Led by theatrical singer/guitarist Rozz Williams, Christian Death roared onto the Los Angeles punk scene in the late '70s, playing a raw and gruesome sound they called deathrock. Helping to launch the goth scene in the U.S., Christian Death's music quickly grew more eerily atmospheric and experimental during the first half of the '80s. After Williams's departure in 1985, guitarist Valor Kand assumed control of the band, leading Christian Death in a darker and more aggressive direction that combined synth-heavy goth with noisy industrial music.