Darkside

Death Metal - Austria

DARKSIDE goes back to 1991 when the band, initially a project, was formed by Peter Böhm (bass) and Robert Grögler (drums). Later joined by Peter Durst (guitars, vocals), they recorded their 1st demo entitled “Depression” which spewed forth a powerful Death Metal sound. However feeling the demo missed an atmospheric touch, Wolfgang Süssenbeck was added and along with him came the addition of keyboards to the Darkside entity. For their second demo Herbst, Peter concentrated on singing, with Herbert Knöchel taking on the guitar duties. Herbst was the first indication to the direction in which the band was heading. Darkside then embarked on their first tour opening for the likes of Krabathor and Sacabbard. Which established Darkside quite a fanbase in the Czech republic.

Before signing to Impact Records, the Austrian band released their first album Melancholia of a Dying World (1994) independently, and contained 12 songs of breathtakly melodic yet melancholic female vocals, which was re-released by the label with different artwork and packaging. While the first album received great critical reviews, they were even better for their second. Shadowfields (1997) got 8,5 out of 10 in Rock Hard and 89 out of 100 in Aardschok, among other overwhelming praise. In the meantime DARKSIDE supported many well-known acts such as THERION, SIX FEET UNDER and BAL-SAGOTH.

In April 1998 DARKSIDE recorded Evolution in the Hazienda Studio of Milos “Dodo” Dolezal for NSM Records. Jan Nemec (RUNNING WILD, X-WILD, CELTIC FROST) mastered the release. To support the third album, the video clip for The Gloming was shot under the direction of David Beranek. Beside that, DARKSIDE once again had the great opportunity to tour with MOONSPELL and THERION, playing 46 shows in 16 countries. The preparations for the fourth DARKSIDE album havent gone without any troubles. Robert Grögler and Peter left the band, while the producer wasnt satisfied with the new material or the performance of the new drummer (Bernd Pichlbauer), which left the band without a new recording. However, all came around, when new material was written (only part of the previously written songs were kept), and a new guitarist was found in Vlastimil Koritar. Cognitive Dissonance was then recorded with Peter handling the bass and vocal duties. But during the live shows he felt he couldnt perform both duties as well as he had liked, which lead to Wolfgang (keyboards) taking over the vocals. Cognitive Dissonance was actually re-recorded with him on vocals! In the meantime, the band recruited a second guitarist, Radek Hajda (of Czech Grammy Winners SILENT STREAM OF GODLESS ELEGY). DARKSIDE had changed style without ignoring their roots. The signs are now set…