NEW BANDS FROM METAL VETS: JESPER STROMBLAD (IN FLAMES), ANTTON (VENOM), JASON SHI (ASG)

(Photo: Cecilia Kri)

Dudes form bands. Dudes join bands. Dudes make lots of great music with bands. Then for one reason or another, dudes leave bands (or decide to launch side-projects). But they rarely stop making music altogether. Let’s check in with Jesper Stromblad (ex-In Flames), Antton (ex-Venom) and Jason Shi (ASG) to hear what music they’re cranking out these days.

It’s been two full years since Jesper Stromblad quit In Flames, the band he helped found, but the Gothenburg legend is finally back with a new project, The Resistance. One-time Haunted vocalist Marco Aro, fellow original In Flames axeman Glenn Ljungström and current Carnal Forge drummer Chris Barkensjö are also part of this band, so I guess they qualify is a Swedish metal supergroup of sorts; pretty cool. The Resistance don’t necessarily sound like what you’d expect given that cast of melodeath characters, though; “An Eye For An Eye,” the one song they’ve got posted up on Facebook, is straight Entombed-style death n’ roll, gritty, loud and abrasive. I like!

Def-Con-One is the new band founded by Antton (Anthony Lant), Venom’s drummer between 2000 and 2009. I want to like the songs on their Reverb Nation page based on the past Venom association, but I can’t say I’m a fan at all; this is late ’90s / early ’00s nu-metal, complete with the singer constantly telling the listener to “step away!!!” This is like the poor man’s Bloodsimple. Not for me.

A few seconds of New Year Repeat by Crusades is all it’ll take to convince you that one of the dudes from ASG is in this band. There are plenty of big, looping, stoner-infused major key riffs and upbeat vocals here, punctuated with hints of Torche and Baroness. Fans of the latter two will certain dig what New Year Repeat, which also features drummer Johnny Collins, have got going on. The entire record is streaming below (via Bandcamp) and it’s out now via ASG’s old label Volcom.

-VN