Eisbrecher

Eisbrecher (German pronunciation: [ˈʔaɪsbʁɛçɐ]; German for "icebreaker") are a German Neue Deutsche Härte band that consists primarily of Alexander Wesselsky (vocals) and Noel Pix (lead guitar/programming), with live support from Jürgen Plangger (guitar), Rupert Keplinger (bass), Achim Färber (drums). In the United States and Canada, their record label is currently Metropolis Records.

For the albums, see Eisbrecher (Eisbrecher album) and Eisbrecher (Nena album).

Eisbrecher
Eisbrecher at Rockharz 2018
Background information
OriginFürstenfeldbruck, Germany
Genres
Years active2003–present
Labels
Associated acts
Websiteeis-brecher.com
MembersAlexx Wesselsky
Noel Pix
Jürgen Plangger
Maximilian Schauer
Achim Färber
Rupert Keplinger
Past membersFelix Primc
Michael Behnke
Martin Motnik
Olli Pohl
Rene Greil
Dominik Palmer
Zelt-Musik-Festival 2016 in Freiburg, Germany

The band's lyrics and slogans often include terms of ice and sailing, such as "Ahoi" ("Ahoy") and "Es wird kalt" ("It's getting cold"); vocalist Alexander Wesselsky often wears naval and military clothing in performances.

History

Formation and early years (2003–2009)

After leaving Megaherz in 2003 due to creative differences, Wesselsky got together with Noel Pix, who composed the synths, guitars and programming for Megaherz's albums Kopfschuss and Himmelfahrt. In January 2004, the band released their self-titled debut album, Eisbrecher. The first 5,000 copies of the album included a blank CD with permission for purchasers to legally copy the music onto the blank. This was done as a protest against what the band felt was a "criminalization" of fans.[1]

The band would release their second album Antikörper in October 2006. This album would become the band's debut album on the Media Control Charts as it charted at No. 85. The band then toured with U.D.O. in December 2006.

In 2007, Eisbrecher performed at two major German music festivals, Wave-Gotik-Treffen and Summer Breeze Open Air.

In May 2008, live bass player Martin Motnik left the band, and was replaced by former Megaherz guitar player Olliver Pohl.

"Kann denn Liebe Sünde Sein" was released on July 18, 2008 in Germany as the first single to promote their third album, Sünde. It reached third place in the German Alternative charts. The album was released on August 22, 2008 in Germany and debuted on the Media Control Charts at 18th place.[2] The band then went on their then-biggest tour between September 2008 and October 2009, playing in Germany, Austria, Russia, the Netherlands and Switzerland. Music videos were planned for "This is Deutsch" and "Kann denn Liebe Sünde sein", but were cancelled in favor of new material and live shows.

In early March 2009, the band signed with a new American music label, Metropolis Records, due to Dancing Ferret Discs closing in late 2008.

Eiszeit and Die Hölle muss warten (2009–2013)

On April 24, 2009, Wesselsky and Pix were guests on Radio Goethe to promote the American release of Sünde. Wesselsky mentioned that he would love to tour the United States "as soon as possible". He also mentioned that, with the popularity of Rammstein, Nena and Falco, he hopes that Eisbrecher can become the next big German act in the United States. He also talked about their upcoming fourth album; no title was named, but said that work was in progress. He described that the new album will be "very rockish, very pop and very heart breaking."[3]

On June 20, 2009, Eisbrecher performed at their first major Austrian music festival, the Nova Rock Festival; other bands, such as Killswitch Engage, Monster Magnet and In Extremo also performed on the same stage.

Their fourth studio album, Eiszeit, was released in mid-April 2010. The single "Eiszeit" was released on March 19, 2010 and became their debut single in the Media Control Charts, at No. 84. The album was released on April 16, 2010 and debuted in the Media Control Charts at No. 5, the Ö3 Austria Top 40 charts at No. 34 and the Swiss Music Charts at No. 76.

In August 2010, it was reported that Eisbrecher had signed with Sony Records and Columbia Records.

After the Summer Breeze Open Air festival, bassist Olli Pohl left the band. The band later found a new bass guitar player, Dominik Palmer.

In November 2010, Eisbrecher toured with Alice Cooper and Tarja Turunen during Cooper's "Theatre of Death Tour" of Germany. Eisbrecher's drummer Rene Greil was temporarily replaced during the tour by Sebastian Angrand, as Greil needed back surgery.

On February 26, 2011, it was announced in the Herzeleid.com forums that live drummer Rene has left Eisbrecher due to health reasons. Rene was replaced by Achim Färber. Announced on March 31, 2011, it was reported that Eisbrecher will release a best of album titled Eiskalt due for release on April 29, 2011. However, Alexx said that the album was made without the band's knowledge and that they did not choose any of the songs to appear on the compilation.

