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Mind Assault is a heavy metal band which began formation in 2003 but first emerged in public by that name in October 2004, based in Somerset West near Cape Town, South Africa. They were the first band of extreme genre to bring an equal use of their native language of afrikaans into their music, having a roughly 50/50 balance of Afrikaans and English songs in their repertoire.〔http://www.lordsofmetal.nl/nl/interviews/view/id/3022〕〔http://metal4africa.com/features/come-out-and-vent-a-little-steam-mind-assault/〕 This language usage was owing to a re-emerging consciousness (see Voëlvry) during that time amongst young people in alternative sub-cultures, also reflected by bands at that time such Fokofpolisiekar and Kobus!, of taking stronger observation of one's own cultural heritage. Mind Assault has become known across South Africa as representing something of an activist on stage and in writing.〔http://metal4africa.com/news/mind-assault-taking-on-political-flack/〕〔http://www.lordsofmetal.nl/nl/interviews/view/id/3022〕 Lyrical content varies from issues of state and political interest〔http://metal4africa.com/news/mind-assault-call-mag-verkrag/〕 through to matters of personal frustration and social problems.〔(Encyclopaedia Metallum )〕 The band has been represented by a stable line-up, still consisting of all four founding members today.〔http://www.8thnotemusicmag.com/~thnotemu/index.php/level3-dummy/140-mind-assault〕 Whilst Mind Assault originally had trouble finding a suitable drummer in their home town, Stephen Lenhoff (a high school friend and multi-instrumentalist) joined the band on drums for a period of almost three years until Andries Smit took up drumming duties on 1 January 2007. Andries quickly become a vital contributor to the band not only by drumming, but also as composer, bringing an end to the search for a fifth permanent member.〔http://metal4africa.com/features/2010-07-mindassault/〕 ==History== In October 2004, Mind Assault made their first public appearance. The founding members of the band were: Jacques Fourie; Franscois Pretorius; Patrick Davidson; and Donovan Tose. Because the Band couldn't find a drummer, a friend of the band, Stephan Lenhoff, took the position, until Andries Smit replaced him as a permanent member from 1 January 2007. Mind Assault attempted their first recording and released it as a demo EP in 2005, titled ''Social Engineering''. During this time they playing a number of Underground Music concerts/festivals, and initiated a fresh concept of organizing large “party buses” 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 cross-genre music festival to very receptive audiences, and completed their first national tour (DESTRUCTOUR'06) in partnership with one of South Africa's most legendary metal acts, SacriFist (begun in 1993). The success of the tour had ensured the bands progress on a national level. Throughout that year, the band continued shows in 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 home DVD, ''F *k Voort En Suip Baie'' (the first of its kind in South Africa). 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 so far. In February, Mind Assault released their debut full length album ''Stigma'' at “METAL4AFRICA Summerfest”, smashing attendance records in the region for an all-African, all-metal event. 2008 included a headlining slot at “RAMFEST”, which is by far the home provinces largest annual cross-genre music festival. Also, they toured beyond the South African border into neighboring Namibia. 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” five years in a row!.〔(Dave Sass, Subterania Music )〕 The band also initiated another round of the country with old friends, SacriFist for DESTRUCTOUR '08.,〔(Official Mind Assault Biography )〕 but settled down towards the end of that year in light of economic down-turn, and owing to a vehicle and equipment theft from which they would take some time to recover. Consequently, neither Nile nor Devil Driver reached African shores, as had been scheduled. In 2009, and after the loss of the drum kit, Mind Assault maintained a slowed pace under the public eye, but continued work on new material and worked on delivering some of the most entertaining performances seen in African metal until that point, repeating appearances at some festivals such as "RAMFEST" and "METAL4AFRICA". In addition to the usual gig circuit, 2010 saw Mind Assault's first appearance at one South Africa's oldest and most well-known festivals, Oppikoppi, and took the remainder of the year to track their next self-released EP called ''Metal Rites''. ''Metal Rites'' was released at the end of January in 2011, with the band immediately embarking on another round of shows across the country, including a first-time appearance in the city of Bloemfontein that year. By the close of 2012, the band had begun a major shift of focus from the live scene towards becoming a more studio-orientated band. This shift was primarily prompted by the return of lead guitarist ''Franscois Pretorius'', who was also a founding member, to his country of birth Namibia. Despite the move, members of Mind Assault elected to not change the members of the band, but to continue writing and recording with the original permanent line-up. Mind Assault reached another milestone in 2013 when they traveled to their first Gauteng province RAMfest to join South Africa's Pestroy in opening for UK's Bring Me The Horizon and USA's Rise Against. The year of 2014 started off with a bang as Mind Assault released four self-produced tracks and a music video in anticipation of their support tour with USA's Lamb of God in South Africa. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Mind Assault」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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