Welcome to the METAL FROM THE ROCK's Impellitteri @ ShoutLife FanZine, supporting Impellitteri since 1997, your most updated resource dedicated to "The Best Screaming Hard-Driving, Aggresive Metal Band In The World"; previously known as The Rock-Impellitteri Advocacy (TRIAd) at www.angelfire.com/yt/triad. The best place for people to reach Chris Impellitteri is at imphotline@hotmail.com and Rob Rock at rob@robrock.com
[JANUARY 02, 2009] ROB ROCK COMMENTS ON NEW IMPELLITTERI ALBUM:
A message from Rob reads: "Happy New Year to you all! I am officially once again fronting the heavy metal band Impellitteri. There has been speculation of whether I am a member or not, so I am here to state that Impellitteri is officially re-formed with Rob Rock as the lead singer, and we have every intention of building a future for the band. We will be touring and exploring every possible venue to build the band into an international brand. We look forward to making many records in the future and look forward to touring as many countries as possible. Our first release titled "Wicked Maiden" will be released in late January starting with Japan, followed by Europe, and then the United States. The record is pure metal with screaming vocals, shredding guitar solos, killer rhythm section, and a fat production. Wicked Maiden was mixed in Vancouver Canada by Greg Reely, and mastered by George Marino!! I am sure that all the fans of the classic Rob and Chris "Impellitteri" albums will be very pleased with our new release - "Wicked Maiden".
2009 is looking to be an active year for me as I resurrect my role in "Impellitteri", and the "Rob Rock" solo band releases a live DVD later in 2009, and the "Driver" group performs at the "Bang Your Head" festival in June. These activities come at a time when the economy worldwide is in turmoil and I am extremely grateful to all of the music lovers out there that continue to support my creativity. Cheers to all of you, and have a happy and blessed New Year!"
[DECEMBER 10, 2008] The new IMPELLITTERI album is now called "WICKED MAIDEN". It will be released on February 25, 2009.
[OCTOBER 14, 2008] Look for the new IMPELLITTERI album to come out in early 2009 [www.angelicwarlord.com]:
Vocalist Rob Rock offers further insight in a recent online interview:
"We are mixing the album right now and it sounds great! It's the sound of Chris and Rob again and the album has some great guitar riffs and massive vocals. The album has a lot of colors to it, but it's definitely the IMPELLITTERI sound you expect when I'm singing and writing with Chris. I did all the vocals here in Florida so that's a little different than we used to do but...technology has progressed so we were able to record the band in California, the vocals in Florida and mix in Canada with Greg Realy. Release will be sometime in early 2009 in Japan I think, but no official date yet"
[OCTOBER 13, 2008] IMPELLITTERI's ballads now has a presence at MySpace: www.myspace.com/impellitteri1
[AUGUST 06, 2008] The following are excerpts from ProgPower USA IX interview with Rob Rock by Bill [www.metal-zen.com]:
BM: How did your gig with Impellitteri happen? You haven't worked with him since the year 2000. How did a reunited Impellitteri album come together?
RR: Well, me and Chris have remained friends throughout the years. We talk once in a while. He had given me a call and said he was going to do another Impellitteri record and he wanted me to sing on it ... Whenever we've talked in the past six or seven years we never talked too much about music. More about family stuff. So this time he brought up the album and I said, "Yeah. It sounds cool. Let me hear your demos and stuff." He sent me some music and it was really good. So I said, "Yeah, let's do it."
BM: Well, how does the stuff sound to you, compared to the older stuff you used to work on with him? What made you hear it and say, "Sign me up"?
RR: Well, I heard a couple songs that reminded me of, like, the Answer to the Master [1994] album. And the Screaming Symphony [1996] album. And those two albums, for me, were the best stuff we did. So [on the new one Chris] stopped chasing the MTV video sounds.
RR: Yeah, I think it's really strong. And Greg really mixing it, you know, it's really, really solid. You know, with Impellitteri records, there's always me and Chris in the mixing room battling it, you know, it's funny. We'd be mixing it with Michael Wagner, and Chris would be like, "Guitar's gotta be louder." We'd sit there, and about an hour and a half later, I'd be like, "Ok, you done?" "Yeah." "Ok, now turn the vocal up." [laughs]
BM: Who is the drummer? .... Who are they (the musicians)?
RR: It's the same guys. Glen Sobel on drums, James Pulli on bass, and Ed Roth ..boards.
BM: That's interesting ... So it's James Pulli, Ed Roth, and Glen Sobel - the classic line-up?
RR: Yep, the band we toured with. And we toured Japan, I don't know, four or five times. It was always the same band, so it was cool to finally make an album all together too. Because we had Ken Mary in there playing drums in the beginning. You know, I don't know what happened with him in the more recent years, but now it's back to, to me, the prime lineup and the prime sound of the Impellitteri sound of Rob and Chris. That's the real reason why I wanted to do it, because it was back to what me and him do naturally, you know. Not some contrived thing where we're trying to chase a sound. I was happy about that. We've even got the typical 15, 16 tracks of backing vocals going on too. Just like the old sound. It sounds cool.
