Artillery are a Danish thrash metal band. They participated in the early development of the genre, and their highly energetic, riff-centric and often fast-paced music is similar in style to that of Voivod, Coroner, Megadeth and Sabbat from the same era. After releasing three full-length albums and touring extensively throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, Artillery disbanded in 1991, but reunited seven years later, only to disband once again in 2000. However, they reformed again in 2007 and are still together today.
History
The band formed in June 1982 in Taastrup, a suburb to Copenhagen by drummer Carsten Nielsen and guitarist Jørgen Sandau while they were visiting Mercyful Fate at their rehearsal room. Later on they agreed to name the band Artillery from the track "Heavy Artillery" from Tank's album Filth Hounds of Hades. After trying several musicians, the line up became: guitarists Jørgen Sandau and Michael Stützer, bassist Morten Stützer, drummer Carsten Nielsen and singer Per Onink. The group recorded the demos "We Are the Dead", "Shellshock" and "Deeds of Darkness" in 1984. Artillery's first commercial debut came in early 1985 with the inclusion of the song "Hey Woman," on Volume One of the Speed Metal Hell compilation series which was released on New Renaissance Records. Later that year, Carsten Lohmann left and was replaced by Flemming Rönsdorf. Later the same year, Artillery recorded a third demo, Fear of Tomorrow, signed with Neat Records, and released their first album, also titled Fear of Tomorrow. In 1986, Carsten Nielsen was contacted by Quorthon of Bathory asking him if he was interested in drumming for Bathory. Nielsen turned down the offer since he thought Artillery would become a much bigger band than Bathory. Their second album, Terror Squad, was released in 1987. Guitarist Jørgen Sandau Putza left the band in 1989. Bassist Morten Stützer took over his position, lending the bass to recruit Peter Thorslund. Same year Artillery traveled to Tashkent, USSR, where they performed at a local music festival. Their third album, By Inheritance, was released in 1990 on both LP and CD, by Roadrunner Records and included a song called "7:00 from Tashkent". Artillery disbanded in 1991, some of the members pursuing musical projects of their own during the rest of the 1990s. Following the 1998 release of an Artillery compilation CD, Deadly Relics by Mighty Music, featuring a mix of old demo recordings and two songs from the 1989 promotional tape, the band reformed to record a fourth album, B.A.C.K, which was released in 1999 by Die Hard Music. Then in 2000, Artillery decided to split up again. In 2007, the band released a limited edition 4-CD boxset entitled Through the Years, which contains the band's four studio albums and all their demo material. On 6 November 2007, Michael Stützer confirmed on the official Artillery website that they were once again active. However, longtime Artillery singer Flemming Rönsdorf did not participate. On 27 November the same year, it was confirmed that singer Søren Adamsen would be the new frontman. This line-up recorded two albums – namely, When Death Comes from 2009 and My Blood from 2011. On 12 April 2012, drummer Carsten Nielsen announced that he was leaving the band after a U.S.A./South America tour in May that year. On 26 September the same year, it was also announced that Søren Adamsen has left the band and was replaced by Michael Bastholm Dahl. The new Artillery lineup was working on a new album entitled Legions, which they began recording in February 2013, and which was released on Metal Blade in on 26 November 2013. On 7 October 2013, Metal Blade released the first video single from Legions in the form of the track "Chill My Bones ". Legions was followed three years later by Penalty by Perception. On 15 July 2018, Artillery announced on their Facebook page they were making a new album. This album, titled The Face of Fear, was released on 16 November 2018. Artillery is currently writing their next album, which will tentatively be recorded and released in 2020. Guitarist and founding member Morten Stützer died suddenly away on 2 October 2019: the band has stated that they will continue performing in his honor.
