| Nazxul | |
|---|---|
Live in Sydney, 1999 |
|
| Background information | |
| Origin | Sydney, Australia |
| Genres | Black metal[1] |
| Years active | 1993–present |
| Labels | Vampire Shock Hekal Xul Decius Eisenwald(Europe) Moribund |
| Associated acts | Sadistik Exekution, Regurgitator, Hard Ons, Front End Loader, Mortal Sin, Lord, Infernal Method, Slaughter Lord, Secretain, Brace, Grungeon, Pestilential Shadows, Nox Inferi, Guns are for Kids, Austere, Drowning The Light, Backyard Mortuary, Damarill |
| Members | |
| Adrian Henderson Lachlan Mitchell Luke Mills Mitch John McLaughlin Petar Peric |
|
| Past members | |
| Greg Morelli Daniel Lomas Dalibor Backovic Rev. Kriss Hades Peter Kostic Steve Hughes Morte Tim Yatras |
|
Nazxul is a black metal band from Sydney, Australia. At one time featuring members of other prominent local metal bands including Mortal Sin and Sadistik Exekution, Nazxul has released two albums, an EP and several split releases with other bands.
Contents |
The group was formed in 1993[1] by guitarist Adrian Henderson, keyboards player/guitarist Lachlan Mitchell, former Mortal Sin and Slaughter Lord drummer Steve Hughes and Dalibor Backovic on vocals and bass. A self-titled demo (1994) appeared through Vampire Records. Soon after guitarist Greg Morelli from Sydney thrash band Grungeon joined the fold. Nazxul began work on an album called Totem that was released in 1995. Originally envisioned as a mysterious studio-bound project, the group only appeared in publicity photos as shadowy figures or draped facelessly in cloaks.
Further material was written, during which time Backovic departed and two new members joined, singer Morte from an avant-garde black metal group called Bestianity and guitarist Rev. Kriss Hades from the notorious Sydney death metal band Sadistik Exekution who were experiencing one of their well-known self-imposed dormant periods. This line-up produced the EP "Black Seed" in 1998 and late in the year played live for the first time at a show in Sydney, with Henderson moving to bass guitar.
Hughes left the group after this to pursue a career in stand-up comedy and soon left Australia to live in the UK. His replacement was Peter Kostic from Sydney rock band Front End Loader. Almost immediately, Nazxul was booked to support Finnish extreme metal group Impaled Nazarene on part of an Australian tour. In a remarkable turn of events, Kostic's other band was then approached to tour with British rock group Skunk Anansie over the same period but declined due to the drummer's commitment to Nazxul; the Skunk Anansie tour was in turn cancelled when the group suddenly split up. Morte was fired after this tour and Backovic returned for Nazxul's appearance at the Metal for the Brain festival. In the meantime, "Black Seed" was re-released with several live tracks recorded during the tour added to the track listing. The cover was slightly amended with the iconography rendered in gold instead of green.
After playing a final show for the year all activity from Nazxul then appeared to cease abruptly. Kostic joined Regurgitator in 2000 and the Hard Ons in 2001. Hades recorded two more albums with Sadistik Exekution before embarking on a solo career. Mitchell continued his work as a professional sound engineer / producer and in late 2001 formed a rock band Brace with several former members of Canberra group Henry's Anger. Backovic left Nazxul in 2000 to pursue a career in the film industry as a screenplay writer and director. In 2002, Sydney black metal label Decius released a limited-edition live album (titled simply Live) on 12" vinyl. The recording was of the group's 1999 Metal for the Brain performance. A year later, the Nazxul track "Apostasies Legions Arise, Xul!" appeared on a compilation release from Hiberica Records along with tracks from American band Krieg, Necroplasma from Sweden and Goat Semen from Peru.
The band was not at an end however. Four tracks of dark ambience, recorded by Henderson, Mitchell and Morelli, were released on a split EP with Melek Tha in 2004. The same year, Nazxul regrouped with a new line-up that included Henderson, Morelli and Mitchell plus two former members of Wollongong black metal band Secretain, Daniel Lomas (vocals) and Luke Mills (guitar), and drummer Tim Yatras from another Wollongong band called Battalion. Originally booked to tour with Dimmu Borgir, the Norwegian band cancelled its visit but several months later Nazxul undertook a tour with Adelaide based gothic metal band Virgin Black instead. Nazxul then became dormant for some time since. Mills continued to play in various black metal bands and Yatras was the drummer with Lord between 2005 and May 2009.
In 2008 Nazxul reformed and were listed as the national support to the Australian leg of Mayhem's tour; this tour was cancelled however. The band completed work on the long-awaited Iconoclast album, first mooted in 1998, during the year.
Greg Morelli was killed in a motorcycle accident in the early morning hours of 20 November 2008 after hitting a greasy patch of the road during a severe storm on Parramatta Road in North Strathfield. Morelli had only just completed guitar parts for the Iconoclast album, before his death.
Nazxul has asked everyone who listens to "Oath (Tides Resurrection)" to think of Morelli. The song is in honor of him.
Iconoclast was released in mid-2009 by German label Eisenwald Records. Guitarist Petar Peric from Infernal Method replaced the late Morelli, and drummer John McLaughlin replaced Tim Yatras. International touring went ahead at the end of 2009 with shows in England, Germany, Holland, Belgium and Russia.