The House of Usher
| The House of Usher | |
|---|---|
 |
|
 Cast 2018: from left to right Markus Pick, Georg Berger, Ralf Dunkel, Gerwin Spalink, Jörg Kleudgen (above) |
|
| General information | |
| Genre (s) | Gothic rock , dark wave |
| founding | 1990 |
| Website | www.the-house-of-usher.de |
| Founding members | |
| Jörg Kleudgen | |
| Markus Pick | |
| Current occupation | |
| Jörg Kleudgen | |
| Markus Pick | |
| Georg Berger | |
| Ralf Dunkel | |
| Gerwin Spalink | |
| former members | |
guitar |
René Löffler (1992–1994, 2003–2005) |
bass |
Robert Nessler (1992–1994, 2017/18) |
guitar |
Kai Schindelka (1995–1995) |
bass |
Ray Nottinger (1995-1996) |
guitar |
Victor Constrictor (1995–1996) |
bass |
Tom Dornebusch (1996–1997) |
guitar |
Martin Krötz (1996-2003, 2006-2009) |
bass |
Alexander Schneider (1997-2000) |
guitar |
Dominic Daub (1998-2003) |
guitar |
Tom O'Connell (2009-2014) |
guitar |
Markus Pick (1990–1998, 2003–2006) |
| Bianca Stücker (around 2007/2008) | |
The House of Usher is a gothic rock band founded in 1990 by Jörg Kleudgen and Markus Pick . The name was given after the novella The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe .
history
1990-2000
The band was formed in the summer of 1990. The first concerts did not take place until the beginning of 1992 with René Löffler on guitar and Robert Nessler on bass and a drum computer .
In the fall of 1993 The House of Usher released their first split EP "Relic" on their own in collaboration with the befriended bands Substance of Dream and Bluefield . In the same year the mini album "Black Sunday" was released on Nyctalopia Records.
In the summer of 1994 the debut album "Stars Fall Down" was released, after which the band went on a small tour to Italy . There they played in Modena , Pisa and Turin . At the end of the year at their first concert with a live drummer in the basement of the Metternich house in Koblenz , the line-up fell apart due to musical differences.
In the first half of 1995 the band formed anew and the guitarist Kai Schindelka strengthened the line-up. However, he left The House of Usher after almost half a year for health reasons after a concert in Regensburg . After his departure, two new band members joined the band in the summer: Ray Nottinger on bass and Victor Constrictor on guitar. Both used to play in the band The Permanent Confusion .
In 1996 the CD single "Succubus" and the album "Zephyre" were released. Concerts as part of the 7th “Night of Darkness” festival in the Kulturfabrik Krefeld and at Popkomm in Cologne followed. After a gig in Bochum on October 16 , Ray Nottinger and Victor Constrictor left the band and were replaced by Tom Dornebusch from Cadra Ash on bass and Martin Krötz on guitar. An appearance at the Black Celebration Festival in Darmstadt followed.
In 1997 the maxi CD "Earthbound" was released, on which a video of the band appeared as a bonus track. There was another line-up in the band and Tom Dornebusch was replaced by Alexander Schneiders on bass.
After the release of the vinyl single "To Sow a Storm" in the spring of 1998, Markus Pick left the band. In the summer of the same year the album "Black Sunday Chronology" was released and another highlight was the appearance at the 1st Beirut Rock Festival in Lebanon together with the Dreadful Shadows , organized by a Lebanese radio and television station.
In autumn 1998, while working on the "Cosmogenesis" album, Dominic Daub, former guitarist for the band Arts & Crafts , joined the line-up. A concert in Eeklo in Belgium was recorded and released as a limited live CD under the title "Cerebral Darkness". The band's fifth album was also released in autumn, after which they completed a tour with the British Midnight Configuration . Due to the great demand, concerts were recorded on this tour, which were then released in the same year on a live CD called "Goth Wars" in self-distribution.
2000-2010
In April 2000, bassist Alexander Schneider left the band and was replaced by Ralf Dunkel from the band Fallen Apart . He played bass for the first time on the split EP "Burning Gates" and during an appearance at the Gothic World Treffen in Geretzhoven. Shortly thereafter, there was a performance at the M'era Luna Festival in Hildesheim with bands such as Faith and the Muse , The Mission , The Sisters of Mercy and HIM . In the summer of the same year, the band decided to spend a project week in Saint-Quay-Portrieux in Brittany to start with the next album "Inferno / L'enfer". The aim was to let the impressions and myths of the country have an effect on the emerging music in a sealed-off environment. An acoustic concert in the Leipzig House of Books followed on October 6th . This concert was recorded and later appeared under the name "An Eve With Discord" in self-distribution. The band was supported at this concert by Fallen-Apart drummer Axel Burgard, who then became an integral part of the line-up.
