Megaherz

Megaherz (English "Mega-heart", a pun on the homophone "megahertz") is an industrial metal group formed in Munich, Germany in 1993. One of the band's most famous songs is "Gott sein" ("To be God") on their first full album Wer Bist Du? ("Who Are You?"). Megaherz has gone through many changes in musical style since their founding. Their early works are a fairly 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 "Rapunzel" on Kopfschuss, "Windkind" ("Wind child") on Himmelfahrt and "I.M Rumpelstilzchen" on Herzwerk II.

The band has changed line-ups since its formation in 1993, usually changing guitarists and drummers. Guitarist Christian Bystron and bassist Wenz Weninger have been the band's only consistent members since 1997.

History

With Alexx Wesselsky (1993-2003)

Megaherz began as a musical project of Alexx Wesselsky. The band was essentially unformed until 1993, when Christian "X-ti" Bystron and Wenz Weninger joined the band.

After Noel Pix joined the band as a keyboarder, their music started to show more of an industrial influence. The first example of the band's step towards industrial metal was their third album, Kopfschuss ("Headshot"), released in 1998. The single "Freiflug" was released in 1999 to promote Kopfschuss; the single became their most successful single to date, as it peaked on the Deutsche Alternative Charts at No. 7.

This album was followed by Himmelfahrt, which was released in 2000 and become their debut album on the Media Control Charts, peaking at No. 78. Herzwerk II, released in 2002, also peaked at No. 78 on the German charts. In October 2002, vocalist Alexx Wesselsky announced that he would be leaving the band due to creative differences, but he would finish the 2002 tour.

With Mathias Elsholz (2003-2006)

Wesselsky officially left the band on January 1, 2003 and later formed the group Eisbrecher with another former member, Noel Pix.

In April 2003, the remaining members announced the new singer: Mathias "Jablonski" Elsholz of the band Twelve after Elf. Elsholz was already familiar to 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 September 23, 2005, the rest of the tours for the year were cancelled, as Elsholz left in a "total surprise" to the band. The reason was not given on the Megaherz homepage, but, in the Eisbrecher forums, Elsholz announced he and his wife were expecting twins, and he wished to devote more time to his soon-to-be family.^[1] 5 was released in the USA by Eclipse Records on February 21, 2006.

With Lex Wohnhaas (2007-Present)

On April 18, 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.^[2]

By August 18, 2007, the band's new line-up was announced and the website relaunched. Lex Wohnhaas, from the band Seelenbrand, was announced as the new singer and Jürgen "Bam Bam" Wiehler, from the band Bonfire, replacing Jürgen Zink. Lex previously played for Megaherz during a concert in Moscow just after Elsholz left.

The new album, Heuchler, was released in July 2008. After its release, the new album reached position No. 31 in German Album Charts. The band played at the Summer Breeze Open Air festival in August 2008, and continued touring in 2009, playing at the Wave-Gotik-Treffen festival.

A compilation album was released in early March 2009 titled Totgesagte Leben Länger ("Those declared dead live longer", a line from "Dein Herz Schlägt" from the album 5^[3]).

The band released their first remix album, Loblieder, on April 1, 2010, featuring remixes by artists such as Die Krupps, Suicide Commando, Rotersand, Letzte Instanz and Staubkind.

Announced on the official website on December 22, 2010 Megaherz are in the studio working on their seventh album. Megaherz went on tour with Subway to Sally and Letzte Instanz in December, 2011 before embarking on their own national tour in early 2012.

On April 28, 2011 Megaherz announced that Christoph "Chris" Klinke, from "From Constant Visions", was the bands new Rhythm Guitarist.

Announced on their official website on May 24, 2011 Megaherz will release their new album on October 14, 2011, But on August 20, 2011 it was announced that the release date for the new album has been moved to early December. It was then announced on their official website on September 22, 2011, that "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."[2]. 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.

The first single Jagdzeit (Hunting Season) was released on December 23, 2011. The new album now titled Götterdämmerung (Twilight of the Gods) was released on January 20, 2012 and hit the Media Control Charts at No. 19, the highest entry of any Megaherz album to date.

Megaherz played at the Wacken Open Air festival on August 2 as well as the Mera Luna Festival on August 11, 2012.

Megaherz will release their first concert DVD on November 16, 2012 titled "Götterdämmerung: Wacken Live".

Gegen Den Wind was released on January 25th, 2013 as the second single to the bands album Götterdämmerung.

Musical style

Megaherz primarily plays a style of Neue Deutsche Harte, a sub-genre of industrial metal which takes 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 which was similar to Faith No More. In their albums Wer Bist Du and Kopfschuss, took on a rap metal and funk metal style, which included slap bass riffs and rapping.

Members

Current members

• Alexander "Lex" Wohnhaas – Vocals (2007–present)
• Christian "X-Ti" Bystron – Lead guitar (1997–present), programming (2002–present)
• Wenz Weninger – Bass (1997–present)
• Jürgen "Bam Bam" Wiehler – Drums (2007–present)
• Christoph "Chris" Klinke - Rhythm Guitar (2011–present)

Former members

• Alexander "Alexx" Wesselsky – Vocals (1995–2003)
• Mathias "Jablonski" Elsholz – Vocals (2003–2005)
• Jochen "Noel Pix" Seibert – Guitar, keyboards, programming (1998–2001)
• Christian Scharinger – Keyboards, programming (1995–1997)
• Josef Kalleder – Bass guitar (1995–1997)
• Roland Vencelj – Guitar (2007–2011)
• Oliver Pohl – Guitar (2002–2003)
• Marc Bredtmann – Guitar (1995–1997)
• 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 (1995–1997)

Timeline

Discography

Studio albums

• 1995: Herzwerk (demo album)
• 1997: Wer Bist Du?
• 1998: Kopfschuss
• 2000: Himmelfahrt (#78 in Germany)
• 2002: Herzwerk II (#78 in Germany)
• 2004: 5
• 2008: Heuchler (#31 in Germany)
• 2012: Götterdämmerung (#19 in Germany)

Remix albums

• 2010: Loblieder

Singles

• 1997: "Gott sein"
• 1998: "Rock Me Amadeus"
• 1998: "Liebestöter"
• 1999: "Freiflug" (#7 in DAC)
• 2000: "Himmelfahrt"
• 2002: "Herzblut"
• 2004: "Gott Sein '04" (non-physical release)
• 2004: "Dein Herz Schlägt" (non-physical release)
• 2008: "Mann von Welt"
• 2011: "Jagdzeit" (#10 in DAC)
• 2013: "Gegen Den Wind"

Extended plays

• 2007: "Freiflug EP: The early years (1996-2000)"
• 2008: "Mann von Welt EP"
• 2008: "Heuchler EP"
• 2011: "Jagdzeit Ep"

Compilation albums

• 2001: Querschnitt
• 2009: Totgesagte Leben Länger

Music Videos

• 1999: Freiflug
• 2011: Jagdzeit
• 2013: Herz aus Gold

References

1. ↑
2. ↑ Megaherz | News
3. ↑ http://www.megaherz.com/en/band/releases/megaherz_5#dein_herz_schlaegt

External links

• Official English website
• Official German website
• Megaherz on Myspace