Dark Age is a German

metal A metal (from Greek μέταλλον ''métallon'', "mine, quarry, metal") is a material that, when freshly prepared, polished, or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electricity and heat relatively well. Metals are typicall ...

band from

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

formed in 1994 under the name Dyer's Eve by Eike Freese (

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

), André Schumann (

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 ...

) and Oliver Fliegel (

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

History

In 1994, Eike Freese, André Schumann and Oliver Fliegel formed a

death metal Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking; deep growling vocals; aggressive, powerful drumming, feat ...

band called ''Dyer's Eve''. One year later the name was changed to Dark Age. The new name was inspired by a Vader song title, while their older one was inspired by a

Metallica Metallica is an American heavy metal band. The band was formed in 1981 in Los Angeles by vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrume ...

song title. In autumn 1995, they recorded their first

demo Demo, usually short for demonstration, may refer to: Music and film *Demo (music), a song typically recorded for reference rather than release * ''Demo'' (Behind Crimson Eyes), a 2004 recording by the band Behind Crimson Eyes * ''Demo'' (Deafhea ...

''Doubtful Existence''. In December 1995, keyboarder Martin Reichert and in January 1996

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselv ...

Finn Dierks joined the band. Oliver Fliegel left the band in 1996. After Finn Dierks moved to the

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

he was replaced by Jörn Schubert. In Summer 1998, Dark Age recorded their first

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

entitled, ''The Fall'', which was released after a

contract A contract is a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties that creates, defines, and governs mutual rights and obligations between them. A contract typically involves the transfer of goods, services, money, or a promise to tran ...

with Remedy Records. In 2000, the album ''Insurrection'' followed and they played at

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 2002, the album ''The Silent Republic'' was recorded in the Stage One-studio. In 2003, they founded their own studio and played again at Wacken Open Air. In 2003 Dark Age released their demo songs collection EP ''Remonstrations''. They re-recorded their first demo songs. As a comparison they also included the original demo versions of the songs. Except for the first song which is a re-recording of a track from ''The Fall''. In 2004, their self-titled album ''Dark Age'' was recorded and released. One year later, the DVD ''Live, So Far...'' was recorded in the Markthalle in

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

. In 2006, Thorsten Eggert left the band and Alex Henke joined. In 2008 the album Minus Exitus was released. Their sixth full-length album ''Acedia'' was released in November 2009. Their seventh full-length album ''A Matter of Trust'' was released on 6 September 2013 through

AFM Records AFM Records GmbH is a music label based in Schwalmstadt, Germany. They focus on the heavy metal musical genre, signing bands such as U.D.O., Doro, Lordi, Kotipelto, Masterplan, Nostradameus, and Annihilator. In 2005, Candlelight Records si ...

. On November 19, 2015, the band announced that they would go on an indefinite hiatus for personal reasons.

Discography

* 1996: '' Doubtful Existence'' (Demo) * 1996: ''Promotion Tape Winter '96/'97'' (Demo) * 1998: ''The Fall'' (Demo) * 1999: ''The Fall'' ( Remedy Records) * 2000: ''Insurrection'' * 2002: '' The Silent Republic'' * 2003: ''Remonstrations'' (EP) * 2004: ''Dark Age'' * 2006: '' Live, So Far...'' (DVD) * 2008: '' Minus Exitus'' * 2009: ''Acedia'' * 2013: ''A Matter of Trust''

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dark Age Musical groups established in 1995 German heavy metal musical groups Musical quintets