Descension Rate

Descension Rate is the product of two very different backgrounds coming together to form one brutal beast. The impetus of DR came about some time in the year 2003. Jeff Jordan had been playing in an industrial rock band, Loss of Will, for a couple of years in the small college town Morgantown, West Virginia, while Ryan Postlethwait had been playing guitar with local industrial metal terrorists 3-Hole Face. The two bands became somewhat of "gig buddies."

In April 2003, Loss of Will came to an end and Jeff was invited to join 3-Hole Face as a keyboardist. It was around this time that Ryan and Jeff discovered they shared two loves; intensity-charged music and beer. After plenty of beers, an album, and many shows, 3-Hole Face mastermind Terry Smith relocated in the summer of 2004, which essentially put an end to Jeff and Ryan's involvement in the project.

Ryan and Jeff realized they had many great experiences in 3-Hole Face and kind of flirted with the idea of a project together. The original intention was nothing more than just getting together, having fun with some music, and seeing what happened. The collaboration just didn't seem practical enough to take serously; two guys with two totally different musical backgrounds. On Jeff's end of the specturm, you have a strong love of electonic music and industrial, and Ryan isn't the biggest fan of industrial in any of its incarnations, save for a few exceptions. So he brings a lot of his metal influence into the fold.

However, the duo discovered their styles somehow complemented each other nicely. The songs began to pour out, and Descension Rate was officially formed in October 2004. After realizing they were onto something worthwhile and having a fair amount of demos, Ryan and Jeff decided to form a full band to take DR to the stage. Enter Doug Lilly on bass, Stanislav "Vicious" Benkivoc (of Beloved Dead and Deacon's Screech fame) on live electronic percussion, and Neil Zahradnik (guitar).

On January 28th, 2005, Descension Rate played their first live show with other local Morgantown acts, 8 Bitz, The Caterpillar Scheme, and The Emergency. The show was a major success, and since then DR has been constantly playing shows in the West Virginia and Pennsylvania area, with more shows always pending.

On February 10, 2006, Descension Rate's first EP Level 12 was officially released.

In April 2006, Descension Rate played a show with Slick Idiot in Pittsburgh, PA. This was the last show with Vicious as the electronic drummer. With his departure came the inclusion of Mike Beck as the new keyboardist.

August 3, 2006, was the first show to feature Mike Beck. At this show, a free E.P. featuring the album version of "Tin Cradle," five remixes of the song by local artists, and Jeff Jordan and Ryan Postlethwait's version of The Emergency's "Church of the Chix Denomination."

Descension Rate's first full-length album "Deadly Elegance" was released in December 2006.