Mandrake (band)
Encyclopedia
Mandrake is a German gothic metal
band from Emden
, Ostfriesland, formed by Lutz de Putter in 1996.
mandrake, which are said to give eternal life. The band recorded their first demo Mandragora Officialis in 1997. Their debut album Forever came out in 1998 and was produced with the help of some guest musicians. Birgit Lau joined the band in 1999 as a background singer, slowly getting more and more share of the vocals. Being unsigned, after various line-ups, the band recorded a promo titled Entwine in 2002.
The following year, Mandrake signed a contract with the German independent label Prophecy Productions
and released Calm the Seas, followed by The Balance of Blue (2005) and Mary Celeste
(2007). All the lyrics and music were written by Lutz de Putter and Jörg Uken.
sound and to The Gathering
and Moonspell
.
The Balance of Blue was reviewed as an improvement compared to the previous release. The band had grown and now played dark, emotional Gothic Rock with a distinct identity. The guitar parts and string arrangements were lauded as very powerful.
The fourth album Mary Celeste references the 19th century abandoned ship
of the same name. It features epic, energetic and partially fragile Gothic Metal.
The fifth album Innocence Weakness has a topic shift in the lyrics of its songs. Instead of writing songs about the sea or water, Lutz focused more on the topic of inner loneliness
Lutz de Putter describes Mandrake's style as Gothic metal
with elements from electronic music
. Lutz has often stated in interviews that he does not like the German language, which explains why all their songs are in English. Lutz has also stated that Mandrake's music is influenced by such bands as Kreator
, Lake of Tears
, Katatonia
, My Dying Bride
, Skepticism
, Hypocrisy
, Bathory
, Dead Can Dance
, Mourning Beloveth
, Decoryah
, Let Me Dream, On Thorns I Lay
, Rotting Christ
, The Cure
, Sisters of Mercy
, Die Form
, Tiamat
, Alas
, The Vision Bleak
, Sopor Aeturnus, Diary of Dreams
, The Gathering
and Deinonychus
. Unlike many similar Gothic metal bands, Mandrake play symphonic metal
their own way, which makes them unique within the Gothic metal genre.
band Von Branden. He also started working as a teacher. Garvin Bösch also playes in the new-metal band Nayled. Julius Martinek plays in Noiseome Paste. Jörg Röttger plays drums in the German death metal
band Weak Aside.
Gothic metal
Gothic metal or goth metal is a subgenre of heavy metal music that combines the aggression of doom metal with the dark melancholy of gothic rock. The music of gothic metal is diverse with bands known to adopt the gothic approach to different styles of heavy metal music...
band from Emden
Emden
Emden is a city and seaport in the northwest of Germany, on the river Ems. It is the main city of the region of East Frisia; in 2006, the city had a total population of 51,692.-History:...
, Ostfriesland, formed by Lutz de Putter in 1996.
History
Lutz de Putter founded Mandrake in 1996. The band's name derives from the Latin name of the Mandragora officinarumMandragora officinarum
Mandragora officinarum is a species of the plant genus mandrake. It has a variety of medicinal uses, especially anodyne and soporific, though in the past much of the use was due to superstition.-Physical characteristics:...
mandrake, which are said to give eternal life. The band recorded their first demo Mandragora Officialis in 1997. Their debut album Forever came out in 1998 and was produced with the help of some guest musicians. Birgit Lau joined the band in 1999 as a background singer, slowly getting more and more share of the vocals. Being unsigned, after various line-ups, the band recorded a promo titled Entwine in 2002.
The following year, Mandrake signed a contract with the German independent label Prophecy Productions
Prophecy Productions
Prophecy Productions is a German record label located in Zeltingen-Rachtig, founded by Martin Koller in 1996. It proclaims being a "label for eerie emotional music", which roughly comprises artists with a dark metal, black metal, or neofolk background, but a unique and unconventional approach to...
and released Calm the Seas, followed by The Balance of Blue (2005) and Mary Celeste
Mary Celeste (album)
Mary Celeste is the second album by English heavy metal band Huron. It is due to be released May 30, 2011 on Casket Records UK....
(2007). All the lyrics and music were written by Lutz de Putter and Jörg Uken.
