Iron Monkey (band)

Iron Monkey is an English sludge metal band that formed in Nottingham in 1994. The original members were Justin Greaves (drums, ex-Bradworthy), Johnny Morrow (vocals), Jim Rushby (guitar, ex-Ironside, Wartorn), Steve Watson (guitar, ex-Cerebral Fix) and Doug Dalziel (bass, ex-Ironside). The group's sound was influenced in particular by bands such as Grief, Black Sabbath and Eyehategod.

History

In 1996, Iron Monkey wrote a six-song album that was released on the small imprint Union Mill. It was reissued in 1997 when the group signed to Nottingham label Earache Records. Before the deal was made however guitarist Watson was fired and replaced by Dean Berry. The band's second release Our Problem received high acclaim. In July 1999, the band released a split CD/10" with Japanese doom metal band Church of Misery that was put out by Man's Ruin Records. The same year the band played the Dynamo Festival in the Netherlands and shortly after Jim Rushby left the band and was replaced by ex-Acrimony guitarist Stu O'Hara. Due to a variety of personal and industry problems the band split in September 1999.

Post-split

Justin, Jim and Johnny went on to form the short-lived Armour of God while Dean, Doug and Stu formed Dukes of Nothing. Steve has played in Cerebral Fix, Drown, Helvis and Raven's Creed. Johnny then formed My War and Murder One before suffering a fatal heart attack in the summer of 2002. Justin has since played in Borknagar, Silver Ginger Five, Hard To Swallow, Teeth of Lions Rule the Divine, Electric Wizard and now plays in Crippled Black Phoenix. Dean played in The Dukes of Nothing and Capricorns, while Stu went on to play in Black Eye Riot. He is now playing with Acrimony members in Sigiriya, a stoner rock band. Jim played in Hard to Swallow, Armour of God, Phantom Limb Management and Geriatric Unit.

Reunion

Iron Monkey reformed in January 2017 as a trio featuring Watson playing bass, Rushby singing and playing guitar, and new member Scott Briggs. The band wrote and recorded the album 9-13 which was released on Relapse records in October 2017. Scott Briggs was replaced on drums by Steven Mellor aka Ze Big from the band Widows in January 2018. On 5 April 2024 the band released their fourth studio album and first in seven years, 'Spleen & Goad'.

Members

Current members

• Jim Rushby – guitar (1994–1999, 2017–present), vocals (2017–present)
• Steve Watson – guitar (1994–1997), bass (2017–present)
• Steven "Ze Big" Mellor – drums (2018–present)

Former members

• Justin Greaves – drums (1994–1999)
• Johnny Morrow – vocals (1994–1999; died 2002)
• Doug Dalziel – bass (1994–1999)
• Dean Berry – guitar (1997–1999)
• Stu O'Hara – guitar (1999)
• Scott "Brigga" Briggs – drums (2017)

Timeline

<timeline> ImageSize = width:800 height:auto barincrement:19 PlotArea = left:80 bottom:60 top:0 right:0 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = mm/dd/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1994 till:05/14/2026 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy Legend = orientation:horizontal position:bottom ScaleMajor = increment:4 start:1994 ScaleMinor = increment:1 start:1995

Colors =

 id:vocals      value:red          legend:Vocals
 id:guitar      value:green        legend:Guitar
 id:bass        value:blue         legend:Bass
 id:drums       value:orange       legend:Drums
 id:album       value:black        legend:Studio_album

BarData =

 bar:Johnny     text:"Johnny Morrow"
 bar:Jim        text:"Jim Rushby"
 bar:Steve      text:"Steve Watson"
 bar:Dean       text:"Dean Berry"
 bar:Stu        text:"Stu O'Hara"
 bar:Doug       text:"Doug Dalziel"
 bar:Justin     text:"Justin Greaves"
 bar:Scott      text:"Scott Briggs"
 bar:Steven     text:"Steven Mellor"

LineData =

 at:09/22/1997 color:album layer:back
 at:08/24/1998 color:album layer:back
 at:10/20/2017 color:album layer:back
 at:04/05/2024 color:album layer:back

PlotData =

 width:11
 bar:Johnny    from:01/01/1994 till:09/01/1999 color:vocals
 bar:Jim       from:01/01/1994 till:09/01/1999 color:guitar
 bar:Jim       from:01/01/2017 till:end        color:guitar
 bar:Jim       from:01/01/2017 till:end        color:vocals width:3
 bar:Steve     from:01/01/1994 till:12/31/1997 color:guitar
 bar:Steve     from:01/01/2017 till:end        color:bass
 bar:Dean      from:12/31/1997 till:01/01/1999 color:guitar
 bar:Stu       from:01/01/1999 till:09/01/1999 color:guitar
 bar:Doug      from:01/01/1994 till:09/01/1999 color:bass
 bar:Justin    from:01/01/1994 till:09/01/1999 color:drums
 bar:Scott     from:01/01/2017 till:01/01/2018 color:drums
 bar:Steven    from:01/01/2018 till:end        color:drums

</timeline>

Discography

Albums

• Iron Monkey (Union Mill, 1996)
• Our Problem (Earache, 1998)
• 9-13 (Relapse, 2017)
• Spleen and Goad (Relapse, 2024)

Other

• We've Learned Nothing (Man's Ruin, 1999, split CD with Church of Misery and 10")
• Ruined by Idiots (Maniac Beast, 2003 compilation release)

External links

• Template:Allmusic
• Earache Records