In May 2001 he performed in Leeds and London with live drummer Axel Burgard. This tour continued in November to Germany and Austria with stops in Düsseldorf , Bremen , Aachen , Vienna , Hamburg and Münster .
In March 2002 the album "Inferno / L'enfer" was released. From April 6th to 13th, the band moved to Cornwall in the south west of England for a week . To get inspiration, the band visited several spectacular locations such as Tintagel , the Lizard Peninsula , St. Agnes and St. Ives . The BBC writing “Radio Cornwall” on a dilapidated house inspired the band to choose the new album title. In the same year the band played at the 11th Wave-Gotik-Treffen in Leipzig and the Zillo -Festival. The band also played a concert in Lorient , Brittany, which was recorded and published under the title "Engramaton".
In the spring of 2003, Martin Krötz left the band and in autumn, after a farewell concert in the Bochum incident , Dominic Daub followed him. At the same time, Markus Pick, founding member of the band, returned on guitar, supported by another former member, René Löffler, on guitar.
In March 2004 the band released the split single "Hegemony" together with Fallen Apart, which was followed by an acoustic concert with Violet as the first and only appearance of a band in the Reckenhöhle in Balve in July . In November the band went on a tour through Italy again, including Rome , Bassano del Grappa , Prato and Milan . Live recordings of these concerts were made again, which were released in the same year as a limited live CD under the title "Il Canto dell'Oscurita".
In April 2005 the split single "Sanctuary" was released together with Ikon , and work on the album "Radio Cornwall", the release of which was set for autumn 2005, was continued. In May, the former The Crack of Doom bassist Georg Berger initially joined the band as a guitarist, but soon became a full member. René Löffler, in his role as producer, withdrew from live operations. In autumn the band started a promotional tour for the album "Radio Cornwall", which was released on December 1, 2005. The stops on this tour were Hamm , Berlin , Greifswald , Mannheim and Hagen .
In January 2006, work began on the new album. In the summer, "Radio Cornwall" was released in Russia under license from Shadowplay Release as a CD in a cardboard case and contains a bonus video track. Markus Pick on guitar left the band and was replaced by former member Martin Krötz, who returned after a three-year break.
In March 2007 the single "Conspiracy" was released, along with The Escape . Ingo Klemens from The Escape played guitar on the pieces "Into the Blue" and "Friendly Fire". He was also the producer. In April, The House of Usher covered a nine-minute interpretation of the Pink Floyd classic " Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun " from 1968 as the theme music for the science fiction audio book series TITAN . In November, the 80-minute retrospective “When Our Idols Fall” appeared as a collection of rare and obscure titles. The band also gave concerts in Koblenz , Hilden , Leipzig and Soest .
In January 2008, the recordings began for the ninth album, which is supposed to be called "Angst". The publication was planned for autumn 2008. At the end of the same month, the band played as opening act for a concert for the art punk band Savage Republic in Hilden. In October the band gave a concert in Brno , Czech Republic . The release of the album "Angst" was postponed.
In February 2009 the album "Angst" was released, and in April the band played two concerts at the British Whitby Gothic Weekend. One of them is an acoustic concert in the Hotel The Metropole . The next day the band played at the Whitby the Spa Pavilion Theater. Further concerts followed in Germany, one in Dortmund in June and another in autumn in Frankfurt am Main and Berlin and one in Dornbirn, Austria . Work on the DVD and the book of the same name "Necrologio" were also completed. In December, Tom O'Connell (ex- Garden of Delight ) joined the band as the new guitarist to replace Martin Krötz.
From 2010
In January 2010, the band's first DVD and accompanying book entitled Necrologio were released . It contains videos, live recordings, photos, unpublished pieces, but also a radio play from 1996 that was created as a setting of a story by Christian von Aster and, apart from a single performance at the Wave-Gotik-Treffen, was never made public. A new album is announced for spring 2011. On April 2nd the band played together with Firehead 92 and Grooving in Green in Berlin and on April 23rd in Bochum in an incident together with Epic Dreams , Rozencrantz and Psyche . In the same month, on April 22nd, the band released the first part of a self-produced CD edition, the Archive series, entitled “Archive One”. This contains an unpublished reading of the book Cosmogenesis by Christian von Aster, which was written in 2006 on behalf of Blitz Verlag for an audio book on the short story collection by Jörg Kleudgen , but never appeared. The second CD from the Archive Two series was released on June 19th. This CD contains an old 4-track demo cassette from 1992 and is entitled "Wedge Beating Wrath". These are the first thirteen songs of the line-up Kleudgen / Pick / Löffler / Nessler. Concert recordings from that time can be found on the bonus CD and a supplementary sheet explains the background to the creation. On July 16, the band performed at the Waregem Gothic Festival in Belgium and on September 3 at the Nocturnal Culture Night in the Kulturpark zu Deutzen . During this gig, the band's playing time was shortened to 20 minutes by the festival management because the stage technology was not working. A small tour with the Merciful Nuns and Whispers in the Shadow was planned for November and December, but it was canceled. On November 12th the band played a concert in Prague with XIII. Století in front of over 500 spectators. The band then went back to the studio to continue working on their ninth studio album.
