Robert Wayne Gustafson is an American guitarist, best known as a member of the New Jersey-based thrash metal band Overkill from 1982 to his split with the band in 1990.
Career
Bobby Gustafson joined Overkill at 17 years old after an audition, when the band was still playing only covers, coming from the garage bandThe Dropouts. He stimulated the other members to produce original music and was a key member in the Overkill quartet, having been a composer from the band's debut albumFeel the Fire in 1985 to their most commercially successful album, The Years of Decay, in 1989. Accounts vary regarding Gustafson's split from Overkill in 1990: he was either fired by its founding members Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth and D. D. Verni or had left after Verni tried to remove him from the band via management. The feud between Gustafson and his former bandmates escalated again in March 2018, when Gustafson accused Ellsworth and Verni of not giving him his share of royalties for his songs with Overkill. Following the release of the second Overkill album Taking Over, Gustafson was approached by Megadeth co-founder and band-leader Dave Mustaine to join his band, following trouble with their lineup at the time. However, Gustafson rejected the proposal, feeling that Overkill was turning big. Immediately after the split with Overkill, Gustafson went on tour with Cycle Sluts from Hell in Europe. Gustafson later tried to form a side-project with ExodusdrummerTom Hunting called I4NI. He was also a member of Grip Inc., but did not record anything with them. He played in the industrial metal band Skrew album Shadow of Doubt in 1996, replacing their guitarist for the recording of the album. He then relocated in Florida and left the music business for a while. Gustafson returned to the music industry in 2003 by joining the Florida-based band Response Negative, and has released two albums under the moniker Satans Taint: Axe to the Head of My Enemies and Destruction Ritual. He has also worked for his family plumbing business in Florida. On January 27, 2020, it was announced that Gustafson would be temporarily filling in for Ray Vegas in Vio-lence.
