Disillusion

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Disillusion
Disillusion logo.jpg
General information
origin Leipzig , Germany
Genre (s) Progressive metal
founding 1994
Website www.disillusion.de
Founding members
Andy Schmidt
Vocals, electric guitar
 Tobias Spier
Alex Motz (until 2000)
Markus Espenhain (until 1996)
Jan Stölzel
Current occupation
Vocals, electric guitar
 Andy Schmidt
Electric guitar (before electric bass)
 Ben Haugg (from 2018)
Drums
 Martin Schulz (from 2019)
Electric guitar
 Sebastian Hupfer (from 2010)
Electric bass
 Felix Tilemann (from 2018)
former members
Drums
 Alex Tscholakov (2007-2008)
Electric guitar
 Rajk Barthel (1999-2009)
Electric bass
 Matthias Becker (2008-2015)
Drums
 Jens Maluschka (2000-2017)
Drums
 Josh Saldana (2018)
Live members
Background vocals
 Shya (2005)
Background vocals
 Niko Knappe (2005)
Electric guitar
 Maik Knappe (2005)
Electric bass
 Christoph Bormann (2005)
Electric bass
 Ralf Willis (2005)
Electric bass
 Alla Fedynitch (2007-2008)
Electric bass
 Djon (2015)
Drums
 Clemens Frank (2007-2008)

Disillusion is a German metal band from Leipzig that was founded in 1994. The band moves stylistically between Death , Progressive , Alternative and Thrash Metal .

history

The beginning without a record deal

Disillusion was founded in 1994 by Andy Schmidt , Tobias Spier, Alex Motz, Markus Espenhain and Jan Stölzel. Stylistically, the band moved in the thrash metal area back then. Despite the departure of bassist Markus Espenhain in early 1996, the first demo Subspace Inanity was recorded in March of the same year .

In 1997 the Red followed , which can already be said to have its own style. The second demo was mixed and mastered by Andy Schmidt and Alex Tscholakov from TAM Recording in Zwickau. Despite increasing local success and the prospect of taking the band more seriously, Disillusion was put on hold in 1998 due to a lack of time on the part of some members.

With the addition of guitarist Rajk Barthel in 1999 and drummer Jens Maluschka in 2000, new life came to the band. Several concerts followed and the third demo, Three Neuron Kings, was recorded in summer 2001 (again with Alex Tscholakov at TAM Recording). For the first time, positive reviews were received from the trade press. In spring 2002 Disillusion went on tour in Germany with two other local bands. As part of the Legacy Band Contest , Disillusion won the recording of an EP. The Porter was recorded at TAM Recording in 2002 , which also caused a stir internationally and attracted the attention of larger labels.

Back to Times of Splendor

Disillusion signed a contract with Metal Blade Records and released their first album Back to Times of Splendor in 2004 . Stylistically, the music is largely based on Progressive Death Metal . Back to Times of Splendor received an extremely positive response from the reviews . The Rock Hard even spoke of a hot contender for the title "Debut of the Year".

Festival appearances followed (including Summer Breeze ) and a European tour as support for Amon Amarth and Impious . During this time, the album was performed at selected locations with a large cast together with fellow musicians from Dark Suns and Unloved .

Gloria

The follow-up work called Gloria was published on October 20, 2006. With the album Disillusion broke new musical territory and increasingly resorted to distorted vocals and electronic sound elements. The latter was mainly developed by the production duo Philipp Hirsch and Heiko Tippelt from film-m . At the time, the band did not want a successor to Back to Times of Splendor in terms of style, as everything had been said on the debut album. This becomes clear in the Gloria song “Save the Past”, among other things. Gloria was very controversial to fans and reviewers. Europe-wide concerts followed, but this time the band did not play a coherent tour, but instead played many individual shows as headliners.

According to Gloria: resting phase

On December 8, 2009, Andy Schmidt announced that they had separated from guitarist Rajk Barthel. At the end of 2010 Sebastian Hupfer was brought into the band as the new guitarist and in 2011 some shows were played. A period of rest followed, which Andy Schmidt justified with private challenges for the individual band members.

