Superjoint, formerly known as Superjoint Ritual, was an American

metal A metal () is a material that, when polished or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electrical resistivity and conductivity, electricity and thermal conductivity, heat relatively well. These properties are all associated wit ...

/ hardcore band formed in the 1990s and fronted by

Pantera Pantera () is an American Heavy metal music, heavy metal band formed in Arlington, Texas in 1981 by the Abbott brothers (guitarist Dimebag Darrell and drummer Vinnie Paul), and currently composed of vocalist Phil Anselmo, bassist Rex Brown, an ...

vocalist

Phil Anselmo Philip Hansen Anselmo (born June 30, 1968) is an American musician best known as the lead singer for groove metal band Pantera, southern metal supergroup Down (band), Down, and Hardcore punk, hardcore band Superjoint, amongst other musical proj ...

History

The band was formed by

, Joe Fazzio, and

Jimmy Bower Jimmy Bower (born September 19, 1968) is an American musician, best known as drummer for southern metal supergroup Down and guitarist for sludge metal band Eyehategod. He has previously also played drums with Crowbar (with future Down bandmat ...

in the early 1990s, later to be joined by

Hank Williams III Shelton Hank Williams (born December 12, 1972), known professionally as Hank Williams III, is an American singer, songwriter, and multiinstrumentalist. He was the drummer of hardcore punk band Arson Anthem, and bassist of Phil Anselmo's band ...

and Kevin Bond. They were founded by Anselmo parallel to his membership in

, but became a full-time endeavor a few years later after Pantera's dissolution. Despite their early 1990s establishment, it was not until a decade later, after the folding of Pantera, that the group recorded any albums. It was then that Superjoint Ritual garnered significant TV exposure on programs such as

MTV2 MTV2 (formerly M2) is an American pay television Cable television, channel owned by the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global, through PMN’s MTV Entertainment Group Subdivision. The channel launched initially as an all-music ...

's ''

Headbangers Ball ''Headbangers Ball'' is a music television program that consists of heavy metal music videos airing on MTV and its global affiliates. The show began on MTV on April 18, 1987, playing heavy metal music videos from both well-known and more obsc ...

'' and

Fuse TV Fuse is an American television channel owned by Fuse Media, LLC, that was originally launched in 1994 as MuchMusic USA, a localized version of the Canadian cable channel MuchMusic, owned by CHUM Limited which was also the parent company of City ...

's ''

Uranium Uranium is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol U and atomic number 92. It is a silvery-grey metal in the actinide series of the periodic table. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons. Ura ...

''. However, the group's time in the spotlight would prove short lived. A dispute between Anselmo and Fazzio led to the band's eventual split in late 2004, which was confirmed by both Hank Williams III and Jimmy Bower. The band reunited at the Housecore Horror Film Festival in

Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...

, in October 2014. For unspecified legal reasons, the band performed under the name "Superjoint". Hank Williams III was initially supposed to take part in this first reunion show, but had to bow out due to personal issues. Although their appearance at Housecore Horror was supposed to be the only reunion show, the band would later perform at

Hellfest Hellfest (), also known as Hellfest Summer Open Air, is a rock festival focusing on heavy metal music, held annually in June in Clisson, France. Its high attendance makes it the French music festival with the largest turnover. It is also one o ...

2015. Superjoint released their latest album to date, '' Caught Up in the Gears of Application'', on November 11, 2016, through Housecore Records. In January 2017, Superjoint played a tour with

Battlecross Battlecross was an American extreme metal band from Canton, Michigan. The band has described their sound as "Blue Collar Thrash Metal". To date, they have released four albums through their label, Metal Blade Records. History The band was ...

and Child Bite. In an interview in June 2019, Anselmo mentioned that he was no longer interested in playing with Superjoint. In October 2020, bassist Stephen Taylor said he is unsure if the band is still active. Further interviews with guitarist Jimmy Bower in 2021 confirmed that the band is finished, with no plans to do any further work. Bower cited his and Anselmo's disinterest in working on material related to the band, as well as their existing commitments to

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 r ...

and Philip H. Anselmo & The Illegals.

Musical style and influences

Superjoint's style has been described as a mix of

sludge metal Sludge metal (also known as sludge doom or simply sludge) is an Extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music that combines elements of doom metal and hardcore punk. The genre generally includes slow tempos, down-tuned guitars and nihilis ...

and

hardcore punk Hardcore punk (commonly abbreviated to hardcore or hXc) is a punk rock music genre#subtypes, subgenre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. It is generally faster, harder, and more aggressive than other forms of punk rock. Its roots ...

. Bands like

Venom Venom or zootoxin is a type of toxin produced by an animal that is actively delivered through a wound by means of a bite, sting, or similar action. The toxin is delivered through a specially evolved ''venom apparatus'', such as fangs or a sti ...

Slayer Slayer is an American thrash metal band from Huntington Park, California, formed in 1981 by guitarists Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King, drummer Dave Lombardo and bassist/vocalist Tom Araya. Slayer's fast and aggressive musical style made them ...

