Dark Suns

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Dark Suns
Dark Suns logo.jpg
General information
origin Leipzig , Saxony , Germany
Genre (s) Progressive metal , progressive rock
founding 1997
Website http://www.darksuns.de
Current occupation
Niko Knappe
Maik Knappe
Electric guitar
 Torsten "Torte" Wenzel
Jacob Muller
Ekkehard "Ekky" master
Dominique "Gaga" Ehlert
Evgeny ring
Govinda Abbott
former members
Electric bass
 Carsten Tardi
Electric guitar
 Tobias Gommlich
Electric bass
 Oliver Fricke
Hannes Schnelle
Matthias Benzke
Volkmar Claasen
Electric bass
 Michael Beck
Keyboard
 Thomas Bremer
Electric bass
 Christoph "Fingergroove" Bormann
E-Bass (Session)
 Kristoffer Gildenlöw

Dark Suns is a progressive metal and progressive rock band from Leipzig , which was founded in 1997.

history

The band was formed in 1997 from the break-up of the Carnival of Souls and Requiem bands. Dark Suns was founded by singer and drummer Niko Knappe and guitarist Tobias Gommlich. The line-up was completed by the entry of guitarist Maik Knappe, bassist Oliver Fricke (Carnival of Souls) and keyboardist Thomas Bremer. A year after the founding, a first demo appeared under the name Below Dark Illusion , which was followed by the EP Suffering the Psychopathic Results of Daily Blasphemy in 1999 . In 2000 Michael Beck joined the line-up as the new bass player before he was replaced by Christoph Bormann the following year.

In 2002 the band consisted of the singer and drummer Niko Knappe, the guitarists Maik Knappe and Tobias Gommlich, the bassist Christoph Bormann and the keyboardist Thomas Bremer. In the same year the group recorded their debut album Swanlike with this line- up. The album was first self-published, a little later on Voice of Life Records . Gommlich left the band in 2003 and Torsten Wenzel came as a replacement. After the group signed a contract with Prophecy Productions , the second album Existence was released in early 2005 . The album was almost entirely in their own studio space sound recorded, only the drum tracks were Disillusion Studio of Salvation Recordings included in the same house. The material was mixed by Alexander Tscholakov at TAM-Recordings in Zwickau and mastered at Galaxy Studios in Belgium . In the same year it went on a European tour with Pain of Salvation . In 2006 the group could be seen at ProgPower Europe . The album Grave Human Genuine was also released by Prophecy Productions in 2008 , after which Kristoffer Gildenlöw can be heard as session bassist. On the 2011 album Orange , the third release by Prophecy Productions, Niko Knappe Evgeny Ring played the alto saxophone , Jacob Müller the bass, Maik Knappe and Torsten Wenzel the electric guitars, Ekkehard Meister the piano and the Hammond organ and Govinda Abbott the trumpet. The album Everchild followed in 2016.

style

Allmusic's Eduardo Rivadavia described the band's music as a mix of Opeth's Progressive Death Metal and Gothic Metal and Death Doom from November's Doom and early Paradise Lost . Suffering the Psychopathic Results of Daily Blasphemy consists of only one song, which is 14 minutes long.

In Eclipsed , Carsten Agthe asked the band about the album Existence , while Thorsten Pöttger wrote a short concert review. Agthe compared Dark Suns to Katatonia , Opeth and Anathema . The stylistic range extends from "harsh metal to atmospheric rock". In terms of content, explained Mike Knappe, the life story of an invented person, which is characterized by stages of development. This fact in turn reminded Agthe of the Pain of Salvation album Be . The common ground had already given Dark Suns the idea to apply as the opening act for the upcoming Pain of Salvation tour. On this Pöttger examined the group and described their style as "innovative, atmospheric rock / metal à la Porcupine Tree and Opeth".

