Bethlehem is a German extreme metal

Extreme metal

Extreme metal is a loosely defined umbrella term for a number of related heavy metal music subgenres that have developed since the early 1980s. The term usually refers to a more abrasive, harsher, underground, non-commercialized style or sound nearly always associated with genres like black metal,...

 band from Grevenbroich

Grevenbroich

Grevenbroich is a town in the Rhein-Kreis Neuss, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated on the river Erft, approximately 15 km southwest of Neuss and 15 km southeast of Mönchengladbach.-City districts:...

, formed in 1991 by Jürgen Bartsch and Kläus Matton. Before starting Bethlehem, Bartsch and Matton used to play in a German Thrash metal band called Morbid Vision. With their debut album from 1994 coined the band the term "dark metal".

Band

Many of Bethlehem's songs have sick and morbid lyrics about Suicide, Death, and Madness, which may, for the most part, be personal to the band. They are very difficult to understand even for German speakers for their complexity and because they are full of metaphors. On Dictius Te Necare (Latin: You must/should kill yourself) Rainer Landfermann, well-known from the German death metal

Death metal

Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal. It typically employs heavily distorted guitars, tremolo picking, deep growling vocals, blast beat drumming, minor keys or atonality, and complex song structures with multiple tempo changes....

 band Pavor, is the vocalist. His voice is described as "one of the sickest and most extreme voices you'll ever hear from a human being". On S.U.I.Z.I.D. his place is taken by Marco Kehren from the band Deinonychus

Deinonychus (band)

Deinonychus was a Dutch doom metal band formed in 1992 by Marco Kehren. There is a close relationship between Deinonychus and the German band Bethlehem: Kehren provided vocals on S.U.I.Z.I.D., Reflektionen aufs Sterben and Profane Fetmilch lentzt elf krank, while Bethlehem bassist and lyricist...

. Guido Meyer de Voltaire, the vocalist from Schatten aus der Alexanderwelt and Mein Weg, is also well-known with his band Aardvarks. Andreas Classen, vocalist on Dark Metal also did vocals for Shining, Dark Creation (German band), Paragon Belial, Made of Iron, Kadathorn, Darkened Nocturn Slaughtercult. Over the years Bethlehem modernized their style and so the early black

Black metal

Black metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include fast tempos, shrieked vocals, highly distorted guitars played with tremolo picking, blast beat drumming, raw recording, and unconventional song structure....

 and doom metal

Doom metal

Doom metal is an extreme form of heavy metal music that typically uses slower tempos, low-tuned guitars and a much "thicker" or "heavier" sound than other metal genres...

 influences are now hardly present, the band favouring a more Neue Deutsche Härte

Neue Deutsche Härte

Neue Deutsche Härte is a genre of industrial metal. The term was invented by the German music press after the release of the debut album Herzeleid by Rammstein....

(New German Hardness) and electronic

Electronic music

Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...

 approach. In 1998 Bethlehem collaborated on the soundtrack for the American underground movie Gummo

Gummo

Gummo is a 1997 American independent drama film written and directed by Harmony Korine. It was his directorial debut and has since become a cult film. The film stars Jacob Reynolds, Nick Sutton, Jacob Sewell, Chloë Sevigny, Linda Manz and Max Perlich...

with the tracks "Schuld Uns'res Knöcherigen Faltpferds" and "Verschleierte Irreligiösität".

Controversy

Until "Dictius Te Necare", Bethlehem faced censorship and was even banned from playing in some German cities. It started when Matton gave one copy of their first demo to a 14 year-old boy. After a while his mother started to call the band, saying that because of their music, her son become aggressive and built a "Satanic altar" in his room. In cooperation with other parents, they started a crusade against Bethlehem and their "satanic" music.

Dark Metal

Juergen Bartsch, founder and bass player of Bethlehem, group that created the subgenre, defines dark metal this way:

Albums

• Dark Metal (1994)
• Dictius Te Necare
  Dictius Te Necare
  Dictius Te Necare is the second full length studio album by the German band Bethlehem. It was released in 1996 on Red Stream. It was re-released in 2002 on the same label but as a digipack with extra tracks.-Track listing:...
  
  (1996)
• S.U.i.Z.i.D.
  Sardonischer Untergang im Zeichen irreligiöser Darbietung
  Sardonischer Untergang im Zeichen irreligiöser Darbietung is the third full length studio album by the German band Bethlehem . It was released in 1998 on Red Stream Records. A re-recorded version, with vocals done by Kvarforth, was released in 2009...
  
  (1998)
• Schatten aus der Alexander Welt
  Schatten aus der Alexander Welt
  Schatten aus der Alexander Welt is the fourth full length studio album by the German band Bethlehem. It was released in August 2001 as 2 CD-Digipak, then was released in October 2001 as one CD. Re-released in September 2001 by Red Stream as limited edition 2CD-Digipak...
  
  (2001)
• Mein Weg
  Mein Weg
  Mein Weg is the fifth full length studio album by the German band Bethlehem. It was released in November 2004 by Red Stream Records.-Track listing:...
  
