VERTICAL AFTER completes new album 'BLOODY MURDO'  in 2001
VERTICAL AFTER big tour including King's X support   in 2002
For 2nd time, VERTICAL AFTER loses guitarist as Hart found dead.

Summer 1999
    Following the 1998 death of guitarist Stewart Langille, VERTICAL AFTER re-assembles to complete the unfinished album 'Pop Goes Death'.
Bass Player Sol and guitarist and band founder Kick find acres of like-mindedness with Sol sharing vocal duties and also contributing to songwriting collaborations with Kick. Recording is finished in Houston, Texas. Much of the recording is done at Greenhouse Studios (where artists like Motley Crue, Nickelback, Aerosmith and Mathew Good work with Vancouver hotshots like Bob Rock)

    After some deliberation, Seattle area guitarist Hart, a G.I.T. / M.I. Hollywood honors grad, is added to fill out the four piece format of the band.  Film footage for videos is shot at several live shows including the 'Crucifest' outdoor concert.  A mini-tour including highlights of performing at the Milwaulkee Metal Fest '99, the First Ave. in Minneapolis, Chicago, and supporting the Dayglo Abortions (popular Canadian Punk band) in Winnipeg Canada, starts off with a radiator blowout in 115 degree heat in the middle of nowhere, specifically MURDO, South Lakota.  A few other live appearances and some killer road trips to party in Vegas round out the year.

2000
    Feedback from A&R (record exec) guys about 'Pop Goes Death' is consistant that the market is not ready for such spastic and all-over-the-place songs.  Bearing in mind that corporate bosses have great taste and are always right, Vertical After decides to immediately work towards recording songs that are more one-feel-per-song and more easy to digest than the 'Pop Goes Death' material. The band heads to Greenhouse.   Of course, during production of this newer, more streamlined album, System of a Down makes a huge freaking breakthrough hit with spastic songs that have mood and tempo changes with a sense of humor, but Vertical After's 18 month old album PGD is now viewed as "bandwagon jumping".
    With new guitarist Hart, they write one song called 'Enter Sandman' and another called 'And Nothing Else Matters', no wait, that was those scene-betraying motherfuckers Metallica.
2001
    VERTICAL AFTER complete the new album 'Bloody Murdo'.  In addition to hard-alternative and metal-rock songs that had been tested at live shows in '99, '00, and early 2001, a sad Elton John song : 'Skyline Pigeon', from EJ's first album, and an acoustic acapella song by Hart were added to the new recordings.  Mark Stewart, a David Helfgott-like savant top concert pianist ( did you see the movie 'Shine' ? ) was flown in from London England which lead to inclusion of a whisper-like jazz-lounge instrumental.  The song gives the listener's ears a rest after the crunchy metal guitar, drums and vocals on the other songs.  One up-tempo swing-punk song was written completely on the spot after the engineer pressed the record button, with crazy lyrics and noise keyboard.
     The new album 'BLOODY MURDO'  -- order now --  is released for 2002.

2002
    On the road promoting Bloody Murdo, Vertical After does a Westcoast tour including SanFran and L.A., then in spring does a fly-down set of dates in Texas including Dallas, Austin, and opening for King's X in Houston. Drummer Keith suddenly succumbs to massive health problems and moves back to his hometown on the island, to live with his parents, ending a decade with the band.   For the remaining summer tour, Munesh Sami (Strapping Young Lad) is recruited last minute to play a leg of dates including Winnipeg, NewYork, Chicago, and support dates for King's X in Toronto, Allentown, Minneapolis, Seattle, Vancouver etc.


    ...then Hart died. In consideration of the second band member death, and lack of suitable drummer, Vertical After is put on indefinite hiatus as of 2004.