Marzi Montazeri is a Texas-based guitarist, songwriter, producer, and engineer whose career has unfolded at the intersection of southern metal, hardcore, thrash, and extreme underground music. Known for his uncompromising tone and raw creative approach, Montazeri has spent decades shaping heavy music both onstage and behind the console, earning respect through authenticity rather than flash.
Marzi’s musical foundation was built early, when he met Blas Elias during their school years. Bonding over a shared obsession with heavy music, the two formed their first band together, learning the fundamentals of songwriting, rehearsal discipline, and performance long before wider recognition entered the picture. Those formative years helped instill the values that would define Montazeri’s career: loyalty, work ethic, and a belief that heavy music should be direct, aggressive, and honest.
He later gained broader recognition as a founding member of Superjoint Ritual, alongside Phil Anselmo. Superjoint’s abrasive fusion of hardcore punk and southern extremity rejected polish in favor of pure intensity, helping to shape a raw, confrontational sound that would influence generations of underground bands. Montazeri’s jagged riffing and rhythmic feel were central to the band’s identity.
Montazeri continued his collaboration with Anselmo as a member of Philip H. Anselmo & The Illegals, contributing to a project that leaned heavily into aggression, groove, and modern extremity while maintaining deep roots in hardcore and classic metal traditions. His role in the band further cemented his reputation as a guitarist capable of delivering both precision and primal force.
He later joined New Orleans thrash pioneers Exhorder, connecting his own musical lineage back to one of the most influential and uncompromising bands of the early 1990s extreme metal movement. With Exhorder, Montazeri brought his signature intensity and experience to a group long revered for its role in shaping groove-infused thrash and extreme metal as a whole.
In parallel with his performance career, Montazeri has built a respected reputation as a producer and engineer, particularly within underground and extreme music circles. His studio philosophy mirrors his playing style: capture real performances, preserve the danger, and avoid over-processing. Artists seek him out for recordings that sound alive, confrontational, and emotionally honest.
Today, Marzi Montazeri remains deeply committed to the underground ethos that shaped him from the beginning. He is currently preparing the release of a new extreme metal project, one that draws from his long history while pushing further into darker, more aggressive territory. As always, the focus is not on trends or visibility, but on delivering heavy music with conviction, purpose, and zero compromise.
https://www.facebook.com/marziarmy/
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