Blood Duster
Band members
- Current line-up
- Jason PC (bass)
- Tony Forde (vocals)
- Matt Lo-Pants (guitar)
- Belt-thrower (guitar)
- Dave Haley (drums)
- Former members
- Matt Rizzo (drums) (1994 - 1995, 1999 - 2007)
- JJ LaWhore (guitar) (2000 - 2003)
- Finn Alman (guitar) (1994 - 2000)
- Euan Heriot (drums) (1995 - 1999)
- Shane Rout (drums) (1993 - 1994)
- Brad Johnston (guitar) (1993 - 1994)
- Troy Darlington (guitar, vocals) (1992 - 1993)
- Callum Wilson (vocals) (1992)
- Brick (drums) (1991 - 1993)
- Anthony Barry (vocals, guitar) (1991)
Website
Formed
Melbourne, VIC, 1991
Band information
Blood Duster is one of Australia's longest serving and most notorious metal acts. From their original formation as a three-piece grindcore band in 1991, the group has developed a unique style of groove-laden death and grind and toured with Australia's biggest music festival.
The band was formed by Jason "PC" Fuller, Andrew "Brick" Brown and Anthony Barry and recorded the demo "Menstrual Soup" almost immediately. Barry was fired soon after and guitarist Troy Darlington and vocalist Callum Wilson replaced him but Wilson too was sacked before Blood Duster had ever played live. With Darlington handling vocals, the band went on to play some shows but by 1993 he and Brown had been replaced by ex-Entasis vocalist Tony Forde and former Hecatomb members Shane Rout and Brad Johnston. Wilson formed Very Very Dead and Gory and teamed up with Darlington again in a doom band called Portrayal.
Blood Duster then recorded Fisting the Dead featuring 25 tracks in almost the same number of minutes. Originally intended as a split release on Wild Rags with Impetigo and Meat Shits, the former band broke up before it could be completed and the label ditched the idea. Following this release, the band financed a national tour with Brutal Truth and Rout and Johnston left, with Rout going on to commit to his solo black metal project Abyssic Hate. The pair were replaced by Matt Rizzo and Finn Alman and Blood Duster then produced the EP "Yeest" but Rizzo was the replaced by Euan Heriot from Abramelin and Fracture.
In 1996 Relapse Records re-released "Yeest" as a full-length album by adding Fisting the Dead's tracks and blowing out the running time to an epic-like 32 minutes. The same year, Fuller formed the stoner band Dern Rutlidge with three former members of Christbait.
1997's Str8outtanorthcote saw the further expansion of the death-rock element the band had introduced on "Yeest". They also began experimenting with country-style acoustic tracks and ambient noise. In 1998 Blood Duster toured nationally with Brutal Truth once again and a live album was recorded which was to be released sometime in 2000. Heriot left Blood Duster in June 1999 and Rout re-joined, although he left again after only a few rehearsals and Rizzo came back to the fold in time for Metal for the Brain in December. A short time later, Finn Alman departed, making way for Matt "Lo-Pants" Collins.
The proposed live album was ditched in favour of a new studio album entitled Cunt that featured more of the band's earlier grindcore leanings. Josh "JJ LaWhore" Nixon from Pod People joined on second guitar shortly afterward.
Blood Duster was to head to the US for touring in August of 2001 but the deal fell through and the band started working on a new collection of obscenities while Jason PC was in Europe touring with Dern Rutlidge. In late 2001 the band featured on a national tour by The Dwarves; in 2002 the band featured on the High Voltage touring mini-festival and issued "D.F.F.", one song of which, "66.6fm On Your Radio Dial" featured on a TV commercial for Reflex copying papaer.
Blood Duster began 2003 with a national tour with The Haunted in March. Nixon had departed during recording of the follow-up album although much of his playing still appeared on it. Beltsy from Mindsnare took his place and the death-rock oriented self-titled album was released in February. Blood Duster featured guest appearances from Dave Evans of AC/DC fame and all three members of The Spazzys on the track "I Wanna Do it With a Donna" that was released as a single.
In 2004, Blood Duster toured with the Big Day Out throughout January. Most of the rest of the year was spent doing live shows around the country although some touring was curtailed when Forde was injured stagediving at a gig in Geelong. In January 2005, Blood Duster appeared at Metal for the Brain in Canberra and then played shows with The Dwarves and Pungent Stench.
After completing work on the DVD collection The Shape of Death to Come, Blood Duster toured through Europe and Japan in June and July 2005. For much of 2006 Blood Duster was off the road as Collins toured with Burn The City, a band he formed with Tom Read of Bodyjar. Belt-thrower also played with Mindsnare and Forde recorded and toured with The Day Everything Became Nothing. In September 2006 Blood Duster toured Australia with Danzig and shortly afterward a bootleg of a live show from their tour with Brutal Truth was released through Sydney hardcore label Straight Up. Late that year the band began work on a triple album featuring a disc each of death, grind and drone doom. The album, Lyden Nå, was released in April 2007 after an appearance with Slayer and featured guest appearances from Darryl Cotton and various members of Earth, Pod People and Dern Rutlidge. The drone component was made available as a download using a code that was supplied with the album. Lyden Nå, Norwegian for "The Now Sound" debuted in the Australian independent album chart at No. 7. In September Rizzo was fired and replaced by Dave Haley of Psycroptic ahead of a national tour with Napalm Death. After this they issued a split 7" vinyl EP with Venomous Concept and continued with various side-projects. In May 2008 the band appeared at the Maryland Death Fest in the US alongside Fuck... I'm Dead.
All of Blood Duster's albums prior to Lyden Nå are being re-released in 2008 with new art and bonus tracks.
Discography
Albums:
| 1994 | Fisting the Dead | Dr Jims | |
| 1997 | Str8outtanorthcote | Dr Jims | |
| 2000 | Cunt | Shock | |
| 2003 | Blood Duster | High Voltage | |
| 2007 | Lyden Nå | Goatsound |
Singles:
| 2003 | IWannaDoItWithADonna | self release | |
| 2004 | SixSixSixteen | self release |
EPs:
| 1994 | Yeest | Dr Jims | |
| 2002 | Drink!Fight!Fuck! | High Voltage |
Split:
| 2008 | Split with Vemomous Concept | Obscene Productions |
Compilation tracks:
| Year | Track Title | Album Title | Label | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | "Showered With Affection Pt. 2" | Vulgar Tongue | Shock | |
| 1999 | "Showered With Affection Pt. 2 (live)" | Under the Southern Cross | Chatterbox | |
| 2000 | "Dis-organ-ized" | Wizards of Gore: Impetigo Tribute | Razorback | |
| 2001 | "Iskillingclonesillegal?" | Metal for the Brain 2001 | Metal for the Brain/Chatterbox | |
| 2002 | "Tickettoride(Agangrapiststrainofthought)" | Hip New Sounds 1 | High Voltage | |
| 2005 | "Idi" | Metal for the Brain 2005 | Faultline/Gorilla | |
| 2007 | "The MySpace Song" | Hardcore Metal Compilation No. 7 | Trial and Error |
VHS/DVD:
| 2005 | The Shape of Death to Come | Madman Entertainment |