Jo-Anne Bench is a British musician from

Leamington Spa Royal Leamington Spa, commonly known as Leamington Spa or simply LeamingtonEven more colloquially, also referred to as Lem or Leam (). (), is a spa town and civil parish in Warwickshire, England. Originally a small village called Leamington Pri ...

, who is best known as the

bassist A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), keyboard bass (synth bass) or a low br ...

for

Bolt Thrower Bolt Thrower were a British death metal band from Coventry. They formed in 1986 and released their first album with Vinyl Solution in 1988. The band then shifted to a new record label, Earache Records, soon becoming one of the best selling ba ...

. She has performed on all of the band's albums, but not on any of their demos. Noted for being one of few women in the

extreme metal Extreme metal is a loosely defined umbrella term for a number of related heavy metal music subgenres that have developed since the early 1980s. It has been defined as a "cluster of metal subgenres characterized by sonic, verbal, and visual tran ...

genre, Bench has been influential to a number of other female musicians in the genre. Bench joined the band in 1987, shortly after Gavin Ward switched from bass guitar to guitar. At the time, she was Ward's long-time girlfriend and notable as one of a few female members in a commercially successful metal band. Bolt Thrower were active until 2016, when they decided to disband following the death of drummer

Martin Kearns Martin Kearns (7 March 1977 – 14 September 2015) was an English drummer, specializing in death metal, known for his association with Bolt Thrower (band), Bolt Thrower since 1994. He joined the band at age 17 after playing in several local bands ...

the previous year. She contributed guest vocals (

spoken word Spoken word is an oral poetic performance art that is based mainly on the poem as well as the performer's aesthetic qualities. It is a 20th-century continuation of an oral tradition, ancient oral artistic tradition that focuses on the aesthetic ...

) on the track "Resurrected For Massive Torture" by The Project Hate MCMXCIX on the 2005 album "

Armageddon March Eternal – Symphonies of Slit Wrists The Project Hate MCMXCIX (often referred to as ''TPH'') is a Swedish death metal band with influences from electro-industrial music. History The Project Hate MCMXCIX was formed in 1999 by long-time friends Lord K Philipson (formerly of Leuke ...

Equipment

Source: *

BC Rich B.C. Rich is an American brand of acoustic and electric guitars and bass guitars. B.C. Rich had its origins in a guitar shop Bernardo Chavez Rico helped run with his father, which initially produced acoustic guitars that became popular amidst t ...

Ironbird * Peavey T-Max *

Ibanez is a Japanese guitar brand owned by Hoshino Gakki. Based in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, Aichi, Japan, Hoshino Gakki was one of the first Japanese musical instrument companies to gain a significant foothold in import guitar sales in the United Stat ...

Tube Screamer * 2 x Laney 2x15

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bench, Jo Bolt Thrower members English heavy metal bass guitarists Living people Musicians from Leamington Spa British women bass guitarists Women in metal 1969 births