Deströyer 666

Deströyer 666 is an Australian blackened thrash and death metal group formed in 1994 in Melbourne by guitarist K.K. Warslut after he leaves Bestial Warlust. The band begins as a solo project and later becomes a full group. It is active from 1994 to the present and is associated with Season of Mist.

Style and sound

The band plays a blend of black metal, thrash metal and death metal. Its later material places more emphasis on the death metal side of that mix. Unchain the Wolves is widely regarded by many fans as the band’s strongest album and has a less direct, less aggressive character than later releases. Cold Steel... for an Iron Age has a more forceful and bombastic approach.

Line-up and development

The debut EP, Violence is the Prince of this World, features Warslut on guitar, bass and vocals, with Matt Skitz of Damaged and Criss Volcano of Abominator on drums. The song “The Eternal Glory of War” is later re-recorded for Phoenix Rising. After that release, the band’s full line-up includes bassist Bullet Eater, also known as Phil Gresik, who has played with Bestial Warlust, Hobbs' Angel of Death and Mass Confusion; Gospel of the Horns drummer Howitzer; and guitarist Shrapnel.

With this line-up the band records its first album, Unchain the Wolves. Howitzer is then replaced by Deceiver, and during 1999 the group records Phoenix Rising, though it is not released for more than a year. In 2000 the band tours Europe extensively. After the recording of the EP King of Kings, Dutch drummer Erich de Windt, who has also played with Sinister and Prostitute Disfigurement, joins the band. Bullet Eater leaves and is replaced by Simon Berserker.

Phoenix Rising is released by Season of Mist in November. In 2001 de Windt is replaced by German drummer Mersus, and the band tours Europe again with Immolation and Deranged. After that, the group leaves Australia for good, with Warslut settling in Eindhoven in the Netherlands and Shrapnel living in London.

Albums

Deströyer 666 releases five studio albums. Defiance is released through Season of Mist and Cold Steel... for an Iron Age appears in 2002. The cover art for that album is later disavowed by the band, which says it never approved the image. A reissue of the album later appears with new artwork and a bonus track, “The Dragon”. The band’s most recent studio album is Never Surrender.

Current members

The group’s listed members are Matt Razor, Bullet Eater, K.K. Warslut, Felipe Plaza Kutzbach and Mersus.