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Frank Gosdzik (born 24 February 1966), known professionally as Frank Blackfire, is a German guitarist who is a member of the
thrash metal Thrash metal (or simply thrash) is an Extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music characterized by its overall aggression and fast tempo.Kahn-Harris, Keith, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'', pp. 2–3, 9. Oxford: Berg, ...
band Sodom and a former member of
Kreator Kreator is a German thrash metal band from Essen, formed in 1982. Their current line-up consists of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Mille Petrozza, Miland "Mille" Petrozza, drummer Jürgen Reil, Jürgen "Ventor" Reil, lead guitarist Sami Yli- ...
.


Career

Gosdzik was born in
Essen Essen () is the central and, after Dortmund, second-largest city of the Ruhr, the largest urban area in Germany. Its population of makes it the fourth-largest city of North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne, Düsseldorf and Dortmund, as well as ...
. Inspired by attending an
AC/DC AC/DC are an Australian rock band formed in Sydney in 1973. Their music has been variously described as hard rock, blues rock and Heavy metal music, heavy metal, although the band calls it simply "rock and roll". They are cited as a formativ ...
concert, he began playing the guitar at the age of eleven. After first attempts with his self-founded band Midia, he joined Sodom in 1987, who were originating from
Gelsenkirchen Gelsenkirchen (, , ; ) is the List of cities in Germany by population, 25th-most populous city of Germany and the 11th-most populous in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia with 262,528 (2016) inhabitants. On the Emscher, Emscher River (a tribu ...
, and with whom he had previously shared the rehearsal room.carnagedeathmetal.de: Interview mit Frank Blackfire
/ref> Taking his lead from the pseudonyms of his new bandmates at Sodom, Tom Angelripper and Chris Witchhunter, Gosdzik called himself "Frank Blackfire". Because of his playing skills he had a significant share of the musical development and direction of Sodom and played on an EP and on the album ''
Persecution Mania ''Persecution Mania'' is the second studio album by German thrash metal band Sodom, released on 1 December 1987 by Steamhammer/SPV. The album marked the beginning of the change in sound from having elements of thrash metal, speed metal and bla ...
'' (1987). In 1989, the album ''
Agent Orange Agent Orange is a chemical herbicide and defoliant, one of the tactical uses of Rainbow Herbicides. It was used by the U.S. military as part of its herbicidal warfare program, Operation Ranch Hand, during the Vietnam War from 1962 to 1971. T ...
'' followed.Christof Leim: "Frank Blackfire". In: "Rückspiegel", Metal Hammer Germany, April 2009, p. 145. In July 1989, Blackfire left Sodom due to personal differences and joined Essen's Kreator, another pioneer band of the German thrash scene. Three commercially successful studio albums under Blackfire's participation followed, ''
Coma of Souls ''Coma of Souls'' is the fifth studio album by German thrash metal band Kreator, released in 1990. It was reissued in 2002, with the lyrics for the last four songs missing from the booklet. ''Coma of Souls'' was Kreator's first release with lead ...
'' (1990), '' Renewal'' (1992), and the 1995 released ''
Cause for Conflict ''Cause for Conflict'' is the seventh studio album by German thrash metal band Kreator released on 1 August, 1995. The record continued the experimentation with industrial music that they started on previous album, '' Renewal'', but brought b ...
'', which again reached the German charts. In 1994, Blackfire worked with the Brazilian women's band Volkana on their album ''Mindtrips''. In 1997, Blackfire decided to leave Kreator and pursue various experimental musical styles. He worked with jazz influences, played percussion and founded a classic rock specialized cover band. On the 1998 debut album ''Sceptre of Black Knowledge'' of the German
black metal Black metal is an extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include Tempo#Beats per minute, fast tempos, a Screaming (music)#Black metal, shrieking vocal style, heavily distorted Electric guitar, guitars played with tr ...
band Black Messiah Blackfire appeared as a guest musician. At the end of 2000, Blackfire moved to
São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...
,
Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...
, where he earned his living as a guitar teacher and, in the fall of 2001, re-founded his own band, Mystic, in which he also plays as a singer and musically ties on to his thrash roots from the 1980s. After two demos, Blackfire returned to the
Ruhrgebiet The Ruhr ( ; , also ''Ruhrpott'' ), also referred to as the Ruhr Area, sometimes Ruhr District, Ruhr Region, or Ruhr Valley, is a wikt:polycentric, polycentric urban area in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population density of 1,160/k ...
area in mid-2006 and continued his band under the new name Blackfire. At the
Wacken Open Air Wacken Open Air (, abbreviated as W:O:A) is a Heavy metal music, heavy metal music festival, held annually since 1990 on the first weekend of August in the village of Wacken, Schleswig-Holstein, Wacken in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. Almost all ...
2009, he appeared as a guest guitarist with the thrash metal band Whiplash. In 2016, Blackfire replaced Michael Hoffmann as a guitarist with
Assassin Assassination is the willful killing, by a sudden, secret, or planned attack, of a personespecially if prominent or important. It may be prompted by political, ideological, religious, financial, or military motives. Assassinations are orde ...
.Assassin präsentieren Frank Blackfire als neuen Gitarristen
, Rock Hard
In January 2018, Tom Angelripper announced the return of Frank Blackfire to Sodom.


Personal life

Blackfire is married and has a daughter.


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Blackfire, Frank 1966 births Kreator members German lead guitarists Living people Musicians from Essen Sodom (band) members