Wacław "Vogg" Kiełtyka (born 17 December 1981) is a Polish musician, best known as the guitarist of the

death metal Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking; deep growling vocals; aggressive, powerful drumming, feat ...

band

Decapitated Decapitation or beheading is the total separation of the head from the body. Such an injury is invariably fatal to humans and most other animals, since it deprives the brain of oxygenated blood, while all other organs are deprived of the au ...

. In addition to Decapitated, Wacław has been the guitarist of

Lux Occulta Lux Occulta (which is Latin for "hidden light" or "the secrets of light") is a Polish avant-garde metal band, founded in late 1994. Their work, also strongly influenced by progressive metal and black metal, commonly incorporates elaborate arrange ...

since 1998, as well as a former member of the Krakow group

Sceptic Skepticism, also spelled scepticism, is a questioning attitude or doubt toward knowledge claims that are seen as mere belief or dogma. For example, if a person is skeptical about claims made by their government about an ongoing war then the pe ...

. He also worked with the death metal band Vader. He is a graduate of musical school in the first and second degree, and attended the

Academy of Music in Kraków The Krzysztof Penderecki Academy of Music in Kraków ( pl, Akademia Muzyczna im. Krzysztofa Pendereckiego w Krakowie) is a conservatory located in central Kraków, Poland. It is the '' alma mater'' of the renowned Polish contemporary composer Krz ...

as an

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German ''Akkordeon'', from ''Akkord''—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a reed ...

ist. Kiełtyka auditioned for second guitarist of

Morbid Angel Morbid Angel is an American death metal Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking; deep growling ...

after the departure of

Erik Rutan Erik Rutan (born June 10, 1971) is an American heavy metal musician and producer from New Jersey. He is the guitarist and lead vocalist of death metal band Hate Eternal and lead guitarist for Cannibal Corpse, who he fully joined in 2021 after ...

in 2006. Before joining Vader in 2009, Kiełtyka was a music store salesman. He also worked as a guitar technician for the band

Hypocrisy Hypocrisy is the practice of engaging in the same behavior or activity for which one criticizes another or the practice of claiming to have moral standards or beliefs to which one's own behavior does not conform. In moral psychology, it is the ...

. In September 2019, Kiełtyka was named as the new

Machine Head A machine head (also referred to as a tuning machine, tuner, or gear head) is a geared apparatus for tuning stringed musical instruments by adjusting string tension. Machine heads are used on mandolins, guitars, double basses and others, and ar ...

lead guitarist in a post on the band's

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...

page by founding member

Robb Flynn Robert Conrad Flynn (born Lawrence Matthew Cardine; July 19, 1967) is an American musician who is the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist for heavy metal band Machine Head. Flynn formed the band along with Adam Duce, Logan Mader and Tony Cos ...

Instruments

;Guitars * Ibanez LA Custom Shop Destroyer with EMGs * Ibanez Iceman 7 String Custom (''Blood Mantra'', and live performances) * Ibanez Iceman 6 String Custom * Ibanez Apex 7 String * Ibanez RGD 7 String * Ran Thor Custom 6 String (live performances) * Dean ML Custom Shop (''Carnival Is Forever'', and live performances) * Gibson Shred V (''Carnival Is Forever'', and live performances) * Washburn Custom Dime (live performances) * Custom RAN guitars with EMG 81 (''Winds of Creation'', ''Nihility'', ''The Negation'', ''Organic Hallucinosis'', and live performances) *

Ibanez Universe The Ibanez Universe is the first mass-produced solid body seven-string electric guitar, developed by Steve Vai and manufactured by Ibanez. The Universe is a seven-string version of the Ibanez JEM series, Vai's signature model. It slightly differs ...

(''Organic Hallucinosis'') * ESP 7-string Custom Shop Seth (''Carnival Is Forever'') * OLP MM4 SSPG RP (live performances) * Washburn EA10N 6 (live performances) * ESP LTD SC-607 BK ;Amplifiers, cabinets, and effects * EVH 5150 Amplifiers and Cabinets (''Blood Mantra'', and live performances) * BOSS Pedals: NS-2, DD-3, TU-2 (live performances) * Digitech Whammy Pedal (live performances) * Laboga Mr. Hector Amplifier (live performances) * Laboga Cabintes 4×12 V30 (live performances) * Morley Bad Horsie II (live performances) * Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier Amplifier (''Winds of Creation'') * Mesa Boogie Triple Rectifier Amplifier (''Nihility'', ''The Negation'') * Crate Excalibur Amplifier (''Nihility'', ''Carnival Is Forever'') * Marshall Valvestate Amplifier (''Nihility'', ''Carnival Is Forever'') * Randall Warhead Amplifier (''Organic Hallucinosis'', and live performances) * Bogner Ubershall Amplifier (''Carnival Is Forever'') * Diezel Herbert Amplifier (''Carnival Is Forever'') * VHT Pitbull Amplifier (''Carnival Is Forever'') * Randall RH300 Amplifier (live performances) * Engl Special Edition E670 Amplifier (live performances)

Legal issues

On 9 September 2017, all four members of Decapitated ( Michal Łysejko, Kiełtyka, Rafał Piotrowski and Hubert Więcek) were arrested in

Santa Ana, California Santa Ana () is the second most populous city and the county seat of Orange County, California. Located in the Greater Los Angeles region of Southern California, the city's population was 310,227 at the 2020 census, making Santa Ana the List of ...

after a show, and were charged with first-degree kidnapping in relation to an incident alleged to have happened after the band's show at

Spokane, Washington Spokane ( ) is the largest city and county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It is in eastern Washington, along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south of the Canada ...

