Posted on: October 9, 2007 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 1

Metal Mind Productions proudly presents re-release of the classic material from the Roadrunner Records’ archives – “Todessehnsucht” by Atrocity. When in 1992 death metal flourished into technicality, “Todessehnsucht” emerged as Atrocity’s attempt to create an epic album, conjoining both progressive and extreme sounds. The attempt fully succeeded – the album became one of the most intense and respected productions in the band’s entire discography. For many fans this is also one of the best albums in the history of the German death metal scene – a true monument of sophisticated arrangements and blasphemous melodies. It’s a conglomerate of aggressive and brutal sounds, supported by truly artistic elements, such as classical music motives and vocals performed by opera singers.
New digipak edition, limited to numerated 2000 copies includes 1 bonus track plus liner notes written by the band. Digitally remastered by Alex Krull himself! The album will be available on 15th October 2007 in Europe / 5th November 2007 in USA (via MVD).

Atrocity
“Todessehnsucht” (remastered+bonus track)
Label: Metal Mind Records
Cat. No.: MASS CD 1072 DG
Barcode: 5907785030817
Format: CD Digipak (limited edition of 2000 numerated copies)
Genre: death metal
Release date: 15.10.2007 Europe / 05.11.2007 USA

Tracklist:

1. Todessehnsucht
2. Godless Years
3. Unspoken Names
4. Defiance
5. Triumph At Dawn
6. Introduction
7. Sky Turned Red
8. Necropolis
9. A Prison Called Earth
10. Todessehnsucht (Reprise)

Bonus track:
11. Archangel

Bio
Atrocity was formed back in 1985 – at first the band was called Instigators and their musical influences oscillated more around grindcore rather than death metal. After changing their name they released their very first demo tape in 1988, which in respect to their past they called “Instigators”. A year later, Atrocity managed to sign a deal with Nuclear Blast and release an EP “Blue Blood”, followed by the stunning debut album “Hallucinations” in 1990. Atrocity became quite a sensation on the death metal scene, gathering new worshippers with each show they played. The peak of their live performances at that time was definitely the European tour alongside the legendary Carcass, during which Atrocity proved to be one of Germany’s strongest death metal bands on the scene. The follow-up to “Hallucinations” took Atrocity’s music into a sky-high level, exposing sheer brilliancy in composing complex death metal tracks. Released in 1992 by Roadrunner Records, “Todessehnsucht” emerged as a conglomerate of aggressive and brutal sounds, supported by truly artistic elements, such as the addition of classical music motives and vocals performed by opera singers. The album featured a whole range of inspirations, with each track packed with original ideas – just listen to the guitar harmonies on “Unspoken Names” or hear Atrocity’s version of Wagner’s theme from “Excalibur”, incorporated into “Sky Turned Red”. The band also revealed here one of its greatest influences, adding to the list a brilliant cover version of “Archangel” by Death. The album received a handful of enthusiastic reviews in the press – “Todessehnsucht” was praised for magnificent guitar arrangements, Alex Krull’s unique, aggressive and hellish vocals and the overall mood of the LP, emphasizing a dark, gloomy and mentally deranged atmosphere throughout the entire record. The release of the album was followed by a tour with the death metal icon – Decide. After that Atrocity begun working on a new LP, which featured a major style-change – the band incorporated genres such as gothic, dark wave and ethno music into their newly recorded offering. “Blut”, released in 1994 through Massacre Records, was a concept-album basing on the ideas of vampirism, which introduced the listener to the dark and fascinating sceneries of Transylvania. The experimental style established in “Blut” was later continued in two following albums, released in 1995: “Calling the Rain” and “Der Liebe”. The following releases by Atrocity featured the variegated “Willenskraft” (1996), brutal (referring to the band’s past) “The Hunt” (1996), controversial “Werk 80” (1997; an album gathering Atrocity’s versions of 80’s pop classics), “Gemini” (2000) and the most recent “Atlantis” from 2004. During their career Atrocity toured with many respected bands, such as Crematory, Hate Squad, Obituary, Pitchshifter, Lacrimosa and In Flames. The band’s entire line-up also takes part in another musical project – Leave’s Eyes, where they are supported vocally by Liv Kristine (Krull’s wife in private). What is most important, the variety of their musical inspirations helped the band to gather a true melting-pot of fans, stretching out from death metal to electro enthusiasts. While the group definitely keeps an open mind in creating new albums, they never cut off from their violent metal past – this exclusive reissue of “Todessehnsucht” is proof that Atrocity well deserves the title of one of Germany’s finest death metal bands.

1 people reacted on this

Leave a Comment