Dark Fortress

成軍于1994年的Melodic Black Metal亡靈軍團(tuán)Dark Fortress，來(lái)自以旋律/速度而盛名的金屬王朝–&德國(guó)&；但他們豪不理會(huì)主流市場(chǎng)之運(yùn)作，以陰森氣氛營(yíng)造出一首首冰冷詭譎的邪惡之作，建立起一掛極端死忠信徒，登上Summer Breeze Open Air和Kaltenbach Open Air等重金屬音樂(lè)祭典；更受到大廠欽點(diǎn)招攬，將Dark Fortress送上國(guó)際舞臺(tái)，打造出德意志黑金屬指標(biāo)。
 
由主腦Asvargyr為首的Dark Fortress，96/97年分別自制Demo、Split開(kāi)始在地下黑金屬樂(lè)壇間廣為流傳；隨即加入獨(dú)立廠牌Red Stream，發(fā)表「Tales from Eternal Dusk」以及「Profane Genocidal Creations」兩張作品，對(duì)于Dark Fortress那毫無(wú)人性的血腥作風(fēng)，無(wú)疑是給了養(yǎng)慣順耳旋律的德國(guó)民眾一記當(dāng)頭棒喝！04年轉(zhuǎn)入Black Attakk旗下推出封面由知名異類藝術(shù)家Travis Smith操刀的「Stab Wounds」；雖團(tuán)員更動(dòng)頻繁，主要還是以Asvargyr以及01年入團(tuán)的V. Santura為創(chuàng)作中心。
 
現(xiàn)在，Dark Fortress帶來(lái)入主Century Media的第二作、也是樂(lè)團(tuán)第五張的正式專輯「Eidolon」重返人間，繼續(xù)襲擊毫無(wú)防備的愚蠢人類。知名金屬雜志Metal hammer奉上７/10高度評(píng)鑒！開(kāi)場(chǎng)的&The Silver Gate&引領(lǐng)出毛骨悚然之低靡氣壓，隨即爆出高速雙踏、猛烈吉他刷扣，新主唱Morean齜牙列嘴的嘶吼把人推進(jìn)無(wú)窮無(wú)盡的黑暗深淵中；&Cohorror&就像出地獄、手持鞭莿的惡魔不斷瘋狂往人們身上抽打；&Baphomet&有著B(niǎo)lack/Doom名團(tuán)Celtic Frost的主唱Tom Gabriel Fischer參與屠殺；&Analepsy&摧毀一切事物的既定認(rèn)知合理性；明朗鼓點(diǎn)，扭曲吉他導(dǎo)入的&Edge of Night&為專輯內(nèi)唯一旋律較明朗的歌曲，你以為痛楚結(jié)束了嗎？不，&No Longer Human&將再度燃燒你的皮膚，吞食你的靈魂…
 
In Germany, there have been two different metal bands called Dark Fortress. One of them was an '80s-influenced power metal band that was formed in Riedstadt in 1998 and recorded an album titled Light and Darkness in 2000; after that band's breakup a few years later, three of its ex-members -- singer/bassist Torsten Thassilo Herbert and guitarists Thorsten Brand and Matthias Bludau -- went on to form the power metal band Dragonsfire in 2005. But there is also a black metal band from Landshut with the name Dark Fortress; the better known of the two groups, this Dark Fortress formed four years before the Riedstadt-based power metal band and they were still going strong after that band called it quits. Landshut's Dark Fortress (not to be confused with Dark Suns or the Swedish black metal band Dark Funeral) were formed in 1994, when guitarist Asvargr (the band's founder/leader) joined forces with lead singer Matthias Jell, aka Azathoth, bassist Njord, and drummer Charon. After rehearsing some material in 1994 and 1995, Dark Fortress recorded their first demo, Rebirth of the Dark Age, in 1996 -- and the following year, Asvargr added keyboardist Thamuz to the lineup and hired a second guitarist: Crom. It was also in 1997 that Dark Fortress started to perform live, replaced Njord with bassist Alex Stütz, aka Zoltan, and recorded a split CD titled Towards Immortality with the German black metal band Barad Dür; that disc was released by a small independent label called Fog of the Apocalypse Records.
 
Dark Fortress planned to start recording an album in 1998, the year in which Thamuz was replaced by keyboardist Paymon. But things did not work out as planned, and not until 2001 did Dark Fortress finally record their first full-length album, Tales from Eternal Dusk. The early 2000s found Dark Fortress experiencing some more lineup changes; Zoltan and Charon both left in 2000, and Crom took off in 2001 (Zoltan went on to join Seraph of Pestilence, originally known as Cremation, and Crom went on to join the black metal band Sindecade). Dark Fortress' early-2000s arrivals included V. Santura (who has also been with Celtic Frost, Noneuclid, and the Shroud) on guitar, Draug on bass, and Seraph (an ex-member of the Shroud) on drums. In 2003, Dark Fortress recorded their second full-length album, Stab Wounds, which was released on the small Black Attakk label and was followed by their third full-length album, Seance, in 2006. The following year, Azathoth parted company with Dark Fortress after 13 years with the band, and his departure made founder Asvargr the only remaining original member. Azathoth was replaced by singer Morean (founder of Noneuclid) and was featured on Dark Fortress' first post-Azathoth album, Eidolon, which Century Media released in the United States in 2008.