Roadkill

Roadkill is a Dutch heavy metal group from the Netherlands, active from 1993 to the present. The name is also used by several other bands and projects, but this entry refers to the Dutch act.

Early development

The band starts by playing hard rock covers before moving into original material. After several line-up changes, Marco Hendriks joins and becomes part of the group’s later heavy metal direction. Roadkill records a series of demo releases, including Decider, Turned Page and the Pyramid mini-CD, before turning to a full-length album.

Merlin and later line-up changes

Roadkill then completes Merlin, a 13-track album described in the band history as a full-length heavy metal release. Marco Hendriks dies in 2005, after which the band continues. Marc Mes, formerly of Wastelands, joins on vocals, but guitarist Mario later leaves. After auditions, Jaco Dekker joins on guitar, and the band continues with Marc and Jaco in the line-up.

Style and activity

Roadkill works within heavy metal, with related genre tags including grunge, thrash metal and speed metal. The band continues touring and writing new material after the period around Merlin, Master of Metal.

Other uses of the name

The name Roadkill is also used by other acts, including a death/thrash band from Ardmore, Pennsylvania; the band assembled by Howard Drossin for the music of the Sega game Comix Zone; a Lithuanian rock and roll band; an Austrian underground speed/thrash metal band from Graz; an Australian rock group; and a Puerto Rican heavy/thrash metal band formed in 2019.