Die Krupps (D)
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Long time before Rammstein and Co. DIE KRUPPS set in 1991, with their pioneering album "I", on which was the industrial metal classic "Metal Machine Music", clear benchmarks and – not only in Germany – new standards in electronic music combined with hard rock riffs. The serie of the numbered albums was continued with "II – The Final Option", with other classics like "To The Hilt" and "Fatherland", which helped the next albums "III – Odyssey of the Mind" and "Paradise Now" to enter the European Official Top 20. With this sound DIE KRUPPS paved in Europe once and for all the way for the present in the USA rising and also in Germany increasingly becoming more popular industrial metal bands.
The determining impulse for this musical crossover is due to the collaboration of DIE KRUPPS-founder Jürgen Engler and the trash metal band Accuser from Siegen on "I", which he produced and signed for his metal label ATOM H in the late '80s, and whose drummer now returned, after 2 decades, again back to DIE KRUPPS, to replace live the rhythm machine.
Another important co-fighter during the rock phase of the '90s was Lee Altus, at that time Heathen, today Exodus, who collaborated on the next albums. The heavy guitar sound combined with driving sequencers made DIE KRUPPS the epitome of innovation: it is this mix, which best can be described as Metal Machine Music, that made their music timeless and which is even after 20 years still a guarantee for full dancefloors and energetic live shows.
On the 28th of August 2015 DIE KRUPPS return, with their new release "V – Metal Machine Music", back to their distinctly guitar-based sound. On the new songs the hardness degree is even more increased! Stylistically the circle is completed with the new record, although DIE KRUPPS never before combined so extremely brutal guitars and heavy sequencers with each other. It can be felt during the upcoming shows. The line-up is completed by both DIE KRUPPS maschinists Ralf Dörper (synthesizer) and Marcel Zürcher (guitar), musicians Volker Borchert from Accuser (drums) and Nils Finkeisen (guitar).
(http://www.devilsatwork.de/Die-Krupps)
Mastermind Jürgen Engler ist ein Visionär, der die deutsche Musiklandschaft seit Jahrzehnten nachhaltig prägt. In den späten Siebzigern war er mit seiner Band Male einer der ersten deutschen Punks und nahm Campino mit auf Tour, bevor es Die Toten Hosen überhaupt gab. In den Achtzigern gründete er DIE KRUPPS, die dann mit seinem kongenialen Partner Ralf Dörper - der auch für viele Texte seit "Wahre Arbeit Wahrer Lohn" mitverantwortlich zeichnet - zur Triebfeder der Industrial- und EBM-Bewegung wurden. Als in den Neunzigern auch diese Szene vom Mainstream vereinnahmt wurde, integrierten die Düsseldorfer harte Thrash-Gitarren in ihren Sound und wurden neben Nine Inch Nails und Ministry zum wichtigsten Impulsgeber des Electro-Metal, der auch zahlreiche Bands der Neuen Deutsche Härte inspirierte. Genau diese erfolgreiche Phase (Stichwort: "Fatherland", "To The Hilt") lassen DIE KRUPPS mit dem neuen Werk "V - Metal Machine Music" nun wieder aufleben und knüpfen damit an das damals nicht nummerierte Album "IV - Paradise Now" an, nachdem sie vor weniger als 2 Jahren das eher Electro-Maschinen-lastige Album "The Machinists of Joy" veröffentlichten.