San Francisco Bay Area metallers SEVERED FIFTH have enlisted DEFIANCE guitarist Jim Adams. According to a press release, the band plays "rhythmic pumping metal fused with rippingly fast thrash, and underlined with machine-gun double-bass drums and a mixture of powerful vocals and growls."

Leader Jono Bacon has issued a band update:

"Recently I have been in the process of putting the wheels in motion for a Severed Fifth live band. As many of you will know, traditionally Severed Fifth has been an entirely solo driven project where I wrote, performed, recorded, and promoted the music entirely myself. It has always been part of my plan to put together a live band and get out there and take Severed Fifth on the road, and in the last few weeks this has turned from a plan to a reality. Let me give you the story.

A few weeks ago I was at an airport and bumped into Chris Kontos (ex-MACHINE HEAD, TESTAMENT, KONKHRA) who was on his way back home to Oakland from his European tour with Attitude Adjustment. We got chatting (largely because Chris was one of my influences as a drummer, and my old band Seraphidian used to cover Machine Head’s Davidian from Burn My Eyes) and I talked to him about Severed Fifth. Chris was keen for us to follow up when we got home and he said he knew some musicians who might be interested in joining Severed Fifth. As such, I sent him some tunes to give him an idea of the music, and he recommended a guitarist called Jim Adams who he felt would be a good fit.

I headed over to Jim’s home studio on Saturday to audition him, and it was instantly a good match. We worked through a few Severed Fifth songs, talked about the direction of the band, our philosophy of great music and great bands, and what ingredients we felt we needed for success. Not only did we knit well musically, but we knitted really well as friends, and I think Jim is going to bring so much to Severed Fifth, both musically and personality-wise. Jim is also hugely motivated by the Free Culture nature of Severed Fifth and giving our fans free access to our music."

For more info visit Severed Fifth's MySpace Page.