HOME CITY: Somerset West - Western Cape, South Africa

In October 2004 , Mind Assault made their first public appearance, and have not ceased in relentless conquest for greater success ever since.

The founding members of the band were: Jacques Fourie (vocals); Francois Pretorius (guitar - lead); Patrick Davidson (guitar); and Donovan Tose (bass). At that time, a good friend of the four members, Stephan Lenhoff, had offered to stand in on drums until a more permanent member could be found. As it turned out, Stephan remained with the band until the end of 2006, when he made way for Andries Smit who completed the line-up and has remained with the band since.

Right from the start, Mind Assault has always been an act who strives to push boundaries and surpass expectations. Within the first year, the band had achieved many feats previously thought impossible for a heavy metal group in Southern Africa . Mind Assault had recorded and released a demo EP, played a number of larger “alternative” concerts/festivals, and initiated a fresh concept of organizing large “party busses” to select performances, which in itself became an event that attracted a lot of additional fans.

By early 2006 , Mind Assault had also played their first big cross-genre music festival to very receptive audiences, and completed their first national tour (DESTRUCTOUR'06) in partnership with South Africa 's most legendary metal act, SacriFist (begun in 1993!). The success of the tour had ensured the bands progress on a national level. Throughout that year, the band continued ravaging of their home province, and beyond, gathering material for the planned home DVD release which was to follow.

2007 saw the release of Mind Assault's feature length DVD, “F*k Voort En Suip Baie”. It proved to be an instant favorite “must have” amongst the local metal community. The DVD was a showcase of life on the road, and the fun to be had in pursuit of ones dreams, including the ups and the downs as well as some personal victories and embarrassments. Also, the DVD served as a “farewell” to Stephan Lenhoff, and a “welcome” to Andries Smit on the drums.

With new force behind the band and the creative side reaching its strongest point yet, Mind Assault went on to play key slots on some more of the countries premier music festivals, “alternative” as well as other.

They concluded the year with headlining slots at festivals such as “METAL4AFRICA”, “EMPYREAN FEST”, and “WHIPLASH”.

2008 proved to be even more exciting for Mind Assault, but has also been the most challenging year yet!

In February, Mind Assault released their debut album “Stigma” to a raging audience at the follow-up of “METAL4AFRICA”, smashing attendance records in the region for an all-African, all-metal event.

Unfortunately, within that same month, Mind Assault suffered a vehicle theft which included a substantial amount of live performance equipment. Luckily, the band had established enough allies in the industry over the years and many were willing to help with the loan of vital equipment. In that way, Mind Assault was not forced to cancel any previously booked shows. The problem did, however, throw huge obstacles in the path of progress.

Despite, less rehearsal hours being available and the consequent slowing in development of new material, Mind Assault continued with a massive forward thrust. 2008 included a headlining slot at “RAMFEST” (after the previous years stunning afternoon performance), which is by far the home provinces largest annual cross-genre music festival. Also, they once again conquered new fronts by touring beyond the South African border, acquiring whole new legions of fans.

By half way through 2008, Mind Assault had already been booked to play alongside international visitors: Devil Driver (USA), Carcass (UK), and Nile (USA) for later that year, as well as to headline yet another “METAL4AFRICA” and “WHIPLASH”. Incidentally, Mind Assault are the only band ever to have been invited to play “WHIPLASH” four years in a row!

Last but not least, the band also initiated another round of the country with old friends, SacriFist for DESTRUCTOUR'08.

And Mind Assault is looking to release more material by the end of 2009. With more headlining slots at RAMFEST 09, METAL4AFRICA Summer- and Winterfest 09 and WHIPLASH 09 (the 5th year in a row), Mind Assault is preparing some suprises for the future...

The creation of “Stigma” - background:

The members of Mind Assault have had the opportunity to gain a stronger sense of themselves since the beginning of 2007. It was at this juncture, when the line-up was fully completed and all of those elements which the founding members had sought out were finally in place, that the band thought it feasible to think about an album.

It took some time, and a fair amount of argument to decide on which songs to include, and why. At the end of the day, “Stigma” is not so much an album as it is a compilation intended to showcase the abilities and spectrum of the band. The purpose of this creation was twofold:

1) Over the years of tireless performing, there has grown a public demand for good quality recorded material from Mind Assault.

2) If Mind Assault were ever going to achieve greater things than were possible in Southern Africa , then the band would require a “showcase” of sorts to exhibit themselves to prospective overseas interest.

Towards these intents and purposes, Mind Assault regard “Stigma” as a demo album, recorded and produced independently on extremely limited resources, provided by the band members themselves. A limited number of copies were pressed for selling at events and through some businesses.

RECORDING

Owing to busy performance schedules, Mind Assault delayed the release of the album “Stigma” until February 2008. To appease the greedy masses, the band has put out an independently released 5-track demo EP in 2005, a feature-length DVD in 2007, and have featured on a number of compilation CD's including “Fear The Noise” (Witchdoctor Records – 2006), “Innocent Blood” (Independent – 2006) and, “Hammer The Masses” (Dual Records – 2007).

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