You could say that the history of CROM started back in the summer of 1997 when Walter “Crom” Grosse took the decision to dissolve his then current band, TEARS OF TIME, in order to join German Black Metallers DARK FORTRESS as guitarist. Realising very quickly that playing the guitar would not in itself satisfy him completely, Grosse decided to start working on his solo project, CROM, in the winter of the same year.
CROM was originally intended to be a tribute to Grosse’s favourite band BATHORY, and three songs were written in quick succession. However, his duties with as guitarist with the Black Metallers proved to be extremely time consuming, and the fledgling solo project was temporarily put on hold while Grosse concentrated on DARK FORTRESS. Three years and two DARK FORTRESS albums later, the desire to write and perform his own music became too strong, and in 2000 Grosse quit the band to fully concentrate on CROM.
It has to be said that during his time with DARK FORTRESS Grosse had not entirely ignored his personal project, and, indeed, he had written around ten songs and produced the “Promo 2000”, so the basis was already there for CROM. Gone was the BATHORY tribute, and in its place was a band playing epic melodic metal with a distinctive and original feel that was purely “CROM”.
After revising two of the already written songs, and producing a completely new one, Grosse entered the Aexxys Art/Schwandorf Studios in January 2002 to record what was to become “The Fallen Beauty” EP. Another release, titled “Promo 2004”, followed two years later, and quickly sold out.
2005 saw Grosse team up with former DARK FORTRESS vocalist ASATHOTH, to form SINDECADE, and release the “Terrorcrowned” EP on his own label Neocreation Productions. Whilst “Terrorcrowned” was critically acclaimed and resulted in a flurry of recording offers, SINDECADE was never meant to be anything other than a one-off Black Metal studio project, and does not exist as a band.
As 2007 dawned, work was near completion on “Vengeance”, the first full-length album from CROM, and the band made its live debut in May of that year. With guest appearances from former DARK FORTRESS colleagues Seraph (drums) and V. Santura (TRIPTYKON, ex CELTIC FROST) on additional guitars and vocals, and a spoken intro to one of the tracks from Dagon (FROSTWORK, HEATHEN DEITY, “Vengeance was snapped up by Germany’s Pure Steel Records, and released world-wide in June 2009 to much critical acclaim from both press and fans.
Legendary artist KRIS VEREIMP, whose extraordinary illustrations bring to life a fantasy world of proud warriors and wondrous beasts, and with whom Grosse has both a long friendship and working relationship, provided the stunning artwork for “Vengeance”. In October 2009 the artwork was showcased to perfection when the double vinyl version of “Vengeance” was released in a gatefold edition. Included as a bonus on the LP is the long sold out “2004 Promo”.
With the new decade already coming to the close of its second year, a new full-length album “Of Love and Death” will be released in November, whilst work on a third full-length album “When Northmen Die” has already begun. A new line up is being prepared, ready to once more play CROM’s epic pieces in front of a live audience.
Website: http://croms-revenge.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/cromofficial
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/cromsrevenge
SoundCloud: CROM OFFICIAL BAND PAGE
ReverbNation: http://www.reverbnation.com/crom
Management: Patricia Thomas Band Management
http://patriciathomasmanagement.com/
email: patriciathomas@btinternet.com