Disbelief (sometimes decapitalized to "disbelief") is a German heavy metal band from

Hesse Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major histor ...

. Their music is rooted in

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 ...

, but has melancholic tendencies.

History

The band was formed in 1990, but did not become one solid line-up for several years. They began with Karsten Jäger, Oliver Lenz, and drummer Markus Gnap, with guitarist/bassist Denis Musiol joining later. They released their first demo the following year. After two more demo tapes, five years, and the replacement of Gnap and Musiol with Tommy Fritsch, Jochen Trunk, and Kai Bergerin, they released their self-titled album in 1997. Their second album, ''Infected'', was released in 1998. A year later, they replaced Fritsch with Jan-Dirk Löffler and received a new recording contract from

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 ...

. After a few more albums, they became signed to

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 ...

, which distributed their 2004 record, ''Spreading the Rage'', to North America and helped them to gain a wider fanbase. After reinstating Fritsch into the band, they released ''

66Sick ''66Sick'' is the sixth full-length album by death metal band Disbelief. It is the second to be released on Nuclear Blast Nuclear Blast is a record label and mail order record distributor with subsidiaries in Germany, the United States an ...

'' in 2005, also in North America. Lenz left the band in late 2006 and was replaced by Jonas Khalil; however, the band's seventh album, ''Navigator'', was still released in late February 2007. Following the release of their eighth album ''Protected Hell'' in 2009 and their debut EP ''Heal!'' in 2010, singer Karsten Jager would join fellow German death metal band

Morgoth Morgoth Bauglir (; originally Melkor ) is a character, one of the godlike Valar, from Tolkien's legendarium. He is the main antagonist of ''The Silmarillion'', ''The Children of Húrin'', ''Beren and Lúthien'' and ''The Fall of Gondolin''. ...

as their new lead vocalist in 2014 following Marc Grewe's last-minute departure, providing vocals for their reunion album ''Ungod'', released in 2015. He would perform with both Morgoth and Disbelief for the next several years until the former's official permanent breakup in 2020, during which time the band released their first album in 8 years, ''The Symbol of Death'', in 2017, and their tenth studio album ''The Ground Collapses'' in 2020.

Members

Current members

* Karsten "Jagger" Jäger – vocals * Jochen "Joe" Trunk – bass * David "Dave" Renner – guitars * Fabian "Fab" Regmann – drums

Previous members

* Markus Gnap – drums * Marius Pack – guitars * Oliver "Olly" Lenz – guitars * Denis Musiol – guitars, bass * Kai Bergerin – drums * Tommy Fritsch – guitars * Jan-Dirk Löffler – guitars * Jonas Khalil – guitars * Witali Weber – guitars * Alejandro Varela – guitars * Cornelius Althammer – drums * Wolfgang Rothbauer – guitars * Alexander Hagenauer – guitars * Sandro "Drumster" Schulze – drums

Timeline

Discography

* ''Disbelief'' (1997) * ''Infected'' (1999) * ''Worst Enemy'' (2001) * ''Shine'' (2002) * ''Spreading the Rage'' (2003) * ''

'' (2005) * ''Navigator'' (2007) * ''Protected Hell'' (2009) * ''Heal'' (2010) * ''The Symbol of Death'' (2017) * ''The Ground Collapses'' (2020)

References

External links

* * {{Authority control German death metal musical groups German heavy metal musical groups Musical groups established in 1990 Nuclear Blast artists Massacre Records artists