I admit I had been slack picking up the new 8 Foot Sativa tracks, I had seen all the online posts but was skeptical that maybe they had seen their best days after all the line up changes over the years, The Shadow Masters put those worries to rest quickly.
With original frontman Jackhammer and Brent Fox (bass and formerly of Sinate) back in the band and with the addition of a new lead guitarist (Nik Davies) 8 Foot is back at what they do best ~ in your face, aggressive metal with plenty to prove.
The Shadow Masters is the 2nd track to be released on line from the forthcoming album of the same name.
From the opening of the track the presence of Davies (lead guitar) is made clear by his tasteful melodic lead work and Jackhammer's raw guttural scream is welcomed back after a long break from the band. As to be expected the production is as good as any international band of the same genre but rather than going abroad to achieve this (as they did on previous efforts) they set up camp in Christchurch to record with UK based kiwi engineer Clint Murphy.
Both the musicians and Murphy have produced something very worth while here and is a great reintroduction to old fans of the band that should equally win them many more over.
Exploding out of West Auckland in 1998, 8 Foot Sativa have gone from being a local band playing every week, to becoming the premier Metal band in New Zealand.
They are the first metal band in NZ to crack out of the small scene and bring New Zealand Heavy Metal to mainstream Kiwi's doorsteps, with the song 8 Foot Sativa staying at number 1 for three months and eight months in the charts. They have also had success overseas, in Australia, USA and Europe. With their first album Hate Made Me achieving Gold Record status, the follow up with Season for Assault, which established 8 Foot Sativa as a household name. Since then they have released 4 more albums Breed The Pain, Poison Of Ages, The Shadow Masters and 10 Years Of Sativa.
8 Foot Sativa have played with the big names of metal including Pantera, Motorhead, Korn, Children of Bodom, Disturbed, Soul Fly, Shihad and Corrosion of Conformity. They have had 2 Big Day Out appearances on the main stage, sharing the stage with Slipknot, Metallica and System of a Down.