Melvins
Melvins was founded in
1984 in
Seattle as a
punk rock group. For
1988, the band
Nirvana and many other
Seattle-area bands, the Melvins' sludge was inspirational; the younger bands took the
Black Sabbath-styled heaviness of the Melvins, while adding an equally important pop song structure, which the group tended to lack. While all of their disciples became famous after
Nirvana broke big in
1991 (including
Mudhoney, who featured former Melvins bassist, Matt Lukin), the Melvins only expanded their cult slightly. In addition to their Melvins activities, Buzz Osbourne joined
Mike Patton (and former
Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo and
Mr. Bungle bassist Trevor Dunn) for the experimental outfit
Fantômas, resulting in a pair of releases thus far (
1999's
Fantômas debut and
2001's
The Director's Cut), while the Melvins' latest bassist, Kevin Rutmanis, joined Mike Patton in another side project,
Tomahawk.
