Review by Greg on June 23, 2025.

Do you roll your eyes whenever you come across the words 'super' and 'group' stitched together? Good news for you! Wait, maybe not. Category 7 is yet another project of this kind, presenting a self-titled debut full-length in mid-2024. Allow me to skip the obligatory wall of text containing all the bands the members have ever appeared in, as their names will surely suffice on their own: Jason Bittner, Phil Demmel, Mike Orlando, Jack Gibson, John Bush. See?

Now, whether Category 7 was born out of contractual agreements, or it's just a reminder that these beasts of musicians are simply human beings and want to have fun once in a while, the end result won't be a surprise for the average listener regardless. More or less safe thrash was my pick, and it wasn't that far from the truth. The production is obviously uber-polished, with the drums being the literal furthest thing from natural-sounding I can imagine, albeit still not able to diminish the impact of Bittner's utterly destructive (over)playing. Likewise, all the solos are technically impressive, some of them even legitimately amazing (heaven knows how many times I could replay that one in 'Apple of Discord', for example). About Bush, well, what can I say by now? Those who already love him will feel right at home, while those who loathe him won't change their minds at gunpoint.

That's all you need to know, isn't it? But let's dive deeper into Category 7. Its initial half isn't bad, in all honesty. 'In Stitches' and 'Exhausted' are decent thrashers propelled by Bittner's atomic drumming, but I felt the band shine the most within slower territories like 'Land I Used to Love', which makes full use of Bush's almost grunge bravado in the great chorus. Glorious solo aside, 'Apple of Discord' isn't too dissimilar, and both are tracks I'd recommend for a couple listens at least. Sadly, the rest of the full-length soon devolves into those by-the-numbers heavy/groove hybrids I was fearing at the beginning, with (almost) nothing to break its fall. Lyrics are clearly banalities sold by the pound, with the unintentional gem provided by 'Like a runaway truck... WHO CLEARLY DON'T GIVE A FUCK!' which might be the new worst line I've ever heard. Come on, I know Bush has already got several terrible Anthrax albums under his belt, but I can't fathom how he didn't feel embarrassed to sing out these lines. I know I did, just by typing them. Oh well.

Nevertheless, I pointed out an 'almost'. 'Waver at the Breaking Point' is a different, percussion-driven number and the true highlight of the album, crowned with a refrain that somehow makes me feel in the middle of the suboptimal scene depicted on the artwork, as well as a fantastic title. Closer 'Etter stormen' (Norwegian for 'After the Storm') is also remarkable, an 8-min instrumental that gets crazier and crazier as time goes by, although the last three minutes started to feel a bit redundant. It almost seems like an attempt to write their 'The Devil Went Down to Georgia' or whatever – suffice to say I'm eagerly waiting for someone to chart it on Clone Hero...

Honestly speaking, Category 7 is likely to be the umpteenth project of this kind that will die out in a year due to the members' commitments with their main bands. In light of this, they also could have done so much worse than this. I mean, the three solid songs were a grand total of three more than I expected, after all, and 'Etter stormen' was also a fun, late highlight. Worth a passing spin with all due caveats.

Rating: 6.2 out of 10

Review by Jeger on July 30, 2024.

A supergroup… yay… Category 7 - formed in 2023 with the mighty, I mean overrated John Bush (Armored Saint, ex-Anthrax vocalist) at the helm and Phil Demmel (ex-Vio-lence, ex-Machine Head guitarist), Mike Orlando (Adrenaline Mob guitarist), Jack Gibson (Ex-Exodus bassist) and Jason Bittner (Overkill, Shadows Fall drummer). On paper? Still doesn’t sound so great… I mean yeah, it’s more-than-likely a will-be thrill ride complete with ridiculous levels of high-octane riffing, tempestuous percussive onslaughts, and John Bush in all of his one-dimensional sub-glory, but I’ve run out of shit to review, so I guess I’ll give this one a fair go. Starting fresh here. Should at least be a fun one. Ready? Let’s get into it… Category 7 was released on July 26, 2024 via Metal Blade.

Let’s be clear: utmost respect for all parties involved, and John? Swell guy and a class act, important has he been to heavy and thrash metals, just don’t understand what all the fuss is about. Like the Paul Rodgers of heavy metal… Phil Demmel? A thrash and groove icon who’s proven to be a pretty tough dude through some career adversity, and the embodiment of pretty much everything American metal stands for has he been, as have also Mike and Jack, but it’s Bittner who should really have a field day here - pretty much the greatest percussionist outside of Chris Adler to emerge out of the New Wave of American Heavy Metal - a fucking machine behind the kit.

Okay, so you’re definitely better off watching the visualizers than listening to the audio. Who wouldn’t enjoy watching legends at work? Striking visuals and no bullshit, dude, just the fucking band in this vids:'Apple Of Discord', 'Mousetrap', 'In Stitches' and 'Exhausted' - a little less is more here in the music video department to offset such flamboyant compositions. Yeah, not into it… Fucking lame like modern-day Exhorder as you can just feel the manufactured aggression. It’s all power stances and stage moves that these guys have been working on for the entirety of their careers set to boring, bordering on cheesy hard rock sleaze heavy metal. You know that lame as fuck Sirius radio station Octane? This shit fits right in there with Five Finger Death Punch and Ill Nino. Exponentially more talented but equally disappointing. Bittner? Having that field day and sounding great. EVERYONE sounds great and that’s the problem. Zero elements of heart & soul and devoid of character like the neighborhood in Edward Scissorhands (film 1990) or any one of those new developments where there are no trees, the houses all look the same and they’re all way too close to one another. You can definitely bang your head to this shit, and for those of a lesser-tier level of extreme metal connoisseurism, that’s all that matters, but for the snob, this shit is just like ear poison. Completely sanitized and Phil is really the only formidable weapon here; the only one possessing of any kind of testicular fortitude or imagination.

Where’s the shred? Where’s the triumph and that hold-my-beer moment that should transpire at some point during every track on this album? Deeper cuts like 'Waver At The Breaking Point' and 'Through Pink Eyes' both deliver such limp-dick choruses and vanilla compositions that you’ll most likely pull the plug at some point during the latter. Flashes of talent during every solo and that’s really it. Without the solos and without Bittner, this is one shit thrash / heavy metal album. Trash with ‘em, just not shit. Let me just cut this lambasting short right now, because it honestly doesn’t feel good to butcher such iconic artists and their album that they no doubt had a blast recording and put some fairly hard work into. 

The closing track, 'Etter Storman' - this is what the entire record should’ve sounded like. Don’t hold back when you’ve got a fucking circus of talent at your disposal: shock, obliterate, eviscerate and awe, man, you only live once. Glad I stuck around for the more-than-worthy grande finale. Downright otherworldly shit going down here as opposed to the entirety of the rest of this mundane record. Back to your bands, guys, epic fail, and what’s the deal with the logo/cover art? Is that a metal album or the next Sharknado movie? For shame… Watch the videos, don’t listen to the album. Or do, they’re your ears… 

Captivation: 5/10
Concept: 4/10
Cover Art: 3/10
Production: 7/10
Revisitability: 5/10

Rating: 5 out of 10