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Agathocles (Mince core legends / Belgium)
Agathocles is a Belgian political grindcore band that began in 1985. They are mainly known for producing a large quantity of split seven-inch EPs. They play a style of grindcore that they have dubbed "mincecore".
Their lineup has changed numerous times since they first started, the only consistent member being Jan Frederickx (also known as Jan AG).
Biography
1980s
Agathocles formed in the Belgian city of Mol, aspiring to sound like bands such as Lärm or Hellhammer. Although the band itself did not form until 1985, its original members (Jan and Erwin) had been involved in the underground metal/punk scene since the beginning of the decade, releasing compilation tapes and zines. Most of the rehearsal tapes they recorded during their first year together have now been lost, although a few survive, mainly in the form of appearances on compilations from the time.
Agathocles first started doing concerts a year later, in 1985, although audiences were always small due to there only being a small minority who listened to the type of extreme music the band was producing. The band also made a radio appearance, being interviewed on the local radio station, in the same year.
By 1987, the band's line-up had begun to settle, albeit temporarily, in the form of Jan, Ronny and Erwin. The band had also found a long-term rehearsal space, where they would not receive complaints (or even get kicked out) because of the noise as they had done in earlier rehearsal rooms. This was in a youth club in Mol, "Jam", where they recorded more compilation tracks and organised more small concerts. They even played gigs with other bands who would become equally famous in later years, such as Napalm Death and Pestilence (and later Extreme Noise Terror, as well as smaller bands such as Violent Mosquitos and Total Mosh Project.)
The first Agathocles releases were issued in 1988, which saw the arrival of a split EP with Riek Boois, as well as their first solo outing, Cabbalic Gnosticism, both of which were originally issued on cassette. Other material was recorded at the same time, although this was not released until later. By this time the band had 4 members, as Jakke had joined on guitar in December the year before, allowing Jan to concentrate on vocals.
Another guitarist, Guy, joined a year later, in 1989, and the split LP with the band Drudge was recorded and released on Deaf Records, as well as several other EPs. Towards the end of the year, the line-up changed yet again, with the bassist, Ronny, leaving the band and guitarist Jakke taking over from him.
1990s
A major line-up change occurred at the beginning of the decade, in May 1990, when Jan got rid of all the other members of the band and found two new members instead - Domingo on guitar and Burt on drums, with Jan now playing bass. Domingo and Burt were both from little-known Belgian grindcore band Necrosis, who recorded only one demo, in 1990. With the new line-up, the band ceased rehearsing in Mol, moving instead to the drummer's home town of Zichem. Several more EPs were released in the same year and, with the band growing in popularity, they did gigs in Denmark as well as Belgium and went on a mini tour with the Japanese grindcore band SxOxB.
More line-up changes occurred throughout the next few years. Ex-Agathocles drummer Erwin briefly returned in 1991, now playing bass guitar. After only a few months with this line-up, Domingo left the band, leaving the band as a three-piece group during the recording of their Agarchy EP in July. However, the band soon had four members again when Domingo was replaced by Chris. It was with this line-up that they recorded Theatric Symbolisation Of Life, but towards the end of the year, Erwin left the band again and Agathocles got a new bassist called Dirk.
In the summer of 1991, Agathocles also went on another tour, this time in East Germany, with vocalist Tuur from fellow Belgian mincecore band Reign Of Terror. Tuur did vocals for this tour because guitarist Chris was unable to tour with the band, so Jan had to take over his guitarist duties.
The band's line-up changed again in May 1992 when guitarist Chris and bassist Dirk left to form their own band. Agathocles found a new guitarist to take over from Chris - Steve (from Belgian grindcore band Intestinal Disease) - and Jan played bass guitar (as well as doing vocals). Two of the band's LPs (Cliché? and Use Your Anger) were recorded with this new line-up and they also played one gig in Italy for the first time in a small town named Macomer (Sardinia).
The band remained a 3-piece group throughout 1993, with the line-up staying consistent as Jan, Burt and Steve. It was with this line-up that Agathocles went on a major European tour, visiting Belgium, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Germany and the Netherlands, as well as recording several more split EPs. In 1994, the band retained the same line-up, this time touring in Spain (in July of that year), where they recorded the Mince Mongers In Barna EP in the rehearsal room of Spanish mincecore band Violent Headache. The Black Clouds Determinate CD was also recorded in this year.
