NEW SUPERGROUP? PAUL WAGGONER + CHRIS ADLER + KEITH MERROW

(BTBAM photo credit: Andrew Lipovsky)

Here’s a fun little tidbit to get the metalsphere salivating this afternoon: The Number of the Blog is reporting that MetalSucks-fave multi-instrumentalist Keith Merrow is teaming up with Lamb of God drummer Chris Adler and Between the Buried and Me axeman Paul Waggoner on a new side project. I contacted Keith this morning for comment, and here’s what he had to say about it:

As of right now, it’s a very casual collaboration. We have 3 or 4 song ideas we’ve tossed around over the past few months, and they are all really cool. Very different from any music you’d hear from each of us, individually. All of us are pretty busy these days, but this is a collaboration that we are all really excited about!

“Supergroups” often end up being less than the sum of their parts, but this particular collaboration doesn’t worry me at all in that regard. Adler and Waggoner both have their day jobs in way bigger bands, so this project sounds like a fun thing for them to do on the side without any commercial ambitions; it sounds like they’re genuine fans of Keith’s and wanted to work with him for shits and giggles. I have no idea what Keith Merrow’s actual day job is (I’m assuming he doesn’t live off the money he makes selling his music, and I know he doesn’t tour), but Keith’s solo records will continue to be his bread and butter; Keith actually has the most to gain here from having his name exposed to Lamb of God and BTBAM fanboys. For the most part, though, this project just strikes me as being for the fun of it, and I certainly can’t wait to hear it.

Merrow is also working on a death metal side-project called Demisery, although no release date has yet been announced.

-VN