Dekapitator began as a concept between Andy Maniac and Matt Hellfiend, two confirmed Thrashaholics, in late 1996. Their tastes seemed to run continually contrary to the direction of the band they played in together, Gore/Death Metal act Exhumed. The two became re-obsessed with the mid-1980's thrash movements in Germany, Canada, and of course their native Bay Area that had first interested them in underground music in the late 1980s. The idea to form a band in this vein quickly took hold. They toyed with the idea of calling the band Skaven, after a fictional band a childhood friend of Hellfiend’s had dreamt up (complete with elaborately conceived tape covers, tracklistings, and even imaginary line-up changes), but found the concept’s obsession with role-playing games and the occult to be incongruous with their radiation-soaked vision of post- apocalyptic thrash. After some personal issues were resolved and Hellfiend had tried to assemble a couple of abortive Maniac-less incarnations of the band (one version even set their sights on the moniker Hammerfall), longtime friend Dan Bulldoze was recruited for the bass slot, and rehearsals finally got underway in mid 1997. The band’s first song, “Attack With Mayhem” was adapted from an earlier project, the Necro Black Metal side band Paragon of Infamy, and “Make them Die” and “Haunted by Evil” followed soon after, showcasing the band’s early Kreator/Bathory vibe. Their friend Wes Blackwulf had planned on releasing a split with Nunslaughter and Derketa on his fledgling Midnight Records, but after Derketa backed out, Dekapitator eagerly took their slot. The split EP was released in early 1998 and garnered positive reviews and was well-received, especially for a band’s first recording (in fact, before recording “Blood on Steel”, Hellfiend had never even tried his hand at vocals for the band!). Dekapitator returned to the studio in early 98 to record a track for the Necropolis Records compilation, “Thrashing Holocaust” as well as an as-yet-unreleased cover of Destruction’s “Invincible Force”. The band was approached by Elden M. of www.blackmetal.com to record a full-length album, and with funding secured, the band entered Sound Temple Studios to record with guitar hero James Murphy at the production helm. Due to Murphy’s well documented brain tumor, the sessions drug on for months, but the end result was the “We Will Destroy... You Will Obey” full-length. The album received extremely positive publicity (as well as a few very negative reviews) and the band added Wes Blackwulf to the line-up as a second guitar player. After a few shows, it became clear that the four-piece line-up was not coming across as well as it should have been live, so Blackwulf left the group. The three founding members played their most successful show at the November to Dismember festival in San Bernadino, California in 2000. Due to Hellfiend and Maniac’s demanding tour commitments with Exhumed, the band languished in inactivity for several months, until they once again tried adding another guitarist, Brad Attitude. This line-up too proved unstable and Attitude left the band. As Hellfiend and Maniac continued to be busy with Exhumed, Dekapitator was once again put on ice. However, with Maniac’s departure from the Exhumed fold in the summer of 2003, Hellfiend and he vowed to resurrect the band. Finally in early 2004, D. Attacker was welcomed into the fold and the band readied themselves to continue on the path they had started years earlier. New songs are underway and the band is planning to record a new demo in the upcoming months and look for new label interest. You have been warned... WWIII is back at your doorstep...