Commander was first formed in Bowling Green, Kentucky by guitarist Jon Bratcher, drummer Jeremie Pryor, and bassist Josh Hines, who had all been long time friends and off and on musical partners, in the summer of 2004. As a 3-piece instrumental unit they had the goal of doing something heavy yet unheard of in their region. Although they found their unique sound after just a few songs had been written, the band went on a temporary hiatus while the members straightened out their personal lives in order to function more productively as a band. In early 2005 Commander reconvened and sought out a singer to fully flesh out their sound. Shortly thereafter seasoned veteran Chris Hightower's powerful, versatile voice and dominating stage presence won him the job as Commander set out to unleash their music to the masses.

Not long after a few shows had been played, Commander entered Negative Earth Studios in April 2005 to record their debut E.P., Wall of Swords. Upon the E.P.'s release, the band played nonstop shows and festivals all over the south and eastern regions to promote it and sold out of the release by October. Dave Brenner of Metal Maniacs Firing Squad said this of Wall of Swords: "Commander is pretty keen on coming up with catchy, churning riffs that ooze classic metal. Songs are kept fresh with whacked-out time changeups and heavy breakdowns and still return to 'that kickass riff'. Commander keep all the essentials of songwriting in tact and still showcase their own identity." Not stopping there, Commander got the song Relentless Savage Beating (from Wall of Swords) published on a compilation CD packaged with Canada's Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles magazine. Martin Popoff from BWBK declared, "Kentucky's Commander have come up with a series of six short songs that go immediately for the jugular... Dearth of good riffs will never be the issue." Metalreview.com's Chris Chellis stated, "I admit outright that I was hooked from the beginning.... The riffs can be downright insane." After Commander played a show at Nashville, Tennessee's legendary Exit/In, Nashvillerock.net posted "Commander are a group that deserves a record contract in the biggest way. These guys are technically good players as well but what sets them apart from many others is the creativity that they bring to the table."

After a long trek of shows, radio airplay and appearances, in December of 2005 Commander decided to take a break and concentrate on the writing for the follow up to Wall of Swords. In March of 2006 the band will once again enter Negative Earth Studios with Nashville-based engineer Jon Craig at the helm. The tentatively titled album "Fists First Questions Later" is scheduled to have at least 10 tracks with a release date of late spring/early summer. There is a heavy touring schedule on tap for 2006 with loads of new music and merchandise. You won't have to keep a look out for Commander because Commander will be everywhere you look