The line-up stayed the same during the first half of 1995, during which time Agathocles recorded their album Razor Sharp Daggers, as well as featuring on the compilation Metalopolis, which was released by the Belgian radio station Studio Brussel. In the summer, however, the line-up changed again, with Matty replacing Steve on guitar.
This line-up would stay constant through 1996 and for most of 1997, two years in which Agathocles did a lot more touring. This started at the beginning of 1996, when the band visited Turkey, playing alongside the band Radical Noise, and then they toured the Czech Republic with the mincecore band Malignant Tumour. During this tour, the band recorded a video as a benefit for a Czech animal rights group. As well as recording the album Thanks For Your Hostility and several more split EPs, Agathocles also recorded a studio session in 1996 on the radio station Studio Brussel. Another such session was done the year later, this time in the BBC studios in England, where they recorded a Peel Session, in the same way that many other famous grindcore bands have done. 1997 was also the year that the Humarrogance album was recorded (as well as even more split EPs) and the band also toured in Germany with Swedish band Driller Killer. In November, the line-up changed again, when the band returned to being a four-piece, with Vince joining as the bass guitarist.
With this new line-up, the band toured again in Germany with Driller Killer in 1998 before Matty and Vince left the band in June and Dirk rejoined as the guitarist, with Jan playing bass again. This new line-up, of Jan, Burt and Dirk recorded several more split EPs, as well as touring in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. They also played gigs with other major bands in the underground scene such as Unholy Grave, My Minds Mine and Malignant Tumour. The band ended the decade with a line-up that would last for several years into the new millennium.
In 2000, Agathocles released their sixth full-length, To Serve… to Protect, that was distributed through the Italian label Vacation House (later re-released with bonus tracks by the Brazilian labels No Fashion HC and Heavy Metal Rock).
Slavebreed (Grindcore / Athens)
Genre: Grindcore / Crust.
Band Members
Kostas - Drums,
Tolis - Guitar,
Pavlos - Guitar / B. Vocals,
Thanasis - Bass,
Smirnoff - Vocals.
Hometown: Athens / Greece.
Record Label
L’ Inphantile Collective (2008, 2012), Obscene Productions (2009), Noise Attack (2011, 2013), World’s Appreciated Kitsch (2011), Power It Up (2013), Screaming Victims (2014).
Bio
Slavebreed is a band from Athens, Greece, playing a mixture of grindcore and death metal with some crust / hardcore influences. They were formed in late 2004 by Pavlos and Kostas, from the remains of Pavlos' older deathcore side-project band with the same name ("Scorned" mcd, 2001).
Slavebreed recorded a 4-track live rehearsal mini-cd in early 2007, receiving positive feedback and less than one year later recorded their first full length album, "Pain Syndicate", released under L'Inphantile Collective (Czech Republic, 2008).
"Pain Syndicate" received great reviews worldwide and soon after its release Slavebreed hit the road, performing live on a number of tours all around Europe.
On 2011 a 7” split was released with Hibernation / Χειμερία Νάρκη, under Noise Attack (GR) and World's Appreciated Kitsch (GR), featuring 3 new songs. In addition “Dog Eat Dog” cover was recorded for the official Disrupt tribute compilation, released at a later time (2013) under Power It Up records (DE).
In the summer of 2012 Slavebreed released their second full-length album, "Dethrone the Architect", under L'Inphantile Collective (CZ) and Noise Attack (GR). Once again “Dethrone the Architect” got great reviews and was considered to be a more mature approach to the band’s prospect and expectation, based on personal sound and ‘catchy’ riffs.
Up until now Slavebreed have visited numerous countries in Europe supporting their releases, have taken part in events such as Obscene Extreme Fest (CZ), Fekal Party (CZ), Bloodshed Fest (NL), Scum Fest (UK), Play Fast or Don't (CZ), Arschcholio Fest (DE), Gore Galore Fest (PL), Crash Fest (SK) and have shared the stage with great bands (Napalm Death, Ratos De Porao, Entombed, Wolfbrigade, Nausea, Birdflesh, Fear Factory, Blockheads, Doom, Agathocles, Gadget, Dead In The Dirt, Rotten Sound, Master, Hellshock, The Rotted, Jig-Ai, Rompeprop, Severe Torture, Disfear, Afgrund, Wormrot, Venomous Concept, Mumakil, Krush and many others), receiving positive feedback from the European grind scene.