In Metal Hammer , the song The Euphoric Sense from the album Existence is described as dark progressive metal. Existence is a concept album that "sets the life of an individual with all its ups, downs, turmoil and experiences in great detail". In the same issue Petra Schurer described the music as technically demanding and dark progressive metal. The group has its roots in Death Doom in the style of My Dying Bride and Katatonia. The band cultivates their preference for melancholy and uses elements from progressive rock. This would create similarities to Opeth. At the beginning of the album you hear “short, difficult songs with a tool - and also a slight Meshuggah flair”, before the songs get longer, heavier and also darker. In the song In You, a Phantom Still , a double bass can be heard for the first time on the album . Abiding Space is complex and is introduced with heart beats. The song fluctuates "between whispered passages, Pink Floyd surfaces and warm guitar melodies". Patterns of Oblivion is minimalistic and monolithic with dark, clear vocals, and One Endless Childish Day covers all moods from Nick Cave to Death Metal . In the review of the album, which appeared one issue later, the band was certified as similar to Porcupine Tree , with Dark Suns appearing even more introverted . In addition, the album is for fans of Opeth, Katatonia, Madder Mortem or Anathema. The album treats an "emotional life journey of a person on the way to himself" who goes through a "labyrinth of fear, despair and agony" and finally breaks up. In the following issue, the Metal Hammer reviewer added that it was hard to believe that the band had once played Death Metal, and that Doom Metal influences and growling could no longer be heard. Instead, they rely on soulful harmony and acoustic and clear sounding guitars. In an interview with her, keyboardist Thomas Bremer stated that the band uses odd bars and corresponding riffs , but they cannot and do not want to keep up with “the genre-typical technology competition”. Niko Knappe revealed that he had tried to cover the various stages of the protagonist's life on Existence with suitable voices. Knappe also had the idea for the story of the concept album.

Manuel Liebler from the same magazine stated in his review of Grave Human Genuine that the band has now moved away from comparisons with Opeth, Katatonia or My Dying Bride. The album renounces "Frickelorgien" and focuses on dark melancholy. The music is demanding and you need calm and patience to hear it. According to Frank Thissies of Metal Hammer , the group mixes 1970s Orange Progressive Rock, Pink Floyd and Blue Öyster Cult . Especially the keyboard, reminiscent of Richard Wright or Mike Garson , and the combination of vocals and drums would stand out. One issue later, Thissies wrote that Dark Suns no longer plays progressive Death Doom, but rather retro prog . Influences from jazz can be heard on Orange and parallels to Pink Floyd and King Crimson can be seen. Maik Knappe stated in an interview with him that they do without surface sounds with a honeycomb effect, instead only use sounds that can actually be played with an instrument. In the songs one usually gives preference to "the song serviceability over technical ostentation", whereby one moves away from classical progressive rock. One tries to make the songs hard, but not with “thick guitars, double foot attacks or constant growls ”, but with “use of harmonies, in dissonances , in structural complexity or in melodies that are difficult to follow”.

Nils Herzog from musikreviews.de stated in his review of Grave Human Genuine that Dark Suns, in contrast to other progressive metal bands, who would only rant “complexly fiddled, pompously arranged and pregnant with meaning”, also relies on emotions. Dark Suns cover the whole spectrum of anger, love, sadness, joy and hate. The band play progressive progressive metal, and he compared the music to the group Disillusion, also from Leipzig . The song Flies in Amber has electric guitars that are "[v] tricky and not applied thickly, rhythmically complex and dark". With the use of a flute, the music is reminiscent of the Deadsoul Tribe album A Lullabye for the Devil . Niko Knappes singing is heartbreaking and reminds of Daniel Gildenlöw . In addition, growls from Disillusions Andy Schmidt can be heard. The song Thornchild starts almost poppy before metal guitars kick in. With Amphibian Halo you can hear "[s] ynthetic basses, hissing art sounds and [a] warm piano", so it is electronically experimental. In addition, influences from Doom Metal can be heard. The Chameleon Defect offer acoustic guitars and black metal -Raserei. The song Free of You is reminiscent of the Dutch band Novembre. On the album, the group mixes “eccentric polyrhythmics ” and “ avant-garde sound experiments ” paired with vocals that resemble that of Pain of Salvation.

