Drogheda
Drogheda was created in 1992 by guitarist Buddy Mitchell. Striving for originality and extremity, a self-titled demo cassette was released the following year, which quickly caught the attention of Wild Rags Records, who would release the re-recorded tracks plus the Unearthly EP on one CD in 1994. That summer, Dan Haynes joined the Drogheda team on guitar, and the band hit the road. With only one hometown show under their belts, the band embarked on a mini-tour with Internal Bleeding and Symphony of Grief which led up to the 1994 Milwaukee Metalfest, where they performed alongside Slayer and Motorhead, among other greats. Soon after the fest appearance came the first major personnel shakeup, leaving only Buddy on guitar, and Dan on bass. John Roddy joined them on drums, thus forming the core of the band for the rest of the decade. In 1995, the band released the Kill Extremist full length on their own Extremist Records label. After dismissing that release’s vocalist, Drogheda reworked and re-recorded the songs for the Pogromist full-length. Self-released on Extremist Records, this release debuted what many would come to consider the classic Drogheda lineup consisting of John on drums, Buddy on guitar and vocals, and Dan on bass and vocals. Once again, Wild Rags Records took notice and released Pogromist on CD and the band took the music to the masses with a series of devastating live appearances across the Midwest and East coast with the likes of Brutal Truth, Cannibal Corpse, and many others. The year 1996 saw 2 releases, a 7" split with Morticite entitled Unabomber and the Pogromist CD. Many more memorable shows followed, including gigs with Dying Fetus, Fleshgrind, Internal Bleeding, Oppressor and a host of other underground heavyweights. The next two years saw numerous compilation appearances and in 1998, A Celebration of Violence was released on Extremist Records. Later that same year, the band released a split cassette with Dismembered Fetus. In honor of Drogheda's fifth anniversary as a band, Wild Rags released the Celebrating Five Years Of Violence CD. This "best of" compilation included all of A Celebration of Violence, the band's tracks from the Dismembered Fetus split, all new versions of choice cuts from the s/t and Pogromist, as well as a cover, several previously unreleased studio tracks and a brand new song. Also in ’98, a split 7” with Fate of Icarus was unleashed. Internal turmoil started to creep into the band in 1999 and resulted in vocalist/bassist Dan Haynes leaving the band during the recording of the Agents of Primordial Creation and Ultimate Destruction CD. Undaunted, the band completed the sessions and the disc loosed 26 tracks of scathing grindcore upon the masses. In an era when so-called extreme bands were slowing down and going for 'groove' and 'pit riffs', Drogheda was focused on smashing people, period. As the new millennium dawned, cooler heads prevailed, Dan returned to the band, and Drogheda went on a tear, releasing two split CDs in 2000. The first was a set of all-new material with Ohio crusty grinders Morticite, the other a reissue split of ‘Agents…’ with Italy’s Dysmorfic. The year 2001 saw two more split CDs, this time a re-recorded version of Celebrating… split with Brutal Insanity and a monumental (and banned in Australia) split with Intense Hammer Rage. As fate would have it, though, bad luck struck in many different forms in the way of injuries, illness and a host of other hardships and saw the band basically inactive for 2002. As 2003 dawned and Drogheda entered its second decade, the band prepared for a 10th anniversary release and a return to the stage at the Maryland Deathfest with Suffocation headlining. Just eight weeks before the show, John chose to leave Drogheda and retire from music. Buddy and Dan then enlisted longtime friend of the band Kevin Kraft, the legendary drummer of Ton, Warface, and Riphead. In truly professional fashion, Kevin turned in a flawless performance and enabled Drogheda to make a devastating return to the live scene after year and a half. The undeniable chemistry and unmatched intensity prompted Kevin to join the band on a permanent basis. In 2004, Drogheda recorded and released 13 new tracks on a split CD with Riphead and continued on with a barrage of live appearances throughout the Midwest. Early in 2005, Kevin chose to leave Drogheda to concentrate fully on his own band Riphead. After a brief search, Buddy and Dan enlisted the considerable but untested skills of young grind upstart Nick Schrock. After several weeks of intense rehearsals, Nick made his live debut at the Ohio Deathfest. Drogheda then embarked on a summer campaign of grinding destruction including stops in the Midwest as well as Philadelphia and the Boston Doom And Grind Fest along with the likes of Phobia, Grief, and Circle Of Dead Children. Unfortunately, things fell apart quickly with Nick, so the band decided to part ways with him in August of 2006. After a break through the holidays and into 2007, the band was once again contacted by Kevin,who offered his considerable talent to help get the new recordings done. After a great start, many of life's obstacles again presented themselves and the band went back into dormancy once more for nearly the next two and a half years. Although never truly done or retired, the remaining members of Drogheda have survived injuries, serious illness and health conditions, drug and alcohol problems and everything in between over their past 17 year history.... And now,in the Spring of '11, with new members Derek Easthom and Evan Thomas, Drogheda are in the final stages of recording their new full length entitled Thug Anarchitect. The band continues a tradition of extreme underground grind with a nod to Repulsion, Assuck, Terrorizer and early Napalm Death, bucking the latest trends, blasting onward, and cementing their name as legend alongside the heavyweights of the genre. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.
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