CATEGORY 7 – Category 7 (2024) *HQ Exclusive*

CATEGORY 7, named after the numerical designation for the most powerful wind storms, came together from a batch of musicians who strived to play music they loved and weren’t hearing elsewhere, and wanted to do so with bandmates they enjoyed being with.
This American heavy metal super group formed in 2023, featuring Armored Saint and former Anthrax frontman John Bush, ex Machine Head guitarist Phil Demmel, Adrenaline Mob guitarist Mike Orlando, Exodus bassist Jack Gibson, and Overkill / Shadows Fall drummer Jason Bittner, now are releasing their debut album on Metal Blade Records.
The songs on the band’s self-titled debut “Category 7” speak for themselves. As crushing and confrontational as an armed rebellion, as rhythmically thunderous as a storm of golf ball-sized hail, and as fiercely melodic as infectious riffs and aggressive vocals can be, Category 7 is a new breed of metal that lives up to the storied histories of its members.
They’re as heavy as a battleship, yet the songs are meticulously structured, skillfully balancing thrash beats, New Wave of British Heavy Metal rhythms, street metal attitude, blistering & ferocious dual guitar work, and scar-inflicting vocals.

“It’s all about big verses and big songs, and it has a lot of the elements we’ve explored in our other bands,” explains guitarist and main songwriter Mike Orlando (Adrenaline Mob, Sonic Universe, Noturnall).
Take the upbeat album opener “In Stitches,” which starts with piledriving double-bass drums, a feral thrash passage, and a fiery lead before toning down just enough for the distinctive vocals to stand out. “Land I Used to Love” is slightly slower and more melodic, with guitar chords that complement the harmonized vocals and a searing guitar fill over the chorus that ups the temperature on the molten riffage.
Then there’s the propulsive, piledriver “Exhausted,” which features blazing guitar licks, a punchy riff, and hammering drum beats that climax with another strong chorus.

The album closes with the explosive eight-minute instrumental, “Etter Stormen,” in which Orlando and Demmel engage in a contest of dueling guitar leads over volleys of battering beats and riffs that see-saw between pounding metal and whiplash-inducing thrash.

In the end, Category 7 have created an album that is fresh and familiar. The mixture of NWOBHM, thrash, and traditional metal is cohesive and sonically rewarding, establishing an eclectic musical backdrop for Bush’s instantly identifiable vocals.
At the same time, the diversity of styles creates its own template that’s ideal for headbanging, moshing, and voluble metal sing-alongs.
Highly Recommended

01. In Stitches
02. Land I Used to Love
03. Apple of Discord
04. Exhausted
05. Runaway Truck
06. White Flags and Bayonets
07. Mousetrap
08. Waver at the Breaking Point
09. Through Pink Eyes
10. Etter Stormen

John Bush: Vocals
Mike Orlando: Guitar
Phil Demmel: Guitar
Jack Gibson: Bass
Jason Bittner: Drums

Pre order:
metalblade.indiemerch.com/products/category-7-category-7-cd