Patrick Davidson (Mind Assault)

Most Mind Assault members grew up in the Helderberg, a cluster of three towns some 40km from Cape Town. It was there that in 2003, several passionate individuals coalesced with an already active three-piece band - but would transform into a new project called Mind Assault.

During that transitory time, what was to be Mind Assault first appeared under a covert identity for two shows in 2023, and then under it's own name in 2024. The band was unique at the time in the sense that it was bi-lingual in it's content, and focusing on a more extreme style of metal than what was popular on the local circuit during those initial years.

Perhaps it was just the right thing at the right time, but Mind Assault rose to prominence over the next two years and enjoyed an extremely busy gigging schedule up until it's first national tour in 2006. By 2007, Mind Assault became attractive to various festival organizers and started to build a reputation on larger stages. Between the years 2007-2016, Mind Assault appeared on stages such as at RAMfest CPT, Main Stage and Metal Stage, RAMfest JHB Main Stage, Oppikoppi Secondary Stage, Witchfest, metal4africa and others. A particularly special milestone was to support Lamb Of God at both of it's South African tour dates (CPT and JHB) in 2014. Eventually, in 2016, Mind Assault travelled to Eastern Europe for a show at Romania's Rockstadt Extreme Festival.

Between 2017-2019, Mind Assault focused on completing its album, 'The Cult of Conflict', which was scheduled for release in early 2020, and made a return to the live stage at metal4africa's SummerFest'20 as an appetizer. Unfortunately, COVID had a devastating impact on the band's plans and built-up album momentum. By 2021, Mind Assault decided to release the album digitally only, abandoning the idea of touring, and arranged a pandemic-compliant out in the Klein Karoo to celebrate. Waves III and IV of lockdown essentially killed off even this modest return of momentum owing to pressures in various members' personal lives, directly as a result of the pandemic.

However, with a relatively steady line-up and friendships spanning so many years, combined with a love for playing high-energy music, even the end of the world as we knew it couldn't keep Mind Assault down forever. The band returned with a new attitude towards it's existence in 2024, albeit quite different to the Mind Assault circa 2004-2019. The band of today, still consisting of mostly the same people, is no longer focused on public largesse and competing for scene attention. It now simply enjoys the satisfaction of playing together, having survived the pandemic and various horrors that came with it, and has plans to grow itself into a new phase of it's lifecycle as a more studio-oriented project, keeping shows to a few rare and special occasions.

We're excited to perform at Gino's Nostalgia Indulgia where we can lend what exists of our legacy to his fresh approach and youthful ambition. As a band that has existed for more than 20 years, we believe in investing into the scene operatives of the future - to keep metal alive and well in South Africa!!