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HISTORY
In 1991, Fritz Patrick joined with cousin Tim Cardoza
to form a band called S.S. Dagger in Hayward, California.
Between the two of them, they began composing the first songs
of the current set, which were:
"Wretched
Man," and "Doctor of Destruction." Within a few months they
had already four more songs and began seeking a drummer.
As
fate would have it, Douglas Teixeira, another fellow cousin,
moved to the Bay Area from Reno, Nevada in 1992.
Having
held the drummer position in bands such as Robyn Danger, Overlord,
and Last Descendents, as well as touring with Y&T, Douglas
was ready to join the band.
Rounding out the lineup on guitar was Kaz Suda of Tokyo, Japan,
at that time a graphic arts student of UC Berkeley.
In August, 1993, S.S. Dagger released "Rest In Peaces," a
four-song EP which was produced by John Dote at Celebrity
Studios in Hayward.
It received
widespread recognition, including A&R response from several
agencies and record labels. However, Kaz graduated from UC
Berkeley and returned to Tokyo within six months, leaving
the band without a guitar player.
For many
months after, the threesome searched for a replacement. In
November, 1994, Len Goldschmidt, from Poughkeepsie, New York
filled the vacant slot on guitar.
The band
returned to gigging and added second guitarist Russ Farnsworth
from San Rafael, California in June, 1995.
In November, 1995, the band recorded "Look Out Below," a five-song
tape which was produced by Mark Schleunes at Crow Magnon Music
in Oakland, California.
This EP
featured new songs from both Tim and Len, plus some dramatic
art direction which took a lot of work to complete. Distributed
to Metal fans worldwide, it has also received very high marks.
In November, 1996, Russ left the band to pursue personal interests.
He was replaced by Chuck Aldrich of Livermore, California.
With the
new five-man lineup, the band played as many shows as possible
and began working on the new songs for the band's set. A year
later, Chuck made his departure from S.S. Dagger to concentrate
on other projects.
The band
continued searching for another rhythm player, holding auditions
regularly but continuing on as a four-man group.
In August
of 1999, recording began for the band's first LP: PAWNS OF
THE PREDATOR at Studio 880 in Oakland, California.
The album
was a collection of the band's published work to this point.
Three days were spent recording, mixing, and mastering the
tracks.
The session
was engineered by Mr. Michael Rosen, who had worked with bands
like TESTAMENT and FLOTSAM AND JETSAM.
A few
months later, the recording was re-mixed and tracked in 2
days, with an additional day of mastering at Pork Muffin Studios
in Fremont, California. The session was engineered by Bob
Nunes and Kelly Bennett.
By mid-1999, a discussion began about the band name. While
unique and catchy in nature, the controversy surrounding it
posed a few challenges for the band.
Some venues
resisted booking the band, and others jumped to conclusions
about the band's political or social views, only because of
the 3rd Reich association with the name.
In November,
1999, the band voted to change the name to BLITZENHAMER, and
a new logo was designed. The old name was retired, but the
musical attitude and content remained intact.
By
June of 2000, the artwork was completed for the album by Myron
Whisler, currently the drummer for CHAMBER SEVEN.
The album
has been well received by many metal fans abroad. The band
is now shopping the album and looking to secure a European
tour, while hammering out the next crop of new material, and playing live gigs
on every stage they can find.
The
band was featured on the San Bernardino, California NOVEMBER
to DISMEMBER metalfest in November, 2000.
While
short, the performance of BLITZENHAMER was sweet enough for
representatives of the Dutch Heavy Metal magazine AARDSCHOK
to pick up a copy of PAWNS OF THE PREDATOR and bring it home.
It received
a full score (100/100) in the January issue, and spurred interest
of A&R and the metal press all over Europe. Since then, a number of European publications have
featured the band and their LP: "PAWNS OF THE PREDATOR" as a new metal force from America.
In August, 2001, the band played Metalfest XV in
Milwaukee, WI on the digital metal stage, with some added theatrics to one of their thrashing tracks: "ALIENUS
"MAXIMUS." Many metal fans from North Carolina to Thunder Bay, Ontario were witness to the high toned metal attack.
In November, 2001, the band was in San Francisco attending a
concert at Maritime Hall, which was to be its last show before it was closed down. At this point in time, they
met Shawn Davis, originally from Seattle, WA.
A San Francisco resident for over 9 years, Shawn had attended Musician's Institute and
played in local bands such as THE BEGGARS for many years. His skills with the guitar were razor-sharp, and he auditioned for
the second guitarist spot in BLITZENHAMER. Shawn played his
first show with the band in February, 2002, and the lineup has never been stronger.
Their next recording will be produced at THOR STUDIOS in Fremont, CA, and the band's future is to record,
tour, and keep playing together forever.
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