Formed in 1986 by lead guitar-vocalist Alex Colin- Tocquaine alongside J.M. « Momo » Libeer on bass and J .L. « Destroy » Falsini on drums, AGRESSOR wants to be, from the beginning, an extreme Metal band at the border of Thrash , Death and Black Metal influenced by its fathers: Celtic Frost, Slayer , Exodus, Venom , Mercyful Fate or Bathory to name but a few.
The first demo was released that same year and was called: « The Merciless Onslaught « , it has had some success in the international underground scene and the band from the south plays its first concert in the north of France with Loudblast.
Then comes, in 1987, the second demo, « Satan’Sodomy » which remains, to this day, an important element for what was to become the future Black Metal scene, in particular because of its very explicit cover in relation to its title.
The band plays Aggressive Mosh Fest. in Geneva (CH) with Messiah , Minotaur , Outburst , Massacra and Mutilator among others, followed by the Massive Mosh Fest . in Paris with the main instigators of the French Thrash Death scene at that time.
With this success, the first official vinyl : » Licensed To Thrash » was released in 1988 on a rather Hard Core -oriented label : New Wave Rds . It’s a split LP with Loudblast , it is considered as the first Thrash Death record released in France, it was recorded at the Marilyn studio in Cagnes S/ Mer, during the recording session, the band had the visit of Euronymous and Necrobutcher from Mayhem and Metalion from the Slayer fanzine Mag ..
Then came the demos : « Mixed Rehearsal » and « Orbital Distortion » respectively released in 1988 and 1989 with the arrival of Laurent on bass and Thierry on drums.
These demos will be reissued, years later, on vinyl and CD on different labels around the world under the name: « The Merciless Onslaught » or « Satan Sodomy of death « .
Agressor will make an appearance at one the first French Metal festival in Lourdes in September 1989 with Sodom and Holy Moses and in Switzerland with Samael , Living Death and Messiah among others.
In 1990 was released, on Noise Records and produced by Börje « Boss » Forsberg of Black Mark Prod . : » Neverending Destiny « . It was recorded at Sky Trak Studio in Berlin two months after the fall of the wall, the cover was designed Philippe Druillet, it was released on vinyl , CD and tape, and reissued by Season Of Mist in 2021. He received a very good international reception thanks to his quite original mix for the time of brutal Thrash and « technical » Death (the qtyle did’nt yet exist), which propelled him to the front of the stage. During this recording took place the Thrash In The East festival, it was an opportunity for Alex to go there with Quorthon recently arrived in Berlin for a promo session and a photo shoot next to the freshly destroyed wall.
A change of line-up arrives and it is only two years later that we find the band with: » Towards Beyond » which was released on Black Mark Production in 1992. It was recorded in Stockholm, at Montezuma Studio with Joël Guigou on bass and who still a member of the band today, Manny on guitar and Stéphane Guégan on drums, it mixes medieval music and rather technical Death , Thrash riffs, and ultra-heavy parts with a cavernous sound, the album immediately stands out as one of the best Death surprises of a year 1992, however very vintage, but above all, as the best album released by a French group that year, it was released on CD, tape and vinyl , particularly in South Korea where it was a great success, a reissue was released in 2021 on Season Of Mist . The band is going on with tours and concerts with bands such as Sinister , Wargasm , Morbid Angel, Obituary , Pestilence and Biohazard ,
« Symposium Of Rebirth » was also released on Black Mark Production in 1994, this album took a more Death Metal turn with symphonic parts such as the addition of choirs from the Lyon opera as well as orchestrations on a cover of the movie soundtrack of Conan the Barbarian. This album was recorded in Lyon and the Napalm Death singer, Barney Greenway takes also part of a Terrorizer cover, Jesse Pintado was also present that day because they were on tour with Entombed and played nearby the studio. It was reissued in 2018 by Season Of Mist in its original version but also in a new re-recorded one with the addition of many arrangements and unreleased tracks that couldn’t be done, the album finds here the dimension that he should have had at that time.
After their UK tour with Cradle Of Filth in June 96, Alex started working for Black Mark Prod. and became an Ibanez guitar-player.
Because of all these activities , it was only in 1999 that » Medieval Rites » was released by Season Of Mist , it’s in line with « Symposium Of Rebirth » with titles mixing Death Metal and Symphonic Metal , for the occasion, are recruited on drums: Kai Hahto ( Nightwish , Rotten Sound…), Morten Nielsen ( Mercyfyl Fate, Furious Trauma) and James Murphy ( Death , Obituary …) this the latter does not appear on the album but on the EP: « The Spirit Of Evil » released in 2000.
After a European tour with Bloodthorn and …And Oceans , the band was joined by Pierre » Gorgor » Schaffner (drums) and Josselin » Adramelech » Sarroche (guitar) for the recording of « The Spirit Of Evil « .
In 2006 the band released, with Season Of Mist , » Deathreat » which was intended to be more Death Metal with Romain Goulon ( Disavowed, Necrophagist…) on drums, Josselin will be replaced shortly after by Pierrick Valence ( Scarve , Phazm , Skald ).
The band goes on with concerts since that time as well as festivals: Hellfest (Fr), Inferno (No), Motocultor (Fr), Fall Of Summer (Fr), HardMetal Fest (P), Old Grave Fest. (Ro), Nice To Eat You (Cz)……
There were some line-up changes with Kevin Verlay (ex – Aborted ) on guitar or Kevin Paradis ( Benighted… ) on drums and it was on 2016 that Michel Dumas ( Mutilated, Abyssal, The Seven Gates) joined the band on guitar.
The split LP reissue « Licensed To Thrash » was released by listenable Records in 2019 with a version of the original cover modified by Pushead and including previously unreleased bonus material on the CD.
The lockdown period allowed the reissue, in 2020, of the 3cds box « The Order Of Chaos » containing « Medieval Rites », « The Spirit Of Evil » and « Deathreat » with many bonuses including live performances from the European Rites tour and recordings made during a residency at the Splendid in Lille in 2007 as well as « Neverending Destiny » and « Towards Beyond » on Season Of Mist during the year 2021, on gatefold colored vinyls and on a double CD entitled for the occasion: « The Arrival » and containing many bonuses taken out of the boxes with two titles from each album which were recorded in their current versions.
The band keeps on composing and performing gigs, some are planned for early 2022.