Poltergeist (band)

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poltergeist
Poltergeist at Headbangers Open Air 2014
Poltergeist at Headbangers Open Air 2014
General information
origin Liestal , Switzerland
Genre (s) Thrash metal
founding 1983 as Carrion , 2013
resolution 1994
Website http://www.poltergeist-metal.com
Founding members
VO powder
Electric guitar
VC Andreatta (until 1986)
Thomas Steiner (until 1988)
Walter Schäfer (until 1988)
Current occupation
singing
André Grieder (since 1986)
Electric guitar
VO powder
Electric guitar
Chasper Wanner (since 2013)
Electric bass
Ralf Winzer Garcia (since 2016)
Drums
Reto Crola (since 2017)
former members
Electric bass
Graf (1988–1989)
Electric bass
Marek Felis (1991-2016)
Drums
Rolf Heer (1988–1989)
Drums
Alex Lang (1991)
Drums
Peter Haas (1991-1994)
Drums
Sven Vormann (2013-2017)

Poltergeist is a Swiss thrash metal band from Liestal , which was founded in 1983 under the name Carrion , disbanded in 1994 and has been active again since 2013.

history

The band was founded in 1983 under the name Carrion and released the album Evil Is There! In 1986 . . Due to dissatisfaction with their own progress and the record company, a renaming was considered necessary. The name Poltergeist was chosen because it is understood all over the world and the right style of music is immediately associated with it, but with enough distance to the "satanic shit" that was common at the time, as André Grieder and VO Pulver did in the metal star -Interview. Back then, the guitarist and the singer were also the core, around which a stable band slowly formed. Then in 1988 the demo Writing on the Wall was released , produced by Marcel “Lubricant” Schirmer from Destruction . After a performance with Hades and Despair , Despair singer Robert Kampf offered the band a record deal with his newly founded label Century Media . With this label, the group released the album Depression in 1989. After the recordings, the drummer Jazzi left the band and was replaced by Joel "Gino" Bessière. This was followed by several appearances, including three together with Watchtower and Coroner . However, Bessière was unable to participate, which is why Jazzi came back to the cast. On the second album, however, Gino could be heard again as a drummer. After the three appearances, the bassist Graf Poltergeist left and was replaced by Marek Felis. The second album followed in 1991 under the name Behind My Mask on the same label. At the beginning of December 1990, Alex Lang joined as the new drummer. Their third and final album was released in 1993 under the name Nothing Lasts Forever on Haunted House Records . During the recordings and the appearances that followed immediately, Peter Haas, who was connected to the Mekong Delta at the time, was temporarily on the drums. From 1989 to 1993 the band played appearances with Destruction, Kreator , Tankard , Hellbastard , Voivod and Rumble Militia, among others . Among other things, the band also played in Spain together with Sodom , Risk , Coroner, Accu§er , Deathrow and Soziedad alcohol . After a last tour in 1993, the band broke up in 1994, after which a few band members formed the group Gurd . After Schirmer left Destruction, André Grieder contributed vocals for the 1989 album Cracked Brain . On New Year's Eve 2012, parts of the old line-up got together again and decided to revive the band. Sven Vormann (ex-Destruction), an old friend of the band, joined the cast as drummer. Chapser Wanner was also part of the line-up as a guitarist. In 2016, Back to Haunt, was the first album after the reunification.

style

The Ultimate Hard Rock Guide Vol I - Europe found the band to play Thrash Metal, which was heavily influenced by Destruction.

According to Matthias Breusch from Metal Hammer , the band plays technically demanding speed and thrash metal on Depression , which is comparable to Alice in Hell from Annihilator and Punishment for Decadence from Coroner. In an interview with Breusch, VO Pulver stated that the lyrics on the album would be about the Republicans and the fall of the Berlin Wall . He wrote the text about the fall of the Berlin Wall in the night of November 9th to 10th. A year later, Robert Müller stated in the same magazine that the band, along with Coroner and Celtic Frost, is one of the most famous Swiss thrash metal bands. On Behind My Mask the band moves away from the style of the San Francisco Bay Area . In an interview with Müller, Pulver stated that they tried harder to incorporate melodies, which means that the material on the album now tends more towards Power Metal . He is also the only one in the band who knows English , which is why he writes all the lyrics. Among other things, the album is about a father who forbids his son to go outside because he fears that the environment would make him sick, as well as the German reunification . In the previous edition, Stefan Glas had reviewed the album and he confirmed that, in contrast to the debut album, the band has moved away from the Bay Area sound in the style of Testament . Playing the electric guitar is original and the singing has improved a lot. According to Glas, the band has also changed with Nothing Lasts Forever . The songs are now slower, are more intense and have "more power".

