Decapitated: From Pain to Strength

Having recently caught Decapitated on the West coast edition of the Summer Slaughter tour, I was brought back to the ever present thoughts of the tragedy which befell these amazingly talented young dudes from Poland. During the set change you can’t help but feel a stab of emotion when you first catch sight of their concert banner which contains the words “From Pain to Strength” beneath the band logo. Here’s a terrible photo that I took with my equally terrible camera phone. But you get the idea, the phrase is below the band logo;

Decapitated Tour Banner. Summer Slaughter Tour 2010

Clearly in a breakout year with headlining shows and a world tour this was the worst possible event that could happen. Of course! Earlier in the tour I was fortunate enough to spend time with Coven and Vitek after their opening set supporting Fear Factory and Suffocation in Victoria. There were particular moments where discussing the show with Vogg that, while there were very few people in the club at the start of the show, he was clearly very happy to be on the road in a new country. They may never be back across the water (from Vancouver). Vitek could not have been a more classy and personable individual. He contradicts every ‘Metal Head’ typecast with his politeness and willingness to chat.

The reason I’m writing this is also to bring clarity to the status of Covan’s medical condition. Covan, who’s real name is Adrian Kowanek was critically injured in the same accident which killed Vitek and remains in serious condition. The medical costs are staggering and I would ask any dire Metal and Decapitated fans to consider offering a donation of any amount to the family. Personally, when I first heard Decapitated I was forever brought back into the new stream of Death Metal that was sweeping through the ‘hoard’. Technically supperior yet somewhat traditional sounding Death Metal will always be close.

Please visit the site below to learn about his progress and click the banner to donate to the family.

Peace…

http://adrian.org.pl/en/