Eternal Dirge
| Eternal Dirge | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| origin | Marl , Germany |
| Genre (s) | Death metal |
| founding | 1986, 2018 |
| resolution | 1996 |
| Founding members | |
| Timo Knopf | |
guitar |
Hansi Z. |
| Karsten "Boehni" Boehnke | |
| Ralf S. | |
| Current occupation | |
Vocals, guitar |
Timo Knopf |
bass |
Karsten Boehnke |
Drums |
Ralf S. |
| former members | |
guitar |
Hansi Zimmer (1986–1989) |
guitar |
Dirk Köster (1989–1991) |
guitar |
Pethe (1991-1996) |
Keyboards |
Sascha (1992-1996) |
Eternal Dirge (English: Eternal Lament ) is a German death metal band from Marl .
Band history
The band was founded in May 1986 by singer and guitarist Timo Knopf, bassist Karsten "Boehni" Boehnke and drummer Ralf S. Another guitarist in the band was an unnamed person who was replaced several times before Patrick “Pethe” Kalla joined the band as the second guitarist in 1990. The two demos Anthem of Anxiety and Finis Novissima Nox , recorded in 1986 and 1987 respectively, were still amateur rehearsal room recordings, only the Right to the Core , which followed in 1988 , was recorded reasonably professionally in a studio, but only had positive reviews, but no record deal . As soon as the band had finished the recordings for a self-produced EP , the label Hass Produktion showed interest. Since the label could not use these recordings, Eternal Dirge brought the material out again in cassette format in 1990 under the title We are the Dead , thus exceeding the distribution of previous demos. For the moment, the record label , which was actually intended exclusively for the band Hass , was ideal because it was practically on the doorstep, did not require any long-term commitment, responded flexibly to their professional activity and had a functioning sales department. Furthermore, it was felt to be pleasant to leave the design of the layout , the promotional texts and the press advertisements. The band 's debut album Morbus Ascendit , which was made in the Mohrmann studio in Witten in a few days under the direction of Risk- Frontmann Heinz Mikus and released in 1992, did not convince the band in terms of sound volume, but their overall impression - precisely because of the short time span - was a satisfactory one. All songs on the album were already included on the previously released demo. Only Ad Nauseam was given a new text and renamed Blind Idiot God . After the release, Sascha Risseler joined the band as a keyboardist and toured with Cancer and Gorefest . Shortly after the tour ended, the quintet had written the songs for the second album, but when the band wanted to go into the studio for the recordings, differences arose with the previous record label.
After the record contract was terminated, the band rented the studio in which they had already recorded their demos and recorded the follow-up album Khaos Magick at their own expense . The recordings lasted around 15 months. The album was finally released by Morbid Records and distributed by SPV . During the necessary preparation time, the band created a nine-minute film with specially composed music, which is included as a bonus on the CD version of the album. In 1996, for example, the band also took part in the Full of Hate Easter Festival , where Six Feet Under and Think About Mutation also played.
The music had changed fundamentally through the use of the keyboards and was now more comparable to Nocturnus . The image that the band gave itself was also different. The live performances were designed as a ritual: Before the start, the stage was wrapped in incense and provided with candles, the band itself performed in black robes. This change was first made on the 1996 tour with Six Feet Under. The reason was the interest of singer Timo Knopf in chaos magic . But in November 1996 he, the bassist and the drummer left the band, which then broke up. Guitarist Patrick Kalla then devoted himself to his second band Tsatthoggua .
On February 24, 2018, the band celebrated their reunion gig after 22 years. In the current line-up, the three members who were part of the band from beginning to end, Boehnie, Ralf and Timo. Further concerts are planned.
On August 25, 2018, founding member and singer / guitarist of the band, Timo Knopf, died unexpectedly at the age of 47. On August 27, 2018, the band announced this and the immediate separation on Facebook.
style
According to Matthias Herr in Matthias Herr's Heavy Metal Lexicon Vol. 5 , the band played melodic metal at the beginning, but soon devoted itself to death metal and grindcore . Mr. quoted Frank Albrecht from Rock Hard , who reviewed Ascendit's disease and who saw the band less in Death Metal than more in Thrash Metal . However, parallels to Morbid Angel can be seen . The electric guitars are original, weird and demanding. The speed of the songs is usually very high. Herr also let the guitarist Kalla have their say: Ascendit's disease is Latin for “The disease rises / breaks out” with which one addresses the disease of civilization and with which, according to Timo Knopf, the band wants to exercise social criticism. The group was also inspired by HP Lovecraft . The eight songs would be divided into four socially critical and four stories about the Cthulhu myth . According to Knopf, Khaos Magick is based on meditation, Austin Osman Spares sigil magic and magic techniques of western witch culture. The album is about a chaos magician, someone who constantly switches back and forth between religions. The texts would be based on invocation formulas as well as reports in the out-of-body or virtual world. In addition, eschatology is an important part of the texts. According to Sabine Britz from Metal Hammer , Ascendit's disease offers fast and accurate, but not aggressive Death Metal. 1984 by George Orwell and Hellstrom's Hive by Frank Herbert would have served the band as a template. According to rockdetector.com , the band calls their music “Neo Pagan Psycho Metal”.
Discography
- 1992: Ascendit's disease (Hass production)
- 1996: Khaos Magick ( Morbid Records / SPV )
- 1996: My Sweet Satan (EP, Morbid Records / SPV)
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Matthias Herr: Matthias Herr's Heavy Metal Lexicon Vol. 5 . Verlag Matthias Herr, 1996, p. 87 f .
- ↑ a b c d Frank Albrecht: Eternal Dirge . The drinking noses from Marl. In: Rock Hard . No. 69 , February 1993, p. 47 .
- ↑ a b Frank Albrecht: Eternal Dirge . Rich and beautiful through chaos magic. In: Rock Hard . No. 115 , December 1996, p. 48 f .
- ↑ a b Biography. (No longer available online.) Rockdetector.com, archived from the original on September 24, 2014 ; accessed on September 22, 2014 . 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.
- ↑ ETERNAL DIRGE secret reunion gig. In: cacophonias website! February 27, 2018 ( cacophonia.de [accessed March 2, 2018]).
- ↑ Eternal Dirge. Retrieved October 5, 2018 .
- ^ Sabine Britz: Eternal Dirge . Ascendit disease. In: Metal Hammer . January 1993, p. 61 .
swell
- Holger Stratmann (Ed.): RockHard Encyclopedia . RockHard-Verlag, Dortmund 1998, ISBN 3-9805171-0-1 , p. 110 .