Alea: Comeback

Only in 2015 was there another sign of life. A fan asked the band to play an exclusive concert in Vienna. After Matthias Becker was no longer available due to his band SAFI , the French bassist Djon was brought into the band, who had previously played with Sebastian Hupfer in the local project echo.mensch . Once again, Disillusion presented the full album Back to Times of Splendor on May 29, 2015 in Vienna for the first time in a row. This was followed by further shows in Germany and a final comeback concert on December 4, 2015 in the sold-out Leipzig Werk II, where the new ten-minute single Alea was presented live for the first time . In April 2016, Ben Haugg was officially introduced as the new bassist, as Djon had to return to France due to private commitments. On October 7, 2016, Alea was released digitally and on CD under Kick the Flame Publishing (the publisher of the former guitarist Rajk Bartel). A mini tour followed through Germany and Austria at the end of the year. An album has been announced.

The Liberation: The third album

In March 2017, Disillusion announced that they would start work on the third album. Andy Schmidt retired to a forest hut in the Czech Republic for three weeks in order to be able to work on new song ideas undisturbed. At the same time, the band asked for support via the Patreon platform . The first goal, to support Andy Schmidt, was achieved within two days. The band then announced that they would complete the third album in 2018. At the beginning of 2018, as part of the work on the new album, it was announced that Jens Maluschka had left the band due to lack of time and was replaced by Josh Saldana. In addition, three guitars will be played live in future, which is why Ben Haugg switched to guitar and Felix Tilemann took over bass. In mid-2019 there was another line-up change on the drums. Martin Schulz has since taken over from Josh Saldana. The album The Liberation was finally released in September 2019 and entered the German album charts at number 45 in the week of its release.

Trivia

  • The band is led by mastermind Andy Schmidt. Since Back to Times of Splendor at the latest, he has been largely responsible for the main part of the creative output.
  • For a long time Disillusion did not have a permanent bass player (this was compensated live by a bass playalong). It was not until 2005 that a suitable live bass player was hired in Ralph Willis. The first permanent bass player was Matthias Becker in 2008.
  • After Jens Maluschka left in early 2007, the friend of the band Alex Tscholakov, in whose studio TAM Recordings Back to Times of Splendor was mixed, was originally intended as a permanent member. Immediately after the announcement of his joining, he suffered a hand injury and dropped out as a drummer, which is why he was represented by Clemens Frank until Jens returned.

Discography

Chart positions
Explanation of the data
Albums
The Liberation
  DE 45 13.09.2019 (1 week)
  • 1996: Subspace Inanity ( demo )
  • 1997: Red (demo)
  • 2001: Three Neuron Kings ( MCD )
  • 2002: The Porter ( EP )
  • 2004: Back to Times of Splendor (album)
  • 2006: Gloria (album)
  • 2016: Alea ( single )
  • 2019: The Liberation (Album)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b http://www.laut.de/Disillusion
  2. ↑ https://www.rockhard.de/megazine/reviewarchiv/review-angebote/16147-back-to-times-of-splendor.html
  3. ↑ a b http://www.metalblade.com/europe/de/artists/disillusion/
  4. ↑ http://www.metal.de/interviews/disillusion-interview-mit-frontmann-andy-zu-gloria-36423/
  5. ↑ http://vampster.com/artikel.php?id=33535
  6. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgctB6u6vJs
  7. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyKrp5uNBek
  8. ↑ http://www.bloodchamber.de/live/917-leipzig-werk-2.html
  9. ↑ http://vampster.com/artikel.php?id=51097
  10. ↑ https://www.facebook.com/disillusionBand/videos/10154149248657172/
  11. ↑ https://www.patreon.com/disillusion
  12. ↑ http://disillusion.de/new-bass-player-felix-tilemann-onstage-with-3-guitars/
  13. ↑ Chart sources: Germany