Along with THRASH 4 KILL FRIDAY I'll be doing another feature here on Friends With Benefits called Kvlt Kommandos -- basically I'll just be doing a short biography of some of my favorite metal musicians along with posting what I feel like are essential albums they released. Our first segment is on Pete Helmkamp, who as you will find out, has been spreading the word of Satan for over twenty years through a string of highly influential blackened death metal bands.
Hailing from Kansas City, Missouri young bassist/vocalist Pete Helmkamp first found "fame" in early blackened death metal crew Order From Chaos which formed in 1987. A hugely underrated group, the band only released three full-lengths albums from 1993 to 1998 (although they did release a whole score of demos and EPs as well) but each successive release saw amazing development and firmly put them on the map of the underground extreme metal scene. After Order From Chaos split in 1995 (their last album An Ending In Fire was released in 1998 but actually recorded years earlier) Helmkamp went on to form Angelcorpse, arguably his most well known endeavor. Once again, after three VERY successful albums Angelcorpse splintered in 2000 which led to his joining of established Canadian blackened death veterans Revenge in which he provided bass (live only) and additional backing vocals.
In 2001 Helmkamp formed Terror Organ (which in 2005 changed its name to Feldgrau, an industrial blackened death metal project that released three albums (anyone seeing a pattern here?) before reforming Angelcorpse in 2006 and releasing what would be their final studio album, Of Lucifer and Lightning that same year. In 2009 he formed yet another blackened death metal group Kerasphorus, which once again reaffirmed his status as black/death king with only a pair of EPs, 2010's excellent Cloven Hooves at the Holocaust Dawn and 2011's Necronaut. He has yet to form a project since the demise of Kerasphorus but my guess is that a) it will be a blackened death metal project and b) it will rule fucking hard, much like ALL of his previous work.
ESSENTIAL HELMKAMP ALBUMS
Order From Chaos - Stillbirth Machine Incredible release and a definitive, influential blackened death metal classic.
Order From Chaos - An Ending In Fire The band's most developed release that saw them combine the raw intensity of their debut with more complex compositions.
Angelcorpse - Exterminate Building upon the chaotic and utterly devastating debut Hammer of Gods, Exterminate displayed higher production values and an overall more technical approach; luckily this did little to hinder the speed-blasphemy the band is now known for.
Kerasphorus - Cloven Hooves At The Holocaust Dawn The second coming of Angelcorpse (well kind of); when the band kicked it into overdrive it definitely recalled Helmkamp's past group but Kerashporus offered a bit more variety, adding droning guitars and slower tempos to the mix and showcasing that Helmkamp could still remain a relevant figure in extreme metal despite being around since its humble beginnings.
Sorry if the bio part is a bit dry, I don't really know too much about him and like I said I didn't want to make it overly long, just a short overview of his career. But seriously, everything this guy has done has been amazing so, if you haven't already, definitely check out the essentials and go from there.
ReplyDeleteAhhhh this is a really good idea dude. That Kerasphorus album is really good. I still need to listen to Angelcorpse.
ReplyDelete