Impellitteri is a heavy metal band from USA formed and led by guitarist Chris Impellitteri. Since inception, the band has released numerous albums to critical praise, mainly due to Chris Impellitteri’s speed/shred style of playing. The band’s style is often compared to Racer X, while Chris is compared to Yngwie Malmsteen.
Impellitteri’s line-up has varied through its career, featuring three lead singers: Rob Rock, Graham Bonnet, and Curtis Skelton (2003-2008). In 2009 Impellitteri released their new album Wicked Maiden with Rob Rock back on vocals.
Band
* Rob Rock – vocals
* Chris Impellitteri – guitar
* James Amelio Pulli – bass
* Edward Harris Roth – keyboard
* Glen Sobel – drums
Band history
Chris Impellitteri formed Impellitteri together with Rob Rock in Los Angeles, California.[when?] They released an EP Simply titled Impellitteri. The self-titled EP featured highly energetic heavy metal with fast, shredding guitar solos, and a powerful vocal performance by Rob Rock. The colloquially-dubbed Black EP was well-received and gained Chris Impelliteri international attention.
After the EP the band regrouped, this time with Graham Bonnet as lead singer, and released A semi-tribute album to the more famous metal vocalists of the era titled Stand In Line. MTV played Impellitteri’s music video for Stand In Line in its rotation, and Chris Impellitteri was a guest host on MTV’s Headbanger’s Ball. The fans voted Impellitteri a smash on MTV’s Smash or Trash show featured during the release of the album. The album charted in Billboards top 100 and remained there for over 5 months. However, Impellitteri stated The Black EP was Impellitteri’s style of music, and Stand in line was only intended to be a tribute to the legendary vocalists of the past’s music, and not as a traditional Impellitteri metal shred record. Impellitteri has submitted copyright claims to YouTube for postings of live footage from this era.
After some touring and label deals, Impellitteri returned (again with Rob Rock on vocals). They recorded and released the popular EP titled Victim of the System, which was produced by Mike Tacci who was the assistant engineer on Metallica’s Black album. In late 1994, they released Answer to the Master.
In 1996, Impellitteri released Screaming Symphony, which featured the legendary instrumental titled 17 Century Chicken Pickn. The record was mixed by highly-reputed producer Michael Wagner who had produced Metallica and Ozzy Osbourne in the past. The next year, they released another record titled: Eye of the Hurricane. In 2000 Impellitteri released Crunch.
Shortly after Crunch, Rob Rock decided to pursue a solo career and Impellitteri again recruited Graham Bonnet and began working on their next album. In 2002 they released System X. That year they also released a compilation of hits called The Very Best of Impellitteri: Faster Than the Speed of Light.
The reunion with Bonnet would be short-lived as they parted ways some time shortly thereafter. Impellitteri recruited Curtis Skelton, releasing Pedal to the Metal in 2004, displaying some of their most aggressive music to date.
In May 2008, it was announced that Rob Rock was, once again, back in Impellitteri. They collaborated on a new album called Wicked Maiden with a working title of Good and Evil.
Wicked Maiden was released on February 24, 2009, followed by the Impellitteri shredfest tour.
Studio Albums
* Stand in Line (1988)
* Grin and Bear It (1992)
* Answer to the Master (1994)
* Screaming Symphony (1996)
* Eye of the Hurricane (1997)
* Crunch (2000)
* System X (2002)
* Pedal to the Metal (2004)
* Wicked Maiden (2009)
Official MySpace www.myspace.com/Impellitteri
