Speed X

Speed X formed in Atlanta, Georgia in 2007, born from a chance collaboration among veteran musicians looking to build something heavier and more direct than their previous projects. Mike Froedge and bassist Josh Sattler, both previously of the band Doubledrive, began working on a new project with Nick Catanese from Black Label Society and Mike Stone from Queensryche, tentatively called Speed X. Catanese had built his reputation as the longtime rhythm guitarist supporting Zakk Wylde in Black Label Society, while Stone had spent years as a touring and recording guitarist for Queensryche. With Froedge and Sattler's rhythm section chemistry rooted in their Doubledrive years, the new band leaned into a raw, riff-driven hard rock sound built around dual guitars and a punishing low end.

The project gained momentum through 2008 and into 2009, with its first live appearance announced for January 9, 2009 at the Three Bears Cafe in Marietta, Georgia , followed shortly by a performance on January 17, 2009 at the Hilton hotel in Anaheim, California during that year's NAMM show . The lineup solidified when Ultraphonic's Jason Fowler joined on lead vocals , rounding out a group of five music industry veterans. The finalized Speed X lineup made its live debut on May 22 at the Hard Rock Cafe in Atlanta, Georgia . The band's peak arrived with the release of their debut album, "Flat Black," on January 15, 2010 , featuring tracks like "Speed," "Fly," and "Let's Go All The Way." Reviewers described the band's sound as "louder than 11, faster than light," noting that combining the blazing guitars of Catanese and Stone with the pounding rhythms of Froedge and Sattler gave the band its raw power, completed by Fowler's hard-edged melodic vocal style. Speed X's career arc was shaped as much by its members' other commitments as by the band itself. Even during Speed X's formative period, Stone announced the end of his association with Queensryche on February 3, 2009 to focus on his side project, though court declarations later revealed he had actually been fired by Geoff and Susan Tate without discussion among the rest of the band . The band's momentum was necessarily limited by these overlapping obligations, and Speed X never toured extensively or issued a follow-up to "Flat Black," instead remaining a passion project for its members between their primary bands.

In the years since, the members of Speed X scattered back to their main pursuits. Stone rejoined Queensryche as a touring substitute in 2018 and then full-time in 2021 , and he also went on to become the guitarist and backup vocalist of the alternative punk rock band The Stick People . Catanese later moved on from Black Label Society and formed a new band with bassist Vinnie Salvatore and drummer Dusty Winterrowd . Today, Speed X is remembered less as an ongoing act and more as a snapshot of a particular moment, a one-off supergroup uniting players from Black Label Society, Queensryche, and Doubledrive for a single hard-hitting album and a handful of memorable shows.

Speed X's brief but vivid run made a lasting impression on those who caught them live, and that includes Wayne Dennon, who photographed the band during one show back in 2009. That night is preserved today in 39 photographs held in the waynedennon.com archive, images that have since been viewed 30,511 times by visitors exploring Wayne's body of concert photography. As with so many of the acts captured in this collection, Speed X's fleeting existence makes Wayne's photographs an especially valuable record, a document of a supergroup that burned bright for a short while and left behind both an album and a handful of unforgettable live moments.