The Trial are an

experimental An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs when ...

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina *Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses *Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internation ...

alternative Alternative or alternate may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Alternative (''Kamen Rider''), a character in the Japanese TV series ''Kamen Rider Ryuki'' * ''The Alternative'' (film), a 1978 Australian television film * ''The Alternative ...

band Band or BAND may refer to: Places *Bánd, a village in Hungary *Band, Iran, a village in Urmia County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran * Band, Mureș, a commune in Romania *Band-e Majid Khan, a village in Bukan County, West Azerbaijan Province, I ...

, playing music somewhere in between

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

, pop, new wave,

industrial Industrial may refer to: Industry * Industrial archaeology, the study of the history of the industry * Industrial engineering, engineering dealing with the optimization of complex industrial processes or systems * Industrial city, a city dominate ...

and several other styles. They are one of the groups that attracted attention for being "different" from what was and is usually known as

Turkish popular music The music of Turkey includes mainly Turkic and Byzantine elements as well as partial influences ranging from Ottoman music, Middle Eastern music and Music of Southeastern Europe, as well as references to more modern European and American popul ...

in Germany ( arabesk,

Turkish hip hop Turkish hip hop refers to hip hop music produced by members of the Turkish minority in Germany, and to a lesser degree by hip hop artists in Turkey. The Turkish minority, called the Turks, first drew inspiration from the discrimination and racis ...

, ...).

History

''The Trial'' was founded in 1985 in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

by M. Strenge and αlabay, both dealing basically with sociocritical issues those times. The musical background was in the beginning

noise Noise is unwanted sound considered unpleasant, loud or disruptive to hearing. From a physics standpoint, there is no distinction between noise and desired sound, as both are vibrations through a medium, such as air or water. The difference arise ...

and

sound

collages Collage (, from the french: coller, "to glue" or "to stick together";) is a technique of art creation, primarily used in the visual arts, but in music too, by which art results from an Assemblage (art), assemblage of different forms, thus creat ...

, contributed by αlabay. In 1987 they split up and αlabay started creating ''structured'' music. He had no intention of belonging to a specific

music genre A music genre is a conventional category that identifies some pieces of music as belonging to a shared tradition or set of conventions. It is to be distinguished from ''musical form'' and musical style, although in practice these terms are some ...

but the influences of

The Cure The Cure are an English Rock music, rock band formed in 1978 in Crawley, Crawley, West Sussex. Throughout numerous lineup changes since the band's formation, guitarist, lead vocalist, and songwriter Robert Smith (musician), Robert Smith has re ...

Joy Division Joy Division were an English rock band formed in Salford in 1976. The group consisted of vocalist Ian Curtis, guitarist/keyboardist Bernard Sumner, bassist Peter Hook and drummer Stephen Morris. Sumner and Hook formed the band after attend ...

and

The Sisters of Mercy The Sisters of Mercy is an English rock band, formed in 1980 in Leeds. After achieving early underground fame there, the band had their commercial breakthrough in the mid-1980s and sustained it until the early 1990s, when they stopped releasin ...

gave his music an obvious distinction. In 1988 αlabay left Berlin and moved to

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...

. Between 1989 and 1995, the band had an active phase with concerts. From 1998 on the band started to create several albums via internet and telephone but only performed two concerts. From 2001 to 2005, a

concept album A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Som ...

was recorded (Statements & Unanswered Questions). This was a reinterpretation of an unrealized

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 ...

from 1986 and done together with the co-founder M. Strenge. He had a nearly fatal accident in 1996, thus this reinterpretation of sociocritical points of view was written from a completely new perspective. In 2006 the group decided to act more as a band. That year also marked a turning point, as a completely Turkish work had been recorded for the first time. Before that only loose Turkish tracks were done. The decision came after a stay in Izmir and Istanbul in 2005. That sojourn revealed the full dimension of how the Turkish

-scene had altered. Groups like Replikas,

Mor ve Ötesi Mor ve ötesi (literally ''Purple and Beyond''; a play on the word '' morötesi'', meaning ultraviolet) is a Turkish alternative rock band from Istanbul. Its four current members are Harun Tekin (vocals and rhythm guitar), Kerem Kabadayı (drum ...

or Duman had brought in new wave and

elements into the music; in the past, alternative basically meant

crossover Crossover may refer to: Entertainment Albums and songs * ''Cross Over'' (Dan Peek album) * ''Crossover'' (Dirty Rotten Imbeciles album), 1987 * ''Crossover'' (Intrigue album) * ''Crossover'' (Hitomi Shimatani album) * ''Crossover'' (Yoshino ...

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 ...

-influenced.

Background

''The Trial'' was founded in the 1980s in West Berlin, in a period marked by the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

and social tensions. The accusing, sociocritical and pessimistic lyrics let bud the idea of being in

trial In law, a trial is a coming together of Party (law), parties to a :wikt:dispute, dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence (law), evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to Adjudication, adjudicate claims or d ...

with the

society A society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Socie ...

– the trial: namely the trial and process (alluding to

Franz Kafka Franz Kafka (3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924) was a German-speaking Bohemian novelist and short-story writer, widely regarded as one of the major figures of 20th-century literature. His work fuses elements of realism and the fantastic. It ...

’s The Process/The Trial). The ambiguity of the name accommodates the experimental aspect of the music. In the beginning, M. Strenge was the one who was more sociocritical, αlabay rather wrote emotional or even banal wave/pop lyrics. A special attribute of their work was that the lyrics were not

monolingual Monoglottism (Greek μόνος ''monos'', "alone, solitary", + γλῶττα , "tongue, language") or, more commonly, monolingualism or unilingualism, is the condition of being able to speak only a single language, as opposed to multilingualism. ...

