Grip Inc.

Biography/History

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Grip Inc. (1993-2006): a Metalcore band from Los Angeles, California, , USA.

fter leaving the legendary thrash metal act Slayer in 1992 for personal reasons, Dave Lombardo opened up his own shop called Grip Inc. shortly later. Gus Chambers (ex-21 Guns and other British punk bands throughout the 1980s; vocals), Bobby Gustafason (ex-Overkill; guitar) and Jason Viebrooks (ex-Heathen; bass) joined him, but within a few months Gustafson was found to be incompatible and left in favor of Waldemar Sorychta (ex-Voodoocult Project/ex-Despair; guitar; also producer for Tiamat, Unleashed, Samael, Asphyx, The Gathering, Moonspell, Sentenced). Their debut album, Power Of Inner Strength (1993), was a blast of hardcore punk rock and thrash metal that gave them a name in the industry.

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Their line-up remained stable through the two-track EP Ostracized (1996) and Nemesis (1997).

In late 1996, Viebrooks was fired from the band after the recording of Nemesis and replaced by Vancouver, Canada bassist Stuart Carruthers after being recommended by Devin Townsend from Strapping Young Lad. Lombardo would bounce around the music industry doing odd jobs and projects while the band was on hiatus, even working with Slayer again until 2003 when he made the announcement that a new Grip Inc. album was in the works. That album would arrive in the form of Solidify (1999). Incorporated (2004) would be the last, for the band folded two years later. The Hostage To Heaven EP (2015) would be published posthumously.