary MA metal bands such as Converge, Killswitch Engage, and labelmates Shadows Fall.