CORPUS CHRISTI — Now in its second incarnation, Austin industrial metal act Skrew makes its first-ever Corpus Christi appearance with a headlining slot Saturday at Zero’s Hard Rock Club.

Local support includes Killamora, This Dying Dream and Push Button Anger.

Led by former Corpus Christi resident Adam Grossman, Skrew toured extensively and released four albums for the Metal Blade label in the ’90s before Grossman pulled the plug on the project in 1998.

Although Grossman’s musical career began in Austin as a member of the early ’80s hard-core band The Infected, the Skrew bandleader’s initial rise to national prominence began after he helped launched the Corpus Christi crossover hard-core band Angkor Wat with future Nine Inch Nails member Danny Lohner in 1986.

Angkor Wat’s energetic performances and increasingly technical songs helped the band ink a deal with the seminal California indie label, Metal Blade, several years later.

Grossman noted in an interview that Skrew’s debut album, Burning in Water, Drowning in Flame, was recorded in 1990 under the Angkor Wat name after the band relocated to Austin.

Given the act’s significant stylistic deviation from Angkor Wat’s original hard-core punk sound and the departure of several key members, Grossman said he and Lohner opted to release the album under a new name.

Grossman added that while the record enjoyed the support of industrial metal’s pioneering godfather, Ministry’s Alain Jourgensen, both Metal Blade and the marketplace initially were skeptical on whether Burning in Water would catch fire.

“Not a whole lot of people were doing heavy music with electronics at the time,” Grossman said. “We came from the hard-core scene with a crossover metal vibe and then we threw a bunch of samples and programmed drums and crazy machine sounds and all that and nobody knew what to do with it.”

Skrew’s fortunes, Grossman recalled, turned literally overnight after the national rock magazine Spin gave the album a positive review. Sales increased dramatically and the band found itself touring in Europe with established metal acts like Corrosion of Conformity and Prong.

Following Lohner’s departure in 1992, Grossman kept Skrew in the studio and on the road with the help of a rotating cast of supporting players until the guitarist/vocalist decided to move on to other projects in 1998.

Grossman, who contributed to the 2003 Ministry album, Animositisomina, said that while Skrew was never far from his mind in the years that followed, timing was key.

“I was always busy doing one thing or another and I guess it was 2009 that some people were like, it’s time to do this … you gotta do this, you gotta do this,” he said. “At the same time I had a break and I wasn’t doing anything creatively at the time and so I said maybe it was time to do it.”

Grossman said he took nearly a year to put the new lineup of Skrew together. The current roster includes former Dynamite Boy guitarist Dusty Kohn, guitarist Bill Ables, bassist Myke Bingham, programmer/percussionist Paul Gooch, drummer/programmer David Baxter and vocalist Ty Pickett.

Grossman noted that Skrew 2.0 leans heavily on a set of new songs that reflect a more politically-charged lyrical approach.

This time around, Grossman said he’s focused on enjoying the creative process itself.

“To be honest, my focus is doing it — that’s what I’m into,” he said. “So far I’m having a blast doing it and the people that are coming out to the shows are enjoying it. We’re playing to good crowds and that’s kinda the bottom line, really.”

http://www.caller.com/news/2012/mar/30/local-frontman-of-skrew-returns-to-corpus/

Sorry, “Skrew at the Jr.” isn’t the most FBI-friendly headline.

But no, Skrew. Skrew is here. A few songs in they took a break to mention how Austin was the “heart of evil” and (I’m paraphrasing here) Rick Perry is its pumping blood. Then they kicked back into the only kind of music that makes me feel exclusively 13.

Skrew (if you couldn’t have guessed by the heart of evil stuff and the name “Skrew”) is an industrial metal band that came together in the 90s with the epic ‘Burning in Water, Drowning in Flame’ (sample track title: ‘Orifice’). They disbanded in ’98, and frontman Adam Grossman went on to work a little with Ministry, but they got back together last month with a new political lean and a Scandinavian extreme metal sound, and holy sh*t, Skrew.

