Athanator

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Athanator is a Colombian Thrash metal band from Medellín, Antioquia formed in 1989 by Jaime Ocampo, Guillermo Alzate and Gioseppe Restrepo. The current members of the band are Jaime Ocampo (guitar and vocals), Enrique Ramírez (bass), Eder Zapata (guitar) and Juan Carlos Sánchez (drums).

1 History
2 Band members
3 Discography
4 External links

[edit] History

Strongly influenced by bands like Celtic Frost, Sodom and Onslaught, Athanator was born in 1989 in a basement of northeast Medellín neighborhood. The founders of the band, Jaime Ocampo, Guillermo Alzate and Gioseppe Restrepo, begun to play music with the only purpose to feel the strength of a disorted electric guitar, the beats of a home-made drums and to voice with their music their feelings of a dark inner world full of cruelty and violence.

The band had their first performance in October of 1990 in Santa Bárbara, Antioquia alongside with Asalmatum, Holocausto, Skullcrusher, Belial, Agresion y Tinieblas, other Metal bands now defunct. Due to the great popularity they got by playing in this performance, the band recorded, with just a small recorder, their first demo: "Gritos del Ennom".

In 1992, Juan Fernando Escobar enters the band, conforming a traditional Metal band. With this new formation the band records its first single: "Engendros de Muerte". Thanks to this single, the band started a tour through several cities of Colombia to release it.

In 1993 the band records and releases a new demo: "Involución". After doing this, the band begins to have problems that would lead it to disintegrate, which happened in November of 1995 after a performance alongside of Eternal, Lipthopia and Averno.

After 4 years of unsuccessful attempts to reunite, Athanator finally reappears in a performance in November of 1999 alongside of Murder, Cromlech and Eternal, this time the band was conformed by: Javier Urán, Federico Agudelo, Jaime Ocampo and Enrique Ramírez.

In January of 2000, Juan Fernando Escobar enters the band again, completing the formation with which the band records its first album in CD: "Raise the Death".

In 2003 Javier Urán and Juan Escobar leave the band, they are replaced by Jorge Mejía, at that time drummer in Réquiem, and Eder Zapata, at that time guitarist in Estigma, respectively. With this new formation the band records its second album: "Earth of Blood", produced by José Uribe (exEkhimosis) and distributed by Ateneo Producciones in Colombia, Metal Blast Records in Germany and Dirrty Records in United States and Europe.

In November of 2004 Jorge Mejía leaves the band, he is replaced by Juan Carlos Sánchez, at that time drummer in Nepentes.

As of today the band is getting ready two works: a DVD with a documentary of the history of the band, videoclips and videos of their performances; and it's also recording its third album which is expected to be released in 2006.