Style and reviews
Mandrake's second album Calm the Seas received a positive review from the German Sonic Seducer magazine, noting a mix of powerful, sometimes brutal Death Metal, gothic sounds and minimalistic electronical music. The band was compared to the early Theatre of TragedyTheatre of Tragedy
Theatre of Tragedy was a Norwegian band from Stavanger, active between 1993 and 2010. They are best known for their earlier albums, which provided a great deal of influence to the gothic metal genre.-Biography:...
sound and to The Gathering
The Gathering (band)
The Gathering is a Dutch alternative rock band, founded in 1989 by brothers Hans and René Rutten and vocalist Bart Smits in the small city of Oss, North Brabant....
and Moonspell
Moonspell
Moonspell is a Portuguese gothic metal band from Brandoa, Lisbon. Formed in 1992, the group released their first EP Under the Moonspell in 1994, a year before the release of their first album Wolfheart...
.
The Balance of Blue was reviewed as an improvement compared to the previous release. The band had grown and now played dark, emotional Gothic Rock with a distinct identity. The guitar parts and string arrangements were lauded as very powerful.
The fourth album Mary Celeste references the 19th century abandoned ship
Mary Celeste
The Mary Celeste was an American brigantine merchant ship famous for having been discovered on 4 December 1872, in the Atlantic Ocean unmanned and apparently abandoned , despite the fact that the weather was fine and her crew had been experienced and able...
of the same name. It features epic, energetic and partially fragile Gothic Metal.
The fifth album Innocence Weakness has a topic shift in the lyrics of its songs. Instead of writing songs about the sea or water, Lutz focused more on the topic of inner loneliness
Lutz de Putter describes Mandrake's style as Gothic metal
Gothic metal
Gothic metal or goth metal is a subgenre of heavy metal music that combines the aggression of doom metal with the dark melancholy of gothic rock. The music of gothic metal is diverse with bands known to adopt the gothic approach to different styles of heavy metal music...
with elements from electronic music
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...
. Lutz has often stated in interviews that he does not like the German language, which explains why all their songs are in English. Lutz has also stated that Mandrake's music is influenced by such bands as Kreator
Kreator
Kreator is a thrash metal band from Essen, Germany, formed in 1978, but formalized in 1982 under the name Tormentor. They originally performed a speed metal style with Venom influences. Their style of music is similar to their compatriots Destruction and Sodom, the other two big German thrash metal...
, Lake of Tears
Lake of Tears
Lake of Tears is a Swedish band, generally considered to play gothic metal and doom metal. However, their sound has evolved considerably over the course of their career, expanding to include psychedelic rock, progressive metal, and, most recently, death metal....
, Katatonia
Katatonia
Katatonia is a Swedish metal band formed in Stockholm in 1991 by Jonas Renkse and Anders Nyström .-1991-1993:The early Katatonia releases, such as the EP Jhva Elohim Meth.....
, My Dying Bride
My Dying Bride
My Dying Bride are an English doom metal band formed in 1990. To date, My Dying Bride have released eleven full-length studio albums, three EPs, one demo, one box set, four compilation albums, one live album, and one live CD/DVD release. The band released their tenth studio album, For Lies I Sire,...
, Skepticism
Skepticism (band)
Skepticism is a funeral doom metal band from Finland. Formed in 1991, they are regarded as one of the pioneers of the genre.-Overview of studio work:...
, Hypocrisy
Hypocrisy (band)
Hypocrisy is a melodic death metal band from Sweden. It was formed in 1990 in Ludvika, Sweden by Peter Tägtgren.Musically, the band started off with a traditional death metal sound on their first albums, and soon drifted to become a melodic death metal band. The lyrics in their early stages -...
, Bathory
Bathory (band)
Bathory was a Swedish heavy metal band, formed by Quorthon in 1983. They are regarded as pioneers of both black metal and viking metal. Quorthon remained the main songwriter and member of Bathory for more than two decades. Bathory was permanently ended after Quorthon's death in 2004...
, Dead Can Dance
Dead Can Dance
Dead Can Dance are an ethereal neoclassical duo formed in Melbourne, Australia, in August 1981, by Lisa Gerrard and Brendan Perry. The band relocated to London in May 1982 and disbanded in 1998. Their 1996 album Spiritchaser reached No. 1 on the Billboard Top World Music Albums Chart...
, Mourning Beloveth
Mourning Beloveth
Mourning Beloveth is an Irish doom metal band.-Biography:Mourning Beloveth were formed in the winter of 1992 and recorded their first untitled demo, entitled Debut, in 1996 with Darren Moore , Frank Brennan , Brian Delany , and Tim Johnson . The demo was recorded in only eight hours with Adrian...
, Decoryah
Decoryah
Decoryah was an underground Finnish dark ambient / doom metal band formed in 1989 and dismissed in 1997. The band came to worldwide attention with their first album Wisdom Floats which is the first example, in the contemporary Doom Metal scene, of use of male clean voices and female voices...
