The band received its earliest recognition in the mid-1990s by touring with
My Dying Bride,
Tiamat and
Atrocity.[2] Much like the latter two groups, the band had begun as traditional death metal, then evolved in an
industrial music and gothic metal musical direction on later albums. The band received heavy rotation on MTV Germany,[3] and made appearances at various
extreme metal festivals, including Germany's Wacken Open Air in 1996, 1998, 1999, 2001 and 2008, in addition to inclusion on
Nuclear Blast compilation samplers.
The band re-signed to
Massacre Records in 2006 after a 10-year stint with Nuclear Blast; Massacre had been the band's first label. In 2013 they signed with
Steamhammer/SPV[4] to release their next album, Antiserum. In 2019 they moved to
Napalm Records,[5] and their 15th studio album, Unbroken, was released under their label, on 6 March 2020.[6]
Active for 30 years (with a brief split between 2001 and 2003) they are among Europe's longest-running gothic metal bands.[2]
Line-up
Current members
Gerhard "Felix" Stass –
lead vocals (1991–present)