Artillery

Hailing from Denmark, Artillery emerged in the 1980s as a thrash and technical death metal band whose riff-driven, intricately knotted style and clean vocals created a signature sound that often diverged from shifting genre production norms, yet they adhered firmly to their approach. Despite limited traction among American listeners, the group sustained strong popularity across Europe. Their signing with Metal Blade in the 21st century proved fruitful when audiences began favoring earlier, more melodic methods. In contrast to contemporaries ranging from Voivod and Megadeth to Coroner and Sabbat, Artillery produced multiple well-regarded releases, among them the 1985 album Fear of Tomorrow and 1990’s By Inheritance. European festival crowds consistently embraced their live performances. Frequent lineup shifts, which included three distinct lead vocalists, combined with an extended break from 2000 to 2007, required them to restore their following nearly from the beginning. Remaining resolute, they continued and issued further praised efforts such as the 2011 album My Blood, widely viewed as their strongest work, along with 2013’s Legions and 2016’s Penalty by Perception, all while maintaining near-constant touring.

Brothers Michael on guitar and Morten Stytzer on bass established the band in 1982 within the Copenhagen suburb of Taastrup. Their early demos quickly circulated as prized items through the heavy metal tape-trading network, the same worldwide underground exchange that helped launch Metallica and Anthrax from potential obscurity. Substituting original vocalist Carsten Lohmann with Flemming Ronsdorf supplied the necessary spark, since his distinctive delivery—shifting between gruff and piercing in the manner of fellow Dane King Diamond—set them apart. Completed by guitarist Jorgen Sandau and drummer Carsten Nielsen, the group secured a contract with British metal label Neat, which put out the influential Fear of Tomorrow in 1985 and Terror Squad in 1987. Throughout this period Artillery performed across Europe on multi-band metal packages, including an extended government-sponsored Danish trek that reached remote areas of the Soviet Union. The performances resonated powerfully with Soviet audiences hungry for rock, though officials reacted differently and ultimately expelled them via one-way tickets on the Trans-Siberian Railroad.

After returning, guitarist Sandau departed, prompting the search for a new label apart from the struggling Neat Records; they ultimately joined Roadrunner and recorded the ambitious By Inheritance in 1990 to expand beyond thrash metal’s narrowing limits. Peter Thorslund joined on bass at that point, allowing Morten Stytzer to move to guitar, but mounting internal tensions led to the band’s dissolution the next year. The members remained largely inactive for the following decade until their early demos appeared in 1998 as Deadly Relics, at which point Ronsdorf and the Stytzer brothers pursued a reunion. Recruiting drummer Per M. Jensen, who later played with the Haunted, Artillery issued the aptly titled B.A.C.K. LP in 1999 that, despite contemporary production, preserved the technical thrash character of their origins. They officially disbanded the following year yet regrouped in 2007 following the limited-edition box set Through the Years. Longtime vocalist Flemming Rönsdorf opted out of the reunion, so Søren Adamsen stepped in as frontman for When Death Comes in 2009 and My Blood in 2011. Drummer Carsten Nielsen exited in 2012 alongside Adamsen, whose replacement Michael Bastholm Dahl debuted on the Metal Blade release Legions in 2013 and continued with Penalty by Perception in 2016, also on Metal Blade. Following festival appearances on both sides of the Atlantic, the band returned to the studio with producer Søren Andersen to deliver Face of Fear in 2018, which connected with a fresh audience many of whom had not been born when Artillery first formed. Two years afterward Napalm Records released In the Trash, compiling demos from 1982 to 1986. Drummer Josua Madsen passed away at age 45 after an automobile accident on March 8, 2023.