Bethlehem (band)
| Bethlehem | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| origin | Grevenbroich , Germany |
| Genre (s) | Dark Metal , Depressive Black Metal |
| founding | 1991 |
| Current occupation | |
Electric bass, synthesizer |
Jürgen Bartsch |
singing |
Yvonne "Onielar" Wilczynska |
guitar |
Ilya Karsov |
Drums |
Florian "Torturer" Klein |
Live guitar |
Velnias |
| former members | |
Electric guitar |
Olaf Eckhardt |
Session keyboard (on Thy Pale Dominion )
|
Oliver Schmidt |
Vocals (up to dark metal )
|
Andreas Classen aka. Andras |
Percussion (up to Dictius te necare )
|
Chris Steinhoff |
Vocals (1994)
|
Sephiroth - Legion of the Damned |
Electric guitar |
Michael Schneider |
Singing (on Dictius te necare , Everything dead )
|
Rainer Landfermann |
Singing (on SUIZID , reflections on dying )
|
Cathrin camping |
Drums (on SUIZID , reflections on dying )
|
Marcus Losen aka. Zahgurim (1996-1998) |
Singing (on SUIZID , reflections on dying )
|
Marco Kehren - Deinonychus |
Singing (with shadows from the Alexander world )
|
Christian Houben |
Electric guitar (up to Profane Fetmilch Lenzt Elf Krank )
|
Klaus Matton |
Keyboard ( Shadows from the Alexander World ) , Remixes ( Suicide Radio )
|
Reiner Tiedemann |
Singing ( Shadows from the Alexander World , My Way , Hexakosio ... )
|
Guido Meyer de Voltaire |
Session keyboard (on my way )
|
Andreas Tekath |
Electric guitar (2009)
|
Ferdinando "Mr. Morbid" Merchisio - Forgotten Tomb |
Singing (on Suicidal Oviparous Longing for Death, Yesterday I died today )
|
Jonathan Théry - Ataraxie , Funeralium |
Vocals (on A Sacrificial Offering, Stönkfitzchen )
|
Niklas Kvarforth - Shining |
Drums (on Profane Fetmilch, SadAW, Mein Weg, Stönkfitzchen )
|
Steve Wolz |
Vocals (2011)
|
Malte Langenbrinck |
Singing (2012)
|
Rogier Droog |
Singing (2012-2013)
|
Alexander Smith |
Bethlehem is a German dark metal band from Grevenbroich . The band was founded in 1991 by Andreas Classen ( Paragon Belial , ex- Shining ), bassist Jürgen Bartsch and guitarist Klaus Matton. Bartsch is the only permanent member who is always active in the band. He is, so to speak, the "head of the band".
The term Dark Metal is mostly traced back to the title of Bethlehem's debut album of the same name from 1994, but was previously used in Katatonia's self-designation as "Sorrowfilled and harmonous Northern Dark Metal" .
history
In 1993 Bethlehem released their debut Thy Pale Dominion on the local label Nightmare Records in the form of a 7 "vinyl single.
A year later, the debut album followed with Dark Metal , which was released on the French label Adipocere Records. The singer on the first two albums is Andreas Classen, who left the band after the release of Dark Metal and founded the black metal band Paragon Belial .
The following studio album Dictius te necare was released in 1996 via Red Stream. On this album, Rainer Landfermann from the German death metal band Pavor took over the vocals, which were described as follows in a review on the doom-metal.com website :
"One of the sickest and most extreme voices you'll ever hear from a human being."
Also on Red Stream in 1998 the album Sardonic Downfall in the Sign of Irreligious Performance , SUIZID for short , was released. Rainer Landfermann was replaced on SUIZID by Marco Kehren from the band Deinonychus. The drummer here is Marcus Losen (also drummer at Paragon Belial), who left the band in 1998. In the same year, Bethlehem starred on the soundtrack of the American film Gummo with the titles Debt our bony Folded Horse and Veiled Irreligiousness .
In 1999 there was a change from Red Stream to the German label Prophecy Productions , which first released the vinyl single Profane Fetmilch Lenzt Elf Krank in 2000 and finally the album Schatten aus der Alexander Welt on September 17, 2001 . Three years later, on November 17, 2004, the album Mein Weg followed . Guido Meyer de Voltaire, who sings on Shadows from the Alexander World and Mein Weg, is also known with his metal band Aardvarks. In 2006 he left Bethlehem after disputes within the band.
In 2007 Bartsch announced the singer and guitarist of the dark metal band Forgotten Tomb , Ferdinando "Herr Morbid" Merchisio, as the new guitarist and announced that he would be working with him on a new album, which was released in late summer 2008 by Greg Chandler of Esoteric in the Priory Recording Studios in England.
