Black Tusk

Black Tusk was born from sweat. There was blood, and maybe a few tears, too, but more than anything, it was sweat that marked the earliest years of Savannah, Georgia’s Black Tusk. Formed in 2005 by three lifelong friends—bassist Jonathan Athon, guitarist Andrew Fidler, and drummer James May—the band welded together a three-pronged vocal attack, dirty punk, sludgy heavy metal, and a big fat dose of Motorhead to create what they called “swamp metal.” The name stuck, and the sound spread as they hit the ground running and toured hard on their first EP, 2005’s rough’n’ready When Kingdoms Fall. They kept up a manic pace, recording two more demos (2006’s untitled demo and 2007’s The Fallen Kingdom. Hyperrealist signed on to release their 2008 debut LP, 2008’s Passage Through Purgatory, and 2009 saw them churn out a trio of splits with the likes of The Holy Mountain, ASG, and Fight Amp. Soon after that, the heavyweights at Relapse Record came calling.