On January 29, 2011 the band performed in the music theater Piano in Dortmund together with the band Tagismar . The album, which will be released in April / May, will now be called "Pandora's Box". On February 3, three more CDs from the Archive series, “Archive Three, Four and Five” will be released. These include the band's first three out of print albums. In addition, every CD contains a leaflet on which the background to the creation is briefly explained. Archive Three and Five also includes a bonus CD with alternative versions and a concert recording from July 21, 1999 in the Heidelberg Swimming Pool Club.
style
The band's music finds its roots in the Gothic or Waverock of the 80s. The Mission , The Cult , The Sisters of Mercy , Killing Joke and Joy Division are reflected in the sound of The House of Usher, which has been distinctive since "Cosmogenesis" and is dominated by guitars. In general, the aim is to express an impression of space in the pieces, which, however, can sometimes turn into a feeling of loneliness. The CD releases go hand in hand with short stories by the singer Jörg Kleudgen, whose texts convey everyday observations and experiences on a meta-level.
gallery
- The House of Usher, cast live at the Nocturnal Culture Night 2018 in Deutzen
Singer Jörg Kleudgen
Guitarist Georg Berger
Guitarist Axel "Keule" Kuhlhoff (substitute for Markus Pick)
Bass player Ralf Dunkel
Drummer Gerwin Spalink
Discography
Albums
- 1993: Black Sunday (mini-album, Nyctalopia Records)
- 1994: Stars Fall Down (Celtic Circle Productions)
- 1996: Zephyre (Celtic Circle Productions)
- 1998: Black Sunday Chronology (Nightbreed Recordings)
- 1999: Cosmogenesis (Équinoxe Records)
- 2002: Inferno / l'enfer (Équinoxe Records)
- 2005: Radio Cornwall (Équinoxe Records)
- 2007: When Our Idols Fall (Shadowplay Release)
- 2009: Fear (Équinoxe Records)
- 2011: Pandora's Box (Équinoxe Records)
- 2015: Inauguration (Équinoxe Records)
- 2018: Roaring Silence (Équinoxe Records)
EPs
- 1993: Relic (split EP with Substance of Dreams and Bluefield, self-distribution)
- 2000: Burning Gates (split EP with Burning Gates, self-distribution)
- 2010: Archive One (self-distribution)
- 2010: Archive Two (self-distribution)
- 2011: Archive Three (self-distribution)
- 2011: Archive Four (self-distribution)
- 2011: Archive Five (self-distribution)
- 2011: Archive Six (self-distribution)
Singles
- 1996: Succubus (Single, Celtic Circle Productions)
- 1997: Earthbound (maxi single, Celtic Circle Productions)
- 1998: To Sow a Storm (single, self-distributed)
- 2004: Hegemony (split single with Fallen Apart, Équinoxe Records)
- 2005: Sanctuary (split single with Ikon , Équinoxe Records)
- 2007: Conspiracy (split single with The Escape, Équinoxe Records)
- 2013: Reincarnation (Équinoxe Records)
- 2020: Hibernation (split single with Reptyle , Equinoxe Records)
Live CDs
- 1999: Cerebral Darkness (live in Eeklo / Belgium, self-distribution)
- 1999: Goth Wars (self-distribution)
- 2000: An Eve with Discord (live acoustic concert in the Leipzig House of Books, self-distribution)
- 2002: Engramaton (live in Lorient / Bretagne, self-distribution)
- 2004: Il Canto dell'Oscuritá (live recordings of the Italientour, Équinoxe Records)
DVD with book
- 2010: Necrologio (Équinoxe Records)
literature
- Peter Matzke , Tobias Seeliger "The Gothic and Dark Wave Lexicon", Imprint Verlag, pp. 208–209 and 242 ISBN 3-89602-277-6
- Volkmar Kuhnle , Gothic-Lexikon , Imprint Verlag, p. 131, ISBN 3-89602-203-2
Web links
- The House of Usher at Discogs (English)
- Official website
- Official Facebook page