Atrocity is a German heavy metal band from

Ludwigsburg Ludwigsburg (; Swabian: ''Ludisburg'') is a city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, about north of Stuttgart city centre, near the river Neckar. It is the largest and primary city of the Ludwigsburg district with about 88,000 inhabitants. It is ...

that formed in 1985.

History

First started in 1985 as Instigators and playing

grindcore Grindcore is an extreme fusion genre of heavy metal and hardcore punk that originated in the mid-1980s, drawing inspiration from abrasive-sounding musical styles, such as thrashcore, crust punk, hardcore punk, extreme metal, and industrial. G ...

, Atrocity arose as 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 with their debut EP, ''Blue Blood'', in 1989, followed soon by ''

Hallucinations A hallucination is a perception in the absence of an external stimulus that has the qualities of a real perception. Hallucinations are vivid, substantial, and are perceived to be located in external objective space. Hallucination is a combinatio ...

'', 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 ...

about drug use. Their second album, ''

Todessehnsucht ''Todessehnsucht'' is the second studio album by the heavy metal band Atrocity. It was released in 1992. At the time the band still played death metal with a technical edge. History The album was released in some countries with the title ''Longin ...

'' ("longing for death"), ventured into death metal classics with a cover of "Archangel" by the band

Death Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...

. Their musical scope broadened over the years, incorporating medieval and horror influences on their 1994

Dracula ''Dracula'' is a novel by Bram Stoker, published in 1897. As an epistolary novel, the narrative is related through letters, diary entries, and newspaper articles. It has no single protagonist, but opens with solicitor Jonathan Harker taking ...

-based concept album ''Atrocity's Blut'', (styled after the successful film '' Bram Stoker's Dracula''). ''Atrocity's Blut'' was followed by ''Calling the Rain'', an MCD with female vocals by guest singer Yasmin Krull and acoustic music. The 1996 release ''Willenskraft'' introduced industrial elements, with the special bonus CD of the album's special edition (''Kraft und Wille'') including electronic remixes of the songs. The later releases were less and less metallic; ''

Werk 80 ''Werk 80'' is the fifth full-length album by German industrial gothic metal band Atrocity and was released in 1997. It's the band's first full-length album with cover versions of popular 1980s songs. Atrocity released a sequel, ''Werk 80 II'', in ...

'' featured versions of 1980s disco hits and the band had no apparent direction for the following few years. Unusual MCD releases and experimental songs like "

Lili Marlene "Lili Marleen" (also spelled "Lili Marlen'", "Lilli Marlene", "Lily Marlene", "Lili Marlène" among others; ) is a German love song that became popular during World War II throughout Europe and the Mediterranean among both Axis and Allied troop ...

" covers (featured on ''Gemini'') estranged many of their original metal fans. After 2000, nothing had been heard from Atrocity and seemed to have disbanded. However, they returned after four years with a new concept album, ''Atlantis'', centered on the

myths Myth is a folklore genre consisting of Narrative, narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or Origin myth, origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not Objectivity (philosophy), ...

of the sunken continent of

Atlantis Atlantis ( grc, Ἀτλαντὶς νῆσος, , island of Atlas (mythology), Atlas) is a fictional island mentioned in an allegory on the hubris of nations in Plato's works ''Timaeus (dialogue), Timaeus'' and ''Critias (dialogue), Critias'' ...

. The album also features the vocals of Alexander's wife, Liv-Kristine Espanaes Krull (formerly in

Theatre of Tragedy Theatre of Tragedy was a Norwegian band from Stavanger, active between 1993 and 2010. They are best known for their earlier albums, which influenced the gothic metal genre. History Formation (1993) Theatre of Tragedy was founded on 2 October 19 ...

). The band members also formed the atmospheric metal band

Leaves' Eyes Leaves' Eyes is a symphonic metal band from Germany and Norway. They were formed in 2003 by Liv Kristine, formerly the lead singer of Theatre of Tragedy, and the entire line-up of Atrocity. To date, the band has released eight studio albums, a s ...

, which features Liv Kristine as lead singer. The release of the eleventh album ''After the Storm'' in 2010 started a new era for the band in the ethno metal genre. Yasmin Krull returned a second time as guest singer and instrumentalist for the project. On 11 November 2007, Atrocity announced that bassist Chris Lukhaup was leaving the band for personal reasons and that drummer Moritz Neuner was taking another turn in his working career.

