Suspect208: Band Featuring Sons of Guns N’ Roses and Metallica Members Breaks Up

For a bunch of kids who aren’t old enough to legally drink, the young men in Suspect208 sure do seem to have lived two-thirds of a Behind the Music episode in record time.

The band only first entered the spotlight last November, largely (if not entirely) because three of their members have famous dads: drummer London Hudson is the son of Slash (né Saul Hudson) from Guns N’ Roses, bassist Tye Trujillo is the offspring of Metallica’s Robert Trujillo, and then-vocalist Noah Weiland’s father was late Stone Temple Pilots frontman Scott Weiland. The group was rounded out by guitarist Niko Tsangaris, who used to co-manage Velvet Revolver, a band that, of course, featured both Slash and Weiland.

After two fairly well-received, extremely Velvet Revolver-ish singles, Suspect208 sacked Weiland, alleging that the vocalist “was heading down a dark path of drug use that got in the way of our friendship as well as the band.” Needless to say, the claim was especially unsettling given that Weiland’s father died of an overdose.

But then the band bounced back! They released two more singles with a new singer, Cody Houston, and seemed well on their way to following in their dads’ footsteps…

…except now, after this arduous, dramatic six months, the band has decided to throw in the towel, according to Wall of Sound.

Given their accelerated timetable, I assume there will be a Suspect208 reunion by Halloween. In the meantime, the young whippersnappers are moving on to other projects.

Hudson and Tsangaris, presumably recognizing that few bands ever thrive with their third singer, have a new project, S8nt Elektric, which is a wonderful name in terms of SEO, a terrible name in terms of names, and possibly a reminder that they were Suspect208. That band released their first single, “My Eyes,” earlier this month, and it’s also got heavy Velvet Revolver vibes (Tsangaris sure does have the Slash sound down pat).

Trujillo, meanwhile, “has got his fingers in a few heavy metal pies,” which sounds gross, but I think they just mean he has a bunch of metal bands. These are said to include Ottto, who released their eponymous debut last year; Thredge, who have a website but have yet to release any music; Switchblade, who I can’t find anything about because there’s already 47 metal bands called Switchblade; and Loco Lords, who I sincerely believe sound extremely promising in addition to having the best band name I’ve heard in a minute.

As for Houston, he and his girlfriend are expecting a baby. Unfortunately, no audio is available at this time.

And so we pour one out for Suspect208: they may be gone, but we’ll never forget the surprising amount of traffic they brought us.