Sacred 13

Their five-song demo features aggressive, throbbing hard rock and tortured, prodigiously heavy metal with fast and precise melodic runs, augmented by a killer vibrato. Head-chopping riffs give way to incendiary solos and fills - this is a young band that takes their practicing seriously and strives to deliver a quality experience. - Guitar Nine Records

The long-haired, rocker-looking Karickhoff - wise and talented beyond his years - emerged as one of just three finalist ...from the greater Cleveland metropolitan area for The Guitar Center competiton. - What's Up Magazine

When scorching blues-rocker Joe Bonamassa plays Forward Hall, Bluefire will open...they're not only fiery but cut from the same youthful mold.. musically, they'e already got it going, displaying beyond-their-years chops on challenging material. - GoErie.com

These days, calling Bluefire committed to their craft is an understatement. While Josh "Pix" fingers feverishly dancing up and down his seven-string neck, Karickhoff seemed to play the guitar like a skilled mathematician plays numbers - exacting and studious. Ward played both rhythm and bass on his six-string, tapping and slapping and keeping the track in Earth's atmosphere until time signatures switched and both sent listeners' ears to a wierdly operatic landscape of acutely executed, uncanny speed. - Meadville Tribune

Bluefire was next to perform. These guys blew away the audience with their set... Keep an eye on these guys... - LiveJournal

Bluefire has put more emphasis on writing originals, they don't shy away from the complex but try to whip it into a shape that's accessible.

"Hey kids! Remember when... guitar virtuosos ruled and fleet-fingered guitar geeks such as Steve Vai and Joe Satriani had platinum records and seemingly held steady gigs on the cover of guitar magazines? No less an innovator than Eddie Van Halen himself dubbed fusion master Allan Holdsworth king of virtousic guitar followed by fellow legato fiend Frank Gambale... Yngwie Malmsteen was the Paganini of classical-style rock guitar....64th notes at blinding speeds, fancy chord progressions not usually found in rock, and eight-fingered hammer-ons like that guy in Night Ranger used to whip out for a couple of songs on each album?...It's for those folks that I announce the Hi-Fi Club in Lakewood appearance of Bluefire on Friday night. The Pennsylvania power trio features Josh ``Pix,'' a guitar phenom who already has an endorsement from In-Tune Picks. He won the Guitarmageddon Contest held by the Guitar Center competing against 240 guitarists from five states. The band's sound -- a mostly instrumental amalgam of nu-metal's low end start-stop dynamics, a bit of mainstream rock and the occasional foray into the complex time signatures associated with math metal (nu-mainstream metal mathrock?) -- has industry sharks circling. After hearing a few of the band's songs on their Web site, bluefireband.com, I can tell you that Pix, who plays one of those seven-string monkey-grip Ibananez guitars that nobody but Steve Vai (for whom it was built) and other guitar geeks own, is indeed a shredder. - Akron Beakon Journal




- GoErie.com

Like it’s their job, they jumped seamlessly from the wail of “Does Experience Pay (DEP),” to the acid-blues and power-rock infusion of the instrumental “Larry, Jerry Barry and Dan,” to the teeth-bared stomp of “Initiation.”

Put simply, “that was really good,” 16-year-old Brea Schroek said, looking amazed and at a loss for words after seeing and hearing them perform live for the first time.

That’s understandable because in a popular musical climate that’s largely absent of real rock and real rockers, their sound is richly-detailed, fast, sharp and mean.

- Meadville Tribune

The first was a band called Blue Fire (now known as Sacred13). I swear it was like watching a young Dave Mustaine resurrect the original Metallica line-up. Lead guitarist/vocalist Joshua Karickhoff and his cousin bassist vocalist Gus Ward endangered the ears and minds of every audience member throughout their fifteen minutes. They displayed some of the most technically-advanced musicianship I had ever heard. Watching Blue Fire perform was almost frightening, knowing they will one day be playing to sold-out stadiums; they were that good.



- NY Cool Magazine (At Don Hills)