Agent Steel

Releases : 16     Total votes : 0     Reviews : 0

Added by SludgeLeader Last edited by SludgeLeader

In early 1987, John Cyriis and Chuck Profus decided to relocate to Tampa, Florida, with remaining members Juan Garcia, Bernie Versailles, and Mike Zaputil regrouping with Rob Perkins on vocals. Since Cyriis was the legal owner of the Agent Steel moniker, they were forced to change their name to Phobia and split up after a few gigs.

Agent Steel disbanded in 1988 shortly after relocating to Florida, reunited again in 1998, and went on hold in 2011. They had to change their name in 2001 to Order of the Illuminati due to legal pressure from the original vocalist John Cyriis, but the change was not permanent. In 2003, the band returned as Agent Steel and instead called the new album Order of the Illuminati.

It seemed that Cyriis had left again in 2011, with Rick Mythiasin replacing him on lead vocals (based on the Tomb of Ra single, some statements made by both current and former band members, and the fact that both Rick and James Rivera replaced Cyriis for several dates such as 70,000 Tons of Metal and Keep it True XIV, using the name Masters of Metal on the latter), but in an August 2011 interview, Juan Garcia said that Rick is a temporary member, not a full-time replacement for Cyriis. Furthermore, in the same interview, Garcia stated that if the band plays with John Cyriis singing, it's Agent Steel, and if the band plays with Rick Mythiasin - or any other vocalist - it's Masters of Metal.

In the meantime, John Cyriis had resumed activities with his post-Stellar Seed band S.E.T.I. (formed by him and Stellar Seed bandmate Shuichi Oni), performing at Headbangers Open Air 2011, playing mostly Agent Steel covers, along with Pontius Prophet's "Black Sacristy" and Black Reign's "Legion" (both bands are Cyriis' post-Agent Steel projects). S.E.T.I. is, as of December 2011, working on its first album entitled The 5th Race and the Eleven Dimensions; yet, since April 2012, no more information has been released on the matter.

To make things more complex yet, on S.E.T.I.'s website, Cyriis claims to be the copyright owner of the Agent Steel name/trademark since its inception in 1984, and that his band S.E.T.I. is the continuation of Agent Steel's legacy.

As of December 2011, Agent Steel was supposedly active, though it had some internal conflicts with Cyriis. By March 2012, it was announced that the Masters of Metal lineup was recording at Bill Metoyer's studios. The resulting self-titled ep was released in April 2013, and a debut album in September 2015.

After seven years of absolute silence and total inactivity, a Cyriis-run Agent Steel Facebook page went live in November 2018 and announced a return to activities for the band "(...) with its original vocalist and guitarist (...)". On December 4, 2018, the same source announced that a Cyriis-fronted Agent Steel would be playing at Metal Festival Keep it True XXII on April 26-27, 2019 in Köningshofen, Germany. On June 20, 2019, the band announced their signing to Dissonance Productions, as well as a new album called No Other Godz Before Me for a late 2019 release.

There are many rumours about John Cyriis (who, together with Chuck Profus is one of the founding members of the band), but only a few of them have proven to be true. He's gone under several names, and his identity and location have at least partially remained a mystery for many years.

Throughout 2019, the band's lineup was remarkably unstable, with a revolving door of musicians getting "involved" in some capacity for a very brief time with Agent Steel. Several of them were even announced as "official members" on the band's official sites, only to announce their departure a couple of days later without having any real involvement or working with Agent Steel save for a couple of rehearsals that came to nothing in the end. Because of this reason, Damian Giron and Dennis Kruse Strømberg, although having been announced as having joined the band's lineup, aren't listed as past members and are not considered as such by the band.

A CD entitled "Tribute of Steel" (300 copies), featuring 8 cover songs, became available at some online shops in 2022. The authenticity of the release is yet to be verified.