METALLIAN

October 10th, Anno 21

A Drug For All Seasons - 2005 - Cleopatra
The Reckoning - 2008 - OarFin

Members

Vocals

G.I.V.E., NUMM, Sick Speed>>DALE STEELE

Guitar

JOHN DAVIS - STEVE CONLEY>>Flotsam And Jetsam

Bass

Killers, Fallen Angels, Megadeth, Enemy Of God, Symphony In Red, Avian, Temple Of Brutality, Soulfly, Killing Machine, War Machine, Knight Fury, Angels Of Babylon>>DAVID ELLEFSON>>Angels Of Babylon, Enemy Of God, Avian, Temple Of Brutality, Killing Machine, War Machine, Symphony In Red, Megadeth, Altitudes & Attitude, The Lucid, Ellefson-Soto, Dieth, Kings Of Thrash, Overkill

Drum

Gray Ghost, Show Stoppers, Avian>>Dave Small>>Avian - Fiona, Alice Cooper, Mama's Boys, MD.45, White Lion, Y&T, Suicidal Tendencies, Megadeth, Stone Sour, Killing Machine, David Lee Roth, Ministry, Ronnie Montrose>>JIMMY DEGRASSO>>David Lee Roth, Ministry, Ronnie Montrose, Dokken, Black Star Riders

History & Biography

F5 was one of the bands former Megadeth bassist Dave Ellefson got involved with following his falling out with his former leader, Dave Mustaine. The band's name was neither inspired by a camera nor by a hi-tech company. It was actually a designation for a top-level tornado storm rating. Ellefson, a Minnesota native, would soon recruit Sick Speed's Dale Steele from the same state in 2002 and proceed to record a demo. The bassist had earlier produced demo material for Dale’s band NUMM. A deal with Deadline and Cleopatra would result in the Arizona band's debut, A Drug For All Seasons, to come out in mid-2005.

F5 guitarist Steve Conley was offering private guitar lessons in Arizona at Atomic Guitar Works as of 2008. F5 featured Megadeth drummer Jimmy DeGrasso. F5’s The Reckoning was out through OarFin Distribution in the summer of 2008. Bassist David Ellefson recorded tracks for The Alien Blakk’s next album in 2008, which was due in February of 2009. Conley joined Flotsam And Jetsam in 2014.

Reviews

F5 - A DRUG FOR ALL SEASONS - DEADLINE/CLEOPATRA
After three years of coverage and media speculation A Drug For All Seasons is some actual music from F5, the band of former Megadeth bassist Dave Ellefson. It is nothing like his former band. It is nether thrash metal nor deliberately commercial hit single fodder. The vocalist can sing.
Mainstream riffing is not foreign to F5 and the songs here have a lot of commercial potential, yet the album is never out of the hard rock range. The generally short songs on the album are reliable with real soloing, heavy backbone and a hard rocking, if controlled, metallic songwriting. There are also notable slow parts and Eastern medleys which alternate with loud outbursts meaning balanced demeanour in these cases. The singer, Dale Steele, has a slight nasal tang to him, but grunges the songs up more than anything. He certainly can belt it out.
A Drug For All Seasons might be a coincidentally appropriate title for this collection of songs. We will have to wait to see if it has a strong enough pusher behind it though. - Ali "The Metallian"

F5 - THE RECKONING - OARFIN
It must be difficult for a band to be neither the heaviest nor the softest. Being a hard rock or heavy metal band these days seems to be like getting caught between a rock and a hard place. The Reckoning features 11 songs that seem to have equal measure commercialism, heaviness, originality and repetitiveness. The guitars are solid, the rhythm section is competent and the vocals are skilled too yet tend to veer towards the grungy and mallcore side sometimes. All of which add up to make this a good and not so good album simultaneously. Rank And File for example is a well done song whose pace and accompanying vocals turn it into a solid heavy metal song. Others like Through Hell and Wake Up are catchy but then there is the title track that fails and is forgettable. The rest of the songs follow more of the same pattern leaving the listener the choice to decide if F5 have come up with an above or below average release. - Anna Tergel

Interviews