They participated in the early development of the genre, and were pioneers in the Danish thrash metal scene with their highly energetic, riff-centric and often fast-paced music.

The band formed in June 1982 in Taastrup, a suburb of Copenhagen by drummer Carsten Nielsen and guitarist Jørgen Sandau.

Artillery's first commercial debut came in early 1985 with the inclusion of the song "Hey Woman," on Volume One of the Speed Metal Hell compilation series which was released on New Renaissance Records.

[4] Same year Artillery traveled to Tashkent, USSR (currently the capital of Uzbekistan), where they performed at a local music festival.

Their third album, By Inheritance, was released in 1990 on both LP and CD, by Roadrunner Records[4] and included a song called "7:00 from Tashkent".

[8] The new Artillery lineup was working on a new album entitled Legions, which they began recording in February 2013, and which was released on Metal Blade on 26 November 2013.

On 7 October 2013, Metal Blade released the first video single from Legions in the form of the track "Chill My Bones (Burn My Flesh)".

The song serves as a tribute dedication to Morten Stützer and includes vocals from two of Artillery's former singers Flemming Rønsdorf and Søren Adamsen.