Superheist

Band Members

• Final Line-Up
  • DW Norton (guitar)
  • Sean Pentacost (drums)
  • Drew Dedman (bass)
  • Fetah Sebawi (keys, samples)
  • Joey Biro (vocals)

• Former Members
  • Roderick McLeod (vocals) (1993 - 2002)
  • Si Durrant (bass) (1998 - 1999)
  • Donut (Anthony Donath) (bass) (1993 - 1997)

Formed

Melbourne, VIC, 1993

Band Information

Superheist formed in 1993 as a super-heavy grindcore band but in 1997 they began to change their style into groove-laden heavy modern rock and nu-metal.

The band began to come to some attention after the release of an early demo with a line-up that featured Norton, Rod McLeod (vocals), Pentecost and Anthony "Donut" Donath (bass). After this Pentecost left Superheist and the band went through two other drummers before Pentecost returned in late 1997. In early 1997 there was a setback when Donath almost lost his hand in an industrial accident but the band was able to record its first EP, "Chrome Matrix" that featured remastered demo tracks plus two new songs with drum tracks supplied by Dreadnaught drummer Sudz. Superheist were to round out 1997 with their third appearance at Metal for the Brain but stepped aside in favour of Dreadnaught in order to play at a large alternative rock festival in Adelaide. Shortly after this Donath left Superheist and was replaced by Si Durrant of Adelaide band In:Extremis. By this time, their grind days were long behind them, although an early demo song would occasionally feature in their live set. Superheist had also added a permanent keyboards player/sampler in the shape of Fetah Sabawi and recording began on a series of releases that would surface over the next two years as the single "Two Faced" and the EPs "Karma" and "8 Miles High". In mid-1999, Superheist toured nationally with Sepultura, but shortly after this, Durrant apparently became disenchanted with Superheist's nu-metal direction and left the band, ostensibly to re-form In:Extremis. Over the years he has since been involved in a number of bands that have included Screwface:13 and Truth Corroded. Durrant was replaced by Drew Dedman, ex-Iconoklast. Late in 1999, Superheist appeared at Metal for the Brain and received a decidedly mixed response.

Despite animosity from more traditional metal crowds, Superheist had by now forged a busy career and the "8 Miles High" EP was followed later in 2000 by another six tracker, "Crank the System". Tracks from both these releases received considerable airplay on the national youth broadcaster Triple J and the song 'Pulse' was included on the station's Full Metal Racket CD. As the key act on Shock offshoot label Pivotal, Superheist tracks also found plenty of exposure on TV sport broadcasts and extreme sport shows. The long awaited debut album The Prize Recruit was released in April 2001 and entered the Australian charts in the Top 20. The following August, the band found themselves supporting Eminem in Sydney. Although Superheist was now enjoying significant exposure and success, particularly for a band of their kind in a country not known for supporting locally produced heavy rock acts, all was not well within the band and McLeod was ejected from the group. Replacement vocalist Joey Biro was introduced by way of the "7 Years" EP, a precursor to the Identical Remote Controlled Reactions album that was, if anything, geared even more toward syncopated melodic modern rock than its predecessor. Following the album's release Superheist appeared at all major Australian festivals across the summer of 2002-03, but after this the band went relatively quiet. Superheist was named as one of the major bands for Metal for the Brain 2003 but again cancelled amid rumours that all was not well in the Superheist camp, that Biro had been sacked and that Norton was involved in a new band with former members of Damaged. All activity by the band had apparently ceased; six months later, in March 2004, it was officially announced that Superheist was no more.

Outside of his work with his bands, Norton is also a highly-sought after producer and is co-owner of Melbourne label Faultline Records. In mid-2004 he began playing live again with Walk the Earth. A Superheist retrospective compilation was released in November 2004, featuring one new track with vocals by Cam Baines of Bodyjar. Walk the Earth was put on indefinite hold in mid-2005 and shortly afterward Norton announced he was demoing new Superheist material with Dedman. Nothing further came of this however and Walk the Earth resumed in early 2007.

Discography

Albums:

	2001	The Prize Recruit	Pivotal
	2002	Identical Remote Controlled Reactions	Pivotal
	2004	New.Rare.Live	Pivotal

Album:

	1997	Chrome Matrix	Shagpile
	1999	Karma	Shagpile
	2000	8 Miles High	Shagpile
	2000	Crank the System	Pivotal
	2002	7 Years	Pivotal

Compilation track:

Year	Track Title	Album Title	Label
2000	"Pulse"	Full Metal Racket	ABC/EMI
2000	"Two Faced (Check Your Head Up)"	Radio Rock Vol. 1	Columbia
2000	"Beachview"	Route 666 Vol 2	Shock
2001	"Step Back"	Loud Vol. 1	Universal