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Guitarist RON JARZOMBEK has long been heralded as one of the most innovative musicians in progressive metal circles. A native of San Antonio, TX, Jarzombek first made a name for himself while still in his teens when he joined local legends S.A. Slayer, with whom he recorded the 'Go For The Throat' album, released posthumously in 1988. In 1987, Ron hooked up with Austin-based fusion metal trailblazers WatchTower in time to record the genre-defining 'Control And Resistance' album ('89), lauded as one of "The Top Ten Shred Albums of the 80's" by Guitar World Magazine: "Sounding like the twisted scion of Metallica and the Mahavishnu Orchestra, WatchTower was the most brilliant weird band of its time. Guitarist Ron Jarzombek, with his complex harmony solos, strange scales and furious staccato lead bursts, performs tricks on his guitar that will leave you more than sufficiently breathless."
After successful European and American tours, WatchTower and Jarzombek's ascent came to a grinding halt when Ron had to undergo four consecutive hand surgeries, which took the better part of two years to fully heal. 1993 saw the inception of Jarzombek's current main project, Spastic Ink, (as in "crazy, written-out music"), also featuring brother/drummer Bobby Jarzombek (Iced Earth, Halford, Riot) and bassist Pete Perez (Riot). The resulting collaboration, 'Ink Complete', was released on the German Dream Circle label in early 1997 and re-issued in 2000 via the band's own EclecticElectric label. Running the gamut from gravity-defying stop-n-go workouts to lush cartoon-inspired soundscapes, most notably the 8-minute tour-de-force 'Mosquito Brain Surgery', and 'A Wild Hare', a partial musical adaptation of Disney's 1942 animation classic, 'Bambi', the album underscored Jarzombek's status as one of today's premier composers and instrumentalists in the world of progressive music.
1998 saw Jarzombek tackle 'Celebration on the Planet Mars' by 1930's cartoon music pioneer, Raymond Scott, for 'Happy Hour for a Pack of Screaming Monkeys', a tribute album put together by Oklahoma musician David Bagsby as well as contributing guest lead guitars on the self-titled Gordian Knot CD, a newly formed prog supergroup led by bassist/stick player, Sean Malone, and featuring members of Cynic, King Crimson, and Dream Theater.
On the homefront, Ron started work on a second Spastic Ink record, 'Ink Compatible', which, in addition to returning core members, Bobby Jarzombek and Pete Perez, featured an all-star supporting cast consisting of bassists Michael Manring (Michael Hedges, Attention Deficit), Sean Malone(Gordian Knot, Cynic), and Ray Riendeau (Halford, Machines Of Loving Grace), drummers Dave Penna (Static, Planet Hate), and Jeff Eber (Dysrhythmia), keyboardists Jens Johansson (Stratovarius, Yngwie Malmsteen), Jimmy Pitts (Scholomance, The Fractured Dimension), and David Bagsby (Xen, Patrick Moraz), Swedish vocalist Daniel Gildenlow (Pain Of Salvation), as well as former WatchTower band mates Doug Keyser (bass) and Jason McMaster (vocals).
Jarzombek also reunited with WatchTower for a handful of sold-out Texas shows, two of them opening for NYC prog kings Dream Theater in Dallas and Houston by special invitation, and a much talked about appearance at Germany's prestigious 'Bang Your Head!' festival in 2000. The band also commenced work on their long awaited third album, 'Mathematics', and released 'Demonstrations In Chaos', a compilation of rare recordings, including the first couple of demos with Jarzombek from 1987 that secured WatchTower's deal with Noise Records, now part of the Sanctuary Music Group.
In the fall of 2001, partly out of frustration over lack of finding capable musicians to finish recording basic tracks for the aforementioned 'Ink Compatible', Jarzombek decided to put his energies into a follow-up to 1999's 'PHHHP!', a collection of various demos, written and recorded without any outside help. Part math, part humor, and 100% ingenuity while touching on various musical styles and flavors, 'Solitarily Speaking of Theoretical Confinement' is a mind bending 45-part sonic journey that bears all the trademarks that have made Ron Jarzombek one of the most instantly recognizable guitarists around. Admirers included luminaries such as legendary producer/engineer, Neil Kernon (Queen, Kansas, Judas Priest), who proclaimed: "This album is nothing short of astonishing. Ron's virtuosity really shines through here, and the music, while rather technical at times, is presented very warmly with great feel and expression. I have to hand it to him - this is really something."
In the summer of 2003, Jarzombek, newly crowned 'Best Guitarist' by the readers of San Antonio's The Edge Magazine, crossed paths with acclaimed fellow guitarist Marty Friedman of Megadeth and Cacophony fame. Friedman was seeking players for his 'Music For Speeding' touring band and after auditioning via the internet, Ron was offered the gig. In September, Friedman and Jarzombek, along with drummer Jimmy DiGrasso (Megadeth, Suicidal Tendencies) and bassist Chris Catero (Razer, Wardog), set out on the 'Guitarevolution' tour with openers the Alex Skolnick Trio and Chris Poland's Ohm and completed a successful run throughout the US Southwest.
After numerous delays, Spastic Ink's sophomore disc, 'Ink Compatible', was finally released to great fanfare in early 2004, including a thumbs up from Dream Theater's Mike Portnoy who raved: "I've known these guys for a long time and they never cease to completely blow my mind!!!" On the live front, WatchTower returned to Europe after a 4-year absence to headline Holland's 'Headway Festival', a 2-day progressive metal gathering, while the Jarzombek/Friedman alliance reconvened later that summer with a one-off at 'The First World Guitar Congress' in Baltimore, MD, where the virtuoso tandem had the privilege of closing out the festivities alongside one of Ron's all-time musical heroes, Allan Holdsworth.
At present, Ron Jarzombek is involved with multimedia scoring for an upcoming animated film, continues work on WatchTower's 'Mathematics', and has also teamed up with Cannibal Corpse bass ace Alex Webster and Lamb Of God drummer Chris Adler in the tentatively named Machinations Of Dementia for what is sure to be one of the most anticipated instrumental extreme metal projects of 2006. Last but not least, Ron is once again joining Marty Friedman's band who are scheduled as one of the main acts at the massive 'Busan Rock Festival' in South Korea in early August.
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Discography:
* SPASTIC INK - 'Ink Compatible' (EclecticElectric / Marquee, 2004)
* RON JARZOMBEK - 'Solitarily Speaking of Theoretical Confinement' (Mr.Kitty, 2002)
* WATCHTOWER - 'Demonstrations In Chaos' (Monster, 2002)
* RON JARZOMBEK - 'PHHHP!' (Mr. Kitty, 1999)
* GORDIAN KNOT - 'Gordian Knot' (Sensory / Marquee, 1998)
* SPASTIC INK - 'Ink Complete' (Dream Circle, 1997 / EclecticElectric, 2000)
* WATCHTOWER - 'Control And Resistance' (Noise International, 1989)
* S. A. SLAYER - 'Go For The Throat' (Under Den Linden, 1988)
Compilations:
* 'A Tribute to Accept Vol.1' (Nuclear Blast, 1999) w/ WatchTower
* 'Happy Hour for a Pack of Screaming Monkeys - The Music of Raymond Scott' (Esotericity Music, 1998)
* 'Doomsday News 2' (Noise International, 1989) w/ WatchTower
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