Circus of Fools

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Circus of Fools
General information
origin Tubingen , Germany
Genre (s) Metal
founding 2012
Website www.circusoffools.de
Founding members
Singing , programming, keyboard
Tim Strouken
Manuel Hassler (until 2014)
Dominik Bolter
Current occupation
Singing , programming, keyboard
Tim Strouken
Dominik Bolter
Julian Langer (since 2013)
Viola , electric viola , programming
Coen Strouken (since 2014)
Yannick Ninkov (since 2013)
Nico Staller (since 2014)
Carolin Saia (since 2017)
former members
Charlotte Lauel (2015-2017)
Mara Nüllen (2014-2016)
Johannes Alsheimer (2014-2016)

Circus of Fools is a German metal band from Tübingen that was founded in 2012. What is striking is the use of elements from the circus both in the live show and in the music. The band has also positioned itself as a political left in interviews.

history

Circus of Fools was founded in autumn 2012 by singer Tim Strouken. He found fellow musicians in drummer Manuel Hassler and guitarist Dominik Bolter through advertisements on the Internet. In this line-up, the first EP From a Distant Land was released the next year , which received good reviews in the specialist press. So wrote z. B. the Sonic Seducer Magazine: "With Circus of Fools there is a band in the starting blocks that could soon be the new star in the dark Gothic Metal sky." Starting in May 2013, alternating second guitarists, including the later violist Coen Strouken, played first live concerts.

In autumn 2013 a first permanent line-up was found with Yannick Ninkov on bass and Julian Langer on second guitar. It was around this time that the band also began wearing makeup and white and black costumes for live performances. According to the band, the inspiration was Cosplay and the interest in breaking away from the predominant black of the metal and gothic scene. At the end of 2013 the double single Ikarus /// Obsidian Black was recorded, which was released with a re-release of the From a Distant Land EP in February 2014. In April 2014, drummer Manuel Hassler left the band after his farewell concert at the Represent Festival in Reutlingen. Nico Staller was introduced as his successor. At this concert, Coen Strouken was also on stage as a violist for the first time. The band reached the South West German final of the Emergenza competition in the same year , but failed to qualify for podium places. In addition, the band recorded a cover of Blumio Hits Mr. Nazi Hey in the action YouTuber against Nazis of the Federal Agency for Civic Education in part. This was followed by appearances as co-headliners of the Stuttgart Free and Outside Festival, as well as supporting the band Schwarzer Engel .

Raise the curtain

In 2015 the debut album Raise the Curtain was released on the winning label 7HARD, which was received positively by the music press. The orcus! judged: "With this album, Circus of Fools literally pull the curtain up - for a theatrical, unique and very special freak show that should not be missed." On this album, Charlotte Lauel appeared as a guest singer on three songs, who was then integrated into the band as a permanent singer. With this line-up, Circus of Fools won the newcomer competition "Blood Battle" of the Baden in Blut Festival. Other appearances followed, including a support slot for End of Green at the RockDays in Bad Urach , two concerts as support for the band Harpyie , for whose 5-year anniversary Circus of Fools also produced a cover of the song Freakshow , and at Autumn Moon Festival in Hameln., As well as the music video The March of the Puppets .

At the beginning of 2017 the band released the song Another World Within as a single and as a music video and won the newcomer contest of the M'era Luna Festival . With that, the band opened the M'era Luna Festival 2017 on the main stage. They also played at the Sunstorm Festival , the Aaargh Festival and the RockDays in summer 2017 .

In the summer of 2017, the singer Charlotte Lauel left the band for professional reasons and was replaced by Carolin Saia, who had already represented Lauel for some concerts in the winter of 2016/17.

REX

On August 31, 2018, the album REX was released on the Bleeding Nose Records label. With Another World Within , Watch Me and Sideshow - The last grain of sand falls , three songs from the new album were already released before the album was released. The album includes a featuring with John Gahlert, the singer of the Regensburg melodic death metal band Deadlock . The video for Fallen Paradise appeared as a collaboration between the band and the dark parable knight on their YouTube channel , in which they wanted to draw attention to environmental issues and sustainably produced merchandising. In March 2019 Circus of Fools played their first tour together with the band Stepfather Fred as part of the "Coreneval" series of events, which included Basel as well as 4 German cities.

