Desaster

Of all of the various black metal bands that arose in Germany in the 1980s, perhaps none have been as important as DESASTER, from the Rhineland-Palatinate area. Taking their name from the Destruction song "Total Desaster," they formed in 1988. For the next two years they toiled in the underground and managed to record a few rehearsals, but none of those rehearsal tapes has seen the light of day. The goal of the band, according to founding member Infernal in a later interview, was to emulate bands who were "totally possessed by the magic metallic spirit"--bands like Venom, Hellhammer, Celtic Frost, Slayer, Destruction, Sodom, Mercyful Fate, and Bathory. After a live gig in 1989 (which Infernal has characterized as a "total Desaster"--pun intended), the band split up in 1990.

In 1992, Infernal recruited some fellow heavy metal maniacs and re-started Desaster. Among those in this new line-up was Okkulto, who would remain their longtime vocalist, and Odin, who is still their bassist to this day. It was in these early years that Desaster began putting out actual releases. Their Fog of Avalon (1993) and Lost in the Ages (1994) demos were very well received in the metal underground, and circulated widely.

This is the complete Fog of Avalon demo

Desaster's sound has always been about strong, quality black/thrash. From the outset, they wanted to pay homage to the old school. That much is evident on every release they've ever put out. Their sound caught the ear of many record labels, and they signed with Merciless Records. Their first release on Merciless was a split 7" with fellow Germans Ungod. After this, they put out their first full-length studio album, 1996's A Touch of Medieval Darkness.

"In a Winter Battle" comes from that first album

Desaster's sound on Medieval Darkness can definitely be characterized as a blistering, no-holds-barred black/thrash. It's a very riff-oriented style that clearly draws on Venom and Sodom. Over the next several years, with Okkulto still on vocals, they put out two more studio albums (1998's Hellfire's Dominion and 2000's Tyrants of the Netherworld), several EP's and splits, and a 10-year anniversary release.

It was in 2001 that the next big change came for Desaster. Vocalist Okkulto parted ways with the band, and they acquired vocalist Sataniac. Musically, Desaster still played the same old-school inspired black/thrash, but there was a clear difference in vocalists. Okkulto's style could be characterized as more of a black metal style: raspy, raw, and evil. Sataniac's style was more of a traditional old-school thrash metal growl.

I think the opening to "In the Ban of Satan's Sorcery" is one of their best

"Nekropolis Karthago" is trademark Desaster!

In the Sataniac era, Desaster also toured to new places they had never toured before, including all over South America. This was also a time that saw them change record labels from Merciless to Iron Pegasus, and eventually to Metal Blade as their star continued to rise. As black/thrash has made a comeback in the last few years, Desaster has still remained dedicated to the old school.

From 2007's Satan's Soldiers Syndicate, "Razor Ritual" highlights the difference in vocal styles

And from their most recent album--2016's The Oath of an Iron Ritual--this is "Damnatio ad Bestias"

Select Discography:
The Fog of Avalon (demo) (1993)
Lost in the Ages (demo) (1994)
The Hill of a Thousand Souls 7" (split with Ungod) (1995)
A Touch of Medieval Darkness (full-length) (1996)
Hellfire's Dominion (full-length) (1998)
Tyrants of the Netherworld (full-length) (2000)
Divine Blasphemies (full-length) (2002)
Angelwhore (full-length) (2005)
Satan's Soldier's Syndicate (full-length) (2007)
The Arts of Destruction (full-length) (2012)
The Oath of an Iron Ritual (full-length) (2016)

Next Time: OPHTHALAMIA