Rock Hard's Thomas Kupfer also noticed a Bay Area Thrash Metal influence on Depression . On Behind My Mask , however, this style was far removed from. The band has evolved and the arrangements have matured. In an interview with Kupfer, powder stated that the song title goes back to an incident from the past. During a stay in the rock factory in Ludwigsburg , he consumed some luxury foods , which meant that he could no longer speak and only grinned. It was like a mask that he put on while confused thoughts went through his head. Later he wrote the theme song about it. There are also socially critical songs in which street gangs , the fact that in some countries children are already being brought up to kill, or the environmental situation at that time are discussed. In the same issue, Kupfer reviewed the album and stated that the band had "moved away from the trash metal [SIC!] Of earlier days based on endless riff orgies". In an interview with Uwe "Buffo" Schnädelbach, VO Pulver explained some of the texts from the Nothing Lasts Forever album: Those Were Better Days is about getting older, Only You Remain about temporary happiness, Nothing Lasts Forever about the need to accept impermanence, and Just Doing My Job of duties that are often contrary to conscience.

Discography

as Carrion

  • 1983: Evil Is There! (Demo, self-publication)
  • 1986: Evil Is There! (Album, Sri Lanca Records )

as a poltergeist

  • 1987: 1st Demo (demo, self-release)
  • 1988: Writing on the Wall (demo, self-published)
  • 1989: DCW / You've Learned Your Lesson (split with Liar , Century Media )
  • 1989: Depression (Album, Century Media)
  • 1991: Behind My Mask (Album, Century Media)
  • 1991: Promo-Demo '91 (demo, self-publication)
  • 1992: Tell Me / Nothing Lasts Forever (Single, Century Media)
  • 1993: Nothing Lasts Forever (Album, Haunted House Records )

Web links

Commons : Poltergeist (band)  - album with pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. a b Carrion. musik-sammler.de, accessed on February 1, 2015 .
  2. Jan Michael Dix: Poltergeist . In: Metal Star . Europe's Leading Hardrock Monthly. January 1990, p. 30th f .
  3. a b c d e Biography. (No longer available online.) Rockdetector.com, archived from the original on March 4, 2016 ; accessed on February 1, 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.rockdetector.com
  4. a b c d History. (No longer available online.) Poltergeist-metal.com, archived from the original on March 5, 2016 ; accessed on February 1, 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.poltergeist-metal.com
  5. a b c Thomas Kupfer: Poltergeist . Burgers, snow and disasters… In: Rock Hard . No. 47 , February 1991, p. 34 f .
  6. Poltergeist (7) - Nothing Lasts Forever. Discogs , accessed February 1, 2015 .
  7. a b Buffo [Schnädelbach]: Poltergeist . Nothing going on without moss? In: Rock Hard . No. 72 , May 1993, p. 100 .
  8. ^ Largo Lamborghini: Sodom Risk Coroner Accuser Deathrow Poltergeist Sociedad Alcoholica . Castellon, Estade de Playa, Spain. In: Metal Hammer . October 1991, p. 168 ff .
  9. ^ Garry Sharpe-Young , Horst Odermatt & Friends: The Ultimate Hard Rock Guide Vol I - Europe . Bang Your Head Enterprises Ltd, 1997, p. 434 .
  10. ^ Matthias Breusch: Poltergeist . Despite "depression" a happy crowd. In: Metal Hammer . No. 1 , January 1990, pp. 87 .
  11. ^ Robert Müller: Poltergeist . In: Metal Hammer . March 1991, p. 58 .
  12. Stefan Glas: Poltergeist . Behind my mask. In: Metal Hammer . February 1991, p. 54 .
  13. Stefan Glas: Poltergeist . Nothing Lasts Forever. In: Metal Hammer . June 1993, p. 65 .
  14. Thomas Kupfer: Poltergeist . Behind my mask. In: Rock Hard . No. 47 , February 1991, p. 52 .