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Artist
Joe Hasselvander
12+ albums
doom metalheavy metalTraditional Metal
about
"Joe Hasselvander (born December 30, 1956) is a musician who has been playing professionally since the age of 9 years old in 1966. He was self-taught, playing the violin and later the drums. He has been the drummer of Raven since 1987. Hasselvander regularly played the military club circuit in and around the Washington, D.C. area until 1973, when he was asked to join The Platters after playing a show with them in Waldorf, Maryland. Hasselvander declined, saying he had to finish high school. He later joined a jazz fusion ensemble called the Ra Notra Sextet that was writing and performing music similar to Chick Corea or The Mahavishnu Orchestra. In 1977, Hasselvander joined forces with Bobby Liebling and started a new and serious working version of heavy metal doom band, Pentagram. Hasselvander's first single, "Living in a Ram's Head" b/w "When the Screams Come", was recorded with Hasselvander sharing the producing duties with Liebling. In 1979 Pentagram opened for Judas Priest on the Hell Bent for Leather tour and later that year Hasselvander formed Overlord with members of Pentagram and Link Wray's The Pack. In 1981, Hasselvander once again joined forces with The Boyz to release the album "Bustin' Out", followed by a Falls Church, Virginia show with Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow. Hasselvander formed Death Row with axeman Victor Griffin in 1982 and once again recruited Bobby Liebling and bassist Martin Swaney to write and record Pentagram's first LP on New York label Dutch E
