After a successful performance at the Metalmania festival in 1986, the band got noticed by talent-seeker Tomasz Dziubiński, who soon offered the band a manager deal with his label MMP. At that time the group consisted of Jarek Gronowski – guitar, Marek Wojcieski – vocals, Leszek “Pająk” Jakubowski – guitar, Krzysztof “Ziga” Nowak – bass and Krystian “Bomba” Bytom – drums. Their musical progression was proven by great performances at festivals in Jarocin and at Metalmania’87. Just when it seemed that all was working out great for the guys, Dragon’s leader Jarek Gronowski was called up to fulfill his "patriotic duty" (fuck !) in the Polish army, leaving the band’s existence in serious question. But what doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger… The guys mutually agreed that the group will carry on and that Jarek will remain their leader, while in the meantime the rest of the band members will play as a four-piece, patiently waiting for his "Return From The Grave". In February 1988 the band was granted an opportunity to record their first LP called “Horda Goga”. Instead of a “romantic” intro, typical for all metal albums at that time, the album started off with a hurricane of Bomba’s drums, out of which the raging tempo of “Kapłani Zdrady" emerged. This was followed by a true thrash metal frenzy, interrupted only by a subtle guitar miniature called “Cervezza”, which featured a brilliant guitar solo by Pająk. With a solid repertoire, a recorded full-length material, a new live warhorse – “Fallen Angel” and great expectations, Dragon went to Jarocin ’88. Late at night, in complete darkness and billows of smoke, Dragon reached the peak of their abilities, instantly winning the audience in Jarocin. The band was the only heavy metal representative who became one of the laureates for Jarocin’s Golden Ten. But as Dragon’s history proved many times, when it seemed that everything was going the right way, something bad was bound to happen… Despite the success in Jarocin, by the end of the year the group practically ceased to exist. In that time Ziga and Marek Wojcieski fled the country (which was suffering from the slowly expiring socialism) and chose “freedom” in Germany. Indeed, things couldn’t get any worse. Not only was Jarek still absent, but also the band’s symbol – the charismatic singer – disappeared, followed by the bass player. To complicate things even more, Dragon soon became homeless… so far they used the hospitality of Mr. and Mrs. Wojcieski’s basement for their rehearsals, but along with Marek’s departure from Poland, they had to move out of there very quickly… The band found a contemporary domicile in “Leśniczówka”, managed by Józef Skrzek. Soon a replacement for the bassist was found, as long-time friend Grzegorz “Demon” Mroczek of another silesian thrash band - Gilotyna joined Dragon. As for the new singer, after a nearly six month-long search, Adrian “Fred” Frelich, ex-vocalist of Necrophobic with an extremely low and brutal-sounding voice was added to the fold. In the meantime Jarek's army service was ended and he returned to the band. The renewed Dragon begun their second life with a fresh line-up. Even when the Army called upon Pająk this time, the band did not lose their spirit, as they were all celebrating the return of their leader. Music evolves when proper “tools” are being used. Same as the technically skilled Bomba enabled the band to transform their music from traditional heavy metal to modern thrash, so did Fred’s presence in the group (along with his creepy growl) gave Dragon’s music an even more brutal image. Jarek’s new compositions also ventured towards that direction. Eventually the second incarnation of Dragon was named one of the precursors of death metal in Poland. The first performance given by the new line-up (as a part of the Metal Battle ’89 concert) proved to be a great success. All of the group’s concerns about their reformation were luckily unjustified. The fans who gathered at the concert instantly accepted the new, more brutal side of the band’s music along with their new singer. In January 1990 Fred, Jarek, Bomba and Demon again entered the “Giełda” studio in Poznań and recorded (not being even aware of it) one of the very first album in the history of polish thrash/death metal. The LP, entitled “Fallen Angel”, was constructed in a matter similar to a concept-album. All seven tracks were dedicated to different aspects and different views on the issue of Evil and the presence of Satan in the modern world. The grim atmosphere of the lyrics (which were a result of the cooperation between Jarek and a long-time friend of the band – Rafał “Galfryd” Głuchowski) was strengthened by the apocalyptic music, extreme in every way. Full of technically complex tempos, highly extended, multi-dimensional constructions, small and elusive motives – difficult in comprehension. As a dark vade mecum of evil and the image of Satan, “Fallen Angel” was by some ‘circles’ qualified as blasphemous and the band received the etiquette of devil worshippers. Unjustly - “Fallen Angel” was a study of Satan in his various forms. But whoever read the lyrics have surely noticed their authentic philosophical character. There’s no praise of Satan there, only reflections about his role in the life of man. It has nothing to do with Satanism After recording “Fallen Angel” Pająk, who managed to get out of his military adventure sooner than he expected, rejoined the group. However, six months later he left Dragon once again, not being able to find himself in their new style of composing. The apocalyptic vision of the future became the theme for Dragon’s next album, entitled “Scream of Death”. The album described the world after a nuclear war. In some extent it was a continuation of the theme set up by Fallen Angel. Evil was standing there as a part of the human psyche. The strict concept conjoining all the lyrics into one post-nuclear tale was depicted by disturbing sounds of string instruments and a rhythm pattern unusual for metal, also being enriched by some more complex vocal performances by Fred, which altogether made up for a dynamic missile destroying many rigid standards. The “Scream of Death” period brought the band their full artistic maturity. Dreams about popularity, being accepted by the media, giving regular concerts and receiving good reviews in musical press abroad have now come true. The band functioned on the international arena unscarred by the Polish provincialism. However, Dragon’s ambitions reached way further. The lack of more performance possibilities was quite painful for them, not to mention the issue of promoting the rather difficult “Scream of Death” material in the West. The lack of performance possibilities resulted in selling less albums, and this on the other hand made tours harder to organize. A true vicious circle! The increasing frustration eventually resulted in cancelling the deal with MMP: Cancelling unfulfilled recording contracts bares some specified consequences… for two years the band was unable to release their new material. To make things worse, Dragon drastically lacked live performances… throughout the whole year of 1992 they played only 5 shows!!! Without being able to perform or release their new record, Dragon faced some troublesome times. Finally, the new material entitled “Sacrifice” was released only in tape format, two years after the deal with MMP has expired, with the help of the Silesian company Baron. The material was recorded in “Music Center Bit” studio owned by Krzysztof Stasiak. The band’s music underwent some minor changes: The tracks were not open (as they were on Fallen Angel and Scream of Death) but rather condensed, which made them more communicative. Along with a simpler track construction, the album was also unique because of the subtle acoustic “Etudes” which glued the material together. The LP got some positive reviews but without the proper promotion it failed to become a success which would prove to the worn-out musicians that what they were doing made any sense. Frustration slowly increased among the guys and life was constantly reminding them about responsibilities… Their families were not always able to fully accept the time-consuming commitment to a musical project which didn’t bring satisfying financial benefits… As a result, by the end of 1994 Bomba parted his ways with Dragon, continuing his career in various group on the Polish metal scene, such as M.A.S.H. and Darzamat, and also reforming his first band – Gilotyna. Soon the band was also left by Demon… Jarek and Fred, still bearing the name Dragon (along with Tomek Woryna and Tomek “Golem” Dańczak, with the help of “Pająk”) released a totally unusual and experimental LP entitled “Twarze” years later… but that’s a completely different story… Is Dragon’s history definitely over? Never say never. Bomba is still in Gilotyna. Jarek currently plays in Kat and a jazz/blues band Pilar. Fred, along with friends from his previous band Necrophobic, records industrial music in his spare time. Demon completely parted ways music. This doesn’t mean, however, that the legend of Polish thrash death metal won’t return one day….

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