Ostrogoth

Like their better-known compatriots Acid and Killer, Belgian heavy metal band Ostrogoth released a string of albums through the Mausoleum label beginning in 1983, but their origins actually dated all the way back to the mid-'70s, when they began working their way through several lineups and various musical styles. But it wasn't until vocalist Marc De Brouwer and second guitarist Rudy Vercruysse joined existing members Hans Van de Kerkhove (guitar), Marnix Van de Kauter (bass), and Mario Pauwels (drums) in 1981 that Ostrogoth settled on a signature formula informed by the New Wave of British Heavy Metal and burgeoning Continental European success stories like the Scorpions and Accept. Having adopted colorful pseudonyms to round out their new direction (De Brouwer was "Red Star," Vandekerkhove "Sphinx," Vercruysse "White Shark," De Kauter "Bronco," and Pauwels "Grizzly"), the quintet set about recording 1983's Full Moon's Eyes EP independently, but was offered a deal by the aforementioned Mausoleum after a local radio station premiered two of its songs.

There followed two full-length Ostrogoth albums in 1984's Ecstasy and Danger and 1985's Too Hot, but their modest sales resulted in a full-scale band implosion the following year that spared only Vercruysse and Pauwels, while ushering in new vocalist Peter De Wint (ex-Crossfire), Brazilian-born guitarist Juno Martins, bassist Sylvain Cherotti, and, most tellingly, a keyboardist named Kris Taerwe. Given all these changes, it was not at all surprising that Ostrogoth's sound also returned virtually unrecognizable for 1987's exceedingly commercial Feelings of Fury LP, nor that the band's watered-down reinvention alienated many fans and led to its demise shortly thereafter. Vercruysse, Pauwels, and friends eventually regrouped Ostrogoth for a one-off performance in Athens (the Greeks being major trad-metal enthusiasts) and commemorated the event by placing a few tracks on the Mausoleum 20th Anniversary Concert live album (alongside Doro and Killer), but they have remained silent ever since.