Gruesome
[youtube]https://youtu.be/Em-xqU9k6gw[/youtube]Exhumed mastermind Matt Harvey hooked up with ex-Malevolent Creation drummer Gus Rios after crossing paths on the Death To All Tour. The pair quickly bonded over their unhealthy obsession with all things Schuldiner and decided to take their love of Leprosy and Human riffs to the next level; thus creating Gruesome, the gnarliest tribute to early Death ever put to wax. Once they added Daniel Gonzalez, guitarist of modern day Possessed, to the band’s ranks, Gruesome made the leap from sweet ass tribute act to bonafide supergroup as well. The band’s debut album Savage Land is the closest thing to a reincarnated Death as we’re going to get. Hopefully they’ll find time to play some live shows in the near future.
Twilight
[youtube]https://youtu.be/jUKLEE_x350[/youtube]Black metal is perhaps the least welcoming, warm and/or fuzzy genre of the extreme metal world. You’d expect the misanthropes behind such arduous and tortured music to not play so well with others. This is why the success of a legitimate black metal supergroup like Twilight comes as such a surprise. Of course when your band features members of Leviathan, Krieg, Nachtmystium, and Xasthur, as well as dudes from The Atlas Moth, Isis and hey, Sonic Youth, it shouldn’t take a math whiz to realize this is a formula for awesomeness. The band’s sound may have evolved over the course of Twilight’s ten year and three album shelf life, with new additions and departure’s taking place between each record, but under Neil Jameson and Jef Whitehead’s [aka Imperial and Wrest] guidance, the Twilight saga has been a dark, and awesome one. The movies suck though.
Iron Reagan
[youtube]https://youtu.be/lhiBDQF_0HM[/youtube]The retro thrash pioneers in Municipal Waste and the melodic death/metalcore warriors in Darkest Hour may not sound like kindred spirits, but members of the two factions joined forces in 2012, united by their love of old school 80’s crossover and a mutual disdain for the Gipper, and thus…Iron Reagan was born. Let the record show that the teaming of Tony Forresta and Landphil Hall [also of Cannibus Corpse] plus Ryan Parrish [ex-Darkest Hour] results in fist pumping, headbanging perfection. Former Darkest Hour bassist Paul Burnette was originally part of the gang as well but exited the group before the recording of The Tyranny of Will in 2014. The Iron Reagan hardcore machine rages on however, gifting the world with more mosh pit anthems and sweet ass music videos.
