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Moby Dick - Biography


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1990-

Biography

The band was formed in 1980 by Schmiedl and Mentes, both 14 years old at the time. They named themselves after "Moby Dick" the white whale from the novel by Herman Melville, the next day after they saw the film in the Austrian TV. The first song they learned to play was the Led Zeppelin song "Moby Dick". By 1982, they were playing in front of crowds of 1200 at times, and they recorded their first demo in 1983, heavily influenced by Priest, Maiden, and Motorhead. The demo was summarily rejected by record labels. Nonetheless, they recorded another, thrashier demo in 1985. This was also rejected - in fact, on one day in 1985, they were the only band out of seven not to receive state sanctioning, which would have allowed them to play larger concerts and receive financial support. In 1986-87, both Schmiedl and Mentes served in the army, putting the band on hold. Upon their return, they started gigging again, and recorded a 7" single in Austria in September, 1988. It was not realeased, but they debuted on national TV on October 15th, 1988. Then, they opened for Stormwitch on 7 Hungarian tour dates between October 31st and November 9th, drawing 10000 metalheads a night. In 1989 they were signed to Proton records, and released several thrash albums, before breaking up in 1998. They reformed in 2002 with a concert on March 5th, and have been playing gigs since.

ed. - bio is being worked on right now - stay tuned