Eisbrecher

Eisbrecher

Eisbrecher performing at Summer Breeze 2007
Background information
Origin Fürstenfeldbruck, Germany
Genres Neue Deutsche Härte
Years active 2003–present
Labels ZYX, Dancing Ferret, AFM, Metropolis, SME, Columbia
Associated acts Megaherz
Unheilig
A Life Divided
Darkhaus
Members Alexx Wesselsky
Noel Pix
Jürgen Plangger
Max "Maximator" Schuar
Achim Färber
Rupert Keplinger
Past members Felix Primc
Michael Behnke
Martin Motnik
Olli Pohl
Rene Greil
Dominik Palmer
Zelt-Musik-Festival 2016 in Freiburg, Germany

Eisbrecher (German pronunciation: [ˈʔaɪsbʁɛçɐ]; German for "icebreaker") are a German Neue Deutsche Härte band that consists primarily of Alexander Wesselsky (vocals) and Noel Pix (lead guitar/programming), with live support from Jürgen Plangger (guitar), Dominik Palmer (bass), Achim Färber (drums). In the United States and Canada, their record label is currently Metropolis Records. The band's lyrics and slogans often include terms of ice and sailing, such as "Ahoi" ("Ahoy") and "Es wird kalt" ("It's getting cold"); vocalist Alexander Wesselsky often wears naval and military clothing in performances.

History

Formation and early years (2003–2009)

After leaving Megaherz in 2003 due to creative differences, Wesselsky got together with Noel Pix, who composed the synths, guitars and programming for Megaherz's albums Kopfschuss and Himmelfahrt. In January 2004, the band released their self-titled debut album, Eisbrecher. The first 5,000 copies of the album included a blank CD with permission for purchasers to legally copy the music onto the blank. This was done as a protest against what the band felt was a "criminalization" of fans.[1]

The band would release their second album Antikörper in October 2006. This album would become the band's debut album on the Media Control Charts as it charted at No. 85. The band then toured with U.D.O. in December 2006.

In 2007, Eisbrecher performed at two major German music festivals, Wave-Gotik-Treffen and Summer Breeze Open Air.

In May 2008, live bass player Martin Motnik left the band, and was replaced by former Megaherz guitar player Olliver Pohl.

"Kann denn Liebe Sünde Sein" was released on July 18, 2008 in Germany as the first single to promote their third album, Sünde. It reached third place in the German Alternative charts. The album was released on August 22, 2008 in Germany and debuted on the Media Control Charts at 18th place.[2] The band then went on their then-biggest tour between September 2008 and October 2009, playing in Germany, Austria, Russia, the Netherlands and Switzerland. Music videos were planned for "This is Deutsch" and "Kann denn Liebe Sünde sein", but were cancelled in favor of new material and live shows.

In early March 2009, the band signed with a new American music label, Metropolis Records, due to Dancing Ferret Discs closing in late 2008.

Eiszeit and Die Hölle muss warten (2009–2013)

On April 24, 2009, Wesselsky and Pix were guests on Radio Goethe to promote the American release of Sünde. Wesselsky mentioned that he would love to tour the United States "as soon as possible". He also mentioned that, with the popularity of Rammstein, Nena and Falco, he hopes that Eisbrecher can become the next big German act in the United States. He also talked about their upcoming fourth album; no title was named, but said that work was in progress. He described that the new album will be "very rockish, very pop and very heart breaking."[3]

On June 20, 2009, Eisbrecher performed at their first major Austrian music festival, the Nova Rock Festival; other bands, such as Killswitch Engage, Monster Magnet and In Extremo also performed on the same stage.

Their fourth studio album, Eiszeit, was released in mid-April 2010. The single "Eiszeit" was released on March 19, 2010 and became their debut single in the Media Control Charts, at No. 84. The album was released on April 16, 2010 and debuted in the Media Control Charts at No. 5, the Ö3 Austria Top 40 charts at No. 34 and the Swiss Music Charts at No. 76.

In August 2010, it was reported that Eisbrecher had signed with Sony Records and Columbia Records.

After the Summer Breeze Open Air festival, bassist Olli Pohl left the band. The band later found a new bass guitar player, Dominik Palmer.

In November 2010, Eisbrecher toured with Alice Cooper and Tarja Turunen during Cooper's "Theatre of Death Tour" of Germany. Eisbrecher's drummer Rene Greil was temporarily replaced during the tour by Sebastian Angrand, as Greil needed back surgery.

On February 26, 2011, it was announced in the Herzeleid.com forums that live drummer Rene has left Eisbrecher due to health reasons. Rene was replaced by Achim Färber. Announced on March 31, 2011, it was reported that Eisbrecher will release a best of album titled Eiskalt due for release on April 29, 2011. However, Alexx said that the album was made without the band's knowledge and that they did not choose any of the songs to appear on the compilation.

Eisbrecher appeared at the Nova Rock Festival in Austria on June 11, 2011, the same day Thirty Seconds To Mars, Hammerfall, In Extremo and Linkin Park performed.

During the Zugspitze concert on November 5, 2011, Eisbrecher performed six brand new songs from the upcoming album titled Die Hölle muss warten.

The first single from the album "Verrückt" was released on January 20, 2012. The album was released on February 3, 2012 and charted in Germany at No. 3, in Austria at No. 21 and Switzerland at No. 16. The second single, "Die Hölle muss warten", was released on March 30, 2012.

