Rock and metal supergroups often get a bad rap but, from Audioslave to Bloodbath and Killer Be Killed, they occasionally throw up a combination that meets or even exceeds the promise of its constituent parts. Category 7 aren’t flawless, but they can be added to the list of worthwhile amalgamations.
The collective has impeccable DNA, featuring Armored Saint and ex-Anthrax vocalist John Bush, ex-Machine Head guitarist and current Kerry King sidekick Phil Demmel, Adrenaline Mob guitarist Mike Orlando, Exodus bassist Jack Gibson, and Shadows Fall and Overkill drummer Jason Bittner.
Epic eight-minute instrumental Etter Stormen is an orgiastic excess that sees the musicians ripping free from the fetters of their regular bands. It sounds as much competition as collaboration, but elsewhere they do tone things down a little to accommodate more conventional song structures and, of course, John’s exemplary delivery.
The singer has one of the finest voices in metal and seems to be aging like a particularly fine and potent wine. There are still times where the musical parts strive to be more notable than the whole. Why settle for one blazing guitar duel in a song, for example, when you can shoehorn in three? Jason refuses to be outdone, and his propulsive patterns and drilling double-bass runs more than hold their own, while Jack underpins the whole thing and occasionally bubbles to the forefront himself.
Category 7 take their name from a theoretical but currently non-existent category of hurricane, and that seems to be the sort of storm they’re aiming for with their incendiary mix of thrash, groove and power metal. The songs themselves don’t all quite support the extrovert natures of their individual elements, but those elements are so well executed and there’s so much going on that it doesn’t seem to matter. Let’s hope this supergroup is one that sticks around for a while.
Category 7 is out now via Metal Blade.
