Bass Busters Part I
February 26, 2007 by Jo Minor
Jason Newsted (Voivod)
Currently plying his trade with Canadian metallers Voivod, Jason Newsted has made a commercially recognizable name for himself as one of the band members of Rock Star: Supernova.
Newsted, however, had begun to carve a name for himself in 1988, when he stepped in to replace the deceased Cliff Burton in Metallica for the recording of their follow up to the breathtaking Master Of Puppets, …And Justice For All.
All of the abuse and bullying from the other members of the band didn’t dampen his energy and spirit, and Newsted soon made himself the band’s driving force in their successful world tours and other live shows since he came on board. Newsted’s undying liveliness and down to earth personality made him a fan favorite, and even though he suffered from being compared to the great Burton all the time he never showed any signs of weakness to the fans, and the music loving public who adored him and took him to heart.
Newsted, however, couldn’t take it much longer in Metallica. He was just the bass player, and was given absolutely no chance to view his creative ideas for the band - that was the sole responsibility of frontman James Hetfield and drummer/resident pain in the butt Lars Ulrich. He was controlled so much in Metallica that to this day, he is only credited with writing one song for the band - My Friend Of Misery - and judging from how amazing that song was, his creative contributions could have seriously enhanced the uninspired songwriting of Hetfiend and Ulrich of recent times.
Newsted quit Metallica not too long before the release of the horrible St. Anger, and plied his services for renowned acts like Ozzy Osbourne and Voivod. He is currently nursing an injury to his arm and shoulder - which he sustained after trying (unsuccessfully) to catch an amp falling from the top of an amp cabinet.
Steve DiGiorgio
Widely known as THE extreme metal bassist, Steve DiGiorgio has plied his bass playing with such distinguished acts such as Death, Iced Earth and Testament - just to name a few.
DiGiorgio is also the only fretless bass guitar player in all of the extreme metal genre, and his versatility and skills have made him one of the most sought after bass players in the industry. After having been involved with groundbreaking albums from the bands listed above - especially in Iced Earth’s splendid Horror Show (with former Death band member Richard Christy) and Testament’s masterpiece The Gathering (alongside Slayer’s drum maestro Dave Lombardo and extreme metal guitar legend James Murphy) - DiGiorgio has an impressive, unbeatable resume that speaks for itself.
One of the highlights of his career would be his participation in Testament’s The Gathering, where he joined forces with one of the greatest band lineups for any metal album ever put to tape.
Abbath (Immortal)
Abbath, of legendary black metal band Immortal may have long given up the 4-strings but he will always be remembered as the one man army behind the evil force of Immortal.
During the early years of Immortal, Abbath was vocalist, drummer, bassist and guitarist of his musical endeavor. He was always plagued with the disease of not being able to find able band mates, and was mostly involved in writing and playing everything audible in the band’s first few albums.
It wasn’t too long since co-songwriter and guitarist Demonaz joined the fold, and Abbath could relax a bit - he focused on playing bass for their live shows and recordings. Immortal then chanced upon drummer Horgh and bassist Iscariah - and with the departure of Demonaz due to injury to his arm Abbath took over the guitar assault of the band.
He has recently stated the reunion of Immortal, and we hope to see more of Abbath & Co. soon.
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