Iron Monkey

http://www.myspace.com/survivaloftheshittest

probably the catchiest sludge in all of existence. shit is raw, but you guys know that.

Iron Monkey were a sludge metal band that formed in Nottingham, England in 1994. The original members were Justin Greaves (Drums), Johnny Morrow (Vocals), Jim Rushby (Guitar), Steve Watson (Guitar) and Doug Dalziel (Bass). The members all had experience playing in the English underground and they each brought different influences to the fold. The group’s sound was influenced by the doom metal and crust punk genres and in particular by bands such as Grief, Black Sabbath and Eyehategod. The end result is a ghastly combination of vitriolic aggression, downtuned riffage, huge underlying grooves and inhuman screams.

I've been having trouble locating some of this. May I have a link?

Absolutely amaaaaaaazing music. I bought the 2CD set that's out on Earache, re-issue of s/t and Our Problem. They're just so insane qua riffing. EHG-style with this awesome amount of nearly grinding hardcore not to mention his vocals yaaaaaaaargh

I've been a fan for a long time, really great shit.

I'll type out the liner notes in the booklet of one of the CD's, it's pretty cool stuff;

(liner notes are by Steve Watson)
"IN the sweltering summer of '95 I met James Rushby at a Hard To Swallow gig at The Narrowboat pub in Nottingham (where we would later do our first gig as 666 Pack). James said he had started a new band (he wasn't then a member of HTS) and was looking for a second guitarist. I asked him to send me a tape, and about six weeks later a tape arrived. It consisted of five songs with juist guitar and drums, no vocals and a n ultra lo-fi recording of Celtic Frost's Dethroned Emperor (complete with a four minute sample of a London bus right in the middle).

After Johnny Morrow and Doug Dalziel moved to Nottingham, (Justin Greaves was already living there), we rehearsed above the Narrowboat pub (now demolished) in a decrepit (not to mention genuinely haunted) room we shared with Hard To Swallow. We had seven songs done and started sporadically gigging around the UK. Most gigs were poorly attended (apart from Swansea, Nottingham and a few London ones) and even more poorly paid (a squat gig with Dong on a Rope in Leeds netted us twelve pounds).

A mutual friend of Justin and myself (Simon 'Mole' Cole) had seen us at a rehearsel and wanted to put out a 10" out with three tracks on it (on his Union Mill label). Mole paid for two days at Backstage Studios with Andy Sneap and we recorded seven(?) songs live on the first day, Johnny did the vocals in one take on the second day I recall. It was mixed in four or five hours.

Mole liked what he heard, and we mutually decided to put it out as an album, it was only available at gigs and through mail order from several DIY distro's. We carried on doing shows and rehearsing three or four new songs (that would later appear on OUr Problem, save for the long Vitus-style itnro that Doug wrote which used to start Bad Year). After we wrecked all ouf our gear after a gig at The Old Angel with Acrimony (think the chair wrestling scene in Gummo) we were in a rut as we were all on the dole and unable to afford new gear.

I was at Rock City one Friday night shortly after the last gig and Digby Pearson plied me with ales and offered to put out Iron Monkey on Earache (as Union MIll release had only been available at gigs and was now sold out). I knew this would create a problem as Jim and Johnny were against the band getting more popular and saw Earache as a giant step in the wrong direction. Dig offered a cash advance to seaten the deal so we could buy new gear and start gigging and rehearsing again. When I put it to the rest of the band, Doug and Justin were up for it but Jim and JPM steadfastely were against the idea and both said they'd rather just leave.

After weeks of inactivity the reality of being equipment-free had dawned on them and they (reluctantly) agreed, so during the traditional Earache curry and booze frenzy, a few terms were thrashed out. ("I'm not going to tour with Morbid Angel and any of them other dickheads" JPM)

Not long afther this Dig offered us a two album deal, and much longer time at Backstage Studions with ANdy Sneap, again there was an uneasy silence within the band about this (especially when a large contract arrived from Earache at the flat shared by Doug, Jim and Johnny).

I used to get tanked up at gigs and have the time of my life. Rapidly, the intake was getting heavier and was having an undesired effect on my playing and my fellow bandmates, and after a memorable performance at the Rio's in Bradford I sealed my fate and was shown the door a few weeks later (and rightly so). I was replaced by Dean Berry who had seen us a few times at The Red Eye in London and had struck up a friendship with Justin. Dean then moved into Nottingham and Iron Monkey recorded a Sabbath tune for an Earache Sabbath Tribute album, the second LP Our Problem followed several months later, and several tracks for a Man's Ruin rlease, the band then toured the UK in support of Our Problem.

I kept in touch with the band through Doug, and as time went on, he told me Jim was leaving after the band's gig at the Dynamo Festival in Holland, and our old friend (and ex-Acrimony guitarist) Stuart O'Hara was joining. I saw this lineup shortly before the ill-fated European tour with Extreme Noise Terror, at the Victoria Inn in Derby, and they were on fire, the new songs they had written were far more up temp than the stoner rock leanings of Our Problem. If only they could have recorded them with Albini in Chicago for the third album (as was planned).

As with all bands who were around for a relatively short time, there is much folklore, the metal celebrity adoration (and overdose) wrecking PA equipment, stealing other bands' booze, wrekcing other bands' dressing rooms, gigso n acid, court cases, Earache's windows beng put through and general drunken chestbeating. Some of it is true, but I can't remember which parts. I believe the main reason you're holding this release in your hands is Iron Monkey's secret weapon, John Paul Morrow, his maniacal screams and demonic bellowing really put the hook in me, whilst we wore our infleunces on our collective sleeves at the beginning, his vocals and his (and Jim's) lyrics gave us a different, sinister feel and have not been matched since.

Steve Watson, 2009"

there.

nice. but gigs on acid? that's just ridiculous.