Eraserhead (band)
| Eraserhead | |
|---|---|
 |
|
 v. l. To the right: Jonas Schütz, Nico Hofmann, Phil Helm, Chris Kiefer |
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| General information | |
| origin | Löhnberg , Germany |
| Genre (s) | Death metal |
| founding | 2008 |
| Founding members | |
| Nico Hofmann | |
| Daniel Eger | |
| Current occupation | |
Backing vocals , rhythm guitar |
Nico Hofmann |
| Phil Helm (since 2009) | |
Bass, vocals |
Chris Kiefer (since 2013) |
| Jonas Schütz (since 2015) | |
| former members | |
bass |
Daniel Eger (2008-2013) |
singing |
Steve Schmidt (2009-2012) |
Drums |
Matthias Hoffmann (2009-2015) |
singing |
Marco Reitz (2012-2015) |
Eraserhead is a German death metal band that was founded in 2008 in Löhnberg .
Band history
Beginnings (2008–2012)
In winter 2008 Nico Hofmann founded the band Eraserhead as a “home recording project” together with his friend Daniel Eger . The two named the band after one of Nico's favorite films, the American horror film Eraserhead by David Lynch .
Hofmann and Eger wrote five songs (the drums they programmed with a drum computer), in which Hofmann played or sang all the guitars and vocals and Eger the bass. After they were featured on a local sampler ( The new Sound of Weilburg Vol. 9 ) with the title "Britain in the Blitz" and their self-produced demo received a lot of approval from metal fans in their region, the two decided to join the band complete and thus also be able to perform live.
In the lime works (2012-2015)
After a short search they were able to win drummer Matthias “Matze” Hoffmann, who also introduced singer Steve Schmidt (formerly with Endpharg ) into the band, as Nico wanted to relinquish the singing post. In addition, a second guitarist, Phil Helm, joined the band, completing the line-up. With this occupation, the decision was made to relocate the work from the local Löhnberg to the nearby Diezer Kalkwerk (a kind of rehearsal room complex in a disused lime works).
In this line-up, the band played some local gigs in Hesse and Rhineland-Palatinate until singer Schmidt decided in 2012 for private reasons to leave the band and Eraserhead had to look for singers. After several auditions by singers from the region (including the later bass player and singer Chris Kiefer), the decision was made to go with Marco Reitz. With Reitz at the microphone, the band developed rapidly and was able to celebrate their first release in the same year with the EP "Aviditas Humani" recorded in the ChinChat Studios .
In this constellation, the band developed a national reputation as an energetic live band, until just a year after Steve Schmidt, bassist Daniel Eger also decided to leave the band. Due to the now vacant bassist position, Chris Kiefer came back into play, who, as a long-time friend of the band, was quickly won over for this position after his band Crushing Inside broke up. Numerous live appearances took Eraserhead for the first time across Germany and abroad.
In the middle of the songwriting phase for the planned first full-length album, differences within the band led to the fact that in 2015 singer Reitz and drummer Hoffmann decided to leave the band to pursue a new project together.
"Remnants of Decadence" and "Holdout" (2015-2017)
The decision was made to record demos for the songs that had already been written (also to find a new drummer), on which bassist Chris would temporarily take over the vocals. This turned out to be so convincing that it was decided to make him a permanent singer. After moving to the rehearsal room in Wetzlar , the search for drummers began. After a successful audition, Jonas Schütz von Diësis found the new drummer through mutual acquaintances, and Eraserhead continued as a quartet.
At the beginning of 2016 the band signed their first record deal with the Cologne label Bret Hard Records . On this the first album "Remnants of Decadence" was released, recorded and produced in the Progton Studios by Phil Mensinga in September of the same year . A music video was released for the song "Unintentional".
The cover was made by the internationally renowned artist Mario E. López , who also works for bands such as B. Skeletal Remains or Toxik designed. In the course of the album release, the band toured again through Germany and neighboring countries.
