Jason VieBrooks (born August 9, 1971) is an American touring bassist and guitarist. He has toured the world with many groups, and is an endorsee of Esh Bass.
Biography
Born on August 9, 1971, in
Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...
, VieBrooks graduated from Hamilton High School in 1989. He started playing bass in 1987 and wanted to pursue a career in music, so after graduating high school he moved to San Francisco Bay Area and met Craig Locicero from the band
Forbidden. Through Locicero he was introduced to
Lee Altus
Lee Altus is a Ukrainian-American heavy metal guitarist currently playing in Exodus and Heathen.
Career
Altus first came to public attention in the mid-1980s with his original band, Heathen. He served as the principal songwriter and a fo ...
of
Heathen and was invited down to audition. That went well and he spent the next few years in Heathen until the band went on hiatus, and Lee joined
Die Krupps
Die Krupps () ("The Krupps") is a German industrial metal/ EBM band, formed in 1980 by Jürgen Engler and Bernward Malaka in Düsseldorf.
The band has had a diverse range of musical influences over time, including the percussive industrial '' ...
from Germany. After Heathen, VieBrooks went on to be the original bassist for
Grip Inc.
Grip Inc. was an American groove metal band and side project of drummer Dave Lombardo. The band was formed in 1993 and was signed to SPV GmbH, Steamhammer Records.
History
Following the birth of his first child in 1993, Lombardo formed Grip I ...
, the band formed by
Slayer
Slayer was an American thrash metal band from Huntington Park, California. The band was formed in 1981 by guitarists Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman, drummer Dave Lombardo and bassist/vocalist Tom Araya. Slayer's fast and aggressive musical style ...
's
Dave Lombardo
David Lombardo (born February 16, 1965) is a Cuban-American drummer, best known as a co-founding member of American thrash metal band Slayer. He is currently playing drums with Testament, Fantômas, Suicidal Tendencies, Dead Cross, Mr. Bungl ...
and
Voodoocult
Voodoocult was an international thrash metal supergroup formed in 1993 by Phillip Boa, vocalist of the alternative band Phillip Boa & The Voodooclub. The project was especially notable for the reputation of the participating musicians, such as ...
guitarist
Waldemar Sorychta. While in Grip Inc., VieBrooks played on the first two albums, ''
Power of Inner Strength'' and ''
Nemesis''. That lineup also did three tours, one of the US with
Morbid Angel
Morbid Angel is an American death metal
Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking; deep growling ...
, one supporting
Motörhead
Motörhead () were an English rock band formed in London in 1975 by Lemmy (lead vocals, bass), Larry Wallis (guitar) and Lucas Fox (drums). Lemmy was also the primary songwriter and only constant member. The band are often considered a precu ...
in Europe and another co-headlining with German band
Kreator
Kreator is a German thrash metal band from Essen, formed in 1982. Their current lineup consists of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Miland "Mille" Petrozza, drummer Jürgen "Ventor" Reil, lead guitarist Sami Yli-Sirniö, and bassist Frédér ...
. After two CDs and three tours, it was time for VieBrooks to move on, due to personalities conflicting among members.
Once he left Grip Inc. VieBrooks took a break from the music business full-time and started a landscape/ home remodeling business and focused on that. Burnt from the business side of music he felt jaded and needed to step back a while. He formed a band called The Allknowing, based in Cincinnati; they did regional shows and released one album. After The Allknowing project, VieBrooks was ready to dive back into the game, so he hooked up with longtime friends Steve Tucker (Morbid Angel vocalist/bassist) and Steve Jacobs (x-Forbidden,
Manmade God
Manmade God were an American hard rock band from Oakland, California. They gained prominence in 2003, touring with various mainstream acts and releasing one self-titled album in late summer. They disbanded the following year, however, with the ...
drummer). Together, they formed a band called LOWA and recorded a demo, but before anything could happen, Tucker left to join the
Nader Sadek
Nader Sadek is an Egyptian-American artist. His death metal project gathers many well-known and emerging artists from the entire metal scene, focusing mostly on black and death metal. Sadek currently resides in New York City and has worked as a st ...
project. With that happening, VieBrooks started to play bass in Cincinnati-based band Lorenzo and did countless shows with them. He also played on Lorenzo's latest CD.
