Agathodaimon (band)

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Agathodaimon
General information
Genre (s) Dark metal , Gothic metal
founding 1995, 2020
resolution 2014
Website www.agathodaimon.de
Founding members
Martin "Sathonys" winder
Matthias Rodig (until 2008)
Last occupation
Chris "Ashtrael" Bonner (since 2009)
Vocals, guitar
Martin "Sathonys" winder
Guitar, keyboard
Thilo Feucht (studio guitar: 2001, live guitar: occasionally 2001-2010, guitar: since 2010, also studio keyboard: 2013)
bass
Till Ottinger (since 2006)
Drums
Manuel Steitz (since 2008)
former members
Guttural vocals, keyboard
Andrei "Vlad Dracul" Rusu (guttural vocals: 1995–1998, keyboard: 1995–1999)
Guttural vocals, guitar
Frank "Akaias" Nordmann (studio vocals: 1998, 1999, 2009, live vocals: 1998–1999, vocals: 2000–2001, vocals & guitar: 2001–2006)
Guttural singing
Jonas "Iscariot" (2006-2008, also studio guttural singing: 2009)
guitar
Carl "Hyperion" Lang (1995-2001)
guitar
Jan Jansohn (2007-2010)
bass
Marko Thomas (1995-2002)
bass
In it "Eddy" Smith (2002-2006)
Keyboard
Christine "Sateria" Schulte (1999–2001)
Keyboard
Felix Ü. Waltz (2002-2010)
Live support & studio musicians
singing
Ophelia (studio vocals: 1998)
singing
Randu Menulesco (studio vocals: 2001)
singing
Josef Maria Klumb (studio vocals: 2001)
singing
Ruth Knepel (studio vocals: 2004)
bass
Ivica Butina (live bass: 2007)
Keyboard
Marcel "Vampallens" Breuer (Live / Studio Keyboard: 1998)
guitar
Nicolao dos Santos (Live guitar: 2012 & 2014)

Agathodaimon is a German dark metal band from Mainz .

history

The band was founded in 1995 by guitarist Martin "Sathonys" Wickler (formerly Nocte Obducta , also freelancer at Metal Hammer ) and drummer Matthias Rodig (Nocte Obducta, Age of Aggression, Necrorgasm). After small ads were placed in some music magazines, singer and keyboardist Andrei “Vlad Dracul” Rusu and bassist Marko Thomas joined the band. After a few rehearsals, the band decided that a second guitarist was needed. After two months, Carl “Hyperion” Lang was also found.

Together, the band recorded their first demo called Carpe Noctem in 1996 , which received a lot of praise from the trade press. As a result, some record companies became aware of the band and approached the band. So in 1997 Agathodaimon recorded their second demo Near Dark with the financial support of Century Media . This demo was also well received by the trade press and more than 2,000 copies were sold. The demos still showed influences from Black Metal , which were not picked up from the second album.

In 1998 the band signed a record deal with the Nuclear Blast label . The debut album Blacken the Angel was announced for the first quarter of 1998. Some of the pieces from the demos were re-recorded for the debut album. Singer Andrei Rusu went to Romania shortly before the recordings to visit some relatives there. When he wanted to go back to Germany , however, he was refused entry. After some delay, the band recorded the album with the help of Frank "Akaias" Nordman (vocals and guitar with Asaru) and Marcel "Vampellans Traumschänder" Breuer ( Nocte Obducta , Dinner on Uranos , Thâlsperre, Cühn). Andrei Rusu only contributed the song Contemplation Song , which he sent to his bandmates via DAT .

With Frank Nordmann on vocals and Marcel Breuer on keyboards, Agathodaimon went on tour with bands like Benediction and Hypocrisy . At this time Martin Wickler, Marcel Breuer and Matthias Rodig also played in the band Nocte Obducta. Martin, who was the bass player there, left this band in 2000 after the recordings of their second album Taverne to concentrate entirely on Agathodaimon.

