Powerman 5000

Boston-based underground electro-metal outfit Powerman 5000 cultivated a devoted cult audience through their energetic fusion of comic-book-hero and sci-fi-infused punk, hard rock, and industrial metal. The long-running act first made waves with the 1999 platinum-selling Tonight the Stars Revolt!, then sustained momentum across subsequent releases including 2003’s Transform, 2014’s Builders of the Future, and 2024’s Abandon Ship.

Fronted by vocalist Spider—also known as Michael Cummings, Spider One, or MC Spider, and the younger brother of Rob Zombie—the group surfaced in the early ’90s. Local listeners responded strongly to the 1994 indie debut EP True Force and the 1995 full-length The Blood Splat Rating System, issued on Conscience Records. Two years afterward the band signed with Dreamworks, relocated to Los Angeles, and issued a reworked edition of their debut under the title Mega!! Kung Fu Radio.

Extensive touring alongside Marilyn Manson and Korn, plus an Ozzfest appearance, broadened their reach and paved the way for the 1997 science-fiction-inflected follow-up Tonight the Stars Revolt!. Throughout performances and promotional activities the members frequently appeared in spacesuits and additional sci-fi regalia. The album attained platinum status, propelled in part by MTV exposure for the singles “When Worlds Collide” and “Nobody’s Real.” Plans for an album titled Anyone for Doomsday? were abandoned, prompting the early-November 2001 exits of longtime bassist Dorian Heartsong (aka Dorian 27) and drummer Al Pahanish (aka Al 3). Drummer Adrian Ost (aka Ad7) joined a year later, followed by bassist Siggy Sjursen after roughly forty auditions before the close of 2002.

With Spider and veteran guitarists Adam Williams (aka Adam 12) and Mike Tempesta (aka M.33) now in place, Powerman 5000 delivered their fourth album, Transform, in spring 2003. The record reflected a shift toward a punk-driven, less industrial aesthetic and debuted at number 25 on the Billboard charts while spawning the hit “Free,” though Dreamworks folded during its promotional cycle. A 2004 rarities collection emerged on Spider’s Megatronic imprint; further personnel shifts preceded the next full-length. Williams and Tempesta departed, with Johnny Heatley and ex-Alien Ant Farm guitarist Terry Corso taking over guitar duties. A spring 2006 deal with DRT Entertainment led to the August release of Destroy What You Enjoy and subsequent road work.

Reconvening with an entirely new lineup—Spider One, guitarists Dave Piro (Velkro) and Evan Rodaniche (Evan 9), bassist Gustavo Aued (X51), and drummer Gordon Heckaman (GFlash)—the band returned to its industrial-metal roots on the sixth album, Somewhere on the Other Side of Nowhere, issued in 2009. A covers project, Copies, Clones & Replicants, followed in 2011 and triggered another round of changes as Piro, Rodaniche, and Heckaman exited. Guitarists Richard Jazmin (Zer0) and Nick Quijano (Sci55ors) along with drummer DJ Rattan (Rattan) stepped in and appeared on the seventh studio album, Builders of the Future, released in 2014. September 2017 brought the single “Sid Vicious in a Dress,” the first preview of New Wave, which surfaced the following October. The band then moved to Cleopatra Records for its eighth album, the 2020 industrial/electronica hybrid The Noble Rot. In 2024 they unveiled Abandon Ship, an apocalypse-themed collection that featured a reworked take on their 2001 hit “Bombshell!”