Monster Voodoo Machine

Sounding more Metal than Industrial, Toronto, Canada based Monster Voodoo Machine incorporated heavy riffing and sampling into their music along the line of Skrew and their like. With the original membership of Terry Landry (bass), Drew Gauley (drums), Mark Gibson (guitar) and Adam Sewell (vocals) they would release their debut EP Burn in 1992. Another EP would follow later that same year titled State Voodoo/State Control but this time the line-up had changed and expanded to include Darren Quinn taking over from Gibson while Stacey Hoskins (keyboards),Dean Bentley (drums), and Jason Cuddy (guitar) joined on. The line-up stayed stable for the follow-up Suffersystem (1994) but by this time the group had re-located to Chicago. The album also featured several guest appearances most notably Roddy Bottum (Faith No More), Leslie Rankin (Silverfish/Ruby) and Wesley Willis. A brief contract with 'RCA' yielded no results due to misunderstandings between the group and the record company as to membership.

By Pirate Satellite (1996) Chris Harris (ex-Soulstorm) then Nick Sagias (ex-Soulstorm) took over on bass while the band made a drift more into the techno music arena. But shortly later, on October 4, 1996 they played their farewell show at the Volcano Club in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada.

The split did not last long for less than a year later, in 1997, Sewell was offered a record deal by 'Dr. Dream Records' (a subsidiary of 'Polygram/Mercury') who suggested that the group use the Monster Voodoo Machine name. At the time their new act def.con.sound.system featured Sewell, Cuddy, Sagias, Harris and occasionally Quinn and Bentley, so there was no hesitation and plans were set in motion for a new M.V.M. album, Direct Reaction Now! (1998) with Dan Cornelius (drums) and Junior (guitar) replacing Quinn.

After a few short tours with Queens Of The Stone Age, Sevendust and some high profile one-offs, the band played their final show in Montreal during a freezing cold blizzard on a Monday night. Only a very small audience saw M.V.M. play that night.

One week later, Sewell along with drummer Bentley hit the recording studio as Damn 13. A high energy punk/heavy metal band whose sound falls somewhere between Black Flag, The Hellacopters and Black Sabbath. The band stayed together for the next 8 years and released one full-length album Black Heart Northern Soul (2005) before disbanding in 2006. In late 2006 Sewell then formed the Toronto dub-punk band Automatic Dub Riot with a number of longtime childhood friends. He since opened 'Stereo Dynamite Recordings', a record label and music marketing company. In June 2007, Sewell started Riot rock Management to manage the bands Lacuna Coil and Echoes Of Eternit. Most recently he has been performing with the hardcore band Bastard Child Death Cult.

Jason Cuddy went on to play with Sagias in Soulstorm for a while before forming the Southern Rock-influenced Scuzzy. Darren Quinn played with The Day After a hip hop/heavy metal hybrid featuring Canadian hip hopster Michie Mee.

In 2004, Cuddy and Quinn again joined forces in Redeemer, a full on metal band whose sound can be compared to Gojira, Down and The Haunted.

Bentley has recently spent time rotating between All Systems Go!, Damn 13 and C'Mon.

Hoskin since went on to record electronic/ambient/breakbeat music under the name of Pilgrimomega, and also working as a composer in the film and television industry.

In June 2007 the classic Suffersystem line-up of Sewell, Cuddy, Quinn, Landry and Bentley made the announcement that they had been writing for a new album titled Rise Demon Rise that has yet to be released.

The reactivated band have so far played two shows together; Toronto on August 9, 2007 at The Funhaus club where they debuted the title track from the new album and a cover of the Quicksand classic Thorn In My Side.

The second was a one-off show at The Hard Luck Bar on June 13, 2010 in Toronto with Cleanse Your Demons and Nice Cat as a dedication to their friend SAM "I AM" Hatzopoulos who died on May 11, 2010 at the age of 43.