Decapitated

The band was founded by 15 year old guitarist Waclaw ‘Vogg’ Kieltyka along with his 12 year old brother Witold ‘Vitek’ and 16 year old Wojciech ‘Sauron’ Wasowicz on vocals in 1996. The following year they added Marcin ‘Martin’ Rygiel on bass to complete the line-up. In 1997 they released their first demo “Cemeterial Gardens” and the second “The Eye of Horus” a year later.

Signing to Wicked World Records, Decapitated released their debut album “Winds of Creation” in 2000. Even at this early stage the youngsters showed heaps of promise as the album showcased their intricate and accomplished technical ability yet possessed a haunting and effervescent quality. The album featured a cover of Slayer’s “Mandatory Suicide” and tracks such as “Blessed” and “The First Damned” demonstrated their impeccable song-writing skills.

In 2001 the band embarked on their first UK tour with Vader before releasing their self-produced second album “Nihility” in 2002. Critics praised the album for the operatic death metal sound which flowed throughout while maintaining brutal demonic nuances in tracks like “Eternity Too Short” and “Spheres of Madness”. Later that year the band were asked to play at Poland’s Ozzfest alongside founder Black Sabbath’s Ozzy Osborne as well as Tool and Slayer.

Decapitated’s third album “The Negation” released in 2004 again favoured well with critics and in support of its release the band toured the US and Europe for the remainder of the year. In 2005 Sauron announced his departure from the band and was replaced by ex Atrophia Red Sun vocalist Adrian ‘Covan’ Kowanek as the band prepared to record the highly ambitious fourth album “Organic Hallucinosis”. The album saw Decapitated take a risk in pursuing a new musical direction which critics feared might alienate their hardcore fanbase. Although a slight deviation from their earlier releases, the album demonstrated significant maturity with powerful hooks and an abundance of technical dexterity.

The band spent most of 2006 expanding on their US exposure as they toured the region playing alongside American death metal bands: Suffocation, Six Feet Under and Fear Factory. In 2007 tragedy struck when the band were involved in van accident along the Russian border killing Vitek and leaving Covan severely injured and in a coma. Traumatised by the incident and of course the death of Vogg’s brother, Decapitated went on a much needed hiatus.

Resuming in 2009, the band went in search of a new drummer and now a vocalist as Covan’s condition had not improved. Joined by drummer Kerim ‘Krimh’ Lechner, Rafal Piotrowski on vocals and Filip ‘Heinrich’ Halucha, Decapitated continued touring the UK, Austria, New Zealand and played a string of European festivals for the majority of 2010.

In 2012 Krimh announced his departure from the band and was replaced by Pawel Jaroszewicz for live performances as the band embarked on a tour of Asia. In 2014 drummer Michal Lysejko was permanently added to the line-up and later that year the band released their sixth studio album “Blood Mantra” which peaked in the Polish charts at number 11. Whilst touring the album in the US, the band were involved in another van accident but luckily this time no one was seriously injured.

Despite various tragedies plaguing their career, like real troopers the band have persevered pushing the boundaries of technical death metal, becoming one of Poland’s finest death metal export.