Iron Monkey is an English

sludge metal Sludge metal (also known as sludge doom or simply sludge) is an Extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music that combines elements of doom metal and hardcore punk. The genre generally includes slow tempos, down-tuned guitars and nihilis ...

band that formed in

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...

in 1994. The original members were Justin Greaves (drums, ex-Bradworthy), Johnny Morrow (vocals), Jim Rushby (guitar, ex-Ironside, Wartorn), Steve Watson (guitar, ex-

Cerebral Fix Cerebral Fix are an English thrash metal band formed in Birmingham in 1986. They became members of the UK thrash metal and death metal scenes through four albums, three of which were on major labels before finally disbanding in 1993. In 2006, ...

) and Doug Dalziel (bass, ex-Ironside). The group's sound was influenced in particular by bands such as

Grief Grief is the response to the loss of something deemed important, particularly to the death of a person to whom or animal to which a Human bonding, bond or affection was formed. Although conventionally focused on the emotional response to loss, ...

Black Sabbath Black Sabbath are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler, and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. After adopting the Black Sabbath name in 1969 (the band ...

and

Eyehategod Eyehategod (also abbreviated and referred to as EHG) is an American sludge metal band from New Orleans, Louisiana, who formed in 1988. They have become one of the better known bands to emerge from the NOLA metal scene. Their core lineup has r ...

History

In 1996, Iron Monkey wrote a six-song album that was released on the small imprint Union Mill. It was reissued in 1997 when the group signed to Nottingham label

Earache Records Earache Records is a British independent record label, music publisher and management company founded by Digby Pearson in 1985, based in Nottingham, England, with offices in London and New York. The label helped to pioneer extreme metal by r ...

. Before the deal was made however guitarist Watson was fired and replaced by Dean Berry. The band's second release ''Our Problem'' received high acclaim. In July 1999, the band released a split CD/10" with Japanese

doom metal Doom metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music that typically uses slower tempos, low-tuned guitars and a much "thicker" or "heavier" sound than other heavy metal genres.K. Kahn-Harris, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'' ...

band Church of Misery that was put out by

Man's Ruin Records Man's Ruin Records was an independent record label owned and founded by San Francisco Bay Area artist Frank Kozik. In total, the record label released over 200 singles and albums, with most of the artwork designed by Kozik. After the 1995 rele ...

. The same year the band played the Dynamo Festival in the Netherlands and shortly after Jim Rushby left the band and was replaced by ex-

Acrimony Acrimony may refer to: * a feeling of hatred * Acrimony (band), a rock band * ''Acrimony'' (film), a 2018 film See also * Agrimony ''Agrimonia'' (from the Greek ), commonly known as agrimony, is a genus of 12–15 species of perennial pla ...

guitarist Stu O'Hara. Due to a variety of personal and industry problems the band split in September 1999.

Post-split

Justin, Jim and Johnny went on to form the short-lived Armour of God while Dean, Doug and Stu formed Dukes of Nothing. Steve has played in

Drown Drowning is a type of suffocation induced by the submersion of the mouth and nose in a liquid. Submersion injury refers to both drowning and near-miss incidents. Most instances of fatal drowning occur alone or in situations where others presen ...

, Helvis and Raven's Creed. Johnny then formed My War and Murder One before suffering a fatal heart attack in the summer of 2002. Justin has since played in

Borknagar Borknagar is a Norwegian progressive metal band with black metal and folk influences. It was founded in Bergen in 1995 by Øystein Garnes Brun primarily as a black metal band before later switching to a more melodic and progressive style. Borkn ...

, Silver Ginger Five, Hard To Swallow,

Teeth of Lions Rule the Divine Teeth of Lions Rule the Divine is an English drone doom supergroup, formed in 2001 with musicians from other metal bands. The name is taken from the second song from the Earth album '' Earth 2''. The music is slow and heavy, similar to the m ...

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and now plays in

Crippled Black Phoenix Crippled Black Phoenix are an English dark rock band, founded by Justin Greaves in 2004. They have released 12 main studio efforts, various EPs and special albums and toured internationally. Besides Greaves, several musicians have contributed t ...

. Dean played in The Dukes of Nothing and Capricorns, while Stu went on to play in Black Eye Riot. He is now playing with Acrimony members in

Sigiriya Sigiriya or Sinhagiri (''Lion Rock'' , , pronounced SEE-gi-ri-yə) is an ancient rock fortress located in the northern Matale District near the town of Dambulla in the Central Province, Sri Lanka. It is a site of historical and archaeologic ...

, a stoner rock band. Jim played in Hard to Swallow, Armour of God, Phantom Limb Management and Geriatric Unit.

Reunion

Iron Monkey reformed in January 2017 as a trio featuring Watson playing bass, Rushby singing and playing guitar, and new member Scott Briggs. The band wrote and recorded the album ''9-13'' which was released on Relapse records in October 2017. Scott Briggs was replaced on drums by Steven Mellor aka Ze Big from the band Widows in January 2018. On 5 April 2024 the band released their fourth studio album and first in seven years, 'Spleen & Goad'.

Members

Current members

* Jim Rushby – guitar (1994–1999, 2017–present), vocals (2017–present) * Steve Watson – guitar (1994–1997), bass (2017–present) * Steven "Ze Big" Mellor – drums (2018–present)

Former members

* Justin Greaves – drums (1994–1999) * Johnny Morrow – vocals (1994–1999; died 2002) * Doug Dalziel – bass (1994–1999) * Dean Berry – guitar (1997–1999) * Stu O'Hara – guitar (1999) * Scott "Brigga" Briggs – drums (2017)

Timeline

Discography

Albums

*''Iron Monkey'' (Union Mill, 1996) *'' Our Problem'' ( Earache, 1998) *''9-13'' (

Relapse In internal medicine, relapse or recidivism is a recurrence of a past (typically medical) condition. For example, multiple sclerosis and malaria often exhibit peaks of activity and sometimes very long periods of dormancy, followed by relapse or r ...

, 2017) *''Spleen and Goad'' (Relapse, 2024)

Other

*''We've Learned Nothing'' ( Man's Ruin, 1999, split CD with Church of Misery and 10") *''Ruined by Idiots'' (Maniac Beast, 2003 compilation release)

References

External links

*
Earache Records
{{Authority control British crust and d-beat groups British sludge metal musical groups English doom metal musical groups Musical groups established in 1994 Musical groups disestablished in 1999 Musical groups reestablished in 2017 Earache Records artists English musical quintets 1994 establishments in England Musical groups from Nottingham