Lethargy

One of the most technically advanced and uncompromisingly challenging bands in heavy metal history, Rochester, NY's Lethargy created music too ambitious for most earthling ears to cope with. But even though this made for a brief and largely unheralded career outside of muso circles, it ultimately bore fruit in some of its members' far more successful subsequent bands. Originally formed in 1992, Lethargy included vocalist/lead guitarist Erik Burke, bassist Adam Routier, drummer Bränn Dailor, and guitarist Bill Kelliher, who replaced short-lived predecessors Steve Nedwetsky and Brian Steltz in 1995. Already having a number of demos under their belts, the quartet released their only complete studio album, the impenetrably (or perhaps stupidly) titled It's Hard to Write with a Little Hand in 1996, and it's fair to say that, with the exception of the better-known Dillinger Escape Plan, its impossibly intricate math metal constructions were almost without peer during the late '90s. Certainly, no record company could come to grips with what the band was trying to achieve, and when Kelliher and Dailor were hired by Boston-based alt-metal maverick Steve Austin to become the new rhythm section of his groundbreaking ensemble Today Is the Day a few years later, the die was cast for what was to follow. Lethargy reunited just long enough to record a few final tracks, but would play their final show on Christmas night 1999. Kelliher and Dailor worked on one more Today Is the Day album -- 2000's Live Till You Die -- before relocating to Atlanta, GA, and hooking up with guitarist Brent Hines and bassist/vocalist Troy Sanders to found the widely acclaimed Mastodon. Lethargy bassist Adam Routier has yet to be heard from again, and, as for main man Erik Burke, after forming a new trio...