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Group Members: Michael Haaga
All Music Guide:
The early 21st century saw Pantera singer Phil Anselmo launch several side projects, including Necrophagia, Viking Crown, Christ Inversion, Southern Isolation, and Superjoint Ritual. The latter group is comprised of guitarists Jim Bower and Kevin Bond, drummer Joseph Fazzio, with none other than Hank Williams III on bass (Anselmo handled both vocal and bass duties for the group's recordings, but opted to concentrate solely on vocals for the group's live shows). According to Bower, the members of Superjoint Ritual approached the writing and recording of their debut with "the perfect 15-year-old mentality of having everything loud, everything on 10, getting loaded, and letting whatever happens, happen." Recorded at a rehearsal space turned recording studio in Anselmo's backyard, the sessions were produced by former Ugly Kid Joe member Dave Fortman (who has turned into quite a producer of ultra heavy bands -- Eyehategod, Soilent Green, etc.). May of 2002 saw the release of the quintet's debut, Use Once and Destroy, an album that reflected such influences as Black Flag, Righteous Pigs, Celtic Frost, and Voivod, among others. Superjoint Ritual supported the album with a summer tour the same year.
Wikipedia:
Superjoint Ritual was an American heavy metal band formed by Phil Anselmo, Joe Fazzio, and Jimmy Bower in the early 1990s, later to be joined by Hank Williams III, and Kevin Bond. Their style can be considered a mix of Pantera's style of groove metal and hardcore punk. A small trace of black metal can be heard too. Bands like Venom, Slayer, Celtic Frost, Voivod, and Darkthrone have been noted as influences also. 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.
Despite their early '90s establishment, it wasn't 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's Headbangers Ball and Fuse TV's Uranium.
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.