[JUNE 29, 2008] TWO (2) NEW IMPELLITTERI MYSPACING:
[MAY 31, 2008] ROB ROCK IS OFFICIALLY BACK IN IMPELLITTERI:
The king of scream and melody is once again fronting Impellitteri. Chris Impellitteri and Rob Rock are currently recording at the Village Recorders in Los Angeles for the new Impellitteri CD titled "Good and Evil". They are recording 13 fast riff crazy tunes with all of the IMPELLITTERI signature shredding guitar solos, screaming vocals, pounding drums, brutal bass, with a lot of melody thrown in. And they are actually working with a co-producer, who is giving them some new and welcome input!! Rob reunites with long time friend and guitarist Chris Impellitteri for their first collaberation together since the Impellitteri "Crunch" album. The new record is being mixed in Vancouver with Greg Reely. This album will bring back some of the classic Rob Rock/Chris Impellitteri sounds of Screaming Symphony/Answer to the Master/Eye of the Hurricane along with some new sounds as well. According to Chris Impellitteri "this is by far the most amazing recording he have been involved with". Impellitteri "Good and Evil" is an attempt to rival the best. And now for all of the patient fans --- ROB ROCK is officially back in the band.
[MAY 30, 2008] CHRIS IMPELLITTERI IN THE 50 FASTEST GUITARIST OF ALL TIME:
Guitar World magazine has included Chris Impellitteri in their 50 Fastest Guitarist of all Time article. A lot of people believed that Chris is the guitarist who probably started the craze of hyper-speed shred with the Impellitteri EP.
[MAY 29, 2008] IMPELLITTERI WILL BE CREATING THEIR FIRST OFFICIAL MYSPACE PAGE SHORTLY.
IMPELLITTERI is a heavy metal band from USA formed by guitarist Chris Impellitteri in 1987. The band first came to prominence in the mid 1980's thanks to their 4 track "Impellitteri" EP with Rob Rock on vocals. This led to a major label deal which saw the release of 1988's Stand In Line featuring Graham Bonnet (vocals), Chuck Wright (bass), Phil Wolfe (keyboards), and Pat Torpey (drums).
This album combined Chris's super speed soloing with tight punchy metal riffs and commercial hooks. The album contains what have become Impellitteri classics with tracks such as "Stand In Line", "Secret Lover", "Tonight I Fly", and an instrumental working of "Somewhere Over The Rainbow". The album created quite a buzz on the metal scene at the time and musically.
Wright and Torpey left soon after their breakthrough and the band had to look for a new drummer and bassist, respectively Stet Howland and Dave Spitz. In 1990 Bonnet and Wolf also left the band and were replaced by singer Mark Weitz and the French keyboard player Claude Schnell. They recorded a demo tracks but eventually the band fell apart.
In 1992, Rob Rock, Chris and Chuck Wright resurrected Impellitteri with drummer Ken Mary, they recorded "Grin and Bear It". This album saw a complete overhaul in personnel and featured a change in sound. The heavily neo-classical tracks were replaced by a more riff-based, song-oriented direction that was more in line with Van Halen and early Extreme. These heavy and catchy riffs were the backdrop for vocalists Rob Rock's powerful metal scream. The duo proved themselves to be a very strong song writing partnership and one that would blossom over subsequent releases.
Wright and Mary left the band immediately, so Impellitteri continued with bassist James Amelio Pulli and drummer Mark Bisteny. In 1993 they recorded the EP "Victim of the System" with guest appearances from former band members like Claude Schnell. The music was finally developing its own identity yet seemed like a better version of their first production.
In 1994 Ken Mary returned and Bistany had to leave in his favor. They recorded "Answer to the Master" and this album finally became the great success they had yearned for so long. At this time the band got reinforcement from keyboard player Edward Harris Roth and Glen Sobel.
"Victim of the System" and "Answer To The Master" followed in quick succession, and both are superb metal romps powered along by Impellitteri's metal finesse, Rock's classy vocals and drummer Ken Mary's explosive drumming.
But it was in 1996 "Screaming Symphony" release which really saw the band hit its stride and became one of the most acclaimed albums of the band. This album is home to one of Chris's finest instrumentals in "17th Century Chicken Picking" and Rob's majestic scream in "Rat Race".
Screaming Symphony led to a fanatical following in Asia and further underground praise around the world.
In 1997 they released yet another EP titled "Fuel For The Fire", in preparation for their next full-length album. The next year, they released another of their most acclaimed works "Eye of the Hurricane". "Eye Of The Hurricane" is perhaps the bands highlight with Rob Rock in the band. Containing 11 tracks of pure metal delight, this album is a fast, break-neck ride that only lets up briefly for the acoustic track, "On and On". But its the metallic majesty of tracks like "Eye of the Hurricane", "Shed Your Blood", "Master Of Disguise", "Paradise" and the neo-classical instrumental work out "Race Into the Light" that catch the attention.
In 2000 Impellitteri recorded "Crunch", which was the most experimental record yet with drum loops and samples ricocheting between the shredding guitar sounds Chris is so famous for. The band got even heavier with rip-roaring tracks like "Beware of the devil" and "Speed demon", the energy displayed is impressive with neo-classically tinted solos.
Shortly after, Rob Rock released his solo album which led Chris Impellitteri to recruit Graham Bonnet, and started working on his next album. In 2002, they finally released "System X". This is one delightfully metallic affair and not a thousand miles away from the sound displayed on "Stand In Line" (sonically its infinitely better). On the same year, the band also released a compilation of hits called "Faster Than The Speed Of Light - The Very Best of Impellitteri".
The union with Bonnet would be short-lived as they parted ways some time after, and Impellitteri recruited Curtis Skelton, finally releasing "Pedal To The Metal" in 2004, one of their most aggressive albums to date. This album saw a nice mix of the styles on offer from the bands back catalogue as well as some modern metal outings which work well with Chris's speed soloing.
Now in 2008, Impellitteri is back with the release of "WICKED MAIDEN" with Rob Rock on vocals.
