Asg

Formed in Wilmington, North Carolina, during 2001, the hard-charging Southern rock outfit ASG adopted the high-velocity name and guiding principle "All Systems Go." The group channeled the high-voltage force of stoner metal, channeling the propulsive drive of Queens of the Stone Age, and issued several recordings through Volcom Entertainment under the guidance of producer Matt Hyde, among them Feelin' Good Is Good Enough (2005) and Win Us Over (2007), before moving to Relapse Records for the 2013 release Blood Drive and the 2018 album Survive Sunrise.

The original lineup—Jason Shi handling vocals and guitar, Andy Ellis on bass, Scott Key behind the drums, and Jonah Citty on guitar—fused a powerful combination of punk, southern rock, and stoner metal, prompting comparisons to Queens of the Stone Age, Torche, and Kyuss. After issuing a self-released debut/demo bearing the band’s name in 2002, ASG secured a Volcom deal and delivered the proper first album, Amplification of Self Gratification, in 2003. The hard-hitting Feelin’ Good Is Good Enough followed in 2005 as the band’s initial Matt Hyde production (Slayer, Monster Magnet). Win Us Over arrived in 2008 and included Dwarves vocalist Blag Dahlia on the track “Palm Springs.” A retrospective collection plus assorted split releases appeared in subsequent years, yet an extended interval preceded the next full-length. Following their late-2011 signing to Relapse Records, two additional years passed before the fifth album emerged.

Blood Drive, the first Relapse long-player, surfaced in 2013; once more with Hyde producing, it spotlighted the songs “Day’s Work” and “Scrappy’s Trip.” Their sixth studio effort, Survive Sunrise, reached listeners in 2018 after another prolonged wait.