Anton Reisenegger

Anton Reisenegger
Anton Reisenegger live
Background information
Birth name	Georg Anton Reisenegger von Oepen
Also known as	"Behemoth»
Born	(1969-01-21) January 21, 1969 Santiago, Chile
Genres	Thrash metal, death metal, heavy metal, extreme metal
Occupation	Musician
Instrument(s)	Guitar, Vocals
Years active	1985–present

Max Cavalera, left, Anton Reisenegger', right

Anton Reisenegger von Oepen (born January 21, 1969) is the lead guitarist and vocalist of the Chilean Thrash/Death metal band Criminal. He is also the host of the Extreme metal radio show Disco Duro on Radio Futuro.

Career

Anton is of German descent. At the age of 16 he took part in the creation of a new musical movement in Chile—Heavy metal. He started playing with friends and they decided to form what would become one of the leading global underground bands: Pentagram.

Pentagram (1985–1992, 2007–present)

Pentagram was the first band in which Reisenegger performed as voice, guitar, and frontman. The group debuted on December 28, 1985 with the following lineup: Reisenegger (vocals and lead guitar), Juan Pablo Uribe (guitar), and Eduardo Topelberg (drums).

By 1987 the band recorded a demo (Demo I) in which Reisenegger improvised on bass guitar. Due to limited media coverage of the genre at the time, it was left for the fans to spread the albums of different bands. This was primarily accomplished by simply exchanging cassettes among fans and followers. This marketing method made Demo I quite popular within the extreme metal underground scene.

In September of that year, Pentagram released their second demo, called Demo II, which was well received. Thanks to internal distribution, the band was able to record a single in Switzerland, through the Chainsaw Murder Records label.

The loss of motivation of the group came from the national and international labels' disinterest in their music, which led to decreases in the quality and ingenuity of the music. All this, plus the immaturity of the members, led to the separation of the group.

Pentagram said goodbye to their public in 1988 at the Plaza Manuel Rodríguez before a crowd of 2,000 people.

On May 27, 2001 a packed Caupolicán theater witnessed the return of Pentagram to the stage, this time with both old and new fans.

Fallout (1989)

Fallout was a fairly short-lived project, Reisenegger only lasted a year in the group and then withdrew. The style was more influenced by thrash and power metal, unlike his previous band that was clearly death metal.

They released two demos, which did not seem to gain much support.

Yet despite the limited success of the project, this was the beginnings of what would be his most ambitious and well-known product: Criminal.

Lock Up (2006–present)

On July 23, 2006, Reisenegger was introduced as the new guitarist of the deathgrind project with Shane Embury, Nicholas Barker, and Tomas Lindberg, Lock Up.

Criminal (1991–present)

Criminal has been seen as the project in which the best of Reisenegger's ideas have been channeled and in which his musical journey has flourished. Criminal began in 1991 under the command of Reisenegger and Rodrigo Contreras, who were later joined by JJ Vallejo and Francisco "Cato" Cueto.

In 2000, due to many of the same difficulties that led to the breakdown of Pentagram, Reisenegger relocated to England. There he met the vocalist for Extreme Noise Terror, who offered the Chilean a position as the replacement for an absent guitarist for a tour. In this way, Reisenegger met Zac O'Neil, the drummer for Extreme Noise Terror, who manifested his willingness to explore other musical directions, including the possibility of working with Reisenegger. The latter did not hesitate to show O'neil his work from Criminal, which only served to further convince the drummer.

The Chilean joined O'neil on a projected already being planned (Cradle of Filth) with Rob Eaglestone and Mark Rogue of Entwined. The style was Thrash Metal with industrial trends, a combination which served to motivated Reisenegger's return to Criminal. He reached out to Rodrigo Contreras and began recording Cancer, first international project and with a new lineup.

Since then, Criminal has been based between England and Spain. The band has been very well received by the public, and has performed in various concerts. Tours of Europe and sporadic visits to Chile have been the trend in recent years, each year gaining more followers and establishing notoriety.

United Forces (2012–present)

On December 24, 2012, it was announced that Reisenegger would become the guitarist of the United States-based heavy metal band United Forces, which features two former members of Stormtroopers of Death, vocalist Billy Milano and bassist Dan Lilker, and Nick Barker on drums.

Discography

Pentagram

• Demo I (1987)
• Demo II (1987)
• Pentagram (2004)
• Fatal Prediction/Demoniac Possession (1987)
• Under The Spell of the Pentagram (2008)
• The Malefice (2013)

Fallout

• Demo I (1989)
• Demo II (1989)

Lock Up

• Necropolis Transparent (2011)

Criminal

• Demo (1992)
• Forked Demo (1992)
• Victimized (1994)
• Live Disorder (1996)
• Dead Soul (1997)
• Slave Masters (1998)
• Cancer (2000)
• No Gods No Masters (2004)
• Sicario (2005)
• White Hell (2009)
• Akelarre (2011)
• Fear Itself (2016)