Asphyx

All Music Guide:

One of Holland's first death metal bands, Asphyx was formed in 1987 by then-Pestilence mainman Martin Van Drunen (vocals/bass), with Eric Daniels (guitar) and Bob Bagchus (drums). After a handful of demos to close out the '90s, Asphyx signed with Century Media Records and proceeded to release a steady flow of albums and EPs, including 1990's Mutilating Process EP, 1991's The Rack, 1992's Crush the Cenotaph EP, and 1993's Last One on Earth. None of these came anywhere near to breaking the band out of the death metal underground, however, and the disgruntled members of Asphyx chose to split up around this time. Van Drunen temporarily joined (but never recorded with) England's Bolt Thrower and got involved with a number of other projects, but Daniels saw fit to record one final eponymous Asphyx album (with vocalist/bassist Ron Van Pol and drummer Sander Van Hoof) before joining Bagchus in a new band called Soulburn. Strangely, the latter would then "return the favor," when he formed a new version of Asphyx (with vocalist/bassist Theo Loomans and guitarist Ronny Van Der Wey) and recorded 1996's God Cries. Stranger still, Daniels was then invited back to perform on the same year's Embrace the Death, after which Asphyx was officially laid to rest (no, really!). That is, until the year 2000, when the aforementioned Soulburn (consisting of Daniels, Bagchus, and vocalist/bassist Wannes Gubbels) figured "what the hell" and proceeded to release their latest album, On the Wings of Inferno, under the old Asphyx banner.

Wikipedia:

Asphyx is a Dutch death/doom band that was formed in Overijssel, Netherlands in 1987.

Biography [edit]

The band was formed in 1987 by Bob Bagchus and Tonny Brookhuis. Eric Daniels was found as a second guitarist and Chuck Colli joined on vocals and bass guitar; this line up released the Enter the Domain demo. In March 1989, Colli was replaced by Theo Loomans and the band recorded the Crush the Cenotaph demo. Brookhuis then left the band and the remaining three recorded Embrace the Death, an album which was never released because of label problems.

After leaving Pestilence in the early 1990s, Martin van Drunen joined Asphyx and the band signed to Century Media Records. After the release of their first album, The Rack, they went on a European tour with Entombed, followed by a tour with Bolt Thrower and Benediction in 1992. Shortly after the recording of the second album, Last One on Earth, van Drunen left the band, to be replaced by Ron van der Pol. Eventually Baghus left the band as well and was replaced by Sander van Hoof.

In 1994, the band released its third, self-titled album, but broke up shortly afterward. In 1995, Loomans and Baghus reformed Asphyx and recorded God Cries. Around the same time, the Embrace the Death album, recorded in 1990, was released. Nevertheless, the band split up again after the release. In 1998, Loomans died when a train hit his car. The circumstances suggest it was an act of suicide. Some time later, Soulburn was founded by Baghus and Daniels and, together with Pentacle singer and bass guitarist Wannes Gubbels, they recorded Feeding on Angels. In 1999, they renamed the project Asphyx and recorded the On the Wings of Inferno album with the same line up. However, Asphyx disbanded again in 2000.

In January 2007, the band re-united with van Drunen, Gubbels, Paul Baayens and Baghus. They did not intend to record a new album, but focused only on live performances. However, in January 2008, they recorded a cover of a Celtic Frost song and a new song called "Death... The Brutal Way". In July 2008, they announced that new material was being prepared. Death...The Brutal Way was released in June 2009 by Century Media. It was released in North America by Ibex Moon Records on August 18, 2009, quickly becoming the distributor's best seller.

Members [edit]