Disillusion (band)

Last updated
Disillusion
Disillusion Logo.png
Background information
Origin Leipzig, Germany
Genres
Years active1994–present
Labels Metal Blade, Prophecy Productions
MembersAndy Schmidt
Ben Haugg
Robby Kranz
Martin Schulz
Past members(See: Past members for list)
Website www.disillusion.de

Disillusion is a German progressive metal band from Leipzig.

Contents

History

Beginnings without record deal

Disillusion was founded in 1994 by Andy Schmidt, Tobias Spier, Alex Motz, Markus Espenhain and Jan Stölzel. The band played thrash metal. Despite the departure of bassist Markus Espenhain in early 1996, the first demo Subspace Insanity was recorded in March the same year.

Red followed in 1997 as the band developed their own style. The second demo was mixed and mastered by Andy Schmidt and Alex Tscholakov at TAM Recording in Zwickau. Despite growing local success and the prospect of the band becoming more serious, Disillusion was put on hold because of lack of time of some band members. [1]

With the recruitment of guitarist Rajk Barthel and drummer Jens Maluschka in 1999 and 2000 Disillusion started again. They played some concerts and recorded their third demo Three Neuron Kings in summer 2001 (again with Alex Tscholakov at TAM Recording). The record received positive reviews by the music press. In spring of 2002 Disillusion went on tour again and won an EP production at the Legacy Band Contest. The record was recorded at TAM Recording in 2002 and called The Porter. It also reached international reputation in the music press and attracted the attention of larger labels.

Back To Times of Splendor

Disillusion signed a contract with Metal Blade Records and released the first album Back to Times of Splendor in 2004. Stylistically, the music is mostly progressive death metal. Back to Times of Splendor was very well received by the critics. The magazine Rock Hard even spoke of a hot contender for the title "Debut of the Year." [2]

After the release Disillusion performed at several festivals (including Summer Breeze Open Air) and a European tour as support for Amon Amarth and Impious. During this time, the album was presented in special shows together with Leipzig musicians from Dark Suns and Unloved. [3]

Gloria

The successor named Gloria was released on October 20, 2006. With the album, Disillusion entered new musical territory and relied heavily on distorted vocals as well as more electronic sounding elements. The latter was developed mainly by the production duo Philipp Hirsch and Heiko Tippelt of film-m. The new album showed a clear change of style compared to the predecessor. Disillusion did not want stylistically a successor to Back To Times of Splendor, because from the perspective of the band in the album everything was said. This is evident in the Gloria song "Save the Past". [4] Fans and reviewers took Gloria very controversially. After the release Disillusion played European-wide concerts, although this time the band did not play a cohesive tour but played several individual shows as headliners. [3]

Post Gloria and hiatus

On December 8, 2009, Andy Schmidt announced that the band had been separated from guitarist Rajk Barthel. [5] At the end of 2010, Sebastian Hupfer joined the band as the new guitar player. In 2011 some shows were played. This was followed by a hiatus, which Andy Schmidt explained with private challenges of the individual band members. [6]

Alea: Comeback

In 2015 a fan asked the band to play an exclusive concert in Vienna. After Matthias Becker was no longer available because of his band SAFI, the French bassist Djon joined the band. Until then he played in a local project called echo.mensch together with Sebastian Hupfer. On May 29, 2015, Disillusion played Back to Times of Splendor for the first time in its entirety in Vienna. There were further shows in Germany and a final comeback concert in the sold-out Werk 2 in Leipzig on December 4, 2015. [7] The new ten minute single Alea was presented live for the first time. [8] In April 2016, Ben Haugg was officially introduced as a new bass player, as Djon had to return to France due to private obligations. [9] On October 7, 2016 Alea was released digitally and as a CD via Kick the Flame Publishing (the publisher of the former guitarist Rajk Bartel). There followed a mini-tour at the end of the year through Germany and Austria.