. Besides

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

, they were written in

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

, French and Turkish. Turkish had an extra role due it being rare in alternative music of the period. In 2005/2006 αlabay realized that several things one cannot think or feel in German or English were better expressed in Turkish. As concepts may be more or less translatable, multiple languages provided a tool kit to break free of the constriction of a sole language and cultural way of thinking.

Instruments

The first recordings were made employing every instrument or device that was available, starting with an

acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

and a small

Yamaha Yamaha may refer to: * Yamaha Corporation, a Japanese company with a wide range of products and services, established in 1887. The company is the largest shareholder of Yamaha Motor Company (below). ** Yamaha Music Foundation, an organization estab ...

PSS-401. From 1988 on they used more exotic equipment such as the

Appalachian dulcimer The Appalachian dulcimer (many variant names; see below) is a fretted string instrument of the zither family, typically with three or four strings, originally played in the Appalachian region of the United States. The body extends the length of ...

psaltery A psaltery ( el, ψαλτήρι) (or sawtry, an archaic form) is a fretboard-less box zither (a simple chordophone) and is considered the archetype of the zither and dulcimer; the harp, virginal, harpsichord and clavichord were also inspired by ...

, or

monochord A monochord, also known as sonometer (see below), is an ancient musical and scientific laboratory instrument, involving one (mono-) string ( chord). The term ''monochord'' is sometimes used as the class-name for any musical stringed instrument h ...

. As main instruments,

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 ...

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

, and bass were added. The

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gui ...

had been played occasionally since 1987 but it did not have its typical leading part of

rock music Rock music is a broad genre of popular music that originated as " rock and roll" in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of different styles in the mid-1960s and later, particularly in the United States an ...

until 1989. Years with "normal" rock instrumentation followed, sometimes supported with

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pr ...

. In 2000 an important novelty was introduced: the saz (long-necked

lute A lute ( or ) is any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back enclosing a hollow cavity, usually with a sound hole or opening in the body. It may be either fretted or unfretted. More specifically, the term "lute" can ref ...

) became a leading instrument. Since then, several alienated parts were recorded with it in a way never heard before in

Turkish rock music Anatolian rock ( tr, Anadolu rock), or known as Turkish psychedelic rock, is a fusion of Turkish folk music and rock. It emerged during the mid-1960s, soon after rock groups became popular in Turkey. Most known members of this genre includes Tu ...

. Later on the group started to also use computers, bins, refrigerators and

field recording Field recording is the term used for an audio recording produced outside a recording studio, and the term applies to recordings of both natural and human-produced sounds. It also applies to sound recordings like electromagnetic fields or vibra ...

Discography (excerpts)

* Gift (1988; Trial Communications), MC * Lavenderblue Dream (1988; Trial Communications), MC * The Forgotten Clutch (1988; Waldeck Sound), MC * Temple Of The Bergamotte (1989; Waldeck Sound), MC * You'll Never Fail Until You Stop Trying (1990; Waldeck Sound), MC * Existence (1993; Trial Communications), MC * Public Domain (1996; Trial Communications), MC * Prænatal Postmodern (1998; Zodiakom), 2CDr * Nacht der Illusion (2001; Zodiakom), CDr * Dolunay (2002; Zodiakom), CDr * The Geisterfahrer EP (2003; Zodiakom), CD * Statements & Unanswered Questions (2006; Zodiakom), 2CDr * Lucifer Lux (2006; Zodiakom), 2CDr * Mimarlar (2007; Zodiakom), CDr * Feuerblume (2008; Zodiakom), CDr * Tuz Katedrali (2009; Zodiakom), CDr/MP3 * Köln Oturumu (2011; Zodiakom), CDr/MP3 * Hürriyet (2013; Zodiakom), CDr/MP3 * Postmortem (2013; Zodiakom), MP3 * Esaret (2013; Zodiakom/con-area), MP3 * unlustig (2015; Zodiakom), CDr/MP3

Sampler contributions

* Godfathers Of German Gothic III: Heaven (Asylum 4) (1997; Subterranean/Euro Media), CD * dssg Sampler: 1668 (2001; dssg), CD * dssg Sampler 2: Tinsmith & Crossbow (2003; dssg), CD * freiburgtapesvolume 4: Üç küp (2008; jazzhaus records), CD

Linkages

* The Trial was renamed to New Trial between 1993 and 2003 – this had two reasons: 1993 had to clean the slate and the group wanted to contrast from the nearly homonymous electro-band Trial. In 2003 the old name was readopted. Since 2005 the old and new names have been protected. * αlabay is also a member of unlustig!, a new wave group. * Pfeuti has released two albums with the

hardcore Hardcore, hard core or hard-core may refer to: Arts and media Film * ''Hardcore'' (1977 film), a British comedy film * ''Hardcore'' (1979 film), an American crime drama film starring George C Scott * ''Hardcore'' (2001 film), a British documen ...

-formation Radical Development. He is also member of the band Tumorchester. * mik@ erstwhile played with the

-acts Sheba Wore No Nylons and DL, amongst others. Later on he worked solo in the Industrial sector as The M.M.V.P. * M. Vassallo who had collaborated between 1996 and 2003, is the founder of the dark ambient-project Arbre Noir. * There were and are cooperations and collaborations with different musicians and artists.Former members of Herbstmanøver

References

External links

* http://www.thetrial.de – Official website (German) * http://www.thetrial.eu – Official international internet portal (English/Turkish/German) * http://facebook.thetrial.de/ – Official Facebook profile (English) * http://myspace.thetrial.de/ – Official MySpace profile (English) {{DEFAULTSORT:Trial (band), The Musical groups established in 1985 Musical groups from Berlin German electronic music groups German experimental musical groups German alternative rock groups German new wave musical groups Turkish alternative rock groups Musical groups from Istanbul