The founding members of Pokolgép were Gábor Kukovecz, Endre Paksi and Tibor Varga in the late 1970s. Kukovecz took guitar lessons from Prognózis guitarist/singer István Vörös who suggested that the name of the metal band be "Kommandó", which sounded less offensive. They used this name for some months before changing it back to Pokolgép. At the beginning of their music career, they were going through a rough patch because of their poverty and the government's negative attitude towards the band. They had been playing semi-illegal concerts on the outskirts of Budapest and as a result, they found unexpected success. They had had several drummers and guitarists until they found László Nagyfi for playing the second guitar and András Gyenizse for drums. In 1985, Paksi left the band due to personal conflicts and went on to form Ossian. He was replaced by György Pazdera on the bass guitar. Some months later, Gyenizse emigrated to the US, so Pazdera invited his old friend László Tarcza to join them.
In 1983 the band was the runner-up in Ki mit tud?, so they were allowed to record a song which was released on a split 7" single. They also recorded two songs in the Hungarian Radio in 1984. In 1985 they recorded and released their first single with two songs.
In 1988-89, Pokolgép went on a European tour, playing in the two German states, the Netherlands and Belgium, and released their third album in 1989. They recorded a concert at the end of 1989 in Petőfi Hall, and then released as the fifth album in 1990 with the title "Koncertlemez". Before releasing the concert audio footage, they made their fourth album, "Metál az ész". This album was made in a rather bad atmosphere, as guitarist Nagyfi and vocalist Kalapács were about to quit the band.
Lineup changes
Nagyfi said in an interview that Kukovecz and he could not agree on the style of music to be played. Nagyfi preferred raw, more impulsive and speedy songs, while Kukovecz liked solos and melodies. This led to Nagyfi and Kalapács leaving to form Omen. The remaining three Pokolgép members, Tarcza, Pazdera and Kukovecz started to look for a new singer and second guitarist. Péter Kun briefly joined as guitarist before leaving to join Edda művek. The vocalist became József Rudán from Coda, a Led Zeppelintribute band.
Controversy
On 27 December 1987 a fifteen-year-old young man Lajos "Szőrme" Varga suffered a severe accident during the Metál Karácsony festival held in the Petőfi Csarnok event hall. A pyrotechnic device exploded and pieces of it hit Szőrme's head causing a traumatic injury. Szőrme's head almost collapsed into two pieces, as his corpus callosum was cut by the pyrotechnic device. He was in a coma for three months and nearly died several times but medical doctors were able to save his life. Pokolgép still deny their responsibility for this accident. Szőrme is not able to work or establish proper social contacts, but his mental capacity is still above average.
Most consistent lineups
1985-90 József Kalapács, Gábor Kukovecz, László Nagyfi, György Pazdera, László Tarcza 2001-06 Joe Rudán, Gábor Kukovecz, Dávid Nagy, Csaba Pintér, Ede Szilágyi
