Calhoun Conquer

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Calhoun Conquer
General information
origin Zurich , Switzerland
Genre (s) Thrash metal , progressive metal
founding 1987
resolution 1991
Founding members
Christian "Geri" Gerling
Stefan Gerling
Last occupation
singing
 Christian "Geri" Gerling
bass
 Stefan Gerling
guitar
 Christian "Chris" Gora (at least one of the last guitarists)
Peter Haas
former members
guitar
 Christian "Chris" Muzik (1988–1989)

Calhoun Conquer was a Swiss progressive thrash band from Zurich , which existed from 1987 to 1991 and whose peculiarity was to offer their music works to record companies in a completely produced form .

history

For a short time it was simply called “Conquer”, and the brothers Christian Gerling, known as “Geri”, and Stefan Gerling combined this project name with the name of a boxer who was innocently convicted of murder. The same initial sound and the same number of letters were decisive for the extension. The trained architect Christian Gerling did not think much of regular work and therefore tried his hand at first as a sports and music journalist in order to finally experience even more creative self-determination as a musician. He founded Calhoun Conquer together with his brother in 1987 in Zurich. Half a year after it was founded, in October, the self-financed recordings for an EP were available. Christian sang on them and he also played the guitar, while Stefan played bass and took care of the samples. Session musicians took on other tasks. Neither of them got into the band afterwards because they didn't seem qualified enough for consistent professional work. The EP, which was named … And Now You're Gone after the Chainsaw Murder Records label was found , was recorded in August 1987 in the Ebony Studio in Wohlen and mixed in the Berlin Music Lab . It contains a Hüsker Dü- - cover version of Diane . The image on the record sleeve is also a new interpretation, namely that of the painting Les Lupins by Maurice Sand from the legendary collection Légende Rustiques , published in 1858 . The picture of the werewolves leaning against a cemetery wall was used by several metal bands, including the German Bethlehem . For the EP cover, the designer Alain Kupper framed the scenery with horror characters .

For the album Lost in Oneself , in-house production, in other words self-financing, was chosen again, because you didn't want to be talked into. This second risky endeavor devoured the last of his cash reserves. At least they had moved from expensive Switzerland in November 1988 to the already tried and tested Music Lab in Berlin. (Only the song Portals of Delerium was recorded in the Artag Studio in Zurich in February 1989 and mixed there in April.) Christian Muzik had meanwhile been hired as a guitarist, but the Gerling brothers hadn't found what they were looking for for the post of drummer, which is why Drum machine was used. The Voivod producer Harris Johns acted as the producer . Thanks to the mediation of the drummer Peter Haas, who joined the group later , the plan worked out , because a contract was signed with Aaarrg Records , the label of the Mekong Delta head Ralph Hubert. Haas can be seen in the foreground in the innersleeve photo, despite the delay in boarding. Regarding the external design of the LP, Christian Gerling said that the sketch of two people hanging on poles within a computer-rastered color landscape should symbolize an “insidious computer world”. The band was now complete, but not yet ready to perform live. Muzik didn't like that, which clouded the mood among each other and ultimately led to the guitarist's departure. Christian "Chris" Gora was among the guitarists who were then tried. However, it is not known whether the concert on December 28, 1990 in Werl was played with him - together with Rostok Vampires and Cox Orange - and whether he belonged to the four-man formation that stayed in the Artag studio in September / October 1991, to record the follow-up album Consequences of Death and Consequences of Decay under the direction of Voco Fauxpas (Treponem Pal, Celtic Frost , The Young Gods ). As usual, the production costs were pre-financed and a lookout for a label was made, but there was no success report in this regard. In the same year, drummer Peter Haas joined the Bochum- based Mekong Delta and the Swiss bands Poltergeist and Krokus . Guitarist Chris Gora stayed in Zurich, joined the regionally known Rams Band and established himself as a studio musician and guitar teacher.

style

Eduardo Rivadavia ( Allmusic ) describes the style as “Progressive Thrash”, which evokes Voivod and Mekong Delta.

