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LEGION OF THE DAMNED BAND PAGE
 LEGION OF THE DAMNED
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CURRENT NAME
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Legion Of The Damned | |
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FORMER NAMES
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Occult | |
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ORIGIN
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Netherlands, the | |
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STATUS
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Active | |
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FORMED IN
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1988 | |
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LABEL
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Massacre Records | |
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GENRE
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Black metal; Thrash metal | |
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STYLE
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- | |
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LYRICAL THEME
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- | |
| BAND ADDED | 2004-04-12, 00:00 | |
| LAST UPDATE | 2008-08-13, 07:09 | |
| Band biography |
The three went two years without a name, when finally one day the name Occult came up and they all agreed to keep it. For their first gig, they still didn't have a bass player, but they went on anyway, covering songs from Acheron, Sathanas, and Samael (some of these songs were still requested at later shows). After this first gig, Occult really blew away the crowd, and they were labeled as a black metal band, mainly due to Maurice's background. Leon and Erik weren't into black metal at all, but they really didn't mind the band to be called so.
In late 1992, another local band called Crematorium broke up, and Leon's cousin Paul, who was one of Crematorium's guitar players, asked if he could join Occult with Crematorium's bassist, Sjors. Both were auditioned for the band, but the band only hired Sjors. After tons of practice, Occult recorded their first demo in July of 1993 at Twin Studios. The four-song demo was recorded and mixed in only one day. They issued on 666 copies, and it sold out quickly. After about six months, Mark Fritsma from Foundation 2000 contacted the band about a record deal.
Occult's first album, "Prepare to Meet Thy Doom", was recorded in a small, unnamed studio under a lot of pressure from Foundation 2000 to finish by the end of April, 1994. At the time, Maurice had a bad throat infection, and so the vocal tracks were weak. Despite complaints from the band, the album was then released. After this release, Maurice became acquainted with Rachel, a female death-grunter in a band called Pathology. When they met, Rachel had just left Pathology, and Maurice was looking for ways to enhance his vocals, so he grabbed the opportunity to ask her to come in and experiment with the vocals. This combination was the turning point for Occult. The other members couldn't believe their ears the first time they heard Rachel at practice and immediately agreed with Maurice to keep her in the band.
Despite the powerful vocal abilities of Rachel, Occult still felt a gap in the aggressiveness of their live performance. They noticed that bands they saw with two guitarists had a much more powerful sound. Occult decided that they
wanted a second guitarist, and found him in 1994 when a drunken Sjors ran into a guy named Richard at a local fair. Richard had just left local metal band, Serpent, and had a reputation of being a tight, extreme guitar player. Sjors asked Richard if he wanted to add the extra dimension to Occult. Richard didn't have to think long, and was soon part of the band.
Around 1995, Occult moved away from their black metal sound to thrash. It was then that they recorded their second album, "The Enemy Within." After one of their shows in Huxleys, Berlin, a strange man came up to them and told them that he'd like to produce their next album. Not knowing who he was, Occult still hung around talking to the guy. Later, the band was told that the strange man was none other than Harris Johns, the producer of bands like Sodom, Kreator, Pestilence, Voivod, Immolation, etc. Since Occult liked those bands very much, they raced up to Harris to take him up on his offer. In late 1995/early 1996, Occult went into Music Lab Studios in Berlin to record. The vocals and production were leagues above their first album, making it an album every self-respecting thrash or death metal fan wanted in their collection.
Now, the year is 1999, and Occult is unleashing their next album, "Of Flesh and Blood" on the world. Their sound has evolved into a pure, powerful thrash metal with a female death grunt that would make any male grunter turn green with envy. With songs like "Doomsday Destroyer" and "Parasite", their sound is far above any other modern so-called thrash bands. If you enjoy Slayer, old Pestilence, Exodus, old Metallica, Kreator, and old Sepultura, then Occult will blow you away. Find out for yourself when it is released this summer.
In early January 2004 Occult signed a deal with the Dutch label Karmageddon Media (formerly Hammerheart Records).
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