's The Pin on 31 August 2017. Prior to the arrest, the band members had offered to surrender to the police as soon as they had learned of an investigation, but never heard anything back. During the alleged incident, two women were held in the band's tour bus against their will. Of the two women, one was able to escape. The other informed police that each member of the band raped her on the bus. After being extracted to Spokane, each band member was formally charged with rape in October 2017. Piotrowski and Kiełtyka were both charged with second degree rape, while Łysejko and Więcek's charges were for third degree rape. This was in contrast to earlier reports, which had depicted Piotrowski and Więcek as the primary aggressors. Kiełtyka was represented by defense attorney Steve Graham. All members of the band plead not guilty to their respective criminal charges. Later in October the band was released from jail, with each member paying $100,000 in bail and being required to surrender their passports. Charges were dropped by prosecutors in January 2018, citing the "well-being of the victim" and "in the interest of justice", and the scheduled trial later that month was cancelled. The charges were dropped without prejudice, leaving the possibility of future charges open. According to Piotrowski's attorney Jeffry Finer, the accuser was heavily involved in the decision to drop charges. The defence attorneys also highlighted testimonies from numerous concert attendees and musicians from other bands in support of the band's version of events. In March 2018, Kiełtyka wrote a lengthy statement on behalf of the band where he announced the band's return and addressed the band's hiatus from music resulting from the criminal charges. Decrying the accusations made against the band as false, he wrote, "Does sexual harassment happen and do crimes against women exist? Yes, and it is horrible. Do false accusations happen? Yes, this really happens. And it is also horrible. (...) We cannot and we will never accept someone else's narration about who we are. That is why we have chosen to return with the band. We know who we are and we can hold our heads and our music high with that knowledge."

Discography

;As band member *

- ''My Guardian Anger'' (1999, Pagan Records, Metal Mind Productions) *

- '' Winds of Creation'' (2000, Wicked World, Earache Records) * Decapitated - '' The First Damned'' (2000, Metal Mind Productions) * Lux Occulta - '' The Mother and the Enemy'' (2001, Metal Mind Productions, Maquiavel Music Ent.) * Decapitated - '' Nihility'' (2002, Earache Records) * Decapitated - '' The Negation'' (2004, Earache Records) * Decapitated - '' Organic Hallucinosis'' (2006, Earache Records) * Vader - ''

Necropolis A necropolis (plural necropolises, necropoles, necropoleis, necropoli) is a large, designed cemetery with elaborate tomb monuments. The name stems from the Ancient Greek ''nekropolis'', literally meaning "city of the dead". The term usually im ...

'' (2009, Nuclear Blast) * Decapitated - '' Carnival Is Forever'' (2011, Nuclear Blast) * Lux Occulta - ''

Kołysanki ''Kołysanki'' (Polish for "Lullabies") is the fifth studio album by Polish band Lux Occulta. The album was released on March 13, 2014. It is the first album released by the band in 13 years, as well as the first since the ending of the band's ...

'' (2014, Trzecie Ucho) * Decapitated - '' Blood Mantra'' (2014, Nuclear Blast) * Decapitated - '' Anticult'' (2017, Nuclear Blast) * Decapitated - '' Cancer Culture'' (2022, Earache) * Machine Head - ''

Of Kingdom and Crown ''Of Kingdom and Crown'' (stylized as ''ØF KINGDØM AND CRØWN'') is the tenth studio album by American heavy metal band Machine Head, released on August 26, 2022, through Nuclear Blast and Imperium Recordings. It is the band's first album to f ...

'' (2022, Nuclear Blast, Imperium Recordings) ;Guest appearances *

Blindead Blindead is a Polish Progressive metal, progressive extreme metal band from Gdynia, formed in 1999 under the name Incorrect Personality. In 2011, the band was nominated for a Fryderyk Award in the category 'Album of the Year – Heavy Metal'. Ba ...

- ''Autoscopia / Murder In Phazes'' (2008, Deadline Records) * Virgin Snatch - ''Act of Grace'' (2008, Mystic Production) *

Thy Disease Thy Disease is a Polish industrial metal band from Kraków. Their lyrics generally deal with nihilism, apocalypse, and war. The band was formed in 1999, by musicians formerly active in bands like Sceptic (band), Sceptic, pl.wikipedia.org, Anal St ...

- ''Anshur-Za'' (2009, Mystic Production) * Neolith - ''Individual Infernal Idimmu'' (2009, Psycho Records) *

Crionics Crionics was a Polish blackened death metal band from Kraków, formed in 1997 by Michał Skotniczny, Dariusz Styczeń, "Marcotic" and Maciej Zięba. In their early years they played fast and melodic metal strongly influenced by Norwegian black ...

- ''N.O.I.R.'' (2010, MSR Productions) *

Acid Drinkers Acid Drinkers are a Polish thrash metal band formed in September 1986 in Poznań. Acid Drinkers were formed on 21 September 1986 consisting of Tomasz "Titus" Pukacki (vocals, bass) and Robert "Litza" Friedrich (guitar, vocals). The band's style ...

- ''Fishdick Zwei - The Dick Is Rising Again'' (2010, Mystic Production) * Saratan - "Antireligion" (2010, My Kingdom Music) * Death Denied - ''Appetite For Booze'' (EP, 2011) * Newbreed - ''Newbreed'' (2011, Metal Mind Productions) * Ketha - ''2nd Sight'' (2012, Instant Classic)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kieltyka, Waclaw 1981 births Living people Alumni of the Academy of Music in Kraków Decapitated (band) members Polish guitarists Lead guitarists Polish male guitarists Polish musicians 21st-century Polish pianists Seven-string guitarists People from Krosno 21st-century accordionists Male pianists 21st-century guitarists 21st-century male musicians