Iron Monkey is an English

sludge metal Sludge metal (also known as sludge or sludge doom) is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music that originated through combining elements of doom metal and hardcore punk. It is typically harsh and abrasive, often featuring shouted vocals, heavi ...

band that formed in

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...

in 1994. The original members were Justin Greaves (drums, ex-Bradworthy), Johnny Morrow (vocals), Jim Rushby (guitar, ex-Ironside, Wartorn), Steve Watson (guitar, ex-

Cerebral Fix Cerebral Fix are an English thrash metal band formed in Birmingham in 1986. They became members of the UK thrash metal and death metal scenes through four albums, three of which were on major labels before finally disbanding in 1993. In 2006, ...

) and Doug Dalziel (bass, ex-Ironside). The group's sound was influenced by the

doom metal Doom metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music that typically uses slower tempos, low-tuned guitars and a much "thicker" or "heavier" sound than other heavy metal genres.K. Kahn-Harris, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'' ...

and sludge metal genres and in particular by bands such as

Grief Grief is the response to loss, particularly to the loss of someone or some living thing that has died, to which a bond or affection was formed. Although conventionally focused on the emotional response to loss, grief also has physical, cogni ...

Black Sabbath Black Sabbath were an English rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. They are often cited as pioneers of heavy met ...

and

Eyehategod Eyehategod (also abbreviated and referred to as EHG) is an American sludge metal band from New Orleans, Louisiana who formed in 1988. They have become one of the better known bands to emerge from the NOLA metal scene. Their core lineup has re ...

History

In 1996, the group wrote a six-song EP that was released on the small imprint Union Mill. It was reissued in 1997 when the band signed to Nottingham label

Earache Records Earache Records is a British independent record label, music publisher and management company founded by Digby Pearson in 1985, based in Nottingham, England, with offices in London and New York. The label helped to pioneer extreme metal by rel ...

. Before the deal was made however guitarist Watson was fired and replaced by Dean Berry. The band's second release ''Our Problem'' received high acclaim. In July 1999, the band released a split CD/10" with Japanese

band

Church of Misery is a Japanese doom metal band from Tokyo, formed in 1995. Church of Misery's musical style melds early Black Sabbath-style doom with psychedelic rock; most of the band's songs are about serial killers and mass murderers. Bassist Tatsu Mikami ...

that was put out by

Man's Ruin Records Man's Ruin Records was an independent record label owned and founded by San Francisco Bay Area artist Frank Kozik. After the 1994 release of Man's Ruin's first record ''Experimental Audio Research (EAR): Delta 6'' Kozik worked with artists whom ...

. The same year the band played the Dynamo Festival in the Netherlands and shortly after Jim Rushby left the band and was replaced by ex-

Acrimony Acrimony may refer to: * a feeling of hatred * Acrimony (band), a rock band * ''Acrimony'' (film), a 2018 film See also * Agrimony, a plant * ''Acremonium ''Acremonium'' is a genus of fungi in the family Hypocreaceae. It used to be known a ...

guitarist Stu O'Hara. Due to a variety of personal and industry problems the band split in September 1999.

Post-split

Justin, Jim and Johnny went on to form the short-lived Armour of God while Dean, Doug and Stu formed Dukes of Nothing. Steve has played in

Drown Drowning is a type of suffocation induced by the submersion of the mouth and nose in a liquid. Most instances of fatal drowning occur alone or in situations where others present are either unaware of the victim's situation or unable to offer as ...

, Helvis and Raven's Creed. Johnny then formed My War and Murder One before suffering a fatal heart attack in the summer of 2002. Justin has since played in

Borknagar Borknagar is a Norwegian heavy metal band from Bergen, founded in 1995 by Øystein Garnes Brun. The band's style combines black metal and folk metal with progressive and melodic elements. Borknagar's lyrics often deal with philosophy, paganis ...

, Silver Ginger Five, Hard To Swallow,

Teeth of Lions Rule the Divine Teeth of Lions Rule the Divine is an English drone doom supergroup, formed in 2001 with musicians from other metal bands. The name is taken from the second song from the Earth album '' Earth 2''. The music is slow and heavy, similar to the m ...

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and now plays in

Crippled Black Phoenix Crippled Black Phoenix are an English dark rock band, founded by Justin Greaves in 2004. Several musicians have contributed to Crippled Black Phoenix's albums and played with them during their live shows. History In 2004, Justin Greaves, previou ...

. Dean played in The Dukes of Nothing and Capricorns, while Stu went on to play in Black Eye Riot. He is now playing with Acrimony members in

Sigiriya Sigiriya or Sinhagiri (''Lion Rock'' si, සීගිරිය, ta, சிகிரியா/சிங்ககிரி, pronounced see-gi-ri-yə) is an ancient rock fortress located in the northern Matale District near the town of Dambulla ...

, a stoner rock band. Jim played in

Hard to Swallow ''Hard to Swallow'' is the third studio album by American rapper Vanilla Ice. Released by Republic Records in 1998, the album was the first album Vanilla Ice recorded after a four-year hiatus following the 1994 release of '' Mind Blowin''. Vanill ...

