Agent Steel is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1984, the group originally consisted of vocalist John Cyriis, guitarist Brad Phillips, bassist George "Doom" Robb and drummer Chuck Profus. By the time the band recorded its debut album, guitars were performed by Juan Garcia and Kurt Colfelt. As of 2025, Cyriis is the only remaining original member of the band, with other members including 2024 additions Johnny Moraes and Ricardo França on guitars, Marcus Dotta on drums, and 2025 arrival Andre Mellado on bass.
After leaving Abattoir and later Megadeth, vocalist John Cyriis formed Agent Steel in August 1984.[1] The band's initial lineup included bassist George "Doom" Robb and drummer Chuck Profus, with the role of guitarist changing multiple times in quick succession — founding member Brad Phillips was replaced by Mark Marshall and Bill Simmons, the latter of whom was himself soon replaced by Cyriis' former Abattoir bandmate Juan Garcia in time for the band's first shows in September 1984.[2] After the band recorded its first demo 144,000 Gone, Kurt Colfelt replaced Marshall for a second demo later in the year.[3] Before the end of 1984, the band signed with Combat Records and started recording its debut full-length album Skeptics Apocalypse, which was released in the middle of 1985.[1]
In August 1985, Bernie Versailles replaced Colfelt,[4] who left due to "musical and personal differences".[5] After the recording of the EP Mad Locust Rising, Robb was also replaced in early 1986 by Mike Zaputil,[6] with Garcia claiming that the band "needed a new bass player who was more precise, cleaner and faster".[7] After the recording of the band's second album Unstoppable Force, Cyriis and Profus relocated to Florida in early 1987,[8] rebuilding the band with a new lineup, adding guitarists Jay Weslord and James Murphy, and bassist Richard Bateman.[9] After a European tour which spawned the live video Mad Locust Rising: Live at the Hammersmith Odeon June '87, Agent Steel disbanded in June 1988 and Cyriis and Profus briefly continued working in a new group called Pontius Prophet.[10][11]
1998–2011
In 1998, former members Juan Garcia, Bernie Versailles, Mike Zaputil and Chuck Profus reformed Agent Steel, adding Bruce Hall as the band's new lead vocalist.[12] The new lineup initially used the name Agents of Steel, in an attempt to differentiate itself with John Cyriis no longer a member, although they changed back to the original name after a few months.[13] Zaputil soon stepped back from the project, with Karlos Medina taking his place in time for the recording of three demos, followed by return album Omega Conspiracy in 1999.[12] In May 2001, the band temporarily changed its name to Order of the Illuminati due to legal action by Cyriis.[14] Shortly thereafter, founding member Profus was replaced by Rigo Amezcua.[15] By the summer of 2002, the band had reverted back to its original name.[16]
Agent Steel's first album without Profus, Order of the Illuminati, was released in 2003.[17] The same lineup released Alienigma in 2007, before Medina was replaced by Robert Cardenas that September.[18][19] By April 2010, Hall had chosen to leave Agent Steel, claiming that "the continual walk in John's [Cyriis] shoes has entirely drained my passion for doing anything other than treating Agent Steel as a cover band".[20] Shortly after Hall's departure, the band announced that it had reunited with original vocalist Cyriis, with tour dates planned for later in 2010.[21] In January 2011, Cyriis had to back out of the band's performances on the 70000 Tons of Metal cruise due to "unfortunate events", with James Rivera of Helstar and Rick Mythiasin of Steel Prophet sharing vocal duties for the shows.[22] Cyriis subsequently returned for a handful of shows, the last of which took place on June 10, 2011 at Sweden Rock Festival, which the band had dubbed the final show with the vocalist (although he denied this onstage).[23]
Since 2019
In January 2019, John Cyriis announced that he was relaunching Agent Steel with a brand new lineup, to be unveiled at the group's debut performance at the Keep It True Festival in April.[24] A few days before the show, the lineup was announced as featuring guitarists Damian Giron and Igor Lopes, bassist Joe McGuigan, and drummer Kyle Abbott; Giron and McGuigan did not perform, however, with Leonardo Da Rocha and Hein Willekens, respectively, standing in.[25] Willekens later claimed that he had been asked to fill in just "2.5 days before the gig".[26] In May, Nikolay Atanasov was announced as one of the band's new guitarists.[27] In June, the band announced a new lineup with Atanasov, McGuigan, returning early guitarist Bill Simmons, and new drummer Dennis Kruse Strømberg.[28]
After the release of two demo singles — "Separation of Church and Fate" and "Way of the Mechanism" — Agent Steel's lineup changed again around June 2020, when Vinicius Carvalho joined as third guitarist, McGuigan was replaced by Eddie Webb, and Rasmus Kjær took over from Strømberg.[29] Within just a few weeks, Webb had been replaced by Shuichi Oni and Simmons had left.[30] This lineup released No Other Godz Before Me, the band's first studio album in 14 years and the first with Cyriis in 23 years, in 2021.[31] This was followed by the single "Terminator of Souls" later in the year.[32] In January 2022, the band announced that Atanasov had been "suspended" from the band pending litigation,[33] although the guitarist later disputed this, claiming that he had left of his own accord.[34]
The band remained relatively inactive during 2022, before announcing a new lineup in July 2023 featuring guitarist Justin Zych, bassist Kelly Conlon and drummer Lamar Little (with Carvalho remaining).[35] Nikolay Atanasov briefly returned for a European tour in November 2023.[36] In late 2024, Cyriis performed with a new lineup including former bassist George Robb, plus new members Johnny Moraes (guitar), Ricardo França (guitar) and Marcus Dotta (drums).[37] By early 2025, Robb had been replaced by Andre Mellado.[38]
Members
Current
Image
Name
Years active
Instruments
Release contributions
John Cyriis
1984–1988
2010–2011
2019–present
vocals
all Agent Steel releases from 144,000 Gone (1984) to Mad Locust Rising: Live at the Hammersmith Odeon June '87 (1989), and from "Separation of Church and Fate" (2019) to date
Johnny Moraes
2024–present
guitar
none to date
Ricardo França
Marcus Dotta
drums
Andre Mellado
2025–present
bass
Former
Image
Name
Years active
Instruments
Release contributions
Chuck Profus (1963–2025)
1984–1988
1998–2001
drums
all Agent Steel releases from 144,000 Gone (1984) to "Forever Black" (2000)
↑ Cagni, André Luiz (1987). "Agent Steel — Children of the Sun"(Scan). Rock Brigade (in Portuguese). No.26. São Paulo, Brazil. p.9. Retrieved September 9, 2025.
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