For a long time it has seemed, that Despairation have disappeared forever. It was too silent around the band after their 2008 release "A Requiem In Winter's Hue". But fortunately, Despairation did not take the title of this album literally and release their sixth longplayer these days: "New World Obscurity".Despairation was founded in 1994, when the predecessor band Oratory was established in the small village Lichtenberg in the Upper Franconia region in Germany. At that time the musicians made their very first musical experiences and thus the first demo tape "Another Spiritworld" (1996), which was released under the name Desperation (with an "e"!), sounded rather "cute". Also the first CD "Winter 1945" (1998) can be regarded as the release of a pupil's band, which was still searching for a style of their own. Nevertheless the band got positive reactions from the underground media and played gigs all over the country. From 1999 finally Despairation changed the band name's writing to today's spelling with "ai". They became more and more professional, went into Danse Macabre studio in Bayreuth and worked together with producer Bruno Kramm (Das Ich) in order to record their second album "Scenes From A Poetical Playground", which has been released by Moonstorm/EFA in the year 2000. Concerts at the Wave Gotik Treffen or the Herbstnächte Festival and some other gigs followed until the next album "Songs Of Love And Redemption" was issued in 2002. The record was released again by Moonstorm Records and has been produced by Hardy Fieting (Scream Silence) in Berlin. During this time a contribution to the Type O Negative tribute album "Blood, Sweat And Tears" was also recorded: "Wolf Moon".
Afterwards Despairation signed a record deal with the Italian label My Kingdom Music and released the album "Music For The Night" in 2004 – it was an ambitious concept album with 18 songs and a playing time of about 80 minutes, which didn't fit in any standard category anymore. The journalists even compared the songs with artists like David Bowie and Pink Floyd. With the next album "A Requiem In Winter's Hue" Despairation continued this path, presenting themselves in a quieter and more atmospheric way. This album was produced by guitar player Martin Jungkunz and singer Sascha Blach themselves, like its predecessor. Afterwards Despairation took a long break. Sascha devoted himself to his other bands Eden Weint Im Grab, Transit Poetry and his solo black metal project Alexander Paul Blake, which turned into the band Aethernaeum. With Un, Deux, Trois..., Solonela, Der Chief vs. Sir Jackett and Los Viejos Martin explored the world of tango, jazz, hip-hop and soundtracks. Drummer Jens Rheinhold, however, established himself as a cover designer and created artworks for Running Wild, Sodom, Virgin Steele, Evergrey or Freedom Call with his company Zenz-Art.
At the end of 2011 Martin and Sascha finally exchanged song ideas between Heidelberg and Berlin and dedicated themselves to the songwriting of the new longplayer "New World Obscurity". Recordings, mix and production have been done by the musicians themselves, again in their own studios. A lot has changed since the previous release on a musical level: Despairation sound more rock-orientated, powerful and groovy noawdays. Since keyboard-player Christian Beyer, who left the band, has not been replaced, the songs are also more guitar-driven now. The tracks cover styles like alternative, metal and rock, but in spite of the new sound they arestill typical Despairation tracks, since the band has not lost their feeling for big, catchy chorus melodies and great hooklines. Whatever song you take – powerful opener "Not Afraid", the emotional "Bloody Valentine", the angry "Poison From The Sky" or the poppy "What A Strange Day Today", which could also be played in the radio, all the melodies are haunting as hell. The band explores new horizons in terms of lyrics, since the texts are more direct than in the past and deal with the current state of the world: be it the exploitation of man and nature, the new world order, mass media, chemtrails or the dangers of atomic energy – Despairation lay it all out on the line and try to inspire their listeners to thoughts of their own.2014 also marks the 20th anniversary of the band. With "New World Obscurity" Despairation give themselves the greatest present …
Regards
Carlmcoy
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