Eisbrecher played at many festivals between May and September 2012, including Mera Luna Festival, Amphi Festival, the Wave-Gotik-Treffen Festival and the Nova Rock Festival among others. During May and December 2012, Eisbrecher supported the German rock band Scorpions for their shows on May 12 & 13 and December 15 & 17, 2012 in Germany.

Die Hölle muss warten: Miststück Edition was released with four new songs including "Miststück 2012", a DVD with five live clips and all of the DHMW music videos, a tourdokumentation and more on September 28, 2012.

On the band's official website on March 21, 2013, Rupert Keplinger was announced as the band's new bass player. The reason for Dominik's departure from the band was not mentioned. In August, Eisbrecher performed at Wacken Open Air, the largest metal festival in Germany.

To celebrate the band's first 10 years, Eisbrecher went on a 10th anniversary tour in November and December. During the tour, the band released a Single entitled 10 Jahre Eisbrecher on November 29, 2013.

Zehn Jahre Kalt & Schock (2014–2016)

On February 12, 2014 Eisbrecher announced on their official Website page that they have entered the studio to begin work on their next album. They have mentioned that due to the recording of the new album this year for an early 2015 release, that they have had to limit the amount of shows to play in 2014.

Announced via the band's official website on March 6, 2014, Eisbrecher will be releasing a special album entitled Zehn Jahre Kalt on March 11, 2014, made only available in the USA. The album was released via Metropolis Records.

The band announced on October 13, 2014, the release date for the new album will be January 16, 2015.[4] A month later however, it was announced that the release date for Schock had been pushed back a week to January 23, 2015.

The album artwork and title, "Schock", was revealed on October 18, 2014.

The first single, "Zwischen Uns", from the upcoming album, Schock, became available via digital download on November 28, 2014. The second single, "1000 Narben/Zwischen Uns", was released on January 9, 2015.

Revealed via the band's website on June 9, 2015 their upcoming DVD, which was filmed at Circus Krone, will be released as a Live CD and DVD in September 2015. The live CD/DVD was later revealed to be titled Schock Live and will have a release date of September 25, 2015. The 3rd single from Schock is Rot Wie Die Liebe and was released on June 12, 2015.

Schock Live was released on September 25th, 2015 and charted in the Top 10 DVD charts in both Austria and Switzerland at #7. Eisbrecher's album Die Hölle Muss Warten achieved Gold status after selling more than 100,000 copies across Germany as of January 23rd, 2016.

A 4th single, Volle Kraft Voraus, became available during the Volle Kraft Voraus 2016 Tour in March. Eisbrecher will also release a Tour edition of the Die Hölle Muss Warten album during the tour, and will feature a new song called Wir Sind Gold (Eng: We Are Gold), in celebration of Die Hölle Muss Warten attaining "Gold". Schock earned the band their second "Gold" album as of April 11th, 2016.

Eisbrecher are scheduled to perform a string of festivals between April and August, 2016. These festival appearances incl. Rock In Vienna, Greenfield Festival, Graspop Metal Meeting, Mera Luna Festival and Summer Breeze Open Air among others.

Sturmfahrt (2016-Present)

Announced on October 5th, 2016 via Facebook, Eisbrecher will release their 7th Studio album Sturmfahrt in Autumn of 2017. The release will be followed by a European tour in September and October, 2017.

Members

Former members

Touring members

Discography

Albums

Year Title Chart positions Certifications
(sales thresholds)
GER100 DAC GER AUT SWI World
2004 Eisbrecher - 13 - - - -
2006 Antikörper - 10 85 - - -
2008 Sünde - 1 18 - - -
2010 Eiszeit - - 5 34 76 16
2012 Die Hölle muss warten 92 - 3 21 16 5 BVMI: Gold
2015 Schock 52 - 2 11 16 - BVMI: Gold

DVDs

Other CDs

Singles

Year Title Peak chart positions Album
DAC GER
2003 "Mein Blut" - - Eisbrecher
"Fanatica" - -
2006 "Leider" 9 - Antikörper
"Vergissmeinnicht" 15 -
2008 "Kann denn Liebe Sünde Sein" 3 - Sünde
2010 "Eiszeit" - 84 Eiszeit
2012 "Verrückt" 1 43 Die Hölle muss warten
"Die Hölle muss warten" - -
"Miststück 2012" 13 -
"Prototyp" 1 -
2013 "10 Jahre Eisbrecher" - - Non Album Release
2014 "Zwischen Uns" 1 - Schock
2015 "1000 Narben" 2 -
"Rot Wie Die Liebe" 12 -
2016 "Volle Kraft Voraus"

Music videos

Other appearances

References

  1. ↑ "Musik-CD mit Kopieranreiz | heise online". Heise.de. 2014-11-20. Retrieved 2015-08-11.
  2. ↑ "Die ganze Musik im Internet: Charts". musicline.de. Retrieved 2015-08-11.
  3. ↑ "Radio Goethe". Radio Goethe. Retrieved 2015-08-11.
  4. ↑ "Neues Album "SCHOCK" Erscheint Am 16.01.2015". Eis-brecher.com. October 13, 2014. Retrieved October 21, 2014.
  5. ↑ "Various - Asleep By Dawn Issue Two (CD)". Discogs.com. Retrieved 2015-08-11.
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