Eisbrecher appeared at the Nova Rock Festival in Austria on June 11, 2011, the same day Thirty Seconds to Mars, HammerFall, In Extremo and Linkin Park performed.

During the Zugspitze concert on November 5, 2011, Eisbrecher performed six brand new songs from the upcoming album titled Die Hölle muss warten.

The first single from the album "Verrückt" was released on January 20, 2012. The album was released on February 3, 2012 and charted in Germany at No. 3, in Austria at No. 21 and Switzerland at No. 16. The second single, "Die Hölle muss warten", was released on March 30, 2012.

Eisbrecher played at many festivals between May and September 2012, including Mera Luna Festival, Amphi Festival, the Wave-Gotik-Treffen Festival and the Nova Rock Festival among others. During May and December 2012, Eisbrecher supported the German rock band Scorpions for their shows on May 12 & 13 and December 15 & 17, 2012 in Germany.

Die Hölle muss warten: Miststück Edition was released with four new songs including "Miststück 2012", a DVD with five live clips and all of the DHMW music videos, a tourdokumentation and more on September 28, 2012.

On the band's official website on March 21, 2013, Rupert Keplinger was announced as the band's new bass player. The reason for Dominik's departure from the band was not mentioned. In August, Eisbrecher performed at Wacken Open Air, the largest metal festival in the world.

To celebrate the band's first 10 years, Eisbrecher went on a 10th anniversary tour in November and December. During the tour, the band released a Single entitled 10 Jahre Eisbrecher on November 29, 2013.

Zehn Jahre Kalt & Schock (2014–2016)

On February 12, 2014 Eisbrecher announced on their official Website page that they have entered the studio to begin work on their next album. They have mentioned that due to the recording of the new album this year for an early 2015 release, that they have had to limit the number of shows to play in 2014.

Announced via the band's official website on March 6, 2014, Eisbrecher would release a special album entitled Zehn Jahre Kalt on March 11, 2014, only available in the United States. The album was released via Metropolis Records.

The band announced on October 13, 2014, the release date for the new album will be January 16, 2015.[4] A month later however, it was announced that the release date for Schock had been pushed back a week to January 23, 2015.

The album artwork and title, "Schock", was revealed on October 18, 2014.

The first single, "Zwischen Uns", from the upcoming album, Schock, became available via digital download on November 28, 2014. The second single, "1000 Narben/Zwischen Uns", was released on January 9, 2015.

Revealed via the band's website on June 9, 2015 their upcoming DVD, which was filmed at Circus Krone, will be released as a Live CD and DVD in September 2015. The live CD/DVD was later revealed to be titled Schock Live and will have a release date of September 25, 2015. The 3rd single from Schock is Rot Wie Die Liebe and was released on June 12, 2015.

Schock Live was released on September 25, 2015 and charted in the Top 10 DVD charts in both Austria and Switzerland at #7. Eisbrecher's album Die Hölle Muss Warten achieved Gold status after selling more than 100,000 copies across Germany as of January 23, 2016.

A 4th single, Volle Kraft Voraus, became available during the Volle Kraft Voraus 2016 Tour in March. Eisbrecher will also release a Tour edition of the album Die Hölle Muss Warten during the tour, and will feature a new song called Wir Sind Gold (Eng: We Are Gold), in celebration of Die Hölle Muss Warten attaining "Gold". Schock earned the band their second "Gold" album as of April 11, 2016.

Eisbrecher are scheduled to perform a string of festivals between April and August 2016. These festival appearances incl. Rock In Vienna, Greenfield Festival, Mera Luna Festival and Summer Breeze Open Air among others.

Sturmfahrt & Ewiges Eis (2016-2019)

Announced on October 5, 2016 via Facebook, Eisbrecher released their 7th studio album Sturmfahrt in the Summer of 2017. The album release date was revealed later to being August 25, 2017. The release date would be later changed to August 18, 2017.

The first single Was Ist Hier Los? was released on June 23, 2017. The band headlined the first edition of the "Volle Kraft Voraus Festival" at the Ratiopharm Arena on July 8, organized by the band themselves. The festival featured other bands such as Combichrist, Lord of the Lost, Unzucht, Welle:Erdball, and And Then She Came.

Sturmfahrt was released on August 18, 2017 and became the band's first album to top the German 100 charts at #1. The album would also chart in the top 10 of the Swiss and Austrian charts at #8, and #10 respectively. The band then went on tour through Europe in late September and October, 2017 to promote the album.

Eisbrecher headlined the 2nd edition of the Volle Kraft Voraus festival in 2018. The festival was held in September as opposed to the 1st edition being held in July. Bands that played at the 2nd festival were: Oomph!, Stahlmann, Zeromancer, Die Krupps and "Schöngeist".

Sturmfahrt was nominated for "Best Rock National" at the 2018 ECHO Awards held on April 12, 2018.

Das Gesetz, the 3rd single from Sturmfahrt was released on June 7, 2018.