Third album - The Liberation

In March 2017 Disillusion announced that they would begin writing a third album. To aide with the writing process, Andy Schmidt isolated himself to a small cabin in the woods somewhere in the Czech Republic for 3 weeks to work undisturbed on new songs. Simultaneously the band asked for fan support via Patreon to finance the production. The first goal - support for Andy - was reached within two days. The band then announced to complete the third album within 12 months, but later extended that deadline to another year as the band did not want to feel rushed to provide their fans with an inadequate and incomplete experience. [10] During this time, the band announced another line-up change. This time, bass player, Ben Haugg, would be moving on to third guitar and the band announced two new members. Josh Saldanha, a drummer from Dubai and Felix Tilemann who would be replacing Ben on the Bass. [11] The album, The Liberation was eventually released in 2019 and entered the German Top100 Album Charts at 45. Following the release of the album, Saldanha was replaced by Martin Schulz on drums. After Tilemann had to leave the band for personal reasons, Frank Schumacher took over the bass for live shows in 2019, [12] until Robby Kranz took over bass and additional backing vocal duties as a full member at the beginning of 2020. [13] Following the cancelation of further shows due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Disillusion did a livestream event in April 2020. [14] Following this, the band started with the songwriting process for the next album.

AYAM

After performances in the summer of 2022 at festivals such as Graspop Metal Meeting and Dong Open Air, the band announced in early August that the fourth album will be called AYAM and will be released worldwide on November 4 of the same year. At the same time they released Am Abgrund, the album's opener, as the first single. This was followed by a joint European tour in September with Obscura (band) and Persefone, which brought Disillusion to countries such as Italy and the UK for the first time. After the release of the second single Tormento, the band released the album AYAM at the beginning of November, which was highly praised by fans and the press alike and reached number 35 in the German album charts, marking the highest chart entry in the band's history. [15]

Band members

Current

Past

Timeline

Disillusion (band)

Discography

Studio albums

Demos and EPs

Singles

Other

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mors Principium Est</span> Finnish melodic death metal band

Mors Principium Est is a Finnish melodic death metal band formed in 1999.

Altaria is a Finnish heavy metal band from Jakobstad, who have released four albums on the record label Metal Heaven, a fifth on Escape Music and a sixth on Reaper Entertainment.

Hecate Enthroned are an English symphonic black metal band initially founded with members from both Wales and England, but are now primarily based around Cheshire, England. The band formed in 1993 as a blackened death metal act under the name Amethyst, changing their name to Daemonum later on. By 1995 the band had adopted the name Hecate Enthroned and a symphonic black metal style.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Repulsion (band)</span> American grindcore band

Repulsion is an American grindcore band from Flint, Michigan, founded in 1984.

Aghora is a progressive metal band formed in 1995 by guitarist Santiago Dobles. In 2000 they released their first album, Aghora, recorded and produced by Santiago Dobles and Dan Escauriza in 1999, Miami, Florida. The album featured Sean Malone and Sean Reinert, both members of Cynic. The band released its second album, Formless in 2006, which was produced by Santiago Dobles and mixed by Neil Kernon. In 2019 Aghora released their 3rd album Entheogenic Frequencies which was recorded, mixed and produced by Santiago Dobles. The album features Gustavo Dobles on keyboards, Matt Thompson on drums, Alan Goldstein on bass, and Santiago Dobles on guitar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Slough Feg</span> American heavy metal band

Slough Feg is an American heavy metal band from Pennsylvania, formed in 1990 and currently based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Taking their name from the Celtic folklore-influenced comic book Sláine, the band released their self-titled debut album in 1996. Slough Feg combines influences from traditional heavy metal bands such as Iron Maiden, Brocas Helm, and Thin Lizzy, as well as English folk metal band Skyclad.

<i>Back to Times of Splendor</i> 2004 studio album by Disillusion

Back to Times of Splendor is the full-length debut album by the German band Disillusion. It contains a concept-based story, written by Vurtox ; with each song dividing the story into separate conjoined sections. The album received critical acclaim upon release and is considered by many to be a modern metal classic.

Crimson Thorn is an American Christian death metal band. According to Allmusic, they are "surely one of the world's most extreme-sounding Christian metal bands". Crimson Thorn has performed at Cornerstone Festival and Sonshine Festival. They have also been featured in HM Magazine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Holy Moses</span> German thrash metal band

Holy Moses were a German thrash metal band active from 1980 to 1994 and from 2000 to 2023. They were well noted for being fronted by Sabina Classen, who was the only constant member of Holy Moses, and for being one of the first German thrash metal bands. Holy Moses have released 13 studio albums to date, Invisible Queen being the latest of these releases.

