God Dethroned

God Dethroned is a death metal band from the Netherlands.

  God Dethroned was formed in 1991 by singer ^vocalist and guitar player ^guitar Henri Sattler, with Hans Leegstra (guitar) and Ard de Weerd. Sattler and Leegstra had previously been in Dysentery; Leegstra, quickly after the band formed, left the music scene altogether. They recorded a demo, Christ Hunt, in 1991, after which Marco Barends joined on bass ^{bass guitar} . Their first album, The Christhunt, was released on the German ^Germany label Shark. Meanwhile, Barends left (to rejoin Alter) and was replaced by Marcel Beukeveld. The Christhunt did poorly; the label had refused to feature a dissected rat on the cover and did not promote the record at all. Dethroned went on hiatus the following year, in part because Sattler's anti-Christian sympathy was not shared by all, and Sattler formed a new group called Ministry of Terror. In 1996, after that band's 1994 album Fall of Life and a supporting European tour (with Impaled Nazarene), Sattler re-formed God Dethroned with guitarist Jens van der Balk, bassist Beef, and drummer Roel Sanders. With this lineup a deal was signed with Metal Blade, and they issued The Grand Grimoire in Europe in 1997; the album was released in the U.S. the following year, along with a re-issue of The Christhunt, which featured the original cover art, with the dissected rat.

The Grand Grimorie did much better than The Christhhunt did, and the band soon entered into a sort of high point. The lineup of Sattler, Van Der Valk, Beef and Sanders would record the album Bloody Blasphemy, which many fans of the band consider to their best work to date. Successful tours and shows with bands like Marduk ^{Marduk (band)} , Immortal ^{Immortal (band)} , and Deicide ^{Deicide (band)} would later follow. After Bloody Blasphemy, Sanders soon left the band and was replaced by Puerto Rican drummer Tony Laureano. Laureano played with the band up till 2003, when he received an offer to join the American death metal band Nile ^{Nile (band)} . He would record only one album with the band, 2000's Ravenous ^{Ravenous (God Dethroned album)} .

A new drummer was found, Ariën Van Weesenbeek, and the band entered the studio at the end of 2002 to record Into the Lungs of Hell. More problems began to follow, as Beef and Jens were tired with the direction of the band and wanted to push for a more heavy and extreme sound with more anti-Christian lyrics (themes that had begun to start to fade to an extent on Ravenous), whereas Sattler wanted to keep the band at a more melodic and darker sound with lyrics focused more on darkness, horror, nihilism, and other themes. After the recording and a short amount of touring for Into the Lungs of Hell, both the bassist and guitarist left the band, and Henri Sattler had to go look out for members once again. Bassist Henk Zinger was quickly brought into the fold, and Ariën van Weesenbeek recommended Belgian guitarist Isaac Delhaye to the band. This lineup would finish up the remaining tour dates and would go back into the studio to record another album, 2005's The Lair of the White Worm.

After touring for a little while, the band then went back into the studio and released The Toxic Touch in 2006.

In January 2008, two personnel changes were made. Isaac Delahaye left God Dethroned and was replaced with Murder Syndicate guitarist Susan Gerl. Since Ariën van Weesenbeek had joined Dutch ^Netherlands Symphonic metal band Epica ^{Epica (band)} full-time in December 2007, he was replaced with former drummer Roel Sanders. After a writing period, Passiondale ^{Passiondale_(God_Dethroned_album)} was recorded and released in early 2009. The album's concept is based on The Battle of Passchendaele during World War I.God Dethroned originally formed as a death metal band. When they reformed in 1996, they switched to blackened death metal and stayed that way until the release of Into the Lungs of Hell, when they shifted to melodic death metal. They are, however, "an important part of the Dutch black metal scene," according to The Encyclopedia of Dutch Black Metal.*Henri "T.S.K." Sattler ^{Henri Sattler} - vocals ^Singing , guitar
*Susan Gerl - guitar
*Henk "Henke" Zinger - bass guitar
*Roel Sanders - drums ^{Drum kit}


Former members

*Jens van der Balk - guitar
*Beef - bass guitar
*Ariën van Weesenbeek - drums
*Isaac Delahaye - guitar
*Tony Laureano - drums (Ravenous ^{Ravenous (God Dethroned album)} only)* The Christhunt (1992) (Reissued in 1998)
* The Grand Grimoire (1997)
* Bloody Blasphemy (1999)
* The Ancient Ones (2000)
* Ravenous ^{Ravenous (God Dethroned album)} (2000)
* Into the Lungs of Hell (2003)
* The Lair of the White Worm ^{The Lair of the White Worm (album)} (2004)
* The Toxic Touch (2006)
* Passiondale ^{Passiondale (God Dethroned album)} (2009)