Zodiac (German band)
| Zodiac | |
|---|---|
 Zodiac live 2014 |
|
| General information | |
| origin | Munster , Germany |
| Genre (s) | Hard rock , blues rock |
| founding | 2010, 2018 |
| resolution | 2017 |
| Website | zodiac-rock.com |
| Current occupation | |
| Nick van Delft | |
guitar |
Stefan Gall |
| Hendrik Müller-Späth (since 2018) | |
| Janosch Rathmer | |
| former members | |
bass |
Robert Kahr (until 2012) |
| Ruben Claro (2012-2018) | |
Zodiac is a hard rock - band from Münster . The band was most recently signed to Napalm Records and had released four studio albums.
history
Foundation and A Bit of Devil (2010 to 2012)
After the dissolution of the melodic death metal band Misery Speaks in 2010 decided guitarist Stefan Gall and also with Long Distance Calling active drummer Janosch Rathmer to continue making music together. Gall and Rathmer contacted the singer Nick van Delft before the band was completed with the bassist Robert Kahr. The band name was derived from the astrological term zodiac , which according to Rathmer has a "cool sound".
In April 2011 the band played the first concerts before the first, self-titled EP was recorded in the summer of the same year . The EP was voted “Demo of the Month” by Visions and Rock Hard magazines . A short time later Janosch Rathmer and Stefan Gall founded their own record label , Honest Hound Records , through which their debut album A Bit of Devil was released on May 25, 2012 . Zodiac toured with The Sword in fall 2012 and with the Spiritual Beggars in April 2013 . In the meantime, bassist Robert Kahr left the band for professional reasons and was replaced by Ruben Claro. Kahr himself founded the band Healer in 2014 .
A Hiding Place and Sonic Child (2013 to 2014)
The band was signed in July 2013 by the Austrian label Napalm Records, which released the second studio album A Hiding Place on October 25, 2013 . The album was named "Album of the Month" by Rock Hard magazine. and "Cortez the Killer" contains a cover version of a song by Neil Young . For November and December 2013 a North American tour was planned as a support act for Monster Magnet . Zodiac had to cancel their participation because the musicians were denied the necessary visas . Instead, Zodiac played a small European tour with Orchid and Blues Pills and began preparing for their third studio album.
A European tour followed in March 2014 with the two headliners Audrey Horne and Grand Magus , before recording began in May 2014. In the summer the band played at Hellfest before the album Sonic Child was released on September 19, 2014. With Not Fragile , Sonic Child contains a cover version of a song by Bachman-Turner Overdrive . Previously, the split single Out of the City was released on August 15, 2014 together with Audrey Horne . Both bands had written a song called Out of the City for their respective new album . Sonic Child entered the German album charts at number 47.
Grain of Soul and Dissolution (2014 to 2017)
In autumn 2014, Zodiac headlined Germany for the first time . A live album was recorded during the 17-concert tour with support groups Gold and Daily Thompson . This live album was released on April 17th, 2015 under the name Road Tapes Vol. 1 . In the summer the band played at the Wacken Open Air before they started work on their fourth studio album. Zodiac recorded the album with producer Arne Neurand at Horus Sound Studios in Hanover . In between, the band played a small tour in Spain . The publication of Grain of Soul took place on 29 July 2016. For the first time, the band released an album without cover.
Grain of Soul reached number 36 on the German album charts. A headlining tour followed in autumn 2016 with the support groups RavenEye and Honeymoon Disease . In addition, the debut EP was re-released on October 7, 2016. At the end of January 2017, the band announced their breakup for personal reasons within the group. Ruben Claro then founded the band Bad Bone Beast .
Reunification (since 2018)
In November 2018 the band announced their reunion and announced that they would play concerts again. Hendrik Müller-Späth took over bass instead of Ruben Claro. In the summer of 2019, Zodiac played at the Rock Hard Festival as a short-term replacement for The Obsessed .
style
Zodiac's music is a mix of hard rock, classic rock and 1970s blues rock . Janosch Rathmer names Led Zeppelin , Pink Floyd , Thin Lizzy , Stevie Ray Vaughan , ZZ Top and Joe Bonamassa as the main influences . Also Metal -Bands like Iron Maiden is one Rathmer to holds. Unlike other retro rock bands, Zodiac were less influenced by Black Sabbath or Pentagram , according to Rathmer . With their fourth studio album Grain of Soul , Zodiac showed themselves to be more influenced by bands from the 1990s such as Alice in Chains or Queens of the Stone Age . At the same time, the new songs were harder than before. Basically the band strives for an original sound.
“Especially at a time when everything is moving so fast and technically, it is good to concentrate on the essentials in music. I can no longer listen to bands where I know for sure that everything was created on the computer. "
Discography
Albums
| year | Title music label |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChartsChart placements (Year, title, music label , placements, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
 DE
|
|||
| 2012 | A Bit of Devil Honest Hound Records |
- |
First published: May 25, 2012
|
| 2013 | A Hiding Place Napalm Records |
- |
First published: October 25, 2013
|
| 2014 |
Sonic Child Napalm Records |
DE47 (1 week) DE |
First published: August 15, 2014
|
| 2016 |
Grain of Soul Napalm Records |
DE36 (1 week) DE |
First published: July 29, 2016
# 18 on the German vinyl charts |
more publishments
- 2011: Zodiac ( EP )
- 2014: Out of the City ( split - single with Audrey Horne )
- 2015: Road Tapes Vol. 1 ( live album )
Music videos
- 2012: A Bit of Devil
- 2014: Free
- 2014: A Penny and a Dead Horse
- 2015: Holding On
- 2016: Follow You
- 2016: Animal
swell
- ↑ a b c dawak: Interview with Janosch Rathmer from Zodiac. Demonic Nights, accessed October 2, 2013 .
- ↑ Maciej Gospodarczyk: Zodiac - debut album in May. Visions , accessed October 2, 2013 .
- ↑ Felix Patzig: Quality over quantity. Rock Hard , accessed October 22, 2018 .
- ↑ Boris Kaiser: Zodiac - A Hiding Place . In: Rock Hard, November 2013, p. 89
- ↑ a b Matthias Mineur: Great mistakes . In: Metal Hammer , November 2013, page 27
- ↑ a b Andrea Friedrich: AUDREY HORNE and ZODIAC in an interview. Metal.de, accessed on May 25, 2019 .
- ↑ Dominik Rothe: Zodiac (GER) dissolve. Metal.de, accessed on February 1, 2017 .
- ↑ Alexandra Michels: Zodiac announce comeback with new bass player Hendrik. Rock Hard, accessed February 27, 2019 .
- ^ Frank Thiessies: Alternative Ascendant . In: Metal Hammer, August 2016, page 42
- ^ Zodiac - Grain of Soul (vinyl). GfK Entertainment , accessed June 30, 2020 .