On May 14, 2009 the split- 7 "single Suizidal-Ovipare Todessehnsucht , which was released in Sodom together with the American black metal band Benighted , was released on the Obscure label Abhorrence Productions. The vinyl single contains on the first page the song You shall kill yourself from Bethlehem's album SUIZID For this release the guitar solos have been re-recorded and the vocals of Jonathan Théry, the singer of the French band Ataraxie, have been re-sung.
On May 18, 2009, Jürgen Bartsch presented Niklas Kvarforth from the Swedish black metal band Shining as the new official singer of the band via Bethlehem's MySpace page . On May 24th, 2009 the news followed that Reuben Jordan from Benighted in Sodom was the second official Bethlehem guitarist. On June 12, 2009, the album A Sacrificial Offering to the Kingdom of Heaven in a Cracked Dog's Ear was released on Red Stream. However, this is not a completely new studio album, but a partially re-recorded version of the 1998 album SUIZID . Niklas Kvarforth took care of the vocals. All lyrics have been translated from German into English .
On October 22nd, 2010 the EP or MCD Stönkfitzchen was released with six titles, four of which were new songs. Kvarforth took over the singing again and sang in German for the first time. Jürgen Bartsch played the bass, Olaf Eckhardt the electric guitar and Steve Wolz the drums.
Ten years after the last full studio album - Mein Weg - the album Hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia was released on October 10, 2014 via Prophecy Productions. The album in August and September 2014 was recorded Klangschmiede Studio E . It was produced by Jürgen Bartsch, technically implemented and mastered by Markus Stock . Florian "Torturer" Klein from the band Mor Dagor played the drums . Olaf Eckhardt played the guitar. Guido Meyer de Voltaire took over the vocals again as in Mein Weg und Schatten aus der Alexander Welt , but immediately after the recordings emphasized that it was their final cooperation. In the album's booklet, Bartsch and Klein are listed as a band. A two-CD edition of the album, limited to 250 pieces, contains the bonus CD Vergor'n im Spinnenmaul with four additional songs. The bonus track Zitzenschlauch is the song Lebensborn der flies from Bartsch's electro / aggrotech side project Stahlmantel, which was included in the 2008 demo release Industrial Dancecore .
On December 2nd, 2016, the self-titled album Bethlehem was released on Prophecy Productions for the 25th anniversary of the band . Like its predecessor, it was recorded in May and June 2016 in the Klangschmiede Studio E by Markus Stock in Mellrichstadt. The vocals were performed by the singer of the black metal band Darkened Nocturn Slaughtercult , Yvonne "Onielar" Wilczynska. Founding member Jürgen Bartsch played the bass as usual. Steve Wolz returned to the band for the drums. Ilya Karzov played the guitar.
On May 17, 2019, the band's eighth full studio album, Lebe dich leer, was released via Prophecy Productions. It was recorded in August and September 2018 in North Rhine-Westphalia in the Soundsight Studio in Hennef and Stonehenge Studio in Siegburg . As on the previous album, you can hear Yvonne "Onielar" Wilczynska as the singer. Jürgen Bartsch played bass and Ilya Karzov played guitar. Florian "Torturer" Klein, who had already played drums on the album Hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia, took over the drums.
style
Texts
The debut album Dark Metal contains, apart from the title Praise be the downfall , only songs with English-language texts. The texts on the following publications are primarily written in German .
Many of Bethlehem's songs feature morbid lyrics. They mostly deal with suicide and depression , whereby Bartsch often uses cipher poetry when writing , so that these are not clearly understandable. He also uses creative word formations and is playful with the language, which is reflected in various songs and the song titles. A clear example is the title Luftstehs'lblah on the 1998 album SUIZID , which says:
"When Kindischseisel Pizzaschmiersel / like to pluck your hair / battle horn and flat brush handle / to Mayhemic Irrelevant blasel."
Further examples are the radio play sequences on shadows from the Alexander world .
Some of the listeners, on the other hand, are of the opinion that Bartsch's texts deliberately contained no content, meaning or context. One shouldn't try to understand or interpret the texts, but rather see them as an almost Dadaistic expression of absurdity . In the sentences in which no logic whatsoever could be found, the dark, depressive atmosphere leading to hopelessness and insanity would be emphasized, which one can not generally avoid simply because of the terms, neologisms and artistic design used.
music
Bethlehem plays music on Dictius te necare that is still relatively close to genres such as Doom Metal , Black Metal and Death Metal . The band coined the term Dark Metal for the mixture of these genres to a music with a very dark, melancholic to depressive atmosphere . Fast parts with guitar lines alternate with slower, calmer, depressive parts. The gloom and slowness of the latter passages are common in Doom Metal. One example is the song The anarchist liberation of the eyewitness religion , the rhythm of which is slow at the beginning and increases later. Landfermann's singing on this album varies in volume, aggressiveness and pitch. Most of the time he screams very high and tormented, sometimes he growls like it's usual in Death Metal.
