Frank Blackfire | |
|---|---|
 Frank Blackfire in 2018 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | February 24, 1966 Essen, West Germany |
| Genres | thrash metal |
| Instrument(s) | guitars |
| Member of | Sodom |
| Formerly of | Kreator |
Frank Blackfire (born Frank Gosdzik, 24 February 1966) is a German guitarist, who is best known as a member of the band Sodom and a former member of Kreator.
Gosdzik was born in Essen. Inspired by attending an AC/DC concert, [1] he began playing the guitar at the age of eleven. After first attempts with his self-founded band Midia, he joined Sodom in 1987, who were originating from Gelsenkirchen, and with whom he had previously shared the rehearsal room. [1]
Taking his lead from the pseudonyms of his new bandmates at Sodom, Tom Angelripper and Chris Witchhunter, Gosdzik called himself "Frank Blackfire". Because of his playing skills he had a significant share of the musical development and direction of Sodom and played on an EP and on the album Persecution Mania (1987). In 1989, the album Agent Orange followed. [2]
In July 1989, Blackfire left Sodom due to personal differences [1] and joined Essen's Kreator, another pioneer band of the German thrash scene. Three commercially successful studio albums under Blackfire's participation followed, Coma of Souls (1990), Renewal (1992), and the 1995 released Cause for Conflict , which again reached the German charts. In 1994, Blackfire worked with the Brazilian women's band Volkana on their album Mindtrips. [3]
In 1997, Blackfire decided to leave Kreator and pursue various experimental musical styles. He worked with jazz influences, played percussion and founded a classic rock specialized cover band. [2] On the 1998 debut album Sceptre of Black Knowledge of the German black metal band Black Messiah Blackfire appeared as a guest musician. [4]
At the end of 2000, Blackfire moved to São Paulo, Brazil, where he earned his living as a guitar teacher and, in the fall of 2001, re-founded his own band, Mystic, in which he also plays as a singer and musically ties on to his thrash roots from the 1980s. After two demos, Blackfire returned to the Ruhrgebiet area in mid-2006 and continued his band under the new name Blackfire. [2] At the Wacken Open Air 2009, he appeared as a guest guitarist with the thrash metal band Whiplash. [5] In 2016, Blackfire replaced Michael Hoffmann as a guitarist with Assassin. [6] In January 2018, Tom Angelripper announced the return of Frank Blackfire to Sodom.
Blackfire is married and has a daughter. [2]
Kreator is a German thrash metal band from Essen, formed in 1982. Their current lineup consists of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Miland "Mille" Petrozza, drummer Jürgen "Ventor" Reil, lead guitarist Sami Yli-Sirniö, and bassist Frédéric Leclercq. The band's lineup has changed multiple times throughout its 42-year career, most noticeably with their bassists and lead guitarists. Petrozza and Reil are the only two original members left in Kreator, although the latter took a break from the band from 1994 to 1996. Yli-Sirniö has been the lead guitarist of Kreator since 2001, while Leclercq joined in 2019 as the replacement of Christian "Speesy" Giesler, who had been a member of the band since 1994.
Sodom is a German thrash metal band from Gelsenkirchen, formed in 1981. They have gone through many lineup changes, leaving bassist/vocalist Tom Angelripper as the only constant member. The band is currently composed of Angelripper, guitarists Frank "Blackfire" Gosdzik and Yorck Segatz, and drummer Toni Merkel. Along with Kreator, Destruction and Tankard, Sodom has been referred to as one of the "Big Four" of Teutonic thrash metal. Sodom heavily influenced the German black metal scene. In addition, the band is regarded as a pioneer of death metal. Mike McPadden wrote that the most Venom-blackened of German "Three Kings", Sodom further merged thrash and death metal into a "wicked and decadent sound".
Tankard is a German thrash metal band from Frankfurt, founded in 1982. Alongside Kreator, Destruction and Sodom, Tankard is often considered one of the "Big Four" of Teutonic thrash metal. Stylistically, Tankard have consistently played thrash metal that thematically centres primarily on alcohol reverence, unlike the remaining "Big Teutonic Four", who are all known for covering such topics related to death, politics, violence and anti-fascism.
Agent Orange is the third studio album by German thrash metal band Sodom, released on 1 June 1989 by SPV/Steamhammer. It was their last album with guitarist Frank Blackfire until his return to the band in 2018. The lyrical content delves deeply into Tom Angelripper's fascination with the Vietnam War, with a song dedicated to the ground assault aircraft AC-47 as well as the Agent orange defoliant-inspired title-track. It was their first album to enter the German album charts where it reached number 36. Agent Orange sold 100,000 copies in Germany alone and marked the commercial break through for the band. The song "Ausgebombt" was released on the EP Ausgebombt with German lyrics.
Obsessed by Cruelty is the debut full-length studio album and the second release by German thrash metal band Sodom, released in 1986. Two different versions of the album exist, the European and the American, which were released by Steamhammer and Metal Blade Records.
