Crematory is a German

gothic metal Gothic metal (or goth metal) is a fusion genre combining the aggression of heavy metal with the dark atmospheres of gothic rock. The music of gothic metal is diverse with bands known to adopt the gothic approach to different styles of heavy met ...

band formed in

Mannheim Mannheim (; Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (german: Universitätsstadt Mannheim), is the second-largest city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg after the state capital of Stuttgart, and Germany's 2 ...

in 1991.

History

The band received its earliest recognition in the mid-1990s by touring with

My Dying Bride My Dying Bride are an English doom metal band formed in Bradford. Since their inception in 1990, they have released 13 studio albums, three EPs, one demo, one box set, four compilation albums, one live album, and one live CD/DVD release. Alon ...

Tiamat In Mesopotamian religion, Tiamat ( akk, or , grc, Θαλάττη, Thaláttē) is a primordial goddess of the sea, mating with Abzû, the god of the groundwater, to produce younger gods. She is the symbol of the chaos of primordial creati ...

and

Atrocity Atrocity or ''Atrocities'' or ''Atrocious'' may refer to: * Atrocity (band), a German metal band * ''Atrocities'' (album), the fourth album by Christian Death * Mass atrocity crimes, international crimes of genocide, war crimes, and crimes agains ...

. Much like the latter two groups, the band had begun as traditional death metal, then evolved in an

industrial music Industrial music is a genre of music that draws on harsh, mechanical, transgressive or provocative sounds and themes. AllMusic defines industrial music as the "most abrasive and aggressive fusion of rock and electronic music" that was "initiall ...

and gothic metal musical direction on later albums. The band received heavy rotation on ''

MTV Germany MTV Germany is a German language free-to-air television channel operated by Paramount Global. The channel launched on 7 March 1997 as MTV Central, as part of a regionalisation strategy by Paramount Global, then MTV Networks Europe. Availabi ...

'', and made appearances at various

extreme metal Extreme metal is a loosely defined umbrella term for a number of related heavy metal music subgenres that have developed since the early 1980s. It has been defined as a "cluster of metal subgenres characterized by sonic, verbal, and visual tran ...

festivals, including Germany's ''

Wacken Open Air Wacken Open Air (, abbreviated as W:O:A) is a rock music, rock music festival, held annually since 1990 on the first weekend of August in the village of Wacken, Schleswig-Holstein, Wacken in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. Almost all styles and su ...

'' in 1996, 1998, 1999, 2001 and 2008, in addition to inclusion on

Nuclear Blast Nuclear Blast is a record label and mail order record distributor with subsidiaries in Germany, the United States and Brazil. The label was founded in 1987 by Markus Staiger in Germany. Originally releasing hardcore punk records, the label mov ...

compilation samplers. The band re-signed to

Massacre Records Massacre Records is an independent record label based in Abstatt, Germany, that specializes in bands of the heavier genres of metal. The label was founded in 1991 by Torsten Hartmann. Connected to Massacre Records is the marketing and music w ...

in 2006 after a 10-year stint with Nuclear Blast; Massacre had been the band's first label. In 2013 they signed with Steamhammer/SPV to release their next album, ''

Antiserum Antiserum is a blood serum containing monoclonal or polyclonal antibodies that is used to spread passive immunity to many diseases via blood donation (plasmapheresis). For example, convalescent serum, passive antibody transfusion from a previous ...

''. In 2019 they moved to

Napalm Records Napalm Records is an Austrian independent record label focused on heavy metal and hard rock. Originally, Napalm focused on black metal bands, such as Abigor and Summoning, and folk metal bands, such as Falkenbach and Vintersorg. The label later ...

, and their 15th studio album, ''Unbroken'', was released under their label, on 6 March 2020. Active for 30 years (with a brief split between 2001 and 2003) they are among Europe's longest-running gothic metal bands.

Line-up

Current members

*Gerhard "Felix" Stass –

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...

(1991–present) *Markus Jüllich –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

, programming (1991–present) *Katrin Jüllich –

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

, samples (1992–present) *Rolf Munkes –

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...

(2015–present) *Patrick Schmid –

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

(2021–present)

Former members

*Marc Zimmer – bass, backing vocals (1991–1992) *Lothar "Lotte" Först – guitars, backing vocals (1991–1998) *Harald Heine – bass, backing vocals (1993–2016) *Heinz Steinhauser – bass, backing vocals (1993; died 2021) *Matthias Hechler – guitars, clean vocals (1998–2015) *Tosse Basler – guitars, clean vocals (2015–2018) *Jason Matthias – bass (2016–2021) *Connie "Conner" Andreszka – guitars, vocals (2018–2021)

Timeline

Discography

Demos

* ''Crematory'' (1992)

Studio albums

* ''Transmigration'' (1993) * ''...Just Dreaming'' (1994) * ''Illusions'' (1995) * ''Crematory'' (1996) * ''Awake'' (1997) * ''Act Seven'' (1999) * ''Believe'' (2000) * ''

Revolution In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...

'' (2004) * ''Klagebilder'' (2006) * ''Pray'' (2008) * ''Infinity'' (2010) * ''Antiserum'' (2014) *'' Monument ''(2016) *'' Oblivion ''(2018) *'' Unbroken ''(2020) *'' Inglorious Darkness ''(2022)

Live albums

* ''Live... at the Out of the Dark Festivals'' (1997) * ''Live Revolution'' (2005) * ''Live in Wacken '' (2008) * '' Black Pearls'' (2010) * '' Live at W.O.A'' (2014) * '' Live Insurrection ' ' (2017) * '' Live At Wacken '' (2022)

Singles and EPs

* ''Ist es wahr'' (1996) * ''Fly'' (1999) * ''Greed'' (2004) * ''Shadowmaker'' (2013) * ''The Downfall'' (2020)

Compilation albums

* ''Early Years'' (1999) * ''Remind'' (2001) * ''Black Pearls'' (2010) * ''Inception'' (2013)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Crematory German heavy metal musical groups German gothic metal musical groups German melodic death metal musical groups German industrial metal musical groups Musical groups established in 1991 Nuclear Blast artists 1991 establishments in Germany