Birmingham 6 is a

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

electro-industrial Electro-industrial is a music genre that emerged from industrial music in the early 1980s. While EBM (electronic body music) has a minimal structure and clean production, electro-industrial tends to have a grittier, complex and layered sound wi ...

/ EBM group founded in 1991 and named after the

Birmingham Six The Birmingham Six were six Irishmen who were each sentenced to life imprisonment in 1975 following their false convictions for the 1974 Birmingham pub bombings. Their convictions were declared unsafe and unsatisfactory and quashed by the Cou ...

, a group of

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

men wrongly imprisoned for the

Birmingham pub bombings The Birmingham pub bombings were carried out on 21 November 1974, when bombs exploded in two public houses in Birmingham, England, killing 21 people and injuring 182 others. The Provisional Irish Republican Army never officially admitted respo ...

. Members include Kim Løhde Petersen and Michael Hillerup.Bush, John. " Birmingham 6: Biography,

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

. Retrieved 2010-03-16.

Themes

They took on the name as they focused on injustices worldwide, but particularly in western democratic society. Their lyrics have often been controversial and some radio stations have banned airplay of their songs, while other groups refused to be associated with them. Birmingham 6 has written several songs questioning governmental systems and their unwillingness to admit their own fallibility. "Israel" talks about the issues between the

Palestinians Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...

and the

Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""Th ...

s. "Contagious" discusses

AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...

and "Who Do You Love?" points out the difficulty in telling good from evil. The song "6794700" describes church views on abortion they disagreed with. "Love Child" describes how the tourism agency in

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

helps western travel agencies fulfill certain men's desire for an underage prostitute. The song "Policestate" talks about the

riot A riot is a form of civil disorder commonly characterized by a group lashing out in a violent public disturbance against authority, property, or people. Riots typically involve destruction of property, public or private. The property targete ...

s in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

in 1993 during the re-voting for the European Union in which police shot into the

angry mob Mob rule or ochlocracy ( el, ὀχλοκρατία, translit=okhlokratía; la, ochlocratia) is the rule of government by a mob or mass of people and the intimidation of legitimate authorities. Insofar as it represents a pejorative for majorit ...

, injuring several protesters.

Releases

They released their first album, ''Mindhallucination'' in 1994. It was released in the United States in 1995 as ''Assassinate'' with a few track changes. Their next album, ''Error of Judgement'', was released in 1996. In 1999, ''Resurrection'', a collection of previously released tracks and two new remixes, was released. 7 tracks on the album ''Error of Judgement'' were sung by

Jean-Luc de Meyer Jean-Luc De Meyer (born 1957 in Brussels) is a vocalist and lyricist who is best known as the lead vocalist of the Belgian EBM group Front 242. He started singing in the experimental group "Under Viewer" with Patrick Codenys. Both joined Front ...

, better known as a member of

Front 242 Front 242 is a Belgian electronic music group that came into prominence during the 1980s. Pioneering the style they called electronic body music, they are a profound influence on the electronic and industrial music genres. History Formation Fr ...

. Birmingham 6 also released a single of their cover of " Godlike" by

KMFDM KMFDM (originally Kein Mehrheit Für Die Mitleid, loosely translated by the band as "no pity for the majority") is a multinational industrial band from Hamburg led by Sascha Konietzko, who founded the band in 1984 as a performance art project. ...

. Birmingham 6 covered AC/DC's "Thunderstruck" for the 1997 tribute album ''Covered in Black'' on Cleopatra records. They also covered Metallica's "Seek and Destroy" for the tribute album ''Tribute to... METALLICA''.

Touring

In 1997, they embarked on a 5-week coast to coast U.S. Tour together with Seattle act

Rorschach Test The Rorschach test is a projective psychological test in which subjects' perceptions of inkblots are recorded and then analyzed using psychological interpretation, complex algorithms, or both. Some psychologists use this test to examine a pe ...

. Due to poor tour organisation, vocalist and original member Kim Løhde Petersen left the band after only four shows. At the time, they were noted as being "among industrial music's most compelling bands."Ehrbar, Joe (January 9, 1997). "Industrial strength", ''

The Spokesman-Review ''The Spokesman-Review'' is a daily broadsheet newspaper based in Spokane, Washington, the city's sole remaining daily publication. It has the third-highest readership among daily newspapers in the state, with most of its readership base in ...

'', p. 2
Convenience link
Unable to perform the remaining shows on the tour without Kim, the band broke up the tour, and returned to Denmark in a state of bankruptcy. As a tribute to the Danish Club Metropolis, Kim Løhde Petersen and Michael Hillerup reunited for one night to play live at the club's 10th anniversary party on March 7, 2003. The concert also featured

Diary of Dreams Diary of Dreams is a German darkwave band. The lead singer and founding member Adrian Hates has produced most of the albums by himself or with minimal help from others. He rarely uses a full band, except when on tour. History Adrian Hates is a ...

. In October 2008, Birmingham 6 performed at ''12. Elektrisch Festival'' in Zwickau, Germany. The German label Black Rain released the live compilation ''12. Electrisch Festival'' on 17 December 2008. This festival also featured ''Absolute Body Control'' and ''

Tyske Ludder Tyske Ludder is a German EBM band. Their members include Claus Albers, Olaf A. Reimers, Ralf Homann and Sebastian I. Hartmann. In 2008 they appeared at the Infest in Bradford. And in May 2009 they appeared at the Wave-Gotik-Treffen in Leip ...

''. The Birmingham 6 tracks featured on the live compilation are " You Cannot Walk Here" and a cover of

's " Godlike". In March 2009, Birmingham 6 performed in Copenhagen at the "10 Years of Black Rain" show (celebrating the 10 year anniversary of the German label Black Rain) featuring Hicoctan (DE) and Feindflug (DE).

Discography

Albums

*''Mindhallucination'' ( Transfixion Records) *''Assassinate'' (

Cleopatra Records Cleopatra Records is an American independent record label based in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1992 by Brian Perera. The record label has since grown into a family of labels, including Hypnotic Records, Purple Pyramid Records, Dea ...

) *''Error of Judgement'' (

Zoth Ommog Records Zoth Ommog Records was a German Industrial music record label which was owned by the parent label Music Research. The company was established by German music producer Andreas Tomalla (aka Talla 2XLC) in 1989 and later handed over to producer Torbe ...

) *''Resurrection'' (

COP International COP International, also shortened to ''COP Int'l.'', is a music label, based in Oakland, California. Initially, the label was founded in 1991 by Christian Petke (a.k.a. Count Zero of Deathline Int'l.) in Frankfurt, Germany. A few months later, K ...

)

EPs and Singles

*''Israel'' ( Transfixion Records) *''Contagious'' ( Transfixion Records) *''Policestate'' (

) *''To Protect and To Serve'' (

) *''The Kill (Error of Judgement 12" Promo)'' (

) *''You Cannot Walk Here'' (

) *''Mixed Judgements'' (

)

References

External links

Official Birmingham 6 website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Birmingham 6 Danish industrial music groups Danish musical groups Musical groups established in 1991 1991 establishments in Denmark Zoth Ommog Records artists