The road to heavy metal glory is littered with the crumpled bodies of musicians that didn’t
have the talent, the opportunity or the dumb luck to make the grade. But sometimes greatness
is present from the very start, and it’s bands with that magical, ill-defined, special something
that seem to follow a predestined path to triumph. That is certainly true of Poland’s Decapitated.
As I write this at the end of 2020, Decapitated are widely and justly recognised as one of
the most important and consistent death metal bands of the 21stcentury. With an idiosyncratic
and always crushing sound that has been relentlessly copied but never equalled, the band led
by guitarist Waclaw ‘Vogg’ Kieltyka are contemporary legends with a near-flawless creative
catalogue. But even natural-born heroes have to start somewhere, and Decapitated’s story
began in Krosno, Poland, a long, long time ago, with the simple passing of the metal torch
from one family member to another...
Despite a skewed media narrative that claims that the ‘90s were a bad time for metal, the
decade was really an incredibly fertile and exciting time for young fans of heavy music. In
particular, the death metal scene flourished in the early ‘90s, spreading across the globe and
spawning hundreds of great bands. In Poland, a country with a proud history of hard rock
and heavy metal, death metal reigned supreme and Vogg and his younger brother Witold
‘Vitek’ Kieltyka were swept away by the sound of blastbeats and blasphemy.
Decapitated formed in Krosno in 1996, but Vogg and Vitek spent the years prior to that seismic
moment immersing themselves in the metal world, devouring as much music as they could
get their hands on and edging ever deeper into the vibes and culture of the extreme metal
underground. The early ‘90s was the perfect time for the young Poles to make their entry
into the metal fray for real, as the music they loved evolved and exploded all around them.
Bewitched by death metal and increasingly intrigued by the idea of making some brutal music
of his own, Vogg was plainly destined to be a professional musician. Both he and his younger
brother were already attending music school, honing their abilities as classical musicians and
gaining a rich knowledge of music’s nuts and bolts in the process. Also attending the school
were Wojciech ‘Sauron” Wasowicz and Marcin ‘Martin’ Rygiel: the two remaining pieces of
the original Decapitated jigsaw. All that was needed was a masterplan...
It’s always worth remembering that Decapitated were absurdly young when they pieced together
their first four death metal anthems. Most amazingly, Vitek was only 12 years old
when he delivered his first performances in the studio, but all four members of the band were
clearly ready to step up to their first major challenge, even if Vogg was a bit slow to realise
his new band’s potential.
The first Decapitated demo, Cemeteral Gardens, was recorded at Manek Studio in Sanok, Poland,
in June, 1997. From its ominous, eerie intro to the final crushing fury of its epic title track,
it was an extraordinarily mature and inventive effort from a quartet of fresh-faced teenagers,
powered by passion and excitement and gaining in confidence with every passing riff. 23
years on, songs like Destiny and Way To Salvation (the latter of which reappeared on Decapitated’s
Winds Of Creation album in 2000) were undeniably rough around the edges, but
the veracity, potency and potential of these wide-eyed kids from Krosno was unquestionable.
An exhilarating first demo by anyone’s standards, Cemeteral Gardens showcased the unique
magic that always seems to have informed Decapitated’s music. All four members of the
band contributed to their swift evolution, but the Decapitated sound was always constructed
around the formidable core of brothers Vogg and Vitek. With hindsight, it was the chemistry
the pair enjoyed, and the euphoria they clearly both felt when playing together, that pushed
the nascent four-piece to a level th
