Megaherz

Megaherz (German name meaning "Mega-heart", a pun on the homophone "megahertz") is a German Neue Deutsche Härte band formed in Eichenau in 1993¹. Megaherz has gone through many changes in musical style since their founding. Their early works can be categorized as dark alternative metal, comparable to 1990s American bands such as Faith No More, whereas recent works are comparable to bands such as Oomph! and Rammstein. Their early albums all include at least one song based on a classic German fairy tale, including "Hänschen klein" ("Little Hans") on Herzwerk, "Rapunzel" on Kopfschuss, "Windkind" ("Wind Child") on Himmelfahrt, and "I.M Rumpelstilzchen" on Herzwerk II. The band has had many changes in line-up since its formation in 1993. Guitarist Christian Bystron and bassist Wenz Weninger have been the band's only consistent members since 1995. Since vocalist Alexander Wesselsky's departure in 2003, no founding member has remained in the band.

Megaherz (German name meaning "Mega-heart", a pun on the homophone "megahertz") is a German Neue Deutsche Härte band formed in Eichenau in 1993. Megaherz has gone through many changes in musical style since their founding. Their early works can be categorized as dark alternative metal, comparable to 1990s American bands such as Faith No More, whereas recent works are comparable to bands such as Oomph! and Rammstein. Their early albums all include at least one song based on a classic German fairy tale, including "Hänschen klein" ("Little Hans") on Herzwerk, "Rapunzel" on Kopfschuss, "Windkind" ("Wind Child") on Himmelfahrt, and "I.M Rumpelstilzchen" on Herzwerk II. The band has had many changes in line-up since its formation in 1993. Guitarist Christian Bystron and bassist Wenz Weninger have been the band's only consistent members since 1995. Since vocalist Alexander Wesselsky's departure in 2003, no founding member has remained in the band.

History

The search for a lead singer (2003–2007)

In April 2003, the remaining members announced the new singer, Mathias "Jablonski" Elsholz of the band Twelve After Elf. Elsholz was already familiar to the band's fans, as his vocals had been briefly featured on the track "Falsche Götter" from the album Himmelfahrt. By June 2004, a new album was under way. A new song was soon released with a small Macromedia Flash animation, substantiating the rumors of a new singer. This song was later revealed to be "Zeig' mir dein Gesicht" from the album 5, which was released on 6 December 2004. On 23 September 2005, the rest of the tours for the year were cancelled, as Elsholz left in "total surprise" to the band. The reason was not given on the Megaherz homepage, but, in the Eisbrecher forums. Elsholz announced that he and his wife were expecting twins, and he wished to devote more time to his soon-to-be family. 5 was released in the US via Eclipse Records on 21 February 2006. On 18 April 2007, it was confirmed on Megaherz's official website that the band found a new singer and was working on their sixth record. It was also stated that the band would tour while recording their new album.

Götterdämmerung, Zombieland and Erdwärts (2010–2017)

By 22 December 2010, Megaherz were back in the studio working on their seventh album. On 18 April 2011, they announced that Christoph Klinke from 'From Constant Visions' was the band's new rhythm guitarist, replacing Roland Vencelj. Announced on their official website on 24 May 2011, Megaherz was scheduled to release their new album on 14 October 2011, but by 20 August, it was announced that the release date for the new album has been moved to early December. Afterwards, an announcement on the band's website on 22 September 2011 stated: "In coordination with our record company, GoldenCore Records/ZYX Music, we decided to postpone the release of our new album finally to January 20th, 2012". Megaherz would also mention that the new album will feature 11 songs, and that one of the new songs will become available for download in October 2011. Megaherz went on tour with Subway to Sally and Letzte Instanz in December 2011 before embarking on their own national tour in early 2012 to promote the new album. The first single, "Jagdzeit", was released on 23 December 2011. The new album, Götterdämmerung, was released on 20 January 2012, and hit the German Media Control Charts at No. 19. Megaherz played at Wacken Open Air festival on 2 August, as well as Mera Luna Festival on 11 August 2012. Megaherz released their first concert DVD on 16 November 2012, titled Götterdämmerung: Wacken Live. The song "Gegen den Wind" was released on 25 January 2013 as the second single to the band's album Götterdämmerung. The band announced on their official website on 20 January 2014 that they were working on a new album. By the end of February, the band announced that they had signed with a new record company, Napalm Records. The new album, Zombieland, was released on 24 October 2014 and would chart in the Media Control Charts at No. 17. Megaherz then went on a tour with Unheilig, as support for their Gipfelstürmer Open Air Tour, between June and September 2015. Megaherz would then release a new EP titled Erdwärts on 4 December 2015, followed by a tour across Russia, Germany, Austria, and Switzerland between December 2015 and April 2016. The EP consists of four new songs and two re-recorded tracks ("Jordan" and "Teufel"), both songs previously released on the band's 1998¹ album Kopfschuss. Megaherz once again went on tour with Unheilig between May and July 2016 as a supporting act during Unheilig's Ein Letzte Mal Tournee. Though Megaherz did not play any support shows for Unheilig in August, Megaherz was one of four supporting acts for the tour finale at RheinEnergieStadion on 10 September 2016. Megaherz then embarked on the second leg of the Erdwärts Club Tour between November 2016 and January 2017.