Persecution Mania is the second studio album by German thrash metal band Sodom, released on 1 December 1987 by Steamhammer/SPV. The album marked the beginning of the change in sound from having elements of thrash metal, speed metal and black metal to mostly being thrash metal. As well as defining Sodom's sound, it exemplified the thrash metal genre at a time when it arguably peaked in popularity. The album also bore similarity to the music of other German bands such as Destruction and Kreator, and the term "Teutonic" thrash was coined from this.
Mortal Way of Live is a live album by German thrash metal band Sodom, released in 1988. The original cover was censored for the CD release of the record, it was replaced with an all black cover with a white circle in the center containing the band's logo and name of the record, with the original cover appearing on the back of the booklet.
Masquerade in Blood is the seventh studio album by German thrash metal band Sodom, released on 1 June 1995 via Steamhammer/SPV. Musically, Masquerade is often seen as the band's rawest and heaviest record, and continues in the same vein as that of their previous album, but in a more post-thrash fashion.
Expurse of Sodomy is an EP released by German thrash metal band Sodom. Some copies were released on picture disc and limited edition in clear vinyl. The song "Sodomy & Lust" has been covered by Cradle of Filth, Exhumed, and Epilepsia.
Frédéric Alexandre "Fred" Leclercq is a French musician and producer, best known as the former longtime bassist for British power metal band DragonForce. He is currently the guitarist and main songwriter in the death metal supergroup Sinsaenum, the guitarist and vocalist in Maladaptive, the bassist and a guitarist in Amahiru, and the bassist of German thrash metal group Kreator and French death metal band Loudblast. He is a session musician for various other bands, including George Lynch's Souls of We. He is also a former member of power metal band Heavenly and played several shows with Carnival in Coal and Sabaton.
Extreme Aggression is the fourth studio album by German thrash metal band Kreator released in 1989. While the band had already gained a sizeable following in the US due to their 1988 tour with the crossover thrash band D.R.I., this album introduced many American fans to Kreator, primarily through heavy rotation of the "Betrayer" music video on MTV's Headbangers Ball, which was partly shot at the Acropolis in Athens, Greece. The beginning of the song "Love Us or Hate Us" was used in an early 1990s promo ad by the Los Angeles radio station KNAC. This was their first album issued in the US by Epic Records. The album was also available on picture disc vinyl.
Coma of Souls is the fifth studio album by German thrash metal band Kreator, released in 1990. It was reissued in 2002, with the lyrics for the last four songs missing from the booklet. Coma of Souls was Kreator's first release with guitarist Frank "Blackfire" Gosdzik, and would be the last album before the band began experimenting with influences from other musical genres. It also would be the last record issued in the United States by Epic Records.
Cause for Conflict is the seventh studio album by German thrash metal band Kreator released on 1 August, 1995.
Harris Johns is a German music producer, active since the late-1970s in the heavy metal and punk scene, working for a lot of big-name bands, such as Helloween, Coroner, Tankard, Sodom, Voivod, Kreator, Exumer, Ratos de Porão, Slime, Daily Terror and many others. Most of his productions were recorded at his studio Music Lab Berlin Studio. After 10 years recording in a former guest house in the countryside near Berlin, which he called Spiderhouse, he reopened the Music Lab Berlin in 2007 and gave it up 2016. He is still producing and teaching music production skills.
Despair is a thrash metal band from Dortmund, Germany.
Desaster are a German black/thrash metal band formed in Koblenz in 1988. Their lyrical themes involve war, hate and Satanism.
Teutonic thrash metal is a regional scene of thrash metal music that originated within German-speaking countries during the 1980s, and its title is a reference to the Germanic tribe. Along with Bay Area thrash metal, East Coast thrash metal, and Brazilian thrash metal, this was one of the major scenes of thrash metal in the 1980s, and it was developed and popularized by four German bands – Destruction, Kreator, Sodom and Tankard – that have been referred to as "The Big Four of Teutonic Thrash". The label of 'Big Four' has often been rejected, emerging from the belief that the influence and popularity of Tankard was far less than that of the other 3, leading to the alternate title, "the Teutonic Trio".
In War and Pieces is the thirteenth album by the German thrash metal band Sodom. It was released on 19 November 2010 in Germany, 22 November 2010 in Europe, and 11 January 2011 in the United States.
30 Years Sodomized: 1982–2012 is a three-disc, two-LP box set by German thrash metal band Sodom, released on 25 June 2012. The set includes the albums Official Bootleg: The Witchhunter Decade, a collection of live recordings and unreleased demos, and 30 Years' War, a retrospective selection of studio tracks personally compiled by Tom Angelripper.
Genesis XIX is the sixteenth studio album by the German thrash metal band Sodom, released on 27 November 2020. It is the first studio album to feature returning guitarist Frank Blackfire since 1989's Agent Orange, as well as new members, guitarist Yorck Segatz and drummer Toni Merkel. As such, this album marks the first time in Sodom's history that they had recorded an album as a quartet rather than a trio.
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