Crematory (band) explained

Crematory
Landscape:	yes
Origin:	Westhofen, Germany
Associated Acts:	Mystic Circle
Current Members:	Gerhard "Felix" Stass Markus Jüllich Katrin Jüllich Rolf Munkes Patrick Schmid
Past Members:	Lothar "Lotte" Först Marc Zimmer Heinz Steinhauser Harald Heine Matthias Hechler Tosse Basler Jason Mathias Connie Andreszka

Crematory is a German gothic metal band formed in Mannheim, Baden-Württemberg in 1991.^[1]

History

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.

Line-up

Current members

• Gerhard "Felix" Stass – lead vocals (1991–present)
• Markus Jüllich – drums, programming (1991–present)
• Katrin Jüllich – keyboards, samples (1992–present)
• Rolf Munkes – lead guitar (2015–present)
• Patrick Schmid – bass (2021–present)

Former members

• Marc Zimmer – bass, backing vocals (1991–1992)
• Lothar "Lotte" Först – guitars, backing vocals (1991–1998)
• Harald Heine – bass, backing vocals (1993–2016)
• Heinz Steinhauser – bass, backing vocals (1993; died 2021)
• Matthias Hechler – guitars, clean vocals (1998–2015)
• Tosse Basler – guitars, clean vocals (2015–2018)
• Jason Mathias – bass (2016–2021)
• Connie "Conner" Andreszka – guitars, clean vocals (2018–2021)

Timeline

Discography

Demos

• Crematory (1992)

Studio albums

• Transmigration (1993)
• ...Just Dreaming (1994)
• Illusions (1995)
• Crematory (1996)
• Awake (1997)
• Act Seven (1999)
• Believe (2000)
• Revolution (2004)
• Klagebilder (2006)
• Pray (2008)
• Infinity (2010)
• Antiserum (2014)
• Monument (2016)
• Oblivion (2018)
• Unbroken (2020)
• Inglorious Darkness (2022)

Live albums

• Live... at the Out of the Dark Festivals (1997)
• Live Revolution (2005)
• Live in Wacken (2008)
• Black Pearls (2010)
• Live at W.O.A (2014)
• Live Insurrection ' ' (2017)
• Live At Wacken (2022)

Singles and EPs

• Ist es wahr (1996)
• Fly (1999)
• Greed (2004)
• Shadowmaker (2013)
• The Downfall (2020)

Compilation albums

• Early Years (1999)
• Remind (2001)
• Black Pearls (2010)
• Inception (2013)

Notes and References

1. Web site: Crematory - Encyclopaedia Metallum: The Metal Archives . 2023-11-30 . www.metal-archives.com.
2. Web site: Artists: CREMATORY. MusicMight. 25 August 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20160118103806/http://www.musicmight.com/artist/germany/mannheim/crematory1. 18 January 2016. dead.
3. Web site: archived link. https://web.archive.org/web/20060118014513/http://www.rockul.info/band_crematory_en.php. dead. 18 January 2006. 24 January 2007.
4. Web site: CREMATORY Signs With SPV/STEAMHAMMER . . 3 September 2013 . 26 January 2020.
5. Web site: Crematory.de News . Crematory Official Website . 8 May 2019 . 26 January 2020.
6. Web site: CREMATORY: 'Unbroken' Album Details Revealed . . 9 January 2020 . 26 January 2020.