Closter cellar
| Closter cellar | |
|---|---|
 Singer Anja Orthodox at the Castle Party 2008 in Poland |
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| General information | |
| Genre (s) | Dark rock , alternative rock , crossover , new wave , post-punk |
| founding | 1988 |
| Website | www.closterkeller.pl |
| Current occupation | |
| Anja Orthodox (since 1988) | |
| Krzysztof Najman (1992–1999, since 2006) | |
Keyboard |
Michał "Rollo" Rollinger (since 1990) |
| Mariusz Kumala (since 2006) | |
| Janusz Jastrzębowski (since 2006) | |
| former members | |
Drums |
Grzegorz Tomczyk (1988-1989) |
Keyboard |
Przemysław Guryn (1988–1991) |
guitar |
Jacek Skirucha (1988–1992) |
bass |
Tomasz "Wolfgang" Grochowalski (1988–1992) |
Drums |
Andrzej "Szczota" Szymańczak (1989–1991) |
Drums |
Piotr "Pawłoś" Pawłowski (1991–1997) |
guitar |
Paweł Pieczyński (1992-2000) |
Drums |
Gerard "Gero" Klawe (1997-2006) |
guitar |
Marcin "Freddie" Mentel (1999-2006) |
bass |
Marcin "Pucek" Płuciennik (1999-2006) |
Closterkeller is a Polish dark rock band from Warsaw , which was founded in 1988. From the original line-up, only singer Anja Orthodox remains, who is one of the most controversial and charismatic figures on the Polish music scene. Despite more than 20 years of changeable band history and countless appearances and releases, the band's level of awareness is still almost exclusively limited to Poland.
history
Closterkeller was founded in 1988 by the Polish musicians Przemysław Guryn (keyboard), Jacek Skirucha (guitar), Tomasz "Wolfgang" Grochowalski (bass) and the singer Anna Sabiniewicz (alias Anja Orthodox). Zbyszek Bieniak, a musician friend, came up with the idea of naming the band after the Bulgarian type of wine Klosterkeller , which was eventually adopted with a slight change in the first letter (to be further up in listings). After a drummer was found shortly afterwards in Grzegorz Tomczyk, the band began to rehearse regularly and gave their first concerts in February 1988 in the House of Cultures in Warsaw and in Józefów .
In 1989 the band first achieved greater prominence within Poland when they appeared in quick succession at several festivals, including the Mokotowska Jesień Muzyczna and the Rock Pokoju Festival in the Mirów Halls in Warsaw, the Rock Music Festival in Chełmce , the Odjazdy -Festival in Spodek in Katowice as well as the prestigious rock music festival in Jarocin , and each was voted best band.
After changing drums several times, the band released their debut album Purple the following year , for which two music videos were also shot. Meanwhile, singer Anja Orthodox supported the Polish cold wave band Pornografia with her singing on their first album of the same name.
In 1992 the label SPV Poland released the second album Blue , which is the first of a total of three albums to date (alongside Graphite and Nero ), for which an additional English version was recorded in addition to the original Polish version. Shortly thereafter, the EP Agnieszka was released , with a cover version of The Cult song “Wild Flower”.
In the following years, the band changed their line-up several times and released numerous albums, which, like the previously released ones, are all named after colors: Violet (1993), Scarlet (1995), Cyan (1996) and Graphite (1999 ). The recording of a semi-acoustic appearance on Polskie Radio 3 was released in 2000 as a live album Fin de Siecle .
In 2003 the band released their last album, Nero, on the Polish label Metal Mind Productions . After further line-up changes, the eighth studio album Aurum was released in 2009 on the new label Universal Music Group .
In addition to numerous appearances at various music festivals, such as the Wave-Gotik-Treffen in Leipzig , the Przystanek Woodstock in Küstrin , the Mayday Rock Festival in Głogów , the Castle Party in Bolków or the Dark Stars Festival , the band has also organized its own annually since 2005 Tour within Poland, the Abracadabra Gothic Tour , and since 2009 the Abracadabra Aurum Tour .
Closterkeller have supported bands such as Jethro Tull , Cocteau Twins , Clan of Xymox , Paradise Lost , Diary of Dreams or XIII with their performances . Století . Various well-known Polish musicians, such as the singer Edyta Bartosiewicz or the violinist Michał Jelonek , have guest appearances on their albums .
style
The band's music still had strong new wave and post-punk influences on the first albums, especially the debut album Purple , which was also expressed in the singing of Anja Orthodox, and was from bands such as Siouxsie and the Banshees and Xmal Germany inspired. At the latest after bassist Krzysztof Najman, who had previously played in various metal bands, joined the band, the style of music became significantly harder and showed influences from heavy metal , hard rock and grunge .
On the more recent albums, on the other hand, more gentle, spherical rock music from the areas of dark rock , alternative rock and soft rock dominates , which is characterized by elements of electronic music and synthesizer accompaniment .
The music is also shaped by Anja Orthodox's versatile singing style, which ranges from melancholy-dreamy to powerful-aggressive. She usually sings in Polish , but versions of three of the band's albums have been recorded with English vocals.
Discography
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Chart positions Explanation of the data |
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Albums
- 1990 - Purple
- 1992 - Blue
- 1993 - Violet
- 1995 - Scarlet
- 1996 - cyan
- 1999 - graphite
- 2003 - Nero
- 2009 - Aurum
Live albums
- 1997 - Concert '97
- 2000 - Fin de Siecle
EPs
- 1993 - Agnieszka
- 2004 - Reghina
Singles
- 1995 - Scarlett
- 1996 - Władza
- 1999 - Na krawędzi / Ate
- 1999 - Czas komety
- 2000 - Zegarmistrz światła
- 2004 - Earth Song
- 2005 - Lunar
- 2009 - 12 dni
Video albums
- 2003 - Act III - Live 2003
- 2008 - Act IV - Przystanek Woodstock
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b allmusic.com: Band biography . Retrieved February 26, 2010.
- ↑ a b c d closterkeller.pl: Official biography . Retrieved February 26, 2010.
- ↑ a b c Closter cellar. In: alternation.eu. Retrieved October 20, 2019 (band biography).
- ↑ a b myspace.com: Official MySpace profile . Retrieved February 26, 2010.
- ↑ labellos.de: Review of Aurum . Retrieved February 26, 2010.
- ↑ Closterkeller in the Polish album charts . Retrieved February 26, 2010.
Web links
- Official website
- Closterkeller on MusicBrainz (English)