a
VERY
concise
biog...for
now...
Voice
Of
Destruction
was
formed
as
a
Punk / HardCore
band
in
Cape
Town,
South
Africa
around
1986
by
guitarist
Greg
McEwan-Marriott.
1st
vocalist
Neil
The
Viking
was
replaced
by
Stewart
Hendry.
Bassist
Radley
Clack
was
replaced
by
Diccon
Harper
around
1988-89.
Several
drummers
down
the
line included Dion and Neil Thunder -
Paul
Blom
replaced
joined
in
1989 / by this time the band started shifting towards a Cross-Over, or Cross-Core sound.
With
Diccon
and
Paul's
Metal
background,
the
Hardcore/Punk
sound
of
V.O.D
moved
more
in
that
direction.
Paul
left
for
a
year
and
was
replaced
by
Robin
Schtelig.
2nd
guitarist
Alan
joined
for
a
short
while.
Stewart
left
in
the
early
'90s
and
was
replaced
by
Francois
Blom
making
the
full-on
Metal
transition.
Paul
returned shortly after -
this
core
line-up
became
the
strongest
and
most
prolific.
Namibian
Johan
DeJager
became
the
on-off
2nd
guitarist.
In
the
early
'90s
the
popular
Seventh
Demo
was
recorded
and
caught
the
attention
of
(rip-off
artists)
Inhouse
Records
in
Johannesburg,
signing
the
band.
V.O.D
recorded
the
Black
Cathedral
album
with
them,
as
well
as
contributing
the
classic
If
I
Had
A
Soul track
for
the
Death
Of
Africa
compilation
CD
(and
cassette
with
extra
tracks
Black
Cathedral,
Goodbye
and
Welcome
To
South
Africaaaargh!!!).
The
Black
Cathedral
&
Other
Stories
video
was
also
released
by
Inhouse
featuring
V.O.D
and
other
bands
live
in
the
studio.
Since
the
late
'80s
V.O.D
took
regular
trips
to
Johannesburg
(as
well
as
Durban)
for
live
shows.
Paul
produced
the
extensive
Welcome
To
South
Africaaargh!!!!
-
Live
'93
video
in
1994, featuring their performance supporting Napalm Death on their SA tour.
Morbid
Records
in
Germany
signed
V.O.D
in
the
mid-'90s
and
the
band
flew
over
to
the
UK
to
record
the
legendary
Bloedrivier
album
(now
available
as
a
10th
Anniversary
re-release) at Academy Studios (where bands like Paradise Lost, Anathema, My Dying Bride and Cradle Of Filth first recorded).
Besides
shows
in
the
UK,
this
was
followed
by
a
full
European
tour
in
'96
covering
the
Czech
Republic,
Slovakia,
Netherlands,
Germany,
France,
Ireland,
Spain,
UK
etc.
The
band
was
joined
by
2nd
guitarist
Johan.
Tour
mates
were
Katatonia
(Sweden)
and
In
The
Woods
(Finland).
Johan
returned
to
Namibia
and
Paul
returned
to
South
Africa,
followed
by
Francois.
Greg
eventually
also
head
back,
but
Diccon
remained
in
his
ancestral
land
of
Blighty.
Before
Greg's
return,
Paul
and
Francois
was
joined
by
Johan
on
guitar
and
Adam Van Der Riet
(Pothole)
on
bass
to
play
two
monstrous
nights
at
the
1998
Oppi
Koppi
festival.
With
Greg
back,
the
band
played
the
first
Woodstock
Festival
in
Heidelberg
(Gauteng)
1999,
with
Tom
Somers
on
bass. V.O.D closed
the
festival
with
a
total
chaotic
bang.
Since
then
Francois
stayed
busy
with
his
solo
project Die
Kruis and
Afrikaans
project K.O.B.U.S. with
Theo
Crous
(Springbok
Nude
Girls guitarist). The band released 3 albums and won
the
Best
Afrikaans
Rock
Album
at
the
2008
SAMAs (for the K.O.B.U.S. Swaar Metaal release). They played the Manowar-headlining Magic Circle Festival in Germany.
Francois is married and has a son.
www.FLAMEDROP.com/Kruis / www.facebook.com/swaarmetaal1
Paul
occupied
himself
with
his
one-man
project F8 (pronounced
"Fate") in the late-'90s / early-2000s,
and
Industrial-Metal
band Terminatryx (est. 2002),
fronted
by
his
wife
Sonja.
