Aggression came to life on Halloween night 1984 originally under the moniker “Asylum”, formed by Denis “Sasquatch” Barthe and Bernard “Burn” Caudron. After a few various editions, the final and main lineup included Eric “Botcher” Langlois on vocals, Yves “Dug” Duguay on bass and Gaetan “Gate” Bourassa on drums. Following a few demos, they eventually got invited to participate in a couple metal compilations from New Renaissance Records’: 1986’s Speed Metal Hell II with “Metal Slaughter” and 1987’s Thrash Metal Attack with “Torment or Death”. Shortly after they recorded their 1986 LP “Forgotten Skeleton”. Unfortunately, the album would not see a release until 2005 due to numerous complications. After parting ways with Burn and Botcher, Aggression added vocalist Pierre “Cactus Pete” Fleurant on vocals and recorded their 1987 LP “The Full Treatment” which was released on Canada’s infamous label Banzai Records.
Aggression received good reviews for their demos and LP which led them to become one of the most popular metal bands from the Province of Quebec. Their concerts were sold out everywhere, and the fanbase grew from hundreds to thousands in a short period of time. With his underground metal contacts, band manager Johnny Hart promptly turned Aggression into a household name. Other bands such as Metallica, Slayer, Exodus, Hallows Eve, Destruction, and others wanted to see the beast for themselves while visiting Montreal and meet Aggression. Playing numerous concerts with bands such as Anvil, Celtic Frost, Voivod, Nuclear Assault, Agnostic Front, D.R.I., Possessed, Dark Angel, Crumbsuckers, Sacrifice and others. If their concerts were beyond memorable, their parties were legendary.
Aggression were on track to become one of the forefathers of the 80’s thrash metal movement however due to their destructive substance abuse problems, legal and criminal matters combined with reckless abandon, the band was declared “disbanded” by 1989.
After a brief reunion in 2005, Aggression resurrected for good in 2014 with Denis “Sasquatch” Barthe at the wheel once again. Over the past 6 years, we had some great musicians come and go but we believe that the current line-up of Barthe (vocals, guitar), Dave “Watts” Watson (guitar,vocals), Kyle “Viking” Hagen (vocals, bass) and Ryan “Quatchi” Idris (drums, vocals) is the strongest edition so far. The “new” Aggression has played over 250 concerts in North America and Europe with amazing bands such as Brujeria, Venomous Concept, Cattle Decapitation, Venom Inc, and many others. The hilarious thing is that we are only getting warmed up!!!
Aggression 2020
DENIS "SASQUATCH" BARTHE - LEAD VOCALS/GUITARS Born in Montreal, Canada and raised in the suburb of Laval, QC, Denis knew at an early age that music and heavy metal were going to be part of his existence...fovever! When he used to scream "thrash till death" in the early 80's, he truly meant it. Growing up on a steady diet of Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin and Uriah Heep on the U.K. side and KISS, Ted Nugent, Aerosmith and Van Halen this side of the Atlantic, it was the perfect recipe to create a lifelong music enthousiast. In 1981, Denis purchased Venom "Welcome To Hell" and it changed his life musically and spiritually. Playing anything less intense was no longer an option and that's where the idea behind Aggression started...35+ years later..he is still doing it!! |
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DAVE "WATTS" WATSON - GUITARS/VOCALS Dave Watson began playing music at age 13 starting on bass and drums before moving to guitar at age 17 after hearing the song 'One Big Rush' by Joe Satriani. Upon moving to Vancouver in 2006 he joined Entropia and recorded 3 albums with them and playing numerous shows on the Canadian west coast. Following the disbanding of Entropia he joined Aggression in 2014. His biggest influences on guitar include Joe Satriani, Dave Mustaine, Marty Friedman, Adrian Smith and Jani Liimatainen. Favorite bands include Iron Maiden, Megadeth, Children of Bodom, Testament and early Iced Earth. |
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KYLE "VIKING" HAGEN - LEAD VOCALS/BASS GUITAR Kyle Hagen began playing bass the age of thirteen and has enjoyed a vast career in a number of bands having performed across Europe and North America. His musical influences span a variety of bands and bassists from the metal, jazz, classical and world music genres. Among his favourite bassists are Geezer Butler, Stanley Clarke and John Myung. Kyle is known in the Vancouver metal scene as the last bassist for Sinned, a death metal band who has contributed music to Year Of The Carnivore and shared the stage with Arch Enemy. He is also active with Assimilation (death-thrash), Opus Arise (symphonic metal), Roma-Jazz and a couple of tribute bands. |
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RYAN "QUATCHI" IDRIS - DRUMS/VOCALS Born and raised in Surrey, British Columbia, Ryan Idris has always had an energy that could only be contained by playing the drums. Ryan has been playing drums, as well as guitar for nearly 15 years. Heavily rooted in the thrash metal genre, musical tastes were developing more towards technical and progressive ways. This sparked a craving of wanting to learn the instrument and music as a whole, more deeply. Having studied classical music and percussion at Douglas College for 2 years, he continued his remaining studies at Vancouver Community College where he learned more about jazz and drumset independance earning him a diploma in jazz and contemporary music at the age of 24. Over the past decade, Ryan has toured actively with Aggression (2014-2018, 2020-present) and melodic thrash band Expain (2012-present) throughout Canada, the United States and Europe. He has shared the stage in support of many bands such as Revocation, Brujeria, Carcass, Sacrifice and Razor. Returning to Aggression after a 2 year hiatus, along with a new lineup, the excitement is higher than ever and the chemistry is brewing something evil. |