Thomas Kohlruß from Baby Blue Pages remarked in his review of Orange that no straightforward developments could be seen in the band. Like Pain of Salvation and Opeth, Dark Suns is dedicated to the retro sound. The song Toy relies on a "pig organ". In addition, "the guitar riffs fat with bluesy undertones". However, the "busy, bustling drums" do not go well with the retro sound. A jazz influence can also be heard through the use of a trumpet. The first half of the album consists of "astonishingly conventional rock produced by hard rock guitars, lively George, outrageously catchy melodies, busy drumming and melodic vocals". Kohlruß also compared the singing with that of Daniel Gildenlöw. The song Not Enough Fingers is instrumental and offers “ [s] pacig- shimmering synths”, while “jazzy-playful harmonies ” can be heard on Ghost . Then there is emo rock. Vespertine processed funk rhythms and a kind of scat singing. In addition, use is made of “weird jazzy saxophone tones and weird piano harmonies”. The song Antipole contains "hard rock, jazz rock [and] retro-prog".

Discography

  • 1998: Below Dark Illusion (demo, self-release)
  • 1999: Suffering the Psychopathic Results of Daily Blasphemy (EP, self-published)
  • 2002: Swanlike (album, self-published)
  • 2005: Existence (Album, Prophecy Productions )
  • 2008: Grave Human Genuine (Album, Prophecy Productions)
  • 2011: Orange (Album, Prophecy Productions)
  • 2016: Everchild (Album, Prophecy Productions)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Biography. (No longer available online.) Musicmight.com, archived from the original on May 18, 2015 ; Retrieved May 5, 2015 . 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. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.musicmight.com
  2. ^ A b c Eduardo Rivadavia: Dark Suns. Allmusic , accessed May 5, 2015 .
  3. ↑ Info. Facebook , accessed May 5, 2015 .
  4. ↑ a b Petra Schurer: Dark Suns . Progressive darkness. In: Metal Hammer . February 2005, p. 25 .
  5. ↑ PROGPOWER EUROPE 2006 Festival: Final Lineup Announced. Blabbermouth.net , accessed May 5, 2015 .
  6. ↑ Dark Suns - Grave Human Genuine. Discogs , accessed May 5, 2015 .
  7. ↑ Dark Suns - Orange. Discogs, accessed May 5, 2015 .
  8. ↑ Carsten Agthe: Dark Suns . Potentiated intensity. In: Eclipsed . Rock magazine. No. 71 , April 2005, magazine, p. 16 .
  9. ↑ Thorsten Pöttger: Pain of Salvation & Dark Suns . Essen, Zeche Carl, April 19, 2005. In: Eclipsed . Rock magazine. No. 73 , June 2005, Live in Concert, p. 84 .
  10. ↑ Dark Suns . The Euphoric Sense. In: Metal Hammer . February 2005, p. 50 .
  11. ↑ N. Setzler: Dark Suns . Existence. In: Metal Hammer . March 2005, p. 93 .
  12. ↑ N. Setzler: Dark Suns . Sacks of salmon. In: Metal Hammer . April 2005, p. 75 .
  13. ↑ Manuel Liebler: Dark Suns . Grave Human Genuine. In: Metal Hammer . March 2008, p. 88 f .
  14. ↑ Frank Thissies: Dark Suns . Orange. In: Metal Hammer . February 2012, p. 76 f .
  15. ↑ Frank Thissies: Dark Suns . Fruit of ripeness. In: Metal Hammer . March 2012, p. 51 .
  16. ^ Nils Herzog: Dark Suns: Grave Human Genuine (Review). musikreviews.de, accessed on May 6, 2015 .
  17. ↑ Thomas Kohlruß: Dark Suns. Orange. Baby Blue Pages , accessed May 6, 2015 .