In 1999 Christine “Sateria” Schulte became the new keyboard player and the band traveled to Romania to record the second album Higher Art of Rebellion with Andrei Rusu . The producers in the studios used for this purpose had no experience with the genre of music and the sound of the album did not meet the expectations of the band. On the following tour in 2000, Agathodaimon played as headliners together with Siebenbürgen and Graveworm . Also that year the band played at the Wacken Open Air and the Wave-Gotik-Treffen . Rusu's previous live representative Frank Nordmann became the band's official singer, while Rusu decided to leave the band because of the great geographical distance and musical differences.

In 2001 the third album Chapter III was released. Musically, the band oriented itself more towards the debut album, but elements of progressive and melodic metal also flowed into the pieces. The controversial musician Josef Maria Klumb was a guest singer on the song Sacred Divinity .

After the album was released, there were some personnel changes within the band. Bass player Marko Thomas left the band because he was struggling with health problems after a stomach operation and guitarist Carl Lang had to leave the band due to personal differences. Christine Schulte also left the band to start her own. Singer Frank Nordmann now also took over the guitar. With Felix Ü. Waltz ( All Will Know , Ex-Opalessence, Ex-The Legacy) a new keyboard player was found and a few months later, Darin "Eddie" Smith, a bass player, joined the band again.

Work on Serpent's Embrace began in 2003 , and the album was finally released in 2004. Agathodaimon also contributed a song to the soundtrack for the film Alone in the Dark . This song was written exclusively for this film.

Bassist Darin Smith left the band in 2006 for personal reasons and was replaced by Till Ottinger. At the end of 2006 Frank Nordmann decided to move from Germany to Norway and thus to leave the band. Jonas Iscariot (formerly all: my: faults ) replaced him in terms of vocals and Jan Jansohn ( All Will Know , Adorned Brood , Ex- Dunkelschön , Ex-Opalessence) on guitar.

In 2008 founding member Matthias Rodig and singer Jonas Iscariot left the band due to lack of time. Rodig was replaced by Manuel Steitz. Jonas Iscariot only found a permanent successor in 2009 in Chris “Ashtrael” Bonner.

In 2009 the fifth studio album Phoenix was released.

In 2010 Agathodaimon and Jan Jansohn split up due to musical differences, as did keyboard player Felix Ü. Walzer got out. The vacant position on guitar was taken over by Thilo Feucht, who had occasionally helped out at concerts for many years.

In November 2012 the band went on the Fragments-of-Death tour with Graveworm .

On June 28, 2013, the sixth studio album In Darkness was released, which had been recorded since February 12, 2013 in the Kohlkeller Studio under the direction of producer Kristian Kohlmannslehner .

On October 19, 2014, Sathonys announced the breakup of the band on the official website. He justified this with the fact that as a family man he had not been able to run the band with adequate commitment for some time and that other band members also suffered from time problems.

In February 2020 the band announced on their homepage that the band had gotten back together.

Discography

Studio albums

  • 1998: Blacken the Angel ( Nuclear Blast )
  • 1999: Higher Art of Rebellion (Nuclear Blast)
  • 2001: Chapter III (Nuclear Blast)
  • 2004: Serpent's Embrace (Nuclear Blast)
  • 2009: Phoenix (Nuclear Blast)
  • 2013: In Darkness ( Massacre Records )

Demos, compilations and soundtracks

  • 1996: Carpe Noctem ( demo )
  • 1997: Near Dark (demo)
  • 1997: Tomb Sculptures ( Best Of )
  • 2005: Alone in the Dark (song contribution to the soundtrack of the film Alone in the Dark )

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. a b Lothar Gerber: Free radicals. Free & outdoors . In: Metal Hammer . October 2014, p. 59 .
  2. https://www.agathodaimon.de/pages/welcome/
  3. a b c d Biography , accessed July 10, 2013.
  4. Markus Endres: Dinner on Uranos ( Memento of the original from September 23, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , August 9, 2010, accessed July 10, 2013. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.metal.de
  5. New vocalist Ashtrael revealed! July 5, 2009, accessed July 10, 2013.
  6. New guitarist! August 16, 2010, accessed July 10, 2013.
  7. Fragments of Death Tour (Graveworm, Agathodaimon and more) , accessed July 10, 2013.
  8. Frank Wilkens: Agathodaimon - In Darkness ( Memento of the original from July 7, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , July 2, 2013, accessed July 10, 2013. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.metalnews.de