KROSSBREED stands for non-compromising metal. It’s a mixture of 4 different minds and 4 different ideas about metal formed into one hard and heavy unit, in other words a crossbreed of their own creativity.
KROSSBREED was formed in 2003 in Antwerp, Belgium. KROSSBREED has no real boundaries, what leads to a style of metal that is hard to name. But one thing we can agree on is that it’s a band that will take you to every corner of metal. Going from fast ripping riffs to catchy mind breaking tempos, KROSSBREED has it all.
After working hard they released their first demo in 2004. This first demo was named “DOWN TO THE CORE†and showed that KROSSBREED was still trying to find its direction. “DOWN TO THE CORE†was a good first base for the band and it had a lot of the ingredients that KROSSBREED still has today: aggression, anger, …
KROSSBREED is a band that will not sit around and wait for things to happen so they decided to organise a “DOWN TO THE COREâ€-tour and took some friendly bands with them on a tour through Belgium. These first steps in spreading their name around didn’t miss its effect. People started talking about this metal band even though they could not really put a label on it. Pushing further in finding their own style, KROSSBREED started writing new songs for their second demo called “ENJOY THE RAGEâ€. Because of a line up change, Stef switched from lead guitar to bass and Hendrik joined on lead guitar, and because they simply pushed themselves to a different level, “ENJOY THE RAGE†showed a band that played faster, mature and more technical metal. Being named “death core rage thrashersâ€, KROSSBREED knew that they were on the right track in doing what they love, playing metal without a label on it. They began receiving attention from the media. Big and small radio stations from in- and outside Belgium gave KROSSBREED the airtime they deserved. Metal magazines wrote good reviews of “ENJOY THE RAGEâ€, like one of the big metal magazines in the Netherlands, AARDSCHOK, that wrote the following:
The Belgian band krossbreed has named their second demo ENJOY THE RAGE, and to tell you the truth I’ve really enjoyed it. Being formed in 2003 they started playing covers from Metallica and Sepultura and you can hear that these bands influence KROSSBREED. But I must say that they play more technical and rhythmic metal then the named bands. This demo has 5 songs on it and a bonus video. They kick off with the solid song called AGAIN, a great trash song that reminds you of the glory days of Sepultura. The next one, called DOWN TO THE CORE is a heavy song that makes it hard to sit still, and so I let my neck do the work while listening to this one.
"True Identity", "Come Closer" and the last song "Bloodline" are each great trash songs that take you back to the good old Bay Area time. KROSSBREED does a real good job in giving the songs a whole new feel to them. The guys from KROSSBREED really know how to play their instrument and they do it with real convincing attitude.
In the spring of 2007 KROSSBREED entered a competition called “Belgian Wacken Open Air metal battleâ€. The winner was given a chance to play at WACKEN OPEN AIR 2007 to represent Belgium in a metal battle with bands from all over the world. KROSSBREED convinced the jury and the audience that they were the only band that deserved this chance. And so in August they raged the stage of WACKEN OPEN AIR. They ended up 4th out of 15 bands that competed. This again shows that KROSSBREED is a band that is on the right track. Playing a good amount of gigs and festivals, like GLASPOP in the Netherlands that they headlined together with the Swiss band GURD, they build a live reputation of a band that plays non-compromising metal. The people of GLASPOP loved KROSSBREED so much that they invited them back only 1 month after the festival to play for a big and ecstatic audience. Now even the big metalbands in Belgium such as Moker, Battalion and The Seventh wanted to play with KROSSBREED and so we ended 2007 with a nice full house on “MOKER metal festâ€.
At the end of 2007 KROSSBREED started writing new songs for their MCD that would be given the name “CARVED IN STONEâ€. This MCD was recorded in the studio of Peter De Wint. A guy with a huge metal reputation from touring as sound engineer, with bands like W.A.S.P., Tourettes, Harem Scarem en Glenn Hughes and from playing in bands like Crossfire and Mystery. CARVED IN STONE was recorded in January 2008 and is now ready to show KROSSBREED in its full metal glory. Be prepared for this…