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!T.O.O.H.!

!T.O.O.H.!
Also known as Devastator
Origin Prague, Kanín, Czech Republic
Genres Progressive death metal[1]
Deathgrind,
avant garde metal[1]
Years active 1990-2005; 2011-2013; 2017-
Labels Snuff Productions
Elitist Records
Earache Records
Associated acts §§, Gemini Gem, Duobetic Homunkulus
Members Josef Veselý
Jan Veselý
Past members Pavel Slavíček
Wokis
Petr Svoboda

!T.O.O.H.! (an acronym for "The Obliteration of Humanity") is a progressive death metal band from the Czech Republic formed in 1990. Early in their career, the band's lyrics focused mainly on gore, but in recent years they have focused a lot more on politics and social matters.

History[]

The band was founded under the name Devastator by brothers Jan and Josef Veselý in 1990, changing its name to !T.O.O.H.! in 1993. Jan and Josef go by the pseudonyms "Schizoid" and "Humanoid" respectively. The band split up shortly after finishing the Řád a trest album due to financial difficulties, after being dropped by Earache Records, who took the album out of print two months after its release.

In September 2011, the band reformed as a duo. In 2013, they released their fourth album, Democratic Solution, for free via their Facebook page.[2] Democratic Solution was musically very different from their previous recordings; the band retained its progressive death metal/grindcore characteristics and complex song structures, but instead of an instrumental background, the album featured electronic instrumentation & effects, electronic drums, clean vocals and ample use of keyboards throughout compositions. The resulting sound was closer to the brothers' other project, §§. Critical reception of this album was divided, with some reviewers considering it as one of the band's worst, and some as one of their best works.[3]

During this time the duo went public with news of Humanoid's mental health problems, as he was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia during the recording of Democratic Solution.[2] The band performed their last show on 16 February 2013 in Ostrava, and the following day they announced their disbandment due to difficulties playing live, stating that "it is for him [Humanoid] too stressful" and that "to continue as a studio project would be pointless".[2]

However, on April 1st, 2017 the duo announced via their Facebook page that they had been working on new material and planned to release an album sometime in 2018. They added that they had laid the groundwork for three songs already, which would be in a more traditional deathgrind style, unlike the band's previous album which featured an experimental and electronic take on grind. The duo said the new material would "sound like proper deathgrind with pompous passages" and "we want to go into a professional studio, where we are going to record live acoustic drums and loud guitars, and thus ensure dynamic sound quality".

They also confirmed that they would continue to not play live shows, due to Humanoid's illness, with Schizoid saying that "we do not plan to play live, as Jose's [Humanoid's] diagnosis doesn't allow it".

Members[]

Former members[]

Timeline[]

Discography[]

Footnotes[]

  1. ^ a b Anon 2017
  2. ^ a b c !t.o.o.h.! 2013
  3. ^ Anon 2017a
  4. ^ Gvoltt 2007
  5. ^ Anon 2013

References[]

External links[]