Heavy Metal
Sioux Falls, South Dakota, USA
Zion formed in 1981 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota with the original line-up of Bruce Fischer (guitar), David Moore (lead guitar), Ray Roeter (bass guitar), and Rex Scott (drums).
Several names were considered for the new group such as Crystal City, but Zion was presented by Scott and it stuck. In 1982 Ray Roeter moved out of state and was replaced by Greg Sauer on bass. The band began performing live throughout the region and recorded their first four-song demo. In 1983, Tommy Bozung joined the group as a drum tech for Scott and as a sound man. The band purchased an extra long converted school bus painted blue for traveling and performing.
The band began the planning of recording a full-length album and got their first “big break” by getting asked to perform at Sonshine '84 in Wilmar, Minnesota, a huge outdoor music festival with many top professional acts.
In 1984, the band completed and released their first full-length album on cassette entitled Rock For Eternity and began getting press in several underground fanzines such as Heavens Metal.
1985 saw the band continue performing throughout the upper Midwest and begining to garner record label interest. They also got the opportunity to open shows for major artists, including The Sweet Comfort Band (Brian Duncan).
Fischer and Moore also recorded a collection of ballads titled Fischer and Moore to offer an alternative to those who were put off by Zion's loud rock guitar sound.
Late in 1986, Bruce Fischer got a job offer in Minneapolis, Minnesota and accepted it. Zion was about to call it quits but got revitalized when Scott switched to guitar front man and Bozung took over the drumming chores. A more driving sound emerged.
In 1987, Scott took time out to go on the road with the Seattle-based rock outfit Bloodgood as a sound tech. Greg Sauer left the band to pursue other interests. Scott was befriended by Bloodgood's lead guitarist David Zaffiro, resulting in Zaffiro producing Zion's next studio album. Fellow South Dakotan Marlin Saner joined Zion in Seattle to help record a four song EP called Thunder From the Mount. Saner did not officially join the group however, and in 1988 a bass player was found in another South Dakotan named Jeff Johnson.
Zion got an offer from the then newly-formed east coast record label Image Records, owned by Dorn Reppet and George Peper after they heard the four song EP. Zion accepted the recording contract and in 1989 they went back to Seattle to record an entire album for Image Records. They spent the months of August and September finishing the record, released in October and titled Thunder From the Mountain.
Saner officially replaced Jeff Johnson on bass and the band began touring across the US in 1990. The album met with critical acclaim and scored five top ten hit singles on Christian rock radio, beginning with the song “Is it a Crime?”, a song which Myrrh Records had licensed to use on their Twelve New Faces compilation album. Mark Maxwell from Myrrh began courting Image Records, Zion, and David Zaffiro as producer to possibly be Myrrh's first and only metal band. Unable to come to contractual terms, Myrrh then went on to sign Holy Soldier instead and utilized Zaffiro as their producer in attempt to duplicate the success of Zion's album, musically speaking.
Zion songs were being used on several Top Hits albums by other labels during this time. In 1991, some differences developed within the group on several fronts, including if David Zaffiro should produce the second album or not. At this time Scott got a call from the Los Angeles rock outfit X-Sinner, who was looking for a new singer, and he painfully decided it is time to exit Zion.
In 1992 Scott moved to LA. Bozung, Saner, and Moore worked on and recorded new material, but even with Zion's success, Image Records ran into too many obstacles to overcome and closed their doors. A follow-up record never got recorded. Bozung, Moore, and Marlin all moved to Washington state.
On the 15th anniversary of the recording of Thunder From the Mountain, Scott, Moore, Bozung, and Marlin got together for a reunion of sorts in August 2004 in Portland, Oregon. They recorded some material and planned on working together in the future. Moore and Bozung recorded a full-length Christmas album in 2005 consisting of various styles of music that really showed the spirit of the season. Many were blessed by the effort.
In 2007, Retroactive Records released a live and studio compilation album called Thrillseeker, which consisted of a few live cuts and other choice studio cuts from the Zion archives - some never before released on CD Image Records was also resurrected from the ashes and took the original two inch tape masters of Thunder From the Mountain in to be restored by baking so they could be transferred to digital format so the album could be remixed, remastered, and re-released in a special collectors package.
| 1982 | Four Song Demo | |
| 1984 | Rock for Eternity | |
| 1987 | Roll the Rock / Less of Me | |
| 1989 | Thunder From the Mountain | Image Records |
| 2007 | Thrillseeker | Retroactive Records |
| 2019 | Thunder From the Mountain 2.0 | Image Records LLC |
1982 Independent
David Moore - Lead guitar
Bruce Fischer - Guitar
Greg Sauer - Bass guitar
Rex Scott - Drums
Songs include:
1984 Independent
Rex Scott – Lead vocals, drums, guitar
Bruce Fischer – Guitar, vocals
Dave Moore – Guitar, vocals
Greg Sauer – Bass, vocals
Tom Bozung – Drums
1987 Independent
Rex Scott - Lead vocals, guitars
David Moore - Guitars
Marlin Saner - Guitars
Tommy Bozung - Drums
1989 Image Records (24U-00002)
Rex Scott - Lead vocals, Guitars
David Moore - Lead guitars, backing vocals
Jeff Johnson - Bass
Tommy “Gun” Bozung - Drums
Marlin Saner - Bass on “Roll the Rock” and “Less of Me,” backing vocals
2007 Retroactive Records
2019 Image Records LLC
Rex Scott - Lead vocals, Guitars
David Moore - Lead guitars, backing vocals
Jeff Johnson - Bass
Tommy “Gun” Bozung - Drums
Marlin Saner - Bass on “Roll the Rock” and “Less of Me,” backing vocals
Re-release of Thunder From The Mountain with total remix and remastering, plus a new song “The Big Fall.”