Watchtower | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Austin, Texas, U.S. |
| Genres | |
| Years active |
|
| Labels |
|
| Spinoffs | |
| Members | Doug Keyser Rick Colaluca Ron Jarzombek Jason McMaster |
| Past members | Billy White Mike Soliz Alan Tecchio |
Watchtower is an American progressive metal band based in Austin, Texas, active from 1982 to 1993 and they have reunited occasionally since 1999.[1] The band has released two studio albums―Energetic Disassembly (1985) and Control and Resistance (1989)―as well as one compilation album, four digital singles, one EP and three demo cassettes, and has been featured on numerous compilation albums. They are also notable for featuring vocalist Jason McMaster, who left Watchtower after the release of Energetic Disassembly to form Dangerous Toys, and was replaced by Alan Tecchio, who appeared on Control and Resistance and the band's 2016 EP Concepts of Math: Book One. After leaving the band once again in 2010, McMaster returned to Watchtower for the second time in 2023.
Influenced by progressive rock and the then-burgeoning new wave of British heavy metal scene,[2] Watchtower has been credited (along with Voivod and Coroner) for helping pioneer the subgenre of "technical thrash metal" (also known as "progressive thrash metal"), which mixed elements of progressive music with thrash/speed metal.[1][2] The band has also been cited as having influenced or inspired many notable progressive or heavy metal acts, including Testament, Dream Theater, Death, Annihilator, Coroner, Atheist, Pestilence, Cynic, Symphony X, Devin Townsend, Toxik, Sieges Even and Spiral Architect.[1][3][4][5]