Musical style

Megaherz primarily plays a style of Neue Deutsche Härte, a subgenre of industrial metal, which incorporates elements of groove metal, techno, and German rock. Megaherz makes use of clean and deep male vocals, heavy riffs, samples, keyboard, and synthesizer effects. During the early days of the band, Megaherz played an alternative metal style in the vein of Faith No More. Their albums Wer bist du? and Kopfschuss took on a rap metal and funk metal style, which included slap bass riffs and rapping.

Members

File:Megaherz With Full Force 2018 12.jpg|Alexander Wohnhaas File:Megaherz With Full Force 2018 14.jpg|Christian Bystron File:Megaherz With Full Force 2018 08.jpg|Wenz Weniger (left) File:Megaherz With Full Force 2018 04.jpg|Christoph Klinke File:Megaherz With Full Force 2018 10.jpg|Tobias Derer

Former members

Alexander "Alexx" Wesselsky – vocals (1993–2003) Mathias "Jablonski" Elsholz – vocals (2003–2005) Jochen "Noel Pix" Seibert – guitar, keyboards, programming (1998–2001) Christian Scharinger – keyboards, programming (1995–1997) Josef Kalleder – bass (1993–1995) Roland Vencelj – guitar (2007–2011) Oliver Pohl – guitar (2002–2003) Marc Bredtmann – guitar (1993–1995) Rolf Herring – drums (2018–2021) Tobias Derer – drums (2018) Jürgen "Bam Bam" Wiehler – drums (2007–2018) Jürgen Zink – drums (2003–2007) Jürgen Schlachter – drums (2002–2003) Frank Gegerle – drums (1998–2001, touring 2005) Tommy Eberhard – drums (1997–1998) Tobias Trinkl – drums (1993–1995)

Timeline

Discography

Remix albums

2010: Loblieder

Singles

1997: "Gott sein" 1998: "Rock Me Amadeus" 1998: "Liebestöter" 1999: "Freiflug" 2000: "Himmelfahrt" 2002: "Herzblut" 2004: "Gott sein '04" (non-physical release) 2004: "Dein Herz schlägt" (non-physical release) 2008: "Mann von Welt" 2011: "Jagdzeit" 2013: "Gegen den Wind" 2014: "Wir könnten Götter sein" 2017: "Vorhang auf" 2018: "Komet" 2018: "Von oben" 2023: "Alles Arschlöcher" 2023: "Engelsgesicht" 2023: "In Teufels Namen"

EPs

2007: Freiflug EP: The Early Years (1996–2000) 2008: Mann von Welt 2008: Heuchler 2011: Jagdzeit 2015: Erdwärts

Compilation albums

2001: Querschnitt 2009: Totgesagte leben länger

Music videos

1999: "Freiflug" 2011: "Jagdzeit" 2013: "Herz aus Gold" 2014: "Himmelsstürmer" 2014: "Für immer" 2016: "Einsam" 2017: "Vorhang auf!" 2018: "Komet" 2018: "Nicht genug" 2023: "Alles Arschlöcher" 2023: "Engelsgesicht"

References

External links

Official English website (web archive) Official German website

Text derived from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1368385254 under CC BY-SA 4.0; modifications have been made.