Wehrmacht (band)

Wehrmacht is an American thrash metal/hardcore punk band, that was formed in Portland, Oregon, in 1985. After releasing two albums on New Renaissance Records, the band split up. Later, both albums were re-issued on one CD.

Tito Matos and Marco Zorich went on to form Spazztic Blurr and Brian Lehfeldt went to Cryptic Slaughter. Lehfeldt also played with Sweaty Nipples and toured with Everclear. His most recent projects are Drumattica and Tri-polar. Shann Mortimer went on to play with the Nervous Christians and Bastard Children of the Roman Empire. He is now a criminal defense attorney. John Duffy has continued playing music, most recently with the band Kapuda.

Despite the band's name the members claim that they do not pursue Nazi ideals.

Reunion

On August 15, 2009, the band reunited to start playing again. Wehrmacht also played a show in Portland, Oregon, on November 15, 2009, with Dirty Rotten Imbeciles. They have announced work on new material, but have not yet provided a date. The band recorded five songs without vocals, both old and unreleased, including covers of Judas Priest, on March 23, 2013, at Supernatural Sound Studios in Oregon City, Oregon. They will continue to track and record vocals, with a release date as yet undetermined. In Feb 2013 Wehrmacht played a packed show in Hollywood,CA with Sacred Reich at the Key Club. Aug of 2013 the band made their way over to the East Coast to play a weeks worth of shows with longtime friend Scott Peterson from Cryptic Slaughter. January 2014 Wehrmacht will be going to Japan and Australia playing alongside Swedish death metal band Grave and Primate. At their show at The Bendigo Hotel the band played a new song and announced plans for a new album in 2014.

Style & Genre Debate

Among their influences, the members of Wehrmacht list KISS, English Dogs, Loudness, Beatles, ELO, Spazztic Blurr, Destruction, Slayer, D.R.I., G.B.H, and Raw Power. Most label Wehrmacht as thrash metal, but they are also commonly seen as a crossover thrash band.

Discography

• Blow You Away (Demo, 1985)
• Rehearsal '85 (Demo, 1985)
• Beermacht (Demo, 1986)
• Death Punk (Demo, 1986)
• Live at Pine St. Theatre (Demo, 1986)
• Shark Attack (LP, 1987)
• Biermacht (LP, 1989)
• Vise Grip (EP, 1990)
• Hardcore Classix! (Best of/Compilation, 2009)
• Viva Sharko! (Boxed set, 2010)
• Fast as a Shark Attack (EP, 2010)
• TBA (2014)

Line-up

• Eric Hezler - vocals
• Marco Zorich (aka Marco Sharko) - guitar
• John Duffy - guitar
• Shann Mortimer - bass
• Brian Lehfeldt - drums