One of the most interesting aspects of their show is how oddly placed it seemed — The Jr and The Main stand on the bones of the old Emo’s location on Red River, so while bands like Quiet Company poured out their hearts in the Main, Skrew was pouring out bile next door. You could walk from one room to the other and feel the mood change. The voices changed, the volume changed, the girls in the front row changed clothes. A lot of hoodies turned into shaved heads in about 100 feet.

I will openly admit that I may not be Skrew’s target audience, but they certainly know what they’re doing. They didn’t Skrew up! The crowd loved them, too, and you can always tell because when they do the “we can’t hear you” bit, the wooing people speak up.

Also, ‘Orifice’ is a surprisingly emotional song.

http://www.uproxx.com/music/2012/03/uproxx-sxsw-skrew-at-the-jr/

Be sure to get there early to get free raffle tickets & BBQ courtesy of Myzz Phit!

No information on location or times has been released yet, but check out the schedule below..

SX SCHEDULE

Goodbye Emos!

This is a fundraising benefit for SKREW founder, Adam Grossman, who is instrumental in resurrecting the return of SKREW. Adam was diagnosed with kidney cancer and had his kidney removed prior to Thanksgiving. He is currently recovering and doing well. Our thoughts go out to him for a speedy recovery! In the meantime the rest of the band has gotten together to plan this benefit show to help raise money for him. Adam will be there also!

It is a free show but donations will be accepted.

We will also be conducting a raffle with some really cool stuff. $ 5 per ticket or better your chances and get (5) for $20.

100% of proceeds go to Adam. As you can imagine he needs help with medical expenses & lost wages.

This is also a memorable show as it will be the last show for SKREW at Emo’s which holds many memories for the band! Emo’s closes on 12/31/11.

Supporting bands include:
The Blood Royale
Mala Suerre
Beyond the Blood

THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT!

RISE!

’90′s industrial kingpins, Skrew, have stripped off their exoskeleton to reveal an unholy bastion of extreme metal for an Antichrist nation. This angry metal machine is back with more psalms of destruction in a world overwrought with flesh, blood, and technological demons.

The band SPIN magazine dubbed “the future of industrial noise” has metamorphosed into the soundtrack of your own metallic apocalypse. In an age where personal discourse is no longer civil, where obedience is forced upon the masses by the elite few, and nearly everyone’s scars and bruises are flayed out for the whole world to see, Skrew has managed to encapsulate the insanity that has all but become today’s norm.

Led by original founding member, Adam Grossman, and a collective of five intense and angry rogue soldiers, Skrew returns to lead the unwashed masses into an aural revolt against the status quo. The formidable, Paul Gooch oversees the congregation of hate. He is propped up on the broad shoulders of three guitarists Grossman, Bill Ables, and Dusty Kohn, standing on the foundation of bassist Myke Bingham, drummer David Baxter.

Skrew has already begun reigning chaos on the masses starting with the 2011 SXSW Music Festival. Predicted to be the “hardest band at SXSW” (About.com – Punk Music) and to bring the “serious metal” (MetalSucks), Skrew delivered. The band’s rousing set, (they shared the stage with former Pantera lead singer Philip Anselmo), was a resounding success. Chuck Loesch of 101X’s “No Control” Metal Show dubbed the band’s performance “fierce” and “intense,” while Metal Underground took note that the band’s “aggressive energy got a rise from the packed venue.”

Sure, the first incarnation of Skrew had the biggest selling debut album on Metal Blade Records at the time; was honored with having it’s 1994 release, Dusted, named one of the Top 10 Best Metal Albums by Guitar Player magazine; had its song, “She Said” on the Grammy Awards shortlist for Best Metal single in 1996; and had members recruited to join such multi-platinum acts as Ministry, Nine Inch Nails, and Rob Zombie. The newest incarnation of Skrew, however, is now the definitive version of what founder Adam Grossman always envisioned.

Fabryka Magazine’s editor Katarzyna “NINa” Gornisiewicz described it perfectly when she declared, “the new Skrew is like a Molotov cocktail of powerful vibes and revolted spirits.”

Skrew is ready to provide the score for the 2012 CampPain and beyond.

Revolt! Riot! Terrorize! SKREW!