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Lastwar

Polish death / thrash metal band from Poland (Wągrowiec). Formed in 1987.(Split up) Formed in late-1987 in the town of Wągrowiec. First rehearsal took place at Marek Nowicki’s home on 1987 new year's eve, with guitarist Michał Wąsewicz, bassist Szymon Filut and drummer Piotr Piotrkowski completing the earliest line-up. The first formation changes followed in early 1988 – Piotrkowski was replaced by local drummer Tomasz Jaskólski. Soon Wąsewicz was also given his walking papers, as he spent most of his time in Poznań. Vocal duties were handled by Maciej Bogdański, who soon became the leader of the band, taking them in a hard rock direction. This brief Lastwar incarnation only did one show on 3rd June 1988, doing UFO, Cream and Motörhead covers. Michał Wąsewicz returned shortly afterwards, suggesting to bring back the initial thrash style of the band – something Nowicki disagreed with. He presented his resignation, along with Bogdański. Wąsewicz then took vocal duties. On 16th July 1988, this new power trio line-up did its first show at the Smogulec village, plus 2 more dates, embracing a strictly thrash style. Filut was given his walking papers in springtime 1989, as the rest of the band was dissatisfied with his technical capabilities. In the meantime, Wąsewicz teamed up with Wehrwolf’s drummer Krzysztof Urban, forming a grindcore side-project named Disposithor, recording a demo tape entitled Inactive Pork Chop. Without a bassist, Lastwar went into hiatus. Wąsewicz and Jaskólski joined Baba Yaga (later named Hypnosis) from Rogoźno, until late-1989 when they left to reactivate Lastwar. Former Wehrwolf bassist Maciej Krenc was introduced at the time. This line-up started writing new songs, doing their first show with Hypnosis in November in Budzyń. In February 1990, they shared stage with Acid Drinkers and Penthouse, and kept playing shows and festivals (like the DK Bydgoszcz, sharing stage with influential acts like Morgoth and Imperator), working on new material as well. In November, the band headed into the ARP Studio in Szczecin to record their debut demo, with the collaboration of Artur Bursakowski. They soon started an intensive tour schedule, gigging alongside Turbo, Christ Agony and Thanatos, among others. In 1991, the debut demo Skazani Na Zagładę was released as a split cassette with Sparagmos’s material, through ALF – entitled Morbid Satisfaction. More gigs followed, along with more songwriting. 5 Were ready to go, along with a Slayer “Die By The Sword” cover, though plans changed after Carnage Records owner Mariusz Kmiołek offered them to release the new material through his label. Recording session took place in October at the Wągrowiec Youth Cultural Center. Kmiołek suggested the lyrics to be recorded in English, as well as extend the duration of the songs and exclude the cover. The band agreed with his advice, rearranging the songs at CCS Studio in Warsaw in 1992, where bands like Betrayer and Imperator had worked before. Recording sessions took a week, and the stress level and tension increased in the studio, leading to disagreements between the group and the sound-engineer Tadeusz Czechak. The material was eventually remixed and mastered at PR Studio in Olsztyn by Ryszard Szmit, and released as Darkness In Eden. The classic line-up Woniu-Egon-Jaskólski did another demo in 1994, but eventually split-up the same year.