Ophis
| Ophis | |
|---|---|
 |
|
 |
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| General information | |
| Genre (s) | Death Doom |
| founding | 2001 |
| Website | http://www.ophisdoom.de/ |
| Founding members | |
| Philipp Kruppa | |
| Current occupation | |
| Philipp Kruppa | |
| Floris Lange van Ravenswaay (since 2019) | |
| Oliver Kröplin (since 2008) | |
| Ole Fink (since 2019) | |
| former members | |
| Richard Nolte (until 2006) | |
| Oliver Schreyer (until 2008) | |
| Jan Baum (until 2011) | |
| Martin Reibold-Mühlbach (2011-2016) | |
| Nils Groth (2006-2016) | |
| Simon Schorneck (2016-2018) | |
| Steffen Brandes (2016-2018) | |
Ophis (Greek for ' snake ') is the name of a German Death Doom band founded in 2001 .
history
The first doom-metal-heavy material, which was later to be released under the name Ophis, was created in 2000, while singer and guitarist Philipp Kruppa was still playing drums with the band Rain of Ashes. Originally founded as a side project with no great ambitions in a team of four at the end of 2001, Ophis broke up after a few months. In 2002 Philipp recorded the demo Empty, Silent and Cold alone . Due to the positive reactions and the high sales figures, one year after the release at the end of 2003, Richard Nolte ( drums ) from the original line-up and Jan Baum ( electric guitar ), followed by Oliver Schreyer ( electric bass ) in 2004, joined the band. In May 2004 Ophis played their first appearance in the supporting act Primordial , as well as in July of the same year with Harmony Dies . In December the MCD Nostrae mortis signaculum was published. Appearances with bands like Endstille , Koldbrann and Illdisposed followed. Richard Nolte left the band in spring 2006. He was then a member of the black metal band Negator until 2014 and played drums on their 2010 and 2013 albums. His successor was Nils Groth.
In autumn 2007, the first album, Stream of Misery , was released, which made Ophis better known in the Doom Metal underground. A year later followed a short European tour in the support program for Skepticism and Pantheist , as well as appearances at festivals such as Metal Bash and Hell's Pleasure . In the same year Oliver Schreyer was replaced by Oliver Kröplin.
In autumn 2009 Ophis signed a new record deal with the Russian doom metal label Solitude Productions , on which the second album Withered Shades was released in summer 2010 . The album almost exclusively received outstanding reviews in the metal press and was voted second in the Metal Storm Awards in the category Best extreme Doom Metal album by the readers of the online magazine Metal Storm . The Metal magazine Deaf Forever took Withered Shades on its list of the 150 best doom metal albums. On this album, Ophis developed their music in a more independent direction, which was mainly expressed in more complex song structures. The pieces increased significantly in length so that the album only contains five tracks with a playing time of over an hour.
Jan Baum left the band in 2011 and was replaced by Martin Reibold-Mühlbach, further appearances in Germany and other European countries followed. In the summer of 2012, Ophis went on a European tour with Ahab and Esoteric . The split CD Immersed was then released together with Officium Triste , which was released on the Spanish label Memento Mori Records .
In April 2013 the mini-CD Nostrae mortis signaculum and the album Stream of Misery were re-released with some bonus tracks under the name Effigies of Desolation , followed in the summer by a European tour through Holland, Belgium, England, Poland, Latvia, Estonia and Finland together with Evoken and Evadne .
On September 5, 2014, the third album Abhorrence was released in Opulence, like Effigies of Desolation on Cyclone Empire . The album represents a consistent further development of the musical path taken on Withered Shades . In the course of the album, Ophis played various individual concerts in Europe, including Russia for the first time. In August 2015, Ophis also performed at Party.San Open Air . In February 2016, the band completed a double headlining tour with ataraxia. Afterwards, Martin Reibold-Mühlbach left the band and was replaced by Simon Schorneck ( Crimson Swan ). Nils Groth also announced his departure and played his last gig with the band on November 26th at the Doom over Bucharest Festival. Subsequently, Steffen Brandes ( Cryptic Brood ) was introduced as the band's new drummer.
On October 12, 2017, Ophis released their fourth album The Dismal Circle via FDA Records , which was stylistically a bit more direct than its predecessor and put the death metal influences a little in the background. The following year Ophis completed a European tour with the Australian doom metal band Mournful Congregation .
