Release News: OIL's Early Recordings Set for Reissue NoLifeTilMetal
This is a really cool album. Extremely underrated. Christian metal outfit OIL, featuring Dark Angel vocalist Ron Rinehart, will see its early material revisited through a remastered and expanded reissue of the band's 1997 self-titled EP. Roxx Records and NoLifeTilMetal Records are preparing the release for late 2026 into 2027, coinciding with the EP's 30th anniversary.
Formed in Southern California in 1997, OIL brought together Rinehart, guitarist Blake Nelson, drummer Jason Vander Pal, and bassist Matthew Joy, who was later replaced by Jonathan Thiemens. While Rinehart had already established himself through his work with thrash metal veterans Dark Angel, OIL pursued a different musical direction, incorporating groove-oriented heavy metal, melodic vocals, and occasional doom influences alongside explicitly Christian lyrics.
The band released its self-titled EP in 1997, followed by the full-length Refine in 2000 and the live album Choice Cuts Off the Chopping Block in 2003. OIL also performed at the 2002 Stryper Expo before eventually calling it quits in 2004.
Rinehart has since returned to Dark Angel, whose 2025 album Extinction Level Event marked the band's first new studio album in more than three decades. Nelson has continued making music through his project BLAKENSTEIN.
According to Roxx Records, the upcoming OIL reissue will feature remastered and expanded material in limited-edition vinyl and CD formats. The labels have yet to announce a specific release date or full details about the additional material.
Despite the renewed attention surrounding OIL's catalog, there are currently no plans for the band to reunite. For now, the reissue offers an opportunity to revisit a lesser-known chapter in Rinehart's career and the Southern California Christian metal scene of the late 1990s.