, Armour of God, Phantom Limb Management and Geriatric Unit.

Reunion

Iron Monkey reformed in January 2017 as a trio featuring Watson playing bass, Rushby singing and playing guitar, and new member Scott Briggs. The band wrote and recorded the album 9-13 which was released on Relapse records in October 2017. Scott Briggs was replaced on drums by Steven Mellor aka Ze Big from the band Widows in January 2018.

Members

Current members

* Jim Rushby – guitar (1994–1999, 2017–present), vocals (2017–present) * Steve Watson – guitar (1994–1997), bass (2017–present) * Steven "Ze Big" Mellor – drums (2018–present)

Former members

* Scott "Brigga" Briggs – drums (2017) * Justin Greaves – drums (1994–1999) * Johnny Morrow – vocals (1994–1999, died 2002) * Doug Dalziel – bass (1994–1999) * Dean Berry – guitar (1997–1999) * Stu O'Hara – guitar (1999)

Timeline

ImageSize = width:800 height:auto barincrement:19 PlotArea = left:140 bottom:120 top:50 right:50 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = mm/dd/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1994 till:01/01/2023 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy Legend = orientation:horizontal position:bottom ScaleMajor = increment:2 start:1994 ScaleMinor = increment:1 start:1995 Colors = id:vocals value:red legend:Vocals id:guitar value:green legend:Guitar id:bass value:blue legend:Bass id:drums value:orange legend:Drums id:album value:black legend:Studio_albums Legend = orientation:vertical position:bottom columns:2 BarData = bar:Johnny text:"Johnny Morrow" bar:Jim text:"Jim Rushby" bar:Steve text:"Steve Watson" bar:Dean text:"Dean Berry" bar:Stu text:"Stu O'Hara" bar:Doug text:"Doug Dalziel" bar:Justin text:"Justin Greaves" bar:Scott text:"Scott Briggs" bar:Steven text:"Steven Mellor" LineData = at:09/22/1997 color:album layer:back at:08/24/1998 color:album layer:back at:10/20/2017 color:album layer:back PlotData = width:11 bar:Johnny from:01/01/1994 till:09/01/1999 color:vocals bar:Jim from:01/01/1994 till:09/01/1999 color:guitar bar:Jim from:01/01/2017 till:end color:guitar bar:Jim from:01/01/2017 till:end color:vocals width:3 bar:Steve from:01/01/1994 till:12/31/1997 color:guitar bar:Steve from:01/01/2017 till:end color:bass bar:Dean from:12/31/1997 till:01/01/1999 color:guitar bar:Stu from:01/01/1999 till:09/01/1999 color:guitar bar:Doug from:01/01/1994 till:09/01/1999 color:bass bar:Justin from:01/01/1994 till:09/01/1999 color:drums bar:Scott from:01/01/2017 till:01/01/2018 color:drums bar:Steven from:01/01/2018 till:end color:drums

Discography

*''Iron Monkey'' (Union Mill, 1996) *''Iron Monkey'' (

Earache Ear pain, also known as earache or otalgia, is pain in the ear. Primary ear pain is pain that originates from the ear. Secondary ear pain is a type of referred pain, meaning that the source of the pain differs from the location where the pain i ...

, 1997) (reissue) *''

Our Problem ''Our Problem'' is an album by British metal band Iron Monkey released in 1998. The album caused controversy, mainly due to its artwork, which was produced by underground cartoonist Mike Diana. Extreme music magazine, Terrorizer Terrorize ...

'' (

, 1998) *''

We've Learned Nothing Iron Monkey is an English sludge metal band that formed in Nottingham in 1994. The original members were Justin Greaves (drums, ex-Bradworthy), Johnny Morrow (vocals), Jim Rushby (guitar, ex-Ironside, Wartorn), Steve Watson (guitar, ex-Cerebra ...

'' (

Man's Ruin Man's Ruin Records was an independent record label owned and founded by San Francisco Bay Area artist Frank Kozik. After the 1994 release of Man's Ruin's first record ''Experimental Audio Research (EAR): Delta 6'' Kozik worked with artists whom ...

, 1999, split CD with

and 10") *''

Ruined by Idiots Iron Monkey is an English sludge metal band that formed in Nottingham in 1994. The original members were Justin Greaves (drums, ex-Bradworthy), Johnny Morrow (vocals), Jim Rushby (guitar, ex-Ironside, Wartorn), Steve Watson (guitar, ex-Cerebra ...

'' (Maniac Beast, 2003) *''9-13'' (

Relapse In internal medicine, relapse or recidivism is a recurrence of a past (typically medical) condition. For example, multiple sclerosis and malaria often exhibit peaks of activity and sometimes very long periods of dormancy, followed by relapse or r ...

, 2017)

References

External links

*
Earache Records
{{Authority control English doom metal musical groups Sludge metal musical groups Musical groups established in 1994 Musical groups disestablished in 1999 Musical groups reestablished in 2017 Earache Records artists Musical quintets 1994 establishments in England Musical groups from Nottingham British crust and d-beat groups