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It’s not often you’ll see Primus and King Diamond mentioned in the same sentence, but that’s about to change.

Escapethecult are a supergroup formed by Kamlath bassist Peter G Shallmin, roping in drummer extraordinaire Tim Alexander (Primus/A Perfect Circle), heavyweight gunslinger Mike Wead (King Diamond/Mercyful Fate) and Uneven Structure’s Matthieu Romarin on vocals. That’s an impressive list, right? Unfortunately, the debut offering from the quartet doesn’t quite live up to expectation. That is to say, it’s a lumbering, inarticulate mess. The spiralling guitars and melodic meanderings of tracks like Backfired and Clandestine definitely seem to be heading somewhere – it’s just that they never arrive. Wead’s layered, near-orchestral harmonies at the end of This Time Will Come are the closest any of these ideas come to a conclusion. For an album clocking barely over half an hour, it’s telling that the listening experience is one that feels much, much longer.

Self-released

Amit has been writing for titles like Total Guitar, MusicRadar and Guitar World for over a decade and counts Richie Kotzen, Guthrie Govan and Jeff Beck among his primary influences. He's interviewed everyone from Ozzy Osbourne and Lemmy to Slash and Jimmy Page, and once even traded solos with a member of Slayer on a track released internationally. As a session guitarist, he's played alongside members of Judas Priest and Uriah Heep in London ensemble Metalworks, as well as handling lead guitars for legends like Glen Matlock (Sex Pistols, The Faces) and Stu Hamm (Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, G3).