Seven Antonopolous Chris Antonopoulos (born on 7 November 1973 in Dallas, Texas) is an American rock drummer, most notable for his tenure in Opiate for the Masses. Career Antonopoulos joined Phoenix/Los Angeles hard rock band Opiate for the Masses as a drummer in ...

was named as the new drummer in late October 2008.

Members

Current members

Alexander Krull Alexander Krull (born 31 July 1970) is a German musician who is the lead vocalist for metal band Atrocity, as well as backing vocalist in the band Leaves' Eyes. Biography Krull was born in Ludwigsburg, where he formed Atrocity in 1985. He has ...

– vocals, keyboards, samples (1985–present) *Joris Nijenhuis – drums (2012–present) *Micki Richter - guitars (2019-present) *Andrea Nasso - bass (2021-present)

Former members

*René Tometschek – bass (1985–1988) *Gernot Winkler – drums (1985–1988) *Mathias Röderer – guitars (1985–2010) *Frank Knodel – guitars (1985–1988) *Oliver Klasen – bass (1988–1993) *Michael Schwarz – drums (1988–1999) *Richard Scharf – guitars (1988–1994) *Markus Knapp – bass (1994–1995) *Christian Lukhaup – bass (1995–2007) *Martin Schmidt – drums (1999–2005) *Moritz Neuner – drums (2005–2008) *

Alla Fedynitch Alla Fedynitch (born 18 June 1979) is a German bassist. She currently plays in Eyes of Eden and Neon Sunrise. She was a member of Leaves' Eyes, touring member of Disillusion and also played previously live with Pain. Discography *Leaves' Eyes ...

– bass (2008–2010) *

Seven Antonopoulos Chris Antonopoulos (born on 7 November 1973 in Dallas, Texas) is an American rock drummer, most notable for his tenure in Opiate for the Masses. Career Antonopoulos joined Phoenix/Los Angeles hard rock band Opiate for the Masses as a drummer in ...

– drums (2008–2010) *

Nicholas Barker Nicholas Howard Barker (born 1973) is an English extreme metal drummer best known as for his work in Cradle of Filth and Dimmu Borgir. Currently he is the drummer for Brujeria and Shining. Biography Barker was born on 25 April 1973. He join ...

– drums (2008) *JB van der Wal – bass (2010–2013) *Roland Navratil – drums (2010–2012) *Sander van der Meer – guitars (2010–2015) *Pete Streit – guitars (2015–2019) *Thorsten Bauer – guitars (1994–2021), bass (2013–2021)

Timeline

Discography

Studio albums

* 1990: ''

'' * 1992: ''

'' * 1994: ''Blut'' * 1996: ''Willenskraft'' * 2000: ''Gemini'' * 2004: ''Atlantis'' * 2010: ''After the Storm'' * 2013: ''

Okkult ''Okkult'' is the eighth studio album by the heavy metal band Atrocity. It was released in 2013 on Napalm Records. With this album, the band returned to a death-metal sound, but also incorporated a symphonic metal edge. Track listing # "Pandae ...

'' * 2018: ''Okkult II'' * 2023: ''Okkult III''

Compilations

* 1995: ''Calling the Rain'' (acoustic album) * 1995: ''Die Liebe'' (collaboration album) * 1996: ''Kraft & Wille'' (video collection & ''The Hunt'' EP) * 1997: ''

'' (cover album) * 1999: '' Non Plus Ultra: 1989–1999'' (best-of) * 2008: ''

Werk 80 II ''Werk 80 II'' is the eighth full-length album by German industrial gothic metal band Atrocity, released on February 29, 2008 and their 2nd full-length cover album after the original ''Werk 80'' album released in 1997. Burlesque artist Dita Von T ...

'' (cover album)

DVD

*2012: ''Die Gottlosen Jahre''

Demos

* 1988: ''Instigators'' * 1993: ''Promo '93''

EPs

* 1996: ''The Hunt'' * 1996: ''The Definition of Kraft and Wille'' * 2017: ''Masters of Darkness'' * 2019: ''Spell of Blood''

Music videos

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Atrocity 1985 establishments in West Germany German death metal musical groups German heavy metal musical groups German gothic metal musical groups Massacre Records artists Musical groups established in 1985 Napalm Records artists Nuclear Blast artists Roadrunner Records artists