Paul
also
played
live
drums
for K.O.B.U.S. between
2003-2008.
At
many
K.O.B.U.S.
shows
in
Pretoria
and
Bloemfontein V.O.D fans
attended, J.M.S.P. often
played
as an encore.
In
2006
Diccon's
SA
visit
resulted
in
him
playing
bass
for
a K.O.B.U.S. show
and
a
few V.O.D numbers
were
naturally
slipped
in.
www.TERMINATRYX.com
/
www.FLAMEDROP.com/F8
Terminatryx
played
Popkomm
in
Berlin,
Germany
(September
2006),
and
Diccon
filled
in
on
additional
8-string
bass!
The
Terminatryx
debut
album
was
released
mid-2008 (its full remixed version in 2011), their DVD and a heavy Afrikaans compilation (feat. V.O.D, Terminatryx, F8, Die Kruis, K.O.B.U.S.) in 2009, with the new Terminatryx studio album set for 2013.
In 2006 Paul & Sonja created The Makabra Ensemble with musician friends - this project creates new original soundtracks to classic silent films and perform these live to the big screen.
www.terminatryx.com/makabra
Paul
also
makes
movies
&
videos,
and
in 2000 started
a
website
concentrating
on
movies,
music
&
video
games: www.FLAMEDROP.com,
and
with Sonja organizes
film
festivals
like
the
South
African
HORRORFEST,
X
FEST
and
CELLUDROID:
www.HorrorFest.info
/
www.xfest.org
/
www.celludroid.net,
which
is
hooked
up
to
their
Shadow
Realm,
inc.
Horror
portal
www.SHADOWREALMinc.com
His movies and videos can be seen at www.youtube.com/Terminatryx and www.youtube.com/FlamedropProductions
Greg
moved
to
the
West
Coast
where
he
edits
a
community
paper, then to PE with his new wife.
He started work on his Black Opera project.
http://music.smeak.com/release/black-opera-i/
In the UK Diccon played with Demoniac, which became Dragonforce, but he left before they struck it big. He also played for Pagan Altar.
www.MySpace.com/PaganAltar
Johan
released
several
albums
with
his
Namibian
based
Arcana
XXII
and
moved
on
to
Ruacana and
The
Electric
Dead. Relocated to Germany.
2006
saw
the
10th
Anniversary
of
V.O.D's
classic
Bloedrivier
album
and
a
special
edition
was
released
late-2006
in
South
Africa
(the
country
where
this
local
band's
CD
could
only
be
obtained
by
import from their German label,
until
now!).
2007
Paul
was set to
work
on
a
book
with
Marq
Vas
(Metalmorphosis JHB)
and
Mike
Gill
(Urban
Assault)
documenting
Heavy
music
in
South
Africa
(subsequently
postponed).
2009
marked
a
decade
since
V.O.D
played
together,
and
the
Voice
Of
Destruction
reunion
tour
hit
festivals
and
venues
across
South
African
incl.
Ramfest,
Zeplins,
The
Doors,
Klein
Libertas
Theatre,
and
The
Assembly.
in
August
it
was
followed
by
the
release
of
the
3hr
DVD
"The
V.O.D
Archives
Vol.
II:
Live
'93
&
Europe
'95
-
'96".
To
be
followed
by
the
retrospective
CD
"The
V.O.D
Archives
Vol.
III:
Return
To
The
Great
Abyss".
2008
/
2009
the
V.O.D
classic
JMSP
appears
on
the
KOPSKOOT!
compilation
album,
which
pulled
together
16
heavy
songs
in
Afrikaans.
Produced
and
compiled
by
Paul,
the
album
also
includes
K.O.B.U.S.,
Terminatryx,
F8,
Die
Kruis,
Battery
9,
Van
Coke
Kartel,
Insek,
Mind
Assault,
Andre'
Van
Der
Walt,
Somerfan,
Lion's
Pride,
Conquest
For
Death
etc.
The
V.O.Documentary
-
25
Years
Of
Destruction has been morphed into one of the 3 ALTERnatives documentaries telling the South African alternative music story - V.O.D the main focus of the Metal chapter
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