History & Biography Pyracanda was founded with singer Dirk Pützfeld in April 1987 and was perhaps making a comment about a trip to New York City when it called its one and only demo Welcome To The Crab-Louse-City in 1988. One of the band members was afflicted with crab louse. The band was singer Dirk Pützfeld, guitarists Dennis Vaupel and Sven Fischer, bassist Rolf Koch and drummer Elmar Gehenzig. Germany’s own No Remorse, owned by Metal Hammer editor Charlie Rinne, signed the band and issued a record, called Two Sides Of A Coin, in 1990. Hansi Nefen was on vocals and Mr. Dieter Wittbecker on bass guitar now. The band switched to Aaarrg Records (Living Death among others) and released Thorns in 1992. No Remorse was no longer. It was produced by Mekong Delta man Ralph Hubert. Sven joined Rage leaving his colleagues behind. The band split up in 1994 and had two demos as Ilex, but otherwise had not released music.
The band’s 2019 reformation featured guitarist Denis Schmidt and drummer Patrick Grün of Caliban. Patrick was also in G-Reizzt. The resurrection was deemed the logical next step to the albums being re-released. The upstart FHM Records signed the band. The act appeared at Headbangers Open Air in 2024. Losing Faith was available in October 2024. It had been over 30 years since the last record. Amazingly, there were three members from the 1980s in the unit. Frank Pelkowski was the second guitarist. Guitarist Denis Schmidt had left in 2024. Ilex's Patrick Grün was on drums.
Pyracantha is an ornamental thorny evergreen shrub with red or orange fruits.
Reviews PYRACANDA - LOSING FAITH - FHM 
The last time Pyracanda released an album the year was 1992 and Georgia and Bosnia-Herzegovina had just become countries and there were riots in Los Angeles due to the beating of Rodney King by the police. Half the readers are asking ‘who’ and ‘what’ now and the editor is complaining that we lost everyone - kidding - but let’s get back on track anyway. Worth mentioning first is that the cover artwork for Losing Faith is the inverse of Fifth Angel’s When Angels Kill from 2023. Fifth Angel had another album in 2018, but is another act returning after a decade (or three) of absence.
Alright, what about Losing Faith? The first thing that comes to mind during the first spin is that the music and lyrics are inspired by Anthrax and Megadeth. Listen to Mouth Warrior (ha) and it’s Anthrax until the vocals, which are more like what Dave Mustaine would deliver. The better news is that the group is socially conscious, something that is repeated on We Are More later on the album. The old Pyracanada was similar in both respects. Hellfire is also an Anthrax-meets-Megadeth track. Obviously, these guys have not forgotten about the early power/thrash sound. The sound is organic and old-school, but the drums are the clear winners with a nice tone. Misanthrope again reminds of Megadeth. Hold On! Is an adrenaline-fueled closer.
It is easy to appreciate the organic recording, but it could have delivered more power. Perhaps the dearth of soloing makes it all thinner. The song Don’t Wait For has a lead, but don’t wait for many more. The vocals do the job. It may sound like the band is receiving no thanks, but the adherence to true metal and still power/thrashing after 35 years is noted and appreciated. The band has not lost faith. - Anna Tergel
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