While Iced Earth were on their 2004 Glorious Burden tour, drummer Richard Christy decided to depart from the band, thus postponing upcoming dates in Japan.[2] He became a finalist in "Get John's Job", a listener contest on The Howard Stern Show to replace "Stuttering John" Melendez, who left to become the announcer for The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Having not participated would have made him "regret it every day of [his] life".[3] On July 1, 2004, Christy won the contest with 30% of the listener vote.[4]
With his busy work schedule in New York City, Christy kept in touch with his musical roots. He built confidence in his guitar playing and song writing, putting together an entire demo album of material. He returned from a 5+1⁄2-year absence from music, announcing his new band, Charred Walls of the Damned. The origin of its name was explained on May 20, 2009. It derives from a series of radio prank calls he and Sal Governale made to a Tradio show on a Christian radio station.[5] In response to the pranks they received, the host described how he prays for them, thus "saving their soul to be saved by God's grace...not in the devil's hell where you'd be putting your nails in the charred walls of the damned".[6]
The band's first single, "Ghost Town", was released on December 1, 2009.[7] Their debut album, Charred Walls of the Damned, was released on compact disc and iTunes on February 2, 2010.[7]Blabbermouth.net reported around 2,200 copies were sold in the United States in its first week of release.[8] The Japanese version of the album includes a cover version of "Nice Dreams" by Minneapolis metal group Powermad. The album entered Billboard's "Heatseekers", "Independent Albums" and "Hard Music Albums" charts at No. 6, 37 and 46 respectively.[9] It also reached No. 85 on the Canadian "Independent Chart".[10] On January 5, 2011, Christy reported the album sold 20,000 copies worldwide.[11]
Overall, the album was well received by critics. English on-line music magazine Rocksnail, with its award of 3.5 out of 5, noted the band's potential if they convey such material live.[12] Dom Lawson of Bravewords praised the album with an 8.5 out of 10, hailing it as "a platinum-plated triumph" which "absolutely lives up to every expectation on a musical level." He pointed out the pairing of Christy and Di Giorgio as a "particularly inspired touch", particularly on "Blood on Wood".[13] Chris Akin from Pitriff, who awarded the album 8 out of 10, identified a "distinct chemistry" between the four musicians, with the album delivering "terrific, old school sounding metal".[14] Though he believed the album achieved its "pure, out-and-out metal" aim, Andy Lye from Jukebox:Metal argued it "sounds somewhat disjointed ... like parts of it were recorded very separately and only partially successfully spliced together afterwards." Lye believed at 35 minutes the album was "far too short", believing it "could and should have been so much better given the talent involved."[15]
In July 2010, the band performed for the first time in the United States and Canada. The nine-date tour featured replacements John Comprix and Matt Sorg on guitar and Ed Stephens on bass.[16]
Christy began writing new material for the second album during the mixing of their first, making a conscious effort to write that catered the playing style of each member, including Suecof's method of production. The result was a 12-song demo tape that sounded similar to the first album which the band developed their ideas from.[17] During the 2010 Christmas period, Christy recorded his drum tracks at Criteria Studios in Miami, Florida in two-and-a-half days. The rest of the album was recorded in January and February 2011 at Audiohammer Studios.[18]Cold Winds on Timeless Days runs for 58 minutes and was released on October 11, 2011. The album sold nearly 1,500 copies in its first week of release in the US, and peaked at No. 14 on the Billboard Heatseekers Chart.
The band reconvened at Audiohammer Studios for their third album in productive recording sessions. Christy put down his drum parts in one day and DiGiorgio had finished recording in two. Creatures Watching Over the Dead was released on September 23, 2016.[19]
