So yeah I'm Chris, welcome to this personal bio!

I am the guitarist and founder of KATAFALK. I'm also the main songwriter and the only original member, since I'm the only one left from the beginning. Let me tell something about myself...

My addiction to metal started way back in the eighties. I grew up listening to the likes of Iron Maiden and Slayer, and many other great bands left their mark on me during the years. Musically I'm inspired by all kinds of great metal ranging from Heavy, Speed, Thrash, Black and Death Metal, as long as it's true and straight from the heart.

I got my first guitar in 1991 at age 17. Four years after that I started KATAFALK. Together with the drummer and bassplayer who also appear on our first demotape ("Through the Storm") we began cranking out some really cool music -although not always that well performed ;-)- ranging from melodic heavy metal thru raging black/death with thrashy parts. In the beginning I also did some other bands/projects, but KATAFALK has always been my main priority. The first demo got great reactions but the line-up quickly fell apart snowballing from the departure of the drummer right after the release. A good point though was that I got better musicians instead. We played some tight shows and the reactions were overwhelming. Later on, members coming and going etc, there was an even more focus on speed and brutality but I've never lost the melodic aspect. And a song must be a good song, not just some crap! Throughout the years, my dedication to real Metal has always kept on pushing me through.

Some fave albums of mine are:

IRON MAIDEN - Live After Death / DARK ANGEL - Darkness Descends / SLAYER - Reign in Blood / KREATOR - Pleasure To Kill / POSSESSED - Seven Churches / CELTIC FROST - To Mega Therion / MANOWAR - Into Glory Ride / MERCYFUL FATE - Nuns Have No Fun / SLAUGHTER - Strappado / MESSIAH - Hymn To Abramelin / EXODUS - Bonded By Blood / DEATH - Scream Bloody Gore / NUCLEAR ASSAULT - Handle With Care / METALLICA - Ride The Lightning / S.O.D. - Speak English Or Die / KING DIAMOND - Conspiracy / SADUS - Chemical Exposure / SEPULTURA - Beneath The Remains / JUDAS PRIEST - Painkiller / ENTOMBED - Left Hand Path / DISMEMBER - Like An Ever Flowing Stream / TERRORIZER - World Downfall / MORBID ANGEL - Altars Of Madness / WINTER - Into Darkness / MY DYING BRIDE - As The Flower Withers / PARADISE LOST - Gothic / RAINBOW - Rising / CANDLEMASS - Nightfall / AUTOPSY - Mental Funeral / TROUBLE - Psalm 9 / NOCTURNUS - The Key / CARCASS - Necroticism / MAYHEM - De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas / DARKTHRONE - A Blaze In The Northern Sky / IMPALED NAZARENE - Toll Cormpt Norz Norz Norz / ARCTURUS - Aspera Hiems Symphonia / MOTORHEAD - No Sleep Till Hammersmith / EXTREME NOISE TERROR - Retrobution / SENTENCED - North From Here / INTERNAL DECAY - A Forgotten Dream / IN FLAMES - Subterranean / ARCH ENEMY - Black Earth / DISSECTION - Storm Of The Lights Bane / AT THE GATES - Slaughter Of The Soul / SOILWORK - The Chainheart Machine / AMORPHIS - Tales From The Thousand Lakes / MOONSPELL - Wolfheart / EMPEROR - Anthems To The Welkin At Dusk / DEFLESHED - Under The Blade / VADER - Black To The Blind / COVENANT - Nexus Polaris / STRATOVARIUS - Infinite / SONATA ARCTICA - Ecliptica / NIGHTWISH - Wishmaster / SINERGY - Beware The Heavens / NILE - Amongst the Catacombs / DARKANE - Insanity / MONSTROSITY - In Dark Purity / IMMORTAL - Damned In Black / EXHUMED - Slaughtercult

Stuff I use and abuse: BC Rich Ironbird USA (black), EMG pickups, Marshall JCM800 2210 + 1960A/B, Boss NS-2,TU-2,GE-7, D'Addario strings and Dunlop picks

Places I hang out in my hometown Groningen: Café de Ster, Peperstraat 29 (THE metal café!) and at any venue (Vera/Simplon/Oosterpoort/Platform/ORKZ) whenever there's a decent gig.