Superheist are an Australian nu metal band formed in 1993 by mainstay guitarist and backing vocalist DW Norton. They have released five studio albums, the first two, The Prize Recruit (2001) and Identical Remote Controlled Reactions (2002), reached the top&nbsp;20 on the ARIA albums chart Four singles, "Crank the System" (2000), "Bullet" (2001), "7 Years" and "A Dignified Rage" (both 2002) peaked in the ARIA singles chart top&nbsp;50. At the ARIA Music Awards of 2001 their producer-engineer Kalju Tonuma was nominated for Producer of the Year and Engineer of the Year<!-- award nominations verified in main text --> for The Prize Recruit. At the 2002 ceremony, Norton and Adam Rhodes were nominated for Engineer of the Year for "A Dignified Rage". They disbanded in 2004. After a twelve-year hiatus, Norton reformed Superheist with new members. Their third studio album Ghosts of the Social Dead (2016) reached No.&nbsp;3 on the AIR Charts. They issued two non-charting studio albums, Sidewinder (May 2019) and MMXX (July 2022). Founding drummer Sean Pentecost died in 2020.

History

thumb|upright|The group's logo

Formation and early period (1993–1996)

Superheist were formed in the Melbourne suburb of Frankston, Victoria in 1993.

Identical Remote Controlled Reactions (2002–2004)

thumb|right|Identical Remote Controlled Reactions line-up

In 2002 Superheist played several major festivals in Australia including a main stage slot on the Big Day Out in Gold Coast, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth in January–February. Biro won over fans with heartfelt performances and powerful voice. The group began work on their second album, Identical Remote Controlled Reactions (September 2002). Sean Kemp of Oz Music Project described their set, "Biro (Vocals) does it better than previous front man [McLeod]. He works the crowd with more superiority, has an instinctive feel and fits in well with [Norton] who is in charge of guitar and harmonies." In July of that year the band travelled to the US for another tour. They played shows at the Viper Room, the Roxy and several showcases but were unable to sign a major international record deal. They returned to Australia and undertook east coast tours. On 8 August they recorded a live set at the Corner Hotel, Richmond. Whereas the band delivered a "mix of hard rock, punk and edgy electro-influenced sounds". Joining Dedman and Norton were former Electrik Dynamite drummer Benny Clark as Pentecost was unable to rejoin for personal reasons. In August they released the album's lead single, "Hands Up High" and related video. It was issued on Norton's own label, Black Mountain Music after he recorded and mixed it at his Black Mountain Sound Studio. Sidewinder is a continuation from the "Raise Hell" release with its use of 8 string guitars. In April 2019 the line up of Durrant, Gotcher, Norton, Ox and Sankey undertook the inaugural HeistFest tour of Australia with Alaskan metalcore band, 36 Crazyfists. On 1 July 2020, Ox announced, through social media, that he had left Superheist. Founding Superheist drummer Sean Pentecost died on 18 August 2020 after some years of poor health.

In December 2020, Superheist's social media revealed a song, "Medicated", before removing it several hours later, and announced that their next album MMXX was expected in February 2021. Later in December 2020, they released a track, "Seize the Day", which was dedicated to Sean "Seanheist" Pentecost. It was provided as a free digital download on Bandcamp. It has both Norton and Durrant on lead vocals and also features former member Dedman on bass guitar. The release of MMXX was delayed until July 2022.

Members

Current members

Studio members

  • DW Norton&nbsp;– guitar ; lead vocals ; backing vocals
  • Simon Durrant&nbsp;– bass guitar ; unclean vocals
  • Keir Gotcher&nbsp;– guitar
  • John Sankey&nbsp;– drums

Touring members

  • Andy Sorenson&nbsp;– keyboards

Past members

Studio members

According to sources:

|-

! scope="row"| The Prize Recruit

|

  • Released: 16 April 2001
  • Label: Pivotal Records/Shock Records <small>(PIVOTAL0001)</small>
  • Formats: CD, digital download

| 12

|-

! scope="row"| Identical Remote Controlled Reactions

|

  • Released: 9 September 2002
  • Label: Pivotal/Shock <small>(PIVOTAL0002)</small>
  • Formats: CD, digital download

| 20

|-

! scope="row"| Ghosts of the Social Dead

|

  • Released: 28 October 2016
  • Label: Dinner for Wolves
  • Formats: LP, CD, digital download

| 52

|-

! scope="row"| Sidewinder

|

  • Released: 3 May 2019
  • Label: Black Mountain Music
  • Formats: CD, digital download

| —

|-

! scope="row"| MMXX

|

  • Released: 1 July 2022
  • Label: Black Mountain Music
  • Formats: CD, digital download

| —

|-

|colspan="3" style="font-size:90%"| "—" denotes an album that did not chart.

|}

Compilation albums

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;" border="1"

|+ List of compilation albums

! scope="col" rowspan="1" style="width:12em;"| Title

! scope="col" rowspan="1"| Details

|-

! scope="row"| New, Rare, Live

|

  • Released: 15 November 2004

| Sidewinder

| Best Independent Heavy Album or EP

|

|-

ARIA Music Awards

The ARIA Music Awards are an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of Australian music. Superheist has received three nominations.

References

  • Superheist at rateyourmusic.com
  • Superheist at last.fm
  • Ausmetal guide to Superheist