Celtic Frost Celtic Frost () was a Swiss metal music, heavy metal band from Zürich. They are remembered for their strong influence on the development of several metal subgenres, particularly extreme metal,Bukszpan, Daniel. ''The Encyclopedia of Heavy Metal' ...

, Voivod, and

Darkthrone Darkthrone is a Norwegian black metal band hailing from Kolbotn, Akershus. Formed in 1986 as a death metal band named Black Death, in 1991, Darkthrone transitioned to a black metal style influenced by Bathory (band), Bathory and Celtic Frost and ...

have also been noted as influences. The name "Superjoint Ritual" comes from a lyric in the Darkthrone song " The Pagan Winter". According to Bower, Anselmo wrote 70–80% of the group's music.

Band members

;Final lineup *

– vocals (1993–2004, 2014–2019), additional guitars (1993–1998, 2002–2004, 2014–2019), lead guitar (1998–2002) *

– rhythm guitar (1993–2004, 2014–2019) * Kevin Bond – lead guitar (2002–2004, 2014–2019), bass (1994–1995) * Stephen Taylor – bass (2014–2019) * Jose Gonzalez – drums (2014–2019) ;Former * Michael Haaga – bass (1993–1994, 1995–2002) *

– bass (2002–2004) * Joe Fazzio – drums (1993–2004) * Marzi Montazeri – lead guitar (1993–1994) ;Timeline ImageSize = width:800 height:auto barincrement:20 PlotArea = left:100 bottom:60 top:5 right:10 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = mm/dd/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1993 till:01/01/2019 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy Legend = orientation:horizontal position:bottom ScaleMajor = increment:3 start:1993 ScaleMinor = increment:1 start:1993 Colors = id:vocals value:red legend:Vocals,_additional_guitar id:lguitar value:teal legend:Lead_guitar id:rguitar value:brightgreen legend:Rhythm_guitar id:bass value:blue legend:Bass id:drums value:orange legend:Drums id:studio value:black legend:Studio_album id:bars value:gray(0.95) BackgroundColors = bars:bars LineData = layer:back color:studio at:05/21/2002 at:07/23/2003 at:11/11/2016 BarData = bar:Anselmo text:"Phil Anselmo" bar:Marzi text:"Marzi Montazeri" bar:Bower text:"Jimmy Bower" bar:Haaga text:"Michael Haaga" bar:Bond text:"Kevin Bond" bar:Hank text:"Hank Williams III" bar:Taylor text:"Stephen Taylor" bar:Fazzio text:"Joe Fazzio" bar:Gonzalez text:"Joey Gonzalez" PlotData= width:11 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(11,-4) bar:Anselmo from:01/01/1993 till:01/01/2004 color:vocals bar:Anselmo from:01/01/1994 till:01/01/2002 color:lguitar width:3 bar:Anselmo from:01/01/2014 till:end color:vocals bar:Marzi from:01/01/1993 till:01/01/1994 color:lguitar bar:Bower from:01/01/1993 till:01/01/2004 color:rguitar bar:Bower from:01/01/2014 till:end color:rguitar bar:Haaga from:01/01/1993 till:01/01/1995 color:bass bar:Bond from:01/01/1995 till:01/01/1996 color:bass bar:Haaga from:01/01/1996 till:01/01/2002 color:bass bar:Bond from:01/01/2002 till:01/01/2004 color:lguitar bar:Bond from:01/01/2014 till:end color:lguitar bar:Hank from:01/01/2002 till:01/01/2004 color:bass bar:Fazzio from:01/01/1993 till:01/01/2004 color:drums bar:Taylor from:01/01/2014 till:end color:bass bar:Gonzalez from:01/01/2014 till:end color:drums

Discography

Studio albums

*'' Use Once and Destroy'' (2002,

Sanctuary Records Sanctuary Records Group Limited was a record label based in the United Kingdom and is, as of 2013, a subsidiary of BMG Rights Management solely for reissues. Until June 2007, it was the largest independent record label in the UK and the largest ...

) *''

A Lethal Dose of American Hatred ''A Lethal Dose of American Hatred'' is the second studio album by American heavy metal band Superjoint Ritual. Former "touring-only" bassist Hank Williams III is featured on this album. Nearly every song begins with a count-in by vocalist P ...

'' (2003, Sanctuary Records) *'' Caught Up in the Gears of Application'' (2016, Housecore Records)

Demos

*1995 Demo *1997 Demo

Videography

DVDs

*''Live in Dallas, TX 2002'' (2002, Sanctuary Visual Entertainment) *''Live at CBGB's'' (2004, Sanctuary Visual Entertainment)

References

External links

*
NOLA Underground (New Orleans underground music scene)

Superjoint page on Philip Anselmo's official site
{{Authority control Heavy metal musical groups from Louisiana American sludge metal musical groups American hardcore punk groups American thrash metal musical groups Musical groups established in 1993 Musical groups disestablished in 2004 Musical groups reestablished in 2014 Musical groups disestablished in 2019