WRETCH
 

Juan Ricardo– Vocals

Nick Giannakos– Guitar

Chris Westfall - Guitar

Tim Frederick - Bass

Mark Koncki- Drums

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Bio

 

Nothing comes easy in the Rust Belt of Northeast Ohio, but that instills a certain kind of toughness into the people who live there.  Most spend half their lives fighting their way out of this industrial wasteland.  This is the story of WRETCH, born out the underground Heavy Metal scene of Cleveland and fighting to rise above the desolation.

Formed in the early 80s, WRETCH rose to become one of Cleveland’s most heralded underground metal acts, releasing the classic track “Life” on Auburn Records “Heavy Artillery” compilation album in 1989. However, after the band moved to Los Angeles in 1989 in a failed bid to get signed to a major label, things fell apart, and WRETCH was abandoned.

WRETCH lay dormant for decades until its 2004 reformation, when the band recorded and released their full-length "Reborn" CD.  The “Reborn” CD got them international attention and garnered an invitation to play at Germany’s Headbangers Open Air Festival in 2007.  WRETCH recorded and released the follow-up CD, “Make this Garden Burn” to coincide with the HOA appearance, and Festival organizers thought so much of the title track, that it has since served as the Headbangers Open Air Festival’s theme song.

In 2013, WRETCH was invited to play Greece’s Up the Hammers Festival, and the band again entered the studio to craft a release to coincide with the festival appearance.  The result was 2013’s “Rise to Power” EP.  The “Rise to Power” release got the attention of Germany’s Pure Steel Records, signing WRETCH to a 5-year recording contract. 

WRETCH’s current consists of Juan Ricardo on vocals, Nick Giannakos & Chris Westfall on guitars, Tim Frederick on bass guitar and Mark Koncki on drums.  WRETCH released its second full-length CD, "Warriors", with Pure Steel in December of 2014.  In 2017 the band released The Hunt and went on a three week tour in Europe to support the release. In 2019 the band released Man Or Machine and went on a two tour to support the release. Following a delay dew to the pandemic, the band started working on new material in 2022. the recording for the new release began in 2023. The release of the new cd, Visitors, was delayed to the shut down of Pure Steel Records. Wretch signed with Arkeyn Records from Greece in 2024 and the the cd was released on January 24th 2025. Wretch is currently getting ready for their upcoming tour in Europe in March 2025. The band has already begun the process of writing new material for the next release.