A speedy thrash metal band with death metal overtones, Light This City are primarily notable for being one of the only bands in their chosen style with a female lead singer, the dynamic and impressively leather-lunged Laura Nichol. Formed in San Francisco in 2002 while several members were still in high school, the original lineup of Light This City consisted of Nichol on vocals, guitarists Tyler Gamlen and Steven Shirley, bassist Mike Dias, and drummer Ben Murray. This lineup recorded Light This City's debut, The Hero Cycle, but by the time the album was released on the Reflections of Ruins label in the fall of 2003, Gamlen and Shirley had been replaced by Brian Forbes and Steve Hoffman. That lineup of the band signed to the respected metal indie Prosthetic Records for their second album, 2005's Remains of the Gods. Further lineup changes followed after that release, with Dias replaced by Jon Frost and new rhythm guitarist Ryan Hansen taking over for Hoffman. Light This City's third album, Facing the Thousand, was released in the fall of 2006. ~ Stewart Mason