Satanchist

***Among the more curious entries in the annals of underground Czech black metal obscurities is Satanchist. Czech extreme metal from the late 80s and early 90s always had an elusive, indescribable character; prominent bands like Root, Master’s Hammer, and Torr produced a body of work that avoided adherence to formula. Though unknown compared with the aforementioned bands, Satanchist left an eccentric mark of their own. Formed in 1989—the same year that Communist Czechoslovakia dissolved amid the so-called “Velvet Revolution,” giving rise to the Czech Republic—Satanchist began as a duo playing blackened grind metal. Over the next three years, guitarist Tomas Torquemada and drummer Pavel Slayer Tyrol (accompanied by a bassist known simply as “Stanley”) recorded a handful of demos, none of which were ever officially released. By 1992, Pavel had left the band, replaced by a drummer named “Zombie,” who brought with him a guitarist called Drtič řitních věnců (which translates to the crude and absurd phrase “anal wreath crusher”). With this lineup, Satanchist recorded the “Drtiči Kacířských Pohlaví” demo, the band’s only official release. The demo fell between the cracks of the burgeoning black metal movement, it’s physical obscurity and unconventional stylistic approach rendering it largely inaccessible until it was unearthed for a vinyl reissue in 2013 by the Slovakian label Hexencave Productions. Edition of 250 copies. Includes a 24x12 insert and double-sided A3 poster.