Jasta

Fans of heavy music around the globe know Jamey Jasta as the aggressive, bandana-wearing frontman for hardcore heavyweights Hatebreed, as one half of the creative thrust driving sludge metal supergroup Kingdom Of Sorrow, and as the mastermind behind the all-star hardcore collaboration Icepick. With these bands, he's sold over a million records worldwide and played shows all over the world. Which brings us to his latest endeavor, JASTA. The only thing you have to do to appreciate it fully? Forget almost everything you know about Jamey Jasta. First off, JASTA is not a solo album in the conventional sense. JASTA is a band like Danzig is a band-both are led by a man who gives his surname to the group as a whole. In JASTA's case, the band consists of Kingdom Of Sorrow members Nick Bellmore and Charlie Bellmore (guitars/ bass). The newly minted group played their first shows in 2008. The first half of the debut album highlights the sound, which is more melodic, metallic and anthemic than any of Jasta's previous work. Most surprising of all, though? Jasta is actually singing for the first time in his career. "In my other bands, there wasn't any emotional need to do that because I was coming from a place of angst or anger, so it always involved screaming," Jasta says. "But these songs needed a different kind of expression." On the second half of the album, Jasta hauls out the big guns in the form of guest spots from the likes of Randy Blythe and Mark Morton (Lamb Of God), Phil Labonte (All That Remains), Tim Lambesis (As I Lay Dying), pro skater Mike Vallely and guitar legend Zakk Wylde.