Matt Smith

Matt Smith — American vocalist, guitarist and composer — is the founder and creative force of Theocracy, the power metal band formed in Georgia, United States. Theocracy is an uncommon case for two reasons. First, it is an American band making European melodic power metal in a country where the genre has practically no market — the style is dominated by Germany, Scandinavia and Italy, and American bands in the field are an exception. Second, it is an explicitly Christian band, with lyrics of religious content, working in a genre whose thematic tradition runs the other way. Smith writes, sings, plays guitar and produces — Theocracy began as a solo project before becoming a band. That explains the work's coherence: five records with a consistent sonic and thematic identity, built by a single vision. The result found its audience precisely in Europe, where power metal has a settled market structure. It is an inversion of the usual flow — an American band exporting to the continent the genre the continent invented.