Despite supergroups often being cheesy, ego-massaging projects for all involved, fans have been treated to various highlights in this realm. Whether it be the greatest supergroup of all time, CSNY, or other outfits such as Blind Faith, Temple of the Dog and Them Crooked Vultures, supergroups have found their own unique place within the music industry.

One of the most interesting yet strangely overlooked supergroups came in the form of Roadrunner United. Perhaps the most expansive supergroup ever assembled, it featured the who’s who of metal’s most eminent figures. The heavy metal label Roadrunner organised the project to celebrate its 25th anniversary in 2005. This culminated with an album, The All-Star Sessions, which arrived in October of that year.

Showcasing the scope of the project, four “team captains” were selected to lead 57 artists from 45 past and present Roadrunner acts to produce and oversee the 18 tracks comprising The All-Star Sessions. The four captains were then-Slipknot drummer Joey Jordison, frontman and guitarist of Trivium Matt Heafy, Fear Factory guitarist Dino Cazares, and Machine Head’s frontman and guitarist Robb Flynn. 

Split into categories of vocalists, guitarists, bassists, drummers and keyboardists/programmers, the extensive list of metal heroes included is remarkable. Joining their respective team captains, vocalists include Type O Negative’s towering frontman Peter Steele, Glassjaw’s resident screamer Daryl Palumbo, and Max Cavalera of Sepultura and Soulfly.

For guitarists, fans were spoilt for choice, with Slipknot’s Jim Root, Machine Head’s Logan Mader and Jeff Waters of Anhiliator all providing hair-raising moments. Track six, ‘Tired ‘n Lonely’, a Jordison song, sees Root link up with Life of Agony vocalist Mina Caputo to a scintillating effect. 

Elsewhere, bassists such as Slipknot’s late Paul Root and Cradle of Filth’s Dave Pybus are on hand. Providing the ballast for the album, drummers Mike Smith and Andols Herrick appear alongside other masters of rhythm that the label is lucky to call their own.

Notably, The All-Star Sessions only spawned one single, ‘The End’. Bringing Heafy and Cazares together with Logan Mader, Nadja Peulen, Roy Mayorga and Rhys Fulber, it remains an overlooked yet commendable effort. Ostensibly a piece of screamo that blends the styles of Trivium with Fear Factory, it will never not be strange seeing Heafy and Cazares play together in the video. 

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