, Let Me Dream, On Thorns I Lay
On Thorns I Lay
On Thorns I Lay is a gothic metal band founded in 1992 in Athens, Greece.-Biography:...
, Rotting Christ
Rotting Christ
Rotting Christ is a Greek black metal band formed in 1987. They are noted for being one of the first black metal bands within this region, as well as a premier act within the European underground metal scene.- Line-up :...
, The Cure
The Cure
The Cure are an English rock band formed in Crawley, West Sussex in 1976. The band has experienced several line-up changes, with frontman, vocalist, guitarist and principal songwriter Robert Smith being the only constant member...
, Sisters of Mercy
Sisters of Mercy
The Religious Order of the Sisters of Mercy is an order of Catholic women founded by Catherine McAuley in Dublin, Ireland, in 1831. , the order has about 10,000 members worldwide, organized into a number of independent congregations....
, Die Form
Die Form
Die Form is a French post-industrial and electronic band formed in 1977-78. The name 'Die Form' means ' form/shape' in German, like the Bauhaus diary and is a play on the English homonym 'deformed' and on the French homonym 'difforme' ....
, Tiamat
Tiamat (band)
-Biography:Initially, the band played straightforward black metal under the name Treblinka. After having recorded the album Sumerian Cry in 1989, vocalist/guitarist Johan Edlund and bassist Jörgen Thullberg parted ways with the other two founding members, and subsequently changed the name to Tiamat...
, Alas
Alas (band)
-History:It was formed and led by Death metal pioneer Morbid Angel ex-guitarist Erik Rutan. They also featured well known Cannibal Corpse bassist Alex Webster...
, The Vision Bleak
The Vision Bleak
The Vision Bleak is a gothic metal band from Germany formed in 2000, consisting of former Empyrium member Ulf Theodor Schwadorf and former Nox Mortis member Allen B Konstanz. The band's themes are most notably orientated towards horror....
, Sopor Aeturnus, Diary of Dreams
Diary of Dreams
Diary of Dreams is a German Darkwave band. The lead singer and founding member Adrian Hates has produced most of the albums by himself or with minimal help from others. He rarely uses a full band, except when he is on tour.- History :...
, The Gathering
The Gathering (band)
The Gathering is a Dutch alternative rock band, founded in 1989 by brothers Hans and René Rutten and vocalist Bart Smits in the small city of Oss, North Brabant....
and Deinonychus
Deinonychus
Deinonychus was a genus of carnivorous dromaeosaurid dinosaur. There is one described species, Deinonychus antirrhopus. This 3.4 meter long dinosaur lived during the early Cretaceous Period, about 115–108 million years ago . Fossils have been recovered from the U.S...
. Unlike many similar Gothic metal bands, Mandrake play symphonic metal
Symphonic metal
Symphonic metal is a term used to describe heavy metal music that has symphonic elements; that is, elements that are either borrowed from classical music or, as with progressive rock music, create a style reminiscent of it, e.g...
their own way, which makes them unique within the Gothic metal genre.
Side projects
Aside from Mandrake, Lutz writes songs for the black metalBlack 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....
band Von Branden. He also started working as a teacher. Garvin Bösch also playes in the new-metal band Nayled. Julius Martinek plays in Noiseome Paste. Jörg Röttger plays drums in 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 Weak Aside.
Studio Albums
- Forever, DynaLex/Self-Production (1998)
- Calm The Seas, GreyFall/Prophecy ProductionsProphecy ProductionsProphecy Productions is a German record label located in Zeltingen-Rachtig, founded by Martin Koller in 1996. It proclaims being a "label for eerie emotional music", which roughly comprises artists with a dark metal, black metal, or neofolk background, but a unique and unconventional approach to...
(2003) - The Balance of Blue, GreyFall/Prophecy ProductionsProphecy ProductionsProphecy Productions is a German record label located in Zeltingen-Rachtig, founded by Martin Koller in 1996. It proclaims being a "label for eerie emotional music", which roughly comprises artists with a dark metal, black metal, or neofolk background, but a unique and unconventional approach to...
(2005) - Mary Celeste, GreyFall/Prophecy ProductionsProphecy ProductionsProphecy Productions is a German record label located in Zeltingen-Rachtig, founded by Martin Koller in 1996. It proclaims being a "label for eerie emotional music", which roughly comprises artists with a dark metal, black metal, or neofolk background, but a unique and unconventional approach to...
(2007) - Innocence Weakness, Promedia (Soulfood Music) (2010)