Ewiges Eis, the new best of album, was released on October 5, 2018 and charted at #6 in the German 100 charts.

The band embarked on a short 5 date tour in May, 2019 to promote their best of album Ewiges Eis.

Upcoming 8th Album (2019-Present)

Eisbrecher entered the studio in early 2019 to begin production on their next album, targeted for an early 2020 release.

The band continued playing shows throughout 2019, consisting mostly of Festivals incl. Their own festival "Volle Kraft Voraus Festival" in September. The 3rd edition of the festival was headlined by Eisbrecher, and featured "And One", Mono Inc.,"Diary of Dreams", A Life Divided" and "Heldmaschine".

Eisbrecher planned their first European tour, "Eis Over Europe Tour", for May 2020, however, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the tour was postponed to March 2021. The new album is still in production as of April 2020.

The band released a cover of Powerwolf's song "Stossgebet" on May 21, 2020. The song would later be accompanied by a music video which was released on May 30, 2020.

On July 3, 2020, Eisbrecher released a video from the studio onto their YouTube channel, confirming an upcoming new album in October 2020 and a second new album in March 2021.

Members
  • Alexx Wesselsky – vocals (2003–present)
  • Noel Pix – lead guitar, programming, production (2003–present)
  • Jürgen Plangger – rhythm guitar (2007–present)
  • Rupert Keplinger – bass guitar (2013–present)
  • Maximilian Schauer – keyboards, programming (live and session: 2003–2007, session only: 2008–present)
  • Achim Färber – drums and percussion (2011–present)
  • Eisbrecher, Line-Up at Rockharz 2018
  • Singer Alexander "Alexx" Wesselsky
  • Lead Guitarist Jochen "Noel Pix" Seibert
  • Guitarist Jürgen Plangger
  • Bassist Rupert Keplinger
  • Drummer Achim Färber

Former members
  • Felix Primc – live rhythm guitar (2003–2007)
  • Micheal Behnke – live bass guitar (2003–2007)
  • Martin Motnik – live bass guitar (2007–2008)
  • Olli Pohl – live bass guitar (2008–2010, 2015)
  • Dominik Palmer – live bass guitar (2010–2013)
  • Rene Greil – live drums (2003–2011)

Touring members
  • Sebastien Angrand – drums, percussion (2010)

Awards and Nominations

Echo Awards

  • 2018 – Best Rock National – Sturmfahrt (nominated)

Discography

Albums
Year Title Chart positions Certifications
(sales thresholds)
GER AUT SWI
2004 Eisbrecher — — —
2006 Antikörper 85 — —
2008 Sünde 18 — —
2010 Eiszeit 5 34 76
2012 Die Hölle muss warten 3 21 16
2015 Schock 2 11 16
  • BVMI: Gold
2017 Sturmfahrt 1 10 8

DVDs
  • 2015: Schock Live (No. 7 in Switzerland, No. 7 in Austria)

Other CDs
  • 2011: Eiskalt (compilation album) (No. 69 in Germany)
  • 2014: 10 Jahre Kalt (US special release)
  • 2015: Schock Live (live album)
  • 2016: Volle Kraft Voraus EP
  • 2018: Ewiges Eis – 15 Jahre Eisbrecher (best of album) (No. 6 in Germany)

Singles
Year Title Peak chart positions Album
DAC GER
2003 "Mein Blut" - - Eisbrecher
"Fanatica" - -
2006 "Leider" 9 - Antikörper
"Vergissmeinnicht" 15 -
2008 "Kann denn Liebe Sünde sein?" 3 - Sünde
2010 "Eiszeit" - 84 Eiszeit
2012 "Verrückt" 1 43 Die Hölle muss warten
"Die Hölle muss warten" - -
"Miststück 2012" 13 -
"Prototyp" 1 -
2013 "10 Jahre Eisbrecher" - - Non Album Release
2014 "Zwischen uns" 1 - Schock
2015 "1000 Narben" 2 -
"Rot wie die Liebe" 12 -
2016 "Volle Kraft voraus" - -
2017 "Was ist hier los?" 2 - Sturmfahrt
"In einem Boot" 11 -
2018 "Das Gesetz" 3 -
"Menschenfresser" 6 - Ewiges Eis

Music videos
  • 2003: "Schwarze Witwe" (Narrative)
  • 2005: "Herz steht still" (Concert Footage)
  • 2006: "Willkommen im Nichts" (Tour & Concert Footage)
  • 2006: "Vergissmeinnicht" (Narrative)
  • 2010: "Eiszeit" (Concert Footage)
  • 2011: "Verrückt" (Narrative & Performance)
  • 2012: "Die Hölle muss warten" (Narrative & Performance)
  • 2012: "Miststück 2012" (Narrative & Performance)
  • 2014: "Zwischen uns" (Narrative & Performance)
  • 2015: "Rