Havok (band)

David Sanchez founded the group with his classmate drummer Haakon Jogren. The duo sought the lead guitarist by hanging leaflets in Denver and its suburbs. As a result, local guitarist Sean Chavez joined the band ^[3] . In the end, they create their first lineup with bassist Marcus Korich, and in 2004, Havok recorded their first demo, “Thrash Can.” In 2005, they independently released another mini-album, Murder by Metal . By 2007, Tyler Cantrell took on the role of bass player and Rich Theis as the drummer. On September 19th, with this new line-up, Havok independently released his first mini-album, Pwn 'Em All ^[3] . Tyler's brother bassist Justin Cantrell replaced him on several tours in support of the mini-album.

In December 2007, Havok hired drummer Ryan Bloom, who sent out a copy of their mini-album to various metal labels that they could find. The mini-album was heard by the British extreme metal studio Candlelight Records , and shortly afterwards the group decided to join it. In the fall of 2008, the band hired a new bass player, Jesse De Los Santos. On June 2, 2009, Havok released his debut full-length album, Burn ^[3] . However, Ryan Bloom left the band in April, before the release of Burn ^[4] . He was replaced by Scott Fuller for some time, but was eventually hired by Pete Webber as a permanent drummer. Burn was well received in the metal community, but it was not enough for them to enter the world metal scene. The band was supposed to perform at the opening of Primal Fear on May 20, 2010 at the Gramercy Theater in New York, however, guitarist Sean Chavez left the band the same day. Sanchez learned all the solo parts of their songs, and Havok went on tour as a trio ^[5] . In September 2010, in Winchester, Wyoming, Schroeder Riis Scruggs joined the band as the new lead guitarist.

The band then returned to the studio to record their second album. March 29, 2011 Havok released the album Time Is Up ^[6] . This album was distributed through the metal community, receiving positive reviews from critics and fans. This album became decisive in what later became known as the “New Wave” of thrash metal scenes. The success of Time Is Up has led Havok to perform on big tours to support such thrash metal veterans like Forbidden , Revocation and White Wizzard; as well as on open tours with Sepultura , Death Angel , Anthrax , The English Dogs, The Casualties , GOATWHORE, 3 Inches of Blood , Skeletonwitch and Exhumed ^{[7] [8]} . 2012 ended with a group opening act at At The Gates , Behemoth , Mayhem , Possessed , Exodus, and Sacred Reich .

After a year of heavy touring, Havok returned home to Denver with plans to record his next album. Havok is invited to open the Dark Roots of Thrash tour for Testament on their Denver show after Overkill was forced to abandon the tour due to illness by lead singer Bobby Blitz Ellsworth ^[9] . Fans were introduced to the new bass player Mike Leon, after Jesse left the band to spend time with his family. Havok began recording his new album in the spring of 2013, Unnatural Selection , which was released June 25, 2013. Shortly after the release of the album, the group traveled to Bogota, Colombia to play at the Rock Al Parque festival, playing an estimated ^{[ what? ]} , in front of 45,000 audiences. The festival also included Cannibal Corpse and Symphony X.

Unnatural Selection’s third album, released June 25, marked the first week on the top of the Billboard 200 at number 154. More than 2,500 copies were sold compared to their latest release, Time Is Up , which sold just over 700 copies. According to an interview with frontman David Sanchez, Unnatural Selection will be the band's latest release on Candlelight Records. The group moves further from Candlelight Records to expand its horizons with a large label ^[10] . On July 11, the group announced that they had signed a contract with Century Media Records. ^[11]

On May 10, 2015, it was announced that guitarist Sean Chavez had died ^[12] .

On September 22, 2015, the band announced that they had parted with bassist Mike Leon and replaced him with Nick Shenzhelius from Cephalic Carnage and Job For a Cowboy. ^[13] In the same month, it was announced that Havok was working on a new album, which was released in 2017 ^[14] . The album is called Conformicide . On May 17, 2018, the band announced North American tour dates that began on July 13 and ended on August 5. The band toured with Jungle Rot and Extinction AD ^[15]

In an interview with Sonic Perspectives, published in July 2018, Sanchez said that Havok is going to “stop touring soon” and start writing a new album, which, he hopes, will be released by the summer of 2019 ^[16] .

Current squad

• David Sanchez - vocals , rhythm guitar , solo guitar (2004 — present)
• Riis Scruggs - solo guitar , backing vocals (2010 — present)
• Nick Shengielius - bass (2015 — present)
• Pete Webber - drums (2010 — present)

Former members

• Sean Chavez - lead guitar (2004—2010, died in 2015)
• Marcus Korisch - bass guitar (2004-2005)
• Tyler Cantrell - bass (2006-2007)
• Justin Cantrell - bass, backing vocals (2007-2008)
• Jesse De Los Santos - Bass, Back Vocals (☎)
• Mike Leon - bass (2013—2015)
• Haakon Zhogren - drums (2004-2005)
• Ritchie Tays - drums (2005-2007)
• Ryan Alexander Bloom - drums (2007—2009)
• Scott Fuller - Drums (2009—2010)

Former session musicians

• Stephen Sanchez - Percussion (2007)
• Dan Gargiulo - Guitar (2014)
• Todd Stern - Guitar (2014)
• Marshall Vaichorek - drums (2014)

• Burn (2009)
• Time Is Up (2011)
• Unnatural Selection (2013)
• Conformicide (2017)

• Morbid Symmetry (2009)
• Covering Fire (2011)
• DOA (2011)
• Point of No Return (2013)
• "From the Cradle to the Grave" (2013)
• “Give Me Liberty ... Or Give Me Death” (2013)
• Worse Than War (2013)
• Chasing the Edge (2014)
• Unnatural Selection (2015)

• Havok Biographie (Neopr.) . Laut.de.
• Patrick Schmidt. Havok - Burn (Neopr.) . Rock hard .
• Patrick Schmidt. Havok - Time Is Up (Neopr.) . Rock hard .
• Frank Albrecht. Havok - Unnatural Selection (Neopr.) . Rock hard .
• Ronny Bittner Havok - Conformicide (neopr.) . Rock hard .