Cruevo

Cruevo was an underground crust/doom-sludge metal band from Oakland, CA that formed in 1999. At the time, sludge metal and crusty doom metal was fairly one dimensional, and Cruevo’s unique blend of progressive, classic rock, doomy sludge, and crust punk was a well developed, new and crushingly heavy approach that inspired many in the Oakland heavy music scene. Cruevo was founded by guitar player Paul Kott and drummer Scott Plumb. Paul had just left the crust punk band Medication Time, a crusty punk rock “supergroup” that included members of Dystopia and Skaven, and was looking to do something more complex and dynamic. Cruevo's founding members went on to play in a project with Sleep's Matt Pike, Kalas, in the mid 00s. Cruevo shared practice space with Neurosis, played parties with High on Fire, appeared on a comp CD with Weedeater, and toured and released a split CD with Brainoil. Cruevo became friends with Brainoil, who they met while playing a show with “Mr. Brainoil”, which was Greg Wilkinson as a solo band with a drum machine and samplers. The two bands became fast friends and played infamous “vs.” shows together after the two bands released a split CD. When Cruevo was at its peak the band won the acclaim of and inspired many in the underground scene (and even in some mainstream magazines) worldwide. Cruevo toured only on the West Coast of the United States, but blew live audiences away everywhere they played. Cruevo was sharing the stage with bands like High on Fire, Weedeater, Brainoil, Dystopia, Noothgrush, and many others during the tours and shows to support the release of the split CD. The band never formally broke up, but was inactive for over a decade. Cruevo reunited in 2005 to play a spate of shows, and remained inactive until 2019, when they announced an effort to reform and begin work on a new album.