  (2004)
• A Sacrificial Offering to the Kingdom of Heaven in a Cracked Dog's Ear
  A Sacrificial Offering to the Kingdom of Heaven in a Cracked Dog's Ear
  A Sacrificial Offering to the Kingdom of Heaven in a Cracked Dog's Ear is the sixth full length studio album by the German band Bethlehem. It was released in June 2009 by Red Stream Records. This is the S.U.i.Z.i.D. album, but remastered and remixed, along with re-recorded vocals by Niklas...
  
  (2009)

EPs

• Reflektionen auf's Sterben (EP, 1998)
• Profane Fetmilch Lenzt Elf Krank
  Profane Fetmilch Lenzt Elf Krank
  Profane Fetmilch Lenzt Elf Krank is a two-song EP released by Bethlehem in 1999. It was released in 1999 as limited edition 7. Then was re-released in 2000 as MCD.-Track listing:...
  
  (EP, 1999)
• Suicide Radio
  Suicide Radio
  Suicide Radio is an EP released by Bethlehem in 2003. It is an audio-visual CD-ROM, remixes, photo galleries, and a band discography. It also contains the following video clips: Weicher Stuhl, Tagebuch Einer Totgeburt, Nexus, Bethlehem Radio. This EP can only be read by computers, since the tracks...
  
  (EP, 2003)
• Alles Tot
  Alles Tot
  Alles tot is a two-song EP released by Bethlehem in 2004. The 7" ep is limited to 500 copies all in gatefold sleeve and white vinyl. There is also a special edition limited to 47 copies. It comes with a limited T-Shirt, razorblade and packed in special wire. Both songs were recorded in '96...
  
  (EP, 2004)
• Stönkfitzchen
  Stönkfitzchen
  Stönkfitzchen is an EP released by Bethlehem in 2010.-Track listing:...
  
  (EP, 2010)

Splits

• Wraithen / Bethlehem (Split, 2002)
• Gestern Starb Ich Schon Heute / Have a Nice Fight (Split, 2009)
• Suizidal-Ovipare Todessehnsucht (Split, 2009)

Demos

• Bethlehem (Bethlehem album)
  Bethlehem (Bethlehem album)
  Bethlehem is the first demo album by the German band Bethlehem. It was independently released in 1992 with only two tracks.-External links:*...
  
  (Demo, 1992)
• Thy Pale Dominion
  Thy Pale Dominion
  Thy Pale Dominion is the second demo album by the German band Bethlehem. It was self released in 1993, and was later re-released on LP format.-External links:**...
  
  (Demo, 1993)

Other publications and cooperations

• "Deathophobia I", Force Productions (1993)
• "Requiem", Exhumer Productions (1993)
• "Nuclear Blast Soundcheck Series - Volume 8", Nuclear Blast (1996)
• Gummo (Soundtrack)
  Gummo (soundtrack)
  Gummo is the soundtrack album to the film of the same name and contains songs that were recorded specifically for the film or were featured in the film. The album is mostly made up of various forms of heavy metal and hardcore punk music, ranging from black metal, to death metal, to power violence,...
  
  (1997)
• "Metal Explosion Volume 8", Adipocere Records (1998)
• "To Live Is Ever To Be In Danger", Red Stream (1999)
• "Upon A Mighty Bloodred Stream Volume 1", Red Stream (1999)
• "To Magic...", Prophecy (2000)
• "Legacy 04/01", Legacy (2001)
• "To Magic 2", Prophecy (2001)

Current members

• Jürgen Bartsch: Bass, Electronics, Synths (Mein Weg)
• Olaf Eckhardt: Guitars
• Steve Wolz: Drums (Profane Fetmilch Lenzt Elf Krank, Schatten aus der Alexanderwelt, Mein Weg)
• Malte Langenbrinck: Vocals

Former members and cooperations

• Jonathan Théry: Vocals
• Reuben Jordan: Guitars
• Guido Meyer de Voltaire: Vocals (on Schatten aus der Alexanderwelt, and Mein Weg)
• Andreas Tekath: Session-Keyboards/Piano (on Mein Weg)
• Klaus Matton: Electric Guitars (until Profane Fetmilch Lenzt Elf Krank)
• Marco Kehren: Vocals (on S.U.i.Z.i.D.; Reflektionen aufs Sterben)
• Markus Lossen: Drums (on S.U.i.Z.i.D.; Reflektionen aufs Sterben)
• Cathrin Campen: Vocals (on S.U.i.Z.i.D.; Reflektionen aufs Sterben)
• Rainer Landfermann: Vocals (on Dictius Te Necare)
• Steinhoff: Drums (until S.U.i.Z.i.D.)
• Andreas Classen: Vocals (until Dictius Te Necare)
• Oliver Schmidt: Session-Keyboards (on Thy Pale Dominion)
• Reiner Tiedemann: Electronics (Schatten aus der Alexanderwelt), Remixes (Suicide Radio)
• Niklas Kvarforth: Vocals (on A Sacrificial Offering to the Kingdom of Heaven in a Cracked Dog's Ear, Stönkfitzchen)

External links

• Avantgarde-metal.com interview with Bethlehem