Andrew Lee – everything. This is often the band member information on a project by Andrew Lee if you’re browsing metal-archives.com. While he’s capable of being a one-man band for every project he creates, the San Jose-based modern guitar virtuoso can’t do it all on his own all the time, though, as seen with the numerous projects he has under his belt.
The most well-known, and most likely the reason you started reading this, is the death metal band Ripped to Shreds, but there is more to Mr. Lee than that, as the musician has a taste for composing for extreme genres like anime grind, neo-classical mincecore and goregrind. With that in mind, let’s explore the various projects of the co-owner of Nameless Grave Records and owner of Outrageous Weeb Power Productions, Mr. Andrew Lee.
Ripped to Shreds
If Mr. Lee can be compared to Devin Townsend, then Ripped to Shreds may very well be his Strapping Young Lad. It’s what he is best known for and what he will probably be best associated with for years to come. If only one could look into a crystal ball and see if Andrew will put an end to RTS in five years and focus solely on mellower, shrapnel-less Andrew Lee Project projects. Lee’s latest RTS album, 劇變 (Jubian), represents a high point in his career, with the album being acclaimed by both critics and fans. Along with his continuing effort to bring subjects like the Mukden Incident and being a minority in America to the light, it saw him teaming up once again with artist Guang Yang, who when teamed with Lee, produces work that is undeniably Chinese, though is universally understood.
Andrew Lee’s Heavy Metal Shrapnel
Lee goes full-blown Guitar Hero with Heavy Metal Shrapnel, a project which has allowed him to flex his power metal muscles and press down on those strings with so much magic that if his pink guitar had a head, it would probably blast right off. There is currently one Heavy Metal Shrapnel full-length out (via Nameless Records) and a split with First Fragment (the song “Death’s Embrace” featuring vocals by Mark Boals of Yngwie Malmsteen fame) and comparisons to Malmsteen are sound with this disc – being probably the best showcase of Lee’s playing ability to this date.
Houkago Grind Time
Andrew Lee, a young, carefree student entering high school, has his imagination instantly captured when he sees a poster advertising “Houkago Grind Time.” At first, Lee has no experience playing musical instruments or reading sheet music, but he eventually becomes an excellent guitar player. From then on, Lee, along with his classmates, spend their school days practicing, performing, and hanging out together. Okay, that was the synopsis for the anime K-On! which Houkago Grind Time was inspired by. For this anime-grind project, Lee turns up the ferocity and performs everything. Unlike other anime-related bands, Lee has a strong sense of awareness and the project simultaneously celebrates and makes fun of being a weeb. It sounds violent, though also shuns the needless gore and nudity found in other Japan-worship bands.
Emphysematous Excretion of Gangrenous Debridement
Mr. Lee double-teams the genre of anime grind with fellow guitarist Hagamoto (Fake Metal, Extremely Brutal) for this fecal matter-themed journey though the septic tanks where the filthiest hentai was used as toilet paper and floats around waiting for the duo to gluttonously consume. ExExGxDx really proves, though, that Lee can create goregrind that stands with the best of them. Currently, the project has two split albums out (on Lee’s Outrageous Weeb Power Productions) – I look forward to their appearance on Obscene Extreme one of these years.
Archaganini
Lee takes it upon himself to perform everything once again for Archaganini, a mincecore project which adds a pinch of neo-classical to the big, maggot infested meatball. Lee isn’t shy about showing his Malmsteem worship here, with songs like “Y is for Yngwie” just begging the guitar legend to sit down and to take a listen to Lee’s split with First Days of Humanity. His split with Houkago Grind Time is like an Andrew Lee version of Inception, with Andrew Lee guesting on songs by both bands that are made up of sole member Andrew Lee.
Azath
Lee joins some guild members from across the lands for a fantasy-inspired death metal quest with Azath, a death metal band with members from Oregon, California and even Canada. Inspired by Steven Erikson’s Malazan Book of the Fallen series of 10 fantasy novels, Azath began in 2018 and have released one full-length album so far (2020’s Through a Warren of Shadow). Check out their recent split with Nucleus while waiting for the next nine.
Reaver
Lee teams up with fellow Azath member Brandon Corsair for this two-man power trip, Reaver. The duo has released the 10-minute Butchery From Beyond! demo which sees Lee picking up the bass (in addition to lead guitar and drums) and treating those thick strings like they ran over his pet dog. Their most recent release is a split with Hell Possession, Death Racer and Terok Nor, out on Dying Victim Productions (who also released their demo).
Skullsmasher
Powerman 5000’s Spider One once said “Rockets and robots can save your life.” Skullsmasher’s Rocket Hammer Brain Surgery might just as well. With 15-minutes of clunky-machines-on-meth-robogrind, any machine doing brain surgery on you is sure to be inspired by this disc. Human Obliteration drum obliterator Jimi Hughes assists Mr. Lee for this one, though true to the theme, a drum machine was programmed to senselessly bash out beats for some of the material.
Serpent Rider
To round out the bands, doom metal band Serpent Rider will be the conclusion here. Lee was a member of the band until 2021, doing guitar, drum and bass duties for the doom metal band. The band currently have Draghkar members Brian Verderber and Drake Graves performing bass and drums, respectfully. For other past bands Mr. Lee has been a part of, check out Ghul and Disincarnation.
The Weeb Dungeon
This section refers to Mr. Lee’s work not as a musician, but with mixing, mastering, producing and recording other bands. From within this anime pinup-plastered dungeon, Lee has worked meticulously since 2017, assisting bands like Draghkar, Dungeon Serpent, Infected Religion, Plague Bearer and Sordid Blade. Mr. Lee is just a phone call away if your band is in need of sounding more ripped or shredded.https://theweebdungeon.bandcamp.com/album/weeb-dungeon-demo-reel