Press Contact: slavebreed@gmail.com
Booking Agent: slavebreed@gmail.com
Delete The Mass (Grindcore / Athens)
Genre: Grindcore / Death metal
Band Members:
George V. - vocals
Stergios - vocals, guitar
Sotiris - bass
George C. - drums
Hometown: Athens, Greece
Bio
DELETE THE MASS is a grindcore / death metal band based on Athens, Greece. The band’s first steps are traced back in 2009 and after 3 years of rehearsing, songwriting and live performances with various local bands, the band released its first demo, containing 5 songs plus 2 additional live recordings. In the meantime, the band also shared the stage with acknowledged foreign names of the metal scene such as Shai Hulud and Kickback.
The band’s music can be described as a mix of grindcore and death metal, influenced by the complete spectrum that was formed during the genre’s evolution. Generally, the band’s sound has been enriched with elements from all the extreme music genres, but without exceeding the death / grind limits mentioned above.
The lyrics focus mainly on social issues, inspired both by the Greek and the global social and economic circumstances, either literally or through allegories. Additionally, the band also adds a healthy dose of humor to the overall lyrical concept.
Since November 2012, the band performs under a new line-up, with guitarist Giannos and vocalist Aimilios leaving the band, Stergios switching from bass to guitar and also becoming the main vocalist next to George V., and Sotiris becoming the new bass player.
On March 16, 2013 the band released independently its first full-length release called "Μάζα" (máza – Greek for “Mass”), containing 15 tracks of furious death / grind. Although the band's line up had changed before the release date, the album was recorded by the old line-up, so that's the one appearing on it. All the recording, mixing and mastering procedures were done solely by the band itself in its rehearsal studio, the "Meatbox".
Moreover, the band is currently composing and arranging ideas for a future DELETE THE MASS release. The new material, filled with even more death metal elements, is more extreme and aggressive than anything the band has released so far.
Press Contact: dtmathens@gmail.com
Booking Agent: dtmathens@gmail.com
Jagernaut (Old school crust,grind / Athens)
Genre: Crust / Grind
Band Members:
George-drums
Labros-guitar, vocals
Spyros-vocals
Bak-bass
Hometown: Athens
Record Label: Scull Crasher,Severed In Seconds
"Then I saw something drop, a white thing…Later I heard that it was a parachute. Soon as I saw the white thing coming down then…boom…and knocked me down. I don’t know how long I was unconscious or I have no idea. But when I myself came up I couldn’t see anything or couldn’t hear anything…right - just pitch black. And no noise. Then for awhile just sitting, then stood up. Looked around then pretty soon – like a heavy fog go away and you can see things coming up what I had seen before. Something coming back up. Right? Like that. Blackness going away. Just like a heavy fog going away.
Then, I saw a completely different scene from before…People coming out from center. Hurt people…But no noise. Still I just couldn’t hear anything. I just followed the people nearby going down to riverside. I went by the river and followed them down to the river’s edge…The people, so many people burnt and naked. No skin, some skin coming off. I can’t explain. How horrible it was. Then in my mind – so white. I couldn’t think straight. I couldn’t think. What happened?
Then later I first heard a baby cry. Then I looked aside…hurt burned baby. Mother was also burned too; mother tried to nurse the baby but baby was crying and crying. But that opened my ear and mind. And everything came back to myself.
And I said, oh the bomb dropped on top of us. Just like a regular fire bomb.
Then I tried to go home or go back to school. But I couldn’t go back that way. Many people coming out pushing out very slowly. Pushing. People so horrible looking.
Then one of the men said go to the other side of the river and run away in case another bomb drops. So I followed the people. Very slowly, maybe a little over mile or so away. Finally got to a place where the damage was not so great and some of the houses were barely standing."
Email: jagernautwar@gmail.com
Website: http://jagernaut.wordpress.com/
Press Contact: jagernautwar@gmail.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Jagernautwar