Andrea Nieradzik from Metal Hammer heard heavy metal and hardcore as well as “ crypt / wave sounds”. The musical direction is given with Voivod, but Calhoun Conquer is going his own way. Vocally Gerling is close to Snake (Voivod) as well as Tom Warrior (Celtic Frost). In reviewing the year, the editorial team summarized the style as follows: “Avant-garde underground. Punk, metal, industrial and dark sounds mixed diffusely. "

For the Rock Hard , Thomas Kupfer described the style: “[...] it is more than difficult to outline the style of the guys. If a song like Fuckhead still sounds punk influenced, the band on Psycho Trap offers well-conceived Thrash. Like a red thread runs through the LP (where you can still discover some peculiarities even after listening to it umpteen times) an unmistakable Voi Vod influence. This fact is probably not intended, but perhaps it is because the French-Canadians have a similar attitude to the Swiss or are intellectually inspired. Describing Calhoun Conquer as the European answer to Voi Vod is probably the closest thing to the matter. "

In the same issue, Christian Gerling explained the content of the songs Disgust and Hate and Psycho Trap as examples . The first is about a misanthrope in a process of agitation from general contempt for human beings to concrete hatred of fellow citizens. Psycho Trap also deals with emotional abysses . In it, the protagonist is shadowed for months, so that over time he almost physically feels this and looks for a way out of his oppressive situation.

Discography

  • 1987: … And Now You're Gone (EP, Chainsaw Murder Records / We Bite Records )
  • 1989: Lost in Oneself (Album, Aaarrg Records)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Thomas Kupfer: Calhoun Conquer . In: Rock Hard . Metallic Underground Magazine. No. 35 , December 1989, pp. 16 .
  2. ↑ a b c Andrea Nieradzik: Calhoun Conquer . In: Metal Hammer / Crash . International hard rock & heavy metal poster magazine. No. 20/1989 , September 22, 1989, pp. 93 .
  3. ↑ claudialucia: Le Berry: Les legends rustiques de George Sand illustrées par Maurice Sand. In: hellocoton.fr. May 22, 2013, accessed January 4, 2015 (French).
  4. ↑ Paatddal: Maurice Sand - Werewolves, Illustration for Legendes Rustiques. In: archivesofkhazad-dum.blogspot.de. December 22, 2010, accessed January 4, 2015 .
  5. ↑ Calhoun Conquere [sic] + Rostok Vampires + Cox Orange . In: Metal Hammer . January 1991, ... on the Road, p. 22 .
  6. ↑ a b Avantgarde Pt. I . In: Rock Hard . No. 54 , October 1991, News, pp. 9 .
  7. ↑ Calhoun Conquer . In: Metal Hammer. The international hard rock & heavy metal poster magazine . October 1991, Hard Fax, pp. 6 .
  8. ↑ Learn acoustic guitar, ukulele, electric guitar and guitar with: Chris Gora. Guitar for various styles. In: instrumentor.ch. Retrieved January 4, 2015 .
  9. ↑ Eduardo Rivadavia: Calhoun Conquer. Biography by Eduardo Rivadavia. In: allmusic.com. Retrieved January 4, 2015 .
  10. ↑ Andrea Nieradzik: Calhoun Conquer . In: Metal Hammer / Crash. International hard rock & heavy metal poster magazine . No. 22/1989 , October 20, 1989, pp. 100 .
  11. ↑ Andrea Nieradzik: Calhoun Conquer. Lost in oneself . In: Metal Hammer / Crash. International hard rock & heavy metal poster magazine . No. 20/1989 , September 22, 1989, LP's, p. 37 .
  12. ↑ Waste of raw materials ´89 (part 1). All record reviews at a glance . In: Metal Hammer / Crash. International hard rock & heavy metal poster magazine . No. 26/1989 , December 15, 1989, C, pp. 19 .
  13. ↑ Thomas Kupfer: Calhoun Conquer. Lost in oneself . In: Rock Hard . Metallic Underground Magazine. No. 35 , December 1989, pp. 46 ( rockhard.de [accessed January 4, 2016]).

Web links