At the beginning of 2020 Circus of Fools again released the strictly limited EP Contracult via Bleeding Nose Records as part of the "Yggdrasil" tour with Erdling and Florian Gray . An elaborate music video was shot for the song Daughters of the Occult . Another collaboration with director Mirko Witzki , who also directed Fallen Paradise . The clarinetist Le Comte Caspar , known for his work with Coppelius , has a guest appearance in this song. In return, Circus of Fools played a support appearance as part of Coppelius' "Stage abstinence concert series" tour in Kammgarn in Kaiserslautern.

Discography

Albums and EPs

  • 2013: From a Distant Land (in-house production)
  • 2015: Raise the Curtain (7HARD - 7us Music Media Group)
  • 2018: REX (Bleeding Nose Records)
  • 2020: Contracult (Bleeding Nose Records)
  • 2020: RMXCVLT (Bleeding Nose Records)

Singles

  • 2014: Ikarus / Obsidian Black (in-house production)
  • 2017: Another World Within (in-house production)
  • 2018: Watch Me (Bleeding Nose Records)
  • 2018: Sideshow (Bleeding Nose Records)
  • 2019: Marching Among the Dead (Bleeding Nose Records)
  • 2019: Eris (To the Fairest One) (Bleeding Nose Records)
  • 2020: Daughters of the Occult (Bleeding Nose Records)

Music videos (selection)

  • 2014: Icarus
  • 2014: Hey Mr. Nazi ( Blumio cover)
  • 2015: The March of the Puppets
  • 2015: Reinstate
  • 2016: Freakshow ( Harpy Cover)
  • 2017: Another World Within
  • 2018: Watch Me
  • 2018: Fallen Paradise
  • 2020: Daughters of the Occult

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. a b Black scene free of the Nazis. Retrieved August 21, 2017 .
  2. ^ Circus of Fools. Retrieved August 21, 2017 .
  3. ^ Circus of Fools. Retrieved August 22, 2017 .
  4. ^ Emergenza Festival - concorso musicale a Stoccarda. Retrieved August 22, 2017 .
  5. 38. Free & Outside | 4th-6th August 2017 | Hall of Fame. Retrieved on August 22, 2017 (German).
  6. Black Angel. Retrieved August 22, 2017 .
  7. Manuela Ausserhofer: Curtain up for the freak show of the year! In: Zoomia Media Group Claus Müller (Ed.): Orkus! Magazine . 07/08 July August 2015. DPV Deutscher Pressevertrieb GmbH, Glashütten (Taunus) July 2015, p. 54 .
  8. Badische Zeitung: Heavy Metal: In the Lörracher Grüttpark bathing takes place in blood open air - Badische Zeitung TICKET . ( bz-ticket.de [accessed on August 21, 2017]).
  9. AUTUMN MOON FESTIVAL 2016: Line-Up and information | AVALOST . In: AVALOST . September 28, 2016 ( avalost.de [accessed August 22, 2017]).
  10. Circus Of Fools open M'era Luna 2017. Accessed on July 20, 2018 (German).
  11. ^ Circus of Fools - REX - Encyclopaedia Metallum: The Metal Archives. Retrieved July 20, 2018 .
  12. ^ Circus of Fools - Fallen Paradise (Official Music Video). Retrieved January 29, 2020 (German).
  13. ^ Circus of Fools. Retrieved July 8, 2019 .
  14. Circus of Fools - Daughters of the Occult feat. Le Comte Caspar / Coppelius | Bleeding Nose Records. Retrieved January 29, 2020 (German).
  15. Report: Coppelius - stage abstinence refusal concert tour - Kammgarn Kaiserslautern - January 18, 2020. January 19, 2020, accessed on January 29, 2020 (German).