Critical Mass: Old School Heavy Metal

Critical Mass is old school heavy metal. The band was formed by Andy Austin (formerly of Liquid Rainbow) in 1983 in Murfreesboro, Tennessee (just south-east of Nashville), and disbanded in 1988 (Andy went on to form Numb Skull in 1990). This web page will document the history of the band and provide updates concerning the restoration project of studio and live performance recordings.

Critical Mass produced several analog recordings of its music. These are being digitized, restored, and remixed, with limited contemporaneous tracking. Several album-length CDs are scheduled for production:

A Real Witch (1983)
Audio-Visual (1983)
Live (1984)
Strings Attached (1984)
Death Dealer (1985)
Seize Control (1986)
Take No Prisoners (1988)

Personnel through the years:

Andy Austin guitar, vocals, drum machine (1983-1988)
Karen Austin vocals, drum machine (1983, 1984, 1988)*
Kurt Wallenhorst bass, drum machine (1983)**
Lee McKee vocals (1984)***
Lance Hill bass (1983-1985)
John Pope drums (1983-1985)
Zane Carroll bass, vocals (1985-1986)
Dylan Vaughn drums (1985-1986)
Robert McNair bass, vocals (1986)
Tommy Stotler drums (1988)

* Karen appears on A Real Witch, vocals on "Heat of Travel," Strings Attached, drum machine and vocals on "One Last Knock," and Take No Prisoners, vocals on "One More Dollar."
** Kurt appears on A Real Witch, bass and drum machine on two tracks.
*** Lee appears on Strings Attached, vocals on "One Last Knock" and "Elephant Boy."