During her career, Bethlehem modernized her style and so on the album Mein Weg from 2004 the former black and death metal influence is hardly evident, but rather influences from the New German Hardship , Gothic Metal and electronic music.
On the mini-CD Stönkfitzchen , the songs are again oriented closer to the original style at the interface between Black, Death and Doom Metal.
The album Hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia is stylistically in line with Shadows from the Alexander World (2001) and Mein Weg (2004). Guido Meyer de Voltaire primarily uses deep, clear vocals on the three albums, but also switches to guttural vocals. In the booklet of the album, Jürgen Bartsch emphasizes that the three albums are conceptually and stylistically a trilogy , the conclusion of which is the release of Hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia (2014). Jürgen Bartsch is talking about the second phase of the band, which was completed with the conclusion of the trilogy in 2014.
The albums Bethlehem and Lebe dich leer with singer Yvonne “Onielar” Wilczynska tie in stylistically with the opening albums Dictius te necare and SUIZID . According to the band's founder, Bartsch, the band is in the “third phase” of their work with these releases .
Discography
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Chart positions Explanation of the data |
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Studio albums
- Dark Metal (1994)
- Dictius te necare (1996)
- Sardonic downfall under the sign of irreligious performance (1998)
- Shadows from the Alexander World (2001)
- My way (2004)
- Hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia (2014)
- Bethlehem (2016)
- Live you empty (2019)
Other albums
- A Sacrificial Offering to the Kingdom of Heaven in a Cracked Dog's Ear (2009) (revised version of the 1998 album SUIZID with newly recorded vocals)
EPs
- Reflections on dying (EP, 1998)
- Stönkfitzchen (EP, 2010)
Split EPs
- Bethlehem / Wraithen (USA): untitled (7 "-EP, 2004)
- Bethlehem / Benighted in Sodom: Suicidal-Oviparous Death Longing (7 "-EP, 2009) (limited to 2000 pieces)
- Bethlehem / Joyless : Yesterday I died today (7 "-EP, 2009)
Singles
- Thy Pale Dominion ( 7 "single , 1993)
- Profane Fetmilch Lenzt Elf Krank (7 "single, 2000)
- Everything Dead (7 "single, 2004)
Other publications and contributions
- Bethlehem (Demo) I (MC) (1992)
- Bethlehem (Demo) II (MC) (1993)
- Dark Metal (Home Video VHS, 1993)
- Wintermute on Deathophobia I (Force Production 1993)
- Requiem (Exhumer Productions 1993)
- Homevideo VHS - Gummo, New Line Productions, USA (1997)
- Blame our bony flat horse and veiled irreligion on Gummo ( London Records / EMI 1997)
- Praise be to doom (Homevideo-VHS, Red Stream Inc. 1999)
- Champagne joys in cased corpse cunt and animal mother on To Live Is Ever To Be In Danger (Red Stream Inc. 1999)
- Fear Breaths Murder on Upon a Mighty Bloodred Stream Volume 1 (Red Stream Inc. 1999)
- Suicide Radio ( CD-ROM , only playable on PC, 2003)
- Legalize Murder (DVD, Comedy 2007)
- A Tribut to Dictius Te Necare (Ostra 2009)
- Bethlehem's Bastards ( Weird Truth Productions 2009)
- Yesterday I Still Died Today on Niklas Kvarforth - Fifteen Years of Absolute Darkness ( Spinefarm Records 2011)
Web links
- Bethlehem at Discogs (English)
- Bethlehem on Myspace
- Bethlehem on YouTube
- Old website, last updated in 2003, by fans from Haifa, Israel
Individual evidence
- ^ Albert Mudrian: Black Metal: The Cult never Dies. (No longer available online.) Decibel Magazine, archived from the original on March 17, 2017 ; accessed on March 15, 2017 . 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.
- ↑ a b c Metal.de/Stefan Arthur Wolfsbrunn (February 15, 2017): Interview with Jürgen Bartsch .
- ↑ DARK METAL
- ↑ "Their flyer best best describes this godly band, 'Sorrowfilled and harmonous Northern Dark Metal.'" Katatonia- "Dance of December Souls" CD . In: Petrified 'Zine , No. 2, Winter 1993, p. 4.
- ↑ Kostas Panagiotou: Bethlehem: Dictius Te Necare (English; accessed: August 12, 2011).
- ↑ News .
- ↑ Katja Honeywine: Bethlehem - Dictius Me Spectare ( Memento of the original from October 16, 2007 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. (Accessed August 12, 2011).
- ↑ Press flyer on Suicidal Oviparous Death Longing from stahlmantel.com (last accessed April 15, 2009).
- ↑ Guido Meyer de Voltaire (August 21, 2014): Hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia from BETHLEHEM is coming soon ( memento of the original from October 20, 2014 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. (Last accessed: October 12, 2014)
- ↑ Prophecy (October 27, 2016): Bethlehem - New album to be released December 2nd .
- ↑ Chart sources: Germany
