Stabbing Westward is an American alternative rock band from Chicago, Illinois.
Relocated to Chicago in 1986, the original band includes Hall on bass and vocals, Flakus on keyboards, and Jim Clanin on guitar. In 1990, a four-track demo tape is published. This EP, titled Iwo Jesus, includes a first version of Violent Mood Swings (titled Violent Mood Swing) which will end on the compilation The Cyberflesh Conspiracy.
Hall pauses at Die Warzau. Hall and Flakus later recruited Jim Sellers on bass and Chris Vrenna (Nine Inch Nails) on drums, after Hall met Vrenna when he was playing at Die Warzau. Vrenna plays drums on the demos that attract the interest of Columbia Records, label to which Stabbing Westward will sign. These demos include Violent Mood Swings, Lies, and Nothing. They are recorded in a studio in Evanston, Illinois and involve Stuart Zechman on guitar.
The trio recruits Wax Trax musician Stuart Zechman on guitar, and David Suycott (Spies Who Surf, Machines of Loving Grace) on drums. In 1993, the group records at Eden Studios in London, England, with producer John Fryer. This time, they land at the Columbia Records label where they released their first album, Ungod, February 15, 1994. The group participates in the opening of Depeche Mode's Exotic Tour tour in summer 1994, and opens at the end of 1994 for Killing Joke .
