Steve Sledje (born June 2, 1965) is the singer/songwriter and guitarist of the

death metal Death metal is an extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking; deep death growl, growling vocals; aggressive ...

band Hellstrum. Commonly called Sledje, he has pioneered a melding of industrial and metal styles that employs a

death growl The death growl, or simply growl, is an extended vocal technique usually employed in extreme styles of music, particularly in death metal and other Extreme metal, extreme Heavy metal genres, subgenres of heavy metal music. Sometimes death gro ...

vocal style. His lyrics are at times dark and mystic on a backdrop of fast, shredding

guitar chord In music, a guitar Chord (music), chord is a Set (mathematics), set of Musical note, notes played on a guitar. A chord's notes are often played simultaneously, but they can be played sequentially in an arpeggio. The implementation of guitar chor ...

s and solos.Unknown
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Early years

Sledje grew up in

Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

, Indiana. After attending

Butler University Butler University is a private university in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1855 and named after founder Ovid Butler, the university has over 60 major academic fields of study within six colleges in the arts, business, communic ...

as a music student, Sledje left for

Berklee College of Music Berklee College of Music () is a Private university, private music college in Boston, Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern Music of the United ...

where he enjoyed a summer session in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, Massachusetts. This marked the beginning of a thirteen-year residency in Boston during which time he joined the bands Hit Squad and Tommy Gun. After those projects ended, Sledje organized his own band Stampede Machine. They released their debut CD "Hostile Environment" in 1995. The CD was distributed internationally and can occasionally be found for sale on the Internet albeit at high prices. The band reportedly dissolved in 1997 or 1998 before the completed recording their second release.

Colorado years

Sledje began writing and recording on his own, and in 1999, he moved to

Colorado Springs Colorado Springs is the most populous city in El Paso County, Colorado, United States, and its county seat. The city had a population of 478,961 at the 2020 census, a 15.02% increase since 2010. Colorado Springs is the second-most populous c ...

where he began collaboration with local musicians. At the same time, he developed an interest in private music instruction which he was continuing as of 2009. While in Colorado, Sledje has played and recorded with many bands including Power Tribe and Dirtnap. He also recorded a solo collection of acoustic songs in 2004.

Hellstrum years

After experimenting with a wide range of styles and genres, he founded his current band with friend and drummer Mike Pittman. The Hellstrum project started in 2006 and offered a unique combination of industrial, metal, and gothic styles. Tragically, Mike Pittman died in August 2007 at the same time as Hellstrum’s first release, the self-released EP, “Chronicles Volume One.” The band continued with some personnel changes and the current lineup includes Sledje on lead vocals and guitar, Jack Aragon on lead guitar, Brent Wagner on bass guitar, and Dino Cuneo on drums. Hellstrum has since released “Chronicles Volume Two” and continues to record in preparation for a future release.

Personal life

In recent years, Sledje has become a mentor to other musicians, a proponent of

experimental music Experimental music is a general label for any music or music genre that pushes existing boundaries and genre definitions. Experimental compositional practice is defined broadly by exploratory sensibilities radically opposed to, and questioning of, ...

, and an outspoken advocate for gun owners.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sledje, Steve 1965 births Living people American heavy metal singers Musicians from Indianapolis Butler University alumni Berklee College of Music alumni Guitarists from Indiana 20th-century American guitarists