Shortly after the album was released, the band began to write new songs. Three of these new songs were released in December 2017 with the new EP "Holdout". The EP was recorded again in Progton Studios , the mastering is done by Max Mayhem, guitarist of the Belgian speed metal band Evil Invaders , the artwork is again by López. The band took over the publishing entirely on their own , as the contract with Bret Hard Records was not extended at their own request.
Discography
Albums
- Remnants of Decadence (2016) ( Bret Hard Records )
EPs
- Aviditas Humani (2012) (in-house production)
- Holdout (2017) (in-house production)
style
music
Eraserhead's musical style is clearly based on the sound of the death metal bands of the late 80s / early 90s. Both British and American Death Metal of the time are cited.
An example of the American influences is the song "Teach Us Wisdom", in which some elements of a " Death- typical" chorus can be recognized (clear, sometimes isolated melody line), the British influence is particularly evident in songs like "On Death Row ”, which is repeatedly attested to have a certain resemblance to Bolt Thrower .
Often “ non-genre ” elements are taken over into the music (e.g. Thrash or Black Metal riffs) to give it more variety. Elements that come more from the crust like the D-beat can also be found in individual songs.
Overall, tempos often change in Eraserhead's repertoire, sometimes within individual songs. So "Holdout" is a "slow", "rolling" song up to the second half of the first chorus, only to pick up speed and lead it into Black Metal realms.
Texts
The lyrics on the first EP "Aviditas Humani" were entirely written by singer Marco Reitz. He mainly dealt with topics related to mass murderers and serial killers, such as B. John Wayne Gacy (in "Pogo the Clown") or Albert Fish (in "Eaten by the Fish"). After Reitz left and Chris Kiefer took over the microphone, a new text concept was created, as he took over the writing from there. Kiefer deals with topics that are rather untypical for Death Metal, such as the founding and dissolution of the GDR (in “Unintentional”) and the thoughts of someone sentenced to death on death row (in “On Death Row”). According to the band, this departure from the usual genre topics is intentional because it is more interesting for them to write about tangible and meaningful things.
Members Chronicle
Web links
- Eraserhead at Allmusic (English)
- Eraser Head at Discogs (English)
- Eraserhead at Musik-Sammler.de
Individual evidence
- ↑ Interview: Eraserhead - Reaperzine . In: reaperzine.de . ( reaperzine.de [accessed on March 29, 2018]).
- ↑ Interview Eraserhead. Retrieved March 29, 2018 .
- ↑ Gratwanderung.Musik: Gratwanderung TV - Interview 03 with Eraserhead: Band history, new album “Remnants of Decadence”. October 2, 2016. Retrieved March 29, 2018 .
- ↑ Brethard Records: ERASERHEAD - unintentional. August 3, 2016, accessed March 29, 2018 .
- ^ THE ART OF MARIO E. LOPEZ M. In: THE ART OF MARIO E. LOPEZ M. ( wixsite.com [accessed on March 29, 2018]).
- ↑ Review: Eraserhead - Holdout - Reaperzine . In: reaperzine.de . ( reaperzine.de [accessed on March 29, 2018]).
- ↑ CD review: Eraserhead "Remnants Of Decadence". Retrieved March 29, 2018 .
- ↑ Review: Eraserhead - Remnants Of Decadence - Reaperzine . In: reaperzine.de . ( reaperzine.de [accessed on March 29, 2018]).
- ↑ Anton: Eraserhead - Remnants Of Decadence (Review by Anton Sanatov) . ( metal-temple.com [accessed March 29, 2018]).
- ↑ Thorsten Fall: Eraserhead - Aviditas Humani (EP) - Review - Heavyhardes.de. Accessed March 29, 2018 .
- ↑ NecroSlaughter.de Eraserhead - Remnants Of Decadence. Retrieved on March 29, 2018 (German).
- ↑ Eraserhead - Holdout • the review for the snack on metal.de . In: metal.de . ( metal.de [accessed on March 29, 2018]).
- ↑ Review | ERASERHEAD - Aviditas Humani | POWERMETAL.de. Retrieved March 29, 2018 .
- ↑ Interview Eraserhead. Retrieved March 29, 2018 .