<i>Gloria</i> (Disillusion album) 2006 studio album by Disillusion

Gloria is the second full-length album by the German metal band Disillusion. It was released on October 20, 2006, via Metal Blade Records.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sadist (band)</span> Italian death metal band

Sadist is an Italian death metal band formed in Genoa, Italy, in January 1991. It debuted with Black Screams in 1991, then released three albums. The band went on hiatus after releasing the album Lego in 2000. They reunited in 2005 and released their self-titled album in 2007. Sadist has released three more albums since then. In total, the band has released nine albums and one EP. They are currently signed to Scarlet Records. Guitarist and keyboardist, Tommy Talamanca, has been a constant member throughout the band's existence, as the main composer and co-producer of their musical output. Trevor Nadir has been the main singer of the band since 1996.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">October Tide</span> Swedish death/doom metal band

October Tide is a Swedish death/doom metal band that was created in 1994 by Katatonia vocalist Jonas Renkse and then-Katatonia guitarist Fred Norrman. Norrman revived the band after leaving Katatonia in 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Seventh Angel</span> British metal band

Seventh Angel are an English former Christian metal band that formed in 1987 in Halesowen, West Midlands. The band was known for its combination of doom metal and thrash metal. The band initially released two albums, The Torment (1990) and Lament for the Weary (1992), before disbanding; these records achieved mainstream distribution through the Music for Nations label, making Seventh Angel label mates with such groups as Metallica, Slayer and Megadeth. The Daily Telegraph called Seventh Angel "one of the leading Christian thrash metal bands in Great Britain."

<i>Grave Human Genuine</i> 2008 studio album by Dark Suns

Grave Human Genuine is the third studio album by German progressive metal band Dark Suns. It was released in a jewel- case packaging, and in a limited edition Digipak, with a bonus song. The album was released on 22 February 2008 through German record label Prophecy productions.

Embalmer is an American death metal band from Cleveland, Ohio.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Negligence (band)</span> Slovenian thrash metal band

Negligence is a Slovenian thrash metal band, formed in 2000. The group was last signed to Metal Blade Records and has so far released two albums and an EP.

Corpus Christi was an American Christian metal band from Cincinnati, Ohio. The term "Corpus Christi" is Latin for "body of Christ," which fits the band's Christian lyrics. They were signed to Victory Records. The band has been featured on TVU's weekly countdown show, TVU's Most Wanted.

Heir Apparent is an American heavy/progressive metal band from Seattle, formed in 1983.

<i>The Liberation</i> 2019 studio album by Disillusion

The Liberation is the third full-length album by German metal band Disillusion. It was released on September 6, 2019, via Prophecy Productions. It is the band's first album in 13 years, due to creative, personal, and legal issues band members encountered since the release of Gloria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pantheist (band)</span> Belgian and British funeral doom band

Pantheist are a Belgian and British funeral doom band formed in 2000 by Kostas Panagiotou.

References

  1. "Disillusion – laut.de – Band". Laut.de. Retrieved 2020-03-25.
  2. "DISILLUSION - Back To Times Of Splendor". Rockhard.de. Retrieved 2020-03-25.
  3. 1 2 "Disillusion | Metal Blade Records". Metalblade.com. Retrieved 2020-03-25.
  4. "Disillusion - Interview mit Frontmann Andy zu "Gloria" • metal.de". Metal.de. October 14, 2006. Retrieved 2020-03-25.
  5. "DISILLUSION: trennen sich von Gitarrist Rajk Barthel • News • vampster.com". December 8, 2009.
  6. "Disillusion Live Q&A on Facebook 06 Oct, 2016 - YouTube". YouTube . Archived from the original on 2016-11-09. Retrieved 2016-11-12.
  7. "Disillusion | the Black Sea (LIVE) - YouTube". YouTube . Archived from the original on 2019-03-06. Retrieved 2016-11-12.
  8. "Disillusion & TOTL XS. CTRL - 04.12.2015 - Leipzig, Werk 2". Bloodchamber.de. Retrieved 2020-03-25.
  9. "DISILLISION: neue Besetzung • News". Vampster.com. April 12, 2016. Retrieved 2020-03-25.
  10. "Disillusion are creating Music, Videos, Art & Experiences". Patreon.com. Retrieved 2020-03-25.
  11. "DISILLUSION: neuer dritter Gitarrist und neuer Bassist". Vampster.com. March 27, 2018.
  12. "Facebook". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 2022-02-23.
  13. "Facebook". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 2022-02-23.
  14. DISILLUSION | SPECIAL LIVESTREAM SHOW April 13th 2020, 20 April 2020, retrieved 2022-02-23
  15. "Offizielle Deutsche Charts".
  16. "Facebook". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 2023-12-19.
  17. "ALEA new Single 07 Oct 2016". July 25, 2016.