While in Lorenzo, VieBrooks got the call to start getting ready to tour with Heathen, a band who he had last been with in 1992. They had since reformed and recorded ''
The Evolution of Chaos'' with Jon Torres on bass, but he was no longer able to tour so Heathen wanted VieBrooks back. He quickly had the set down and they were on their way to Europe to do the Killfest 2011 tour supporting
Overkill. After that tour, Heathen did more touring of Europe and the US with bands like
Exodus
Exodus or the Exodus may refer to:
Religion
* Book of Exodus, second book of the Hebrew Torah and the Christian Bible
* The Exodus, the biblical story of the migration of the ancient Israelites from Egypt into Canaan
Historical events
* Ex ...
,
Destruction
Destruction may refer to:
Concepts
* Destruktion, a term from the philosophy of Martin Heidegger
* Destructive narcissism, a pathological form of narcissism
* Self-destructive behaviour, a widely used phrase that ''conceptualises'' certain kind ...
,
Sepultura
Sepultura (, "grave")Barcinski & Gomes 1999, page 17. is a Brazilian heavy metal band from Belo Horizonte. Formed in 1984 by brothers Max and Igor Cavalera,Barcinski & Gomes 1999, page 16. the band was a major force in the groove metal, thra ...
, and others. Between tours, VieBrooks also played bass for NOLA
thrash
Thrash may refer to:
*Thrashing (computer science), where increasing resources are used to do a decreasing amount of work
*Thrash (surname)
* Thrash, mascot of the Atlanta Thrashers
*'' Thrash Rally'', a top-down perspective rally racing video gam ...
legends
Exhorder
Exhorder is an American heavy metal band from New Orleans, Louisiana. They are considered progenitors of the groove-oriented thrash sound later made famous by bands such as Pantera, Lamb of God, White Zombie and Machine Head, and their music ...
. In 2016, he joined the Cincinnati-based band War Curse and did several shows and a small East Coast tour run.
In 2017, VieBrooks launched Year of the Tyrant. The lineup features Dan Nelson (formerly of
Anthrax
Anthrax is an infection caused by the bacterium ''Bacillus anthracis''. It can occur in four forms: skin, lungs, intestinal, and injection. Symptom onset occurs between one day and more than two months after the infection is contracted. The sk ...
), Vinnie LaBella (Exhorder) and Sasha Horn (former Forbidden drummer). The following year, he returned to Exhorder on bass once again.
Design work
In 2010, VieBrooks designed a bass guitar with Esh Bass as a tribute to the late goth metal legend
Peter Steele
Petrus Thomas Ratajczyk (January 4, 1962 – April 14, 2010), known professionally as Peter Steele, was an American musician, singer, and songwriter. He was best known as the lead vocalist, bassist and composer of the gothic metal band Type O N ...
of the band
Type O Negative
Type O Negative were an American gothic metal band formed in Brooklyn, New York City in 1989 by Peter Steele (bass, lead vocals), Kenny Hickey (guitar, co-lead vocals), Josh Silver (keyboards, backing vocals), and Sal Abruscato (drums, percussi ...
. There were 13 instruments
produced in this limited edition, and each was authenticated and signed by VieBrooks and the CEO of Esh.
Discography
with
Grip Inc.
Grip Inc. was an American groove metal band and side project of drummer Dave Lombardo. The band was formed in 1993 and was signed to SPV GmbH, Steamhammer Records.
History
Following the birth of his first child in 1993, Lombardo formed Grip I ...
*1995: ''
Power of Inner Strength''
*1997: ''
Nemesis''
with
Heathen
*2004: ''Uncovered''
with The Allknowing
*2006: ''Ours for the Taking''
with Lorenzo
*2012: ''Ignition''
with War Curse
*2019: ''Eradication''
with
Exhorder
Exhorder is an American heavy metal band from New Orleans, Louisiana. They are considered progenitors of the groove-oriented thrash sound later made famous by bands such as Pantera, Lamb of God, White Zombie and Machine Head, and their music ...
*2019: ''
Mourn the Southern Skies
''Mourn the Southern Skies'' is the third studio album by American metal band Exhorder, released on September 20, 2019 through Nuclear Blast. It is the band's first studio release in 27 years, after their 1992 album '' The Law''. This is also th ...
''
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Viebrooks, Jason
American heavy metal bass guitarists
1971 births
Living people
American male bass guitarists
Musicians from Cincinnati
Grip Inc. members
Guitarists from Ohio
21st-century American bass guitarists
21st-century American male musicians