On April 20, 2019, the band announced on their website that Simon and Steffen had been replaced by Floris Lange van Ravenswaay ( Todtgelichter ) and Ole Fink ( Gorezone ).
style
Ophis say they play “monolithic, depressive and nihilistic Doom Metal” with influences from “raw, aggressive old-school Death Metal ”. Reviewers highlight the influences of bands like My Dying Bride and Paradise Lost , especially in the early works , which were a main musical influence in the early days, but also locate the style in the sphere of influence of Funeral Doom .
Members of the band stated in interviews that they were influenced by a variety of different bands outside of Doom Metal, for example Asphyx . However, the actual style emerges involuntarily, there is no concrete plan to play Death Doom, but it just pushes out.
For the most part, singer Philipp is responsible for the conception of the lyrics. In terms of content, they are based “with very few exceptions all on personal experiences, feelings and thoughts” that he “carries around” with him. While the texts on early publications are cathartic in character, the more recent ones tend to represent an analysis of his everyday observations. Philipp justified the gloomy character of the lyrics in January 2008 with the statement: "The world is not exactly a gingerbread house".
Surname
According to the singer Philipp, the name Ophis was chosen on the one hand as a biblical metaphor, on the other hand as a personification of a catharsis , for enlightenment, self-reflection and knowledge. It was derived from the cult of the Ophites and is a deliberate antithesis to dogmatic religions.
reception
Ophis made a name for themselves early on in the German and international Doom scene. Velvet from metal-district.de stated in January 2008 that the band had been one of the “most promising German-speaking representatives” of Doom Metal since Stream of Misery and that they would be placed on a par with My Dying Bride, Evoken , Katatonia and Skepticism. Christian Heckmann from metal1.info stated in June 2009 that the band was a fixture in European Doom Metal. Inhonorus from stormbringer.at compares the band in a review of the album Abhorrence In Opulence with early My Dying Bride, Katatonia and Ahab .
Discography
- 2002: Empty, Silent and Cold ( demo CD, re-released in 2008 as MC through Karge Welten Kunstverlag )
- 2004: Nostrae mortis signaculum ( MCD , Cxxtbxxcher Records )
- 2007: Stream of Misery ( album , Imperium Productions , re-released in 2015 as a double LP via Disharmonic Records )
- 2010: Withered Shades (Album, Solitude Productions )
- 2012: Immersed ( Split -CD with Officium Triste , Memento Mori Records )
- 2013: Effigies of Desolation (re-release of Nostrae mortis signaculum and Stream of Misery with bonus tracks, Cyclone Empire )
- 2014: Abhorrence in Opulence (Album, Cyclone Empire )
- 2017: The Dismal Circle (Album, FDA Records )
Individual evidence
- ↑ The Best Extreme Doom Metal Album - Metal Storm Awards 2010
- ^ Andreas Stappert: Doom . In: Götz Kühnemund (Ed.): Deaf Forever . No. 2 . In Dubio Pro Metal Verlags- und Handelsgesellschaft mbH, Dortmund May 2014.
- ↑ Band information on the official homepage of the band ( Memento of the original from May 14, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Review of Nostrae Mortis Signaculum in Legacy # 35, quoted from Archived Copy ( Memento of the original from January 22, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) 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.
- ↑ a b c Christian Heckmann: Interview: Ophis. (No longer available online.) In: metal1.info. June 29, 2009, archived from the original on November 1, 2012 ; Retrieved June 5, 2011 . 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.
- ↑ Review of Stream of Misery in Rock Hard # 246, quoted from Archived Copy ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) 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.
- ↑ a b Frédéric Cerfvol: Interview with Ophis. In: doom-metal.com. May 4, 2011, accessed October 10, 2011 .
- ↑ Erik Herrmann: Ophis: Interview on Withered Shades. In: metal.de. July 2, 2010, accessed October 10, 2011 .
- ↑ a b Velvet: OPHIS: Interview with Phil and Olli. (No longer available online.) In: metal-district.de. January 14, 2008, archived from the original on April 12, 2016 ; Retrieved October 4, 2011 . 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.
- ^ Stormbringer.at: Inhonorus: Ophis-Abhorrence In Opulence .
