Robert Gutierrez: guitars / Steve Trujillo: guitars / Scott Waters: vocals Sean Griego: drums / Rob Whitlock: bass
Former members: Tom Michaels: bass
ULTIMATUM (ul-ti-ma-tum) n. 1. a final proposition. 2. one whose rejection will end negotiations and cause a definite action. 3. Choose this day who you will serve. 4. A metal band whose sound is a mixture of traditional heavy, power/speed/thrash metal and more modern grooves; brutal guitars, blazing leads, pounding drums, thundering bass and shrill, shrieking vocals. Ultimatum does not claim to follow any trends nor do they wish to do so. "Our interests have never been to be the fastest, or the heaviest, or even the most bizarre. We really don’t care to be trendy. Rather we want to write good, heavy, memorable metal songs with lyrics that will challenge the listener." -vocalist, Scott Waters.
Ultimatum began in early 1992 by founder Robert Gutierrez and guitarist Steve Trujillo. Ultimatum played their first two shows with Robert singing lead vocals in October of 1992. Scott & Robert had been friends for a while, so he was asked to audition for the band. Scott joined in January 1993. At the same time, Ultimatum were looking for a permanent drummer. Mike Lynch joined the band in March of 1994. Ultimatum’s first public performance with Scott, Steve and Robert was at Sonshine 94’ opening for Godfear and Extraction. Extraction vocalist/drummer Rick Campbell, filled in on the drums as Mike was not yet familiar with all the material.
In 1993 they released their first demo titled Fatal Delay that was sold worldwide and began to give them a dedicated following. The band was never real happy with the demo, feeling they could do much better. So, in the Winter of 1994 they went into a new studio and began recording a new demo titled Symphonic Extremities by Ultimatum. This five song demo was never released. Only about 50 copies were sent out to magazines, labels, and a few friends. Later that year, they decided it best not to release another cheap demo, so they went back into the same studio the first five tracks were recorded at and recorded five more. This is also where they met bassist Tom Michaels. October of 1995, a full length tape titled Symphonic Extremities by Ultimatum was released independently by the band and captured raving reviews in metal publications across the globe. In January of 1997 Ultimatum licensed Symphonic Extremities to Juke Box Media (USA), a small indie company, to be released on a national level with the added bonus cut, "World of Sin." "World of Sin" was released as a single, received airplay worldwide and was in the top 10 on the Pure Rock Report’s LOUD Chart for several weeks. Ultimatum has also appeared on the Rowe Productions/ Diamante release Massive Frequency Overload-the U.S. Hard Compilation. "World of Sin" would be the last song recorded with drummer Mike Lynch. Current drummer Sean Griego joined the band in May 1997. JBM sold out of Symphonic Extremities within a matter of weeks. After the company was sold, "Symphonic" went into it’s second printing.
Since "World of Sin" was originally intended to be recorded for their second full length release, a new, slightly altered version appears on the band’s first Rowe Productions release, Puppet of Destruction. "Never" the only single to be released by Rowe, reached #7 on the Pure Rock charts. The album became one of Rowe;s better selling discs. Overall, "Puppet" did well for the band, opening up a wealth of new doors. The album grabbed the attention of a few international labels that began to carry the cd in their mail order catalogues. One label, Dwell Records, offered Ultimatum the opportunity to record songs for two of their compilation cds. "2000-A Second Coming" featured a new remixed version of their single "Never." The other project was recording the song "Sins of Omission" for Dwell's Testament tribute disc.
2000 saw Ultimatum record their third full length disc titled "The Mechanics of Perilous Times" Originally scheduled to be on Rowe Productions, Ultimatum opted to release the disc themselves in the U.S. while Gutter Records, a division of Massacre Records, released the disc in Europe in March 2001. During this time Ultimatum played various shows across the country to promote the disc, including the 2001 Stryper Expo. Also during this year, long time bassist Tom Micheals left the band and was replaced by California native Rob Whitlock. Ultimatum performed their first show with Rob at the Metal Marti Gras festival in California in August of 2002 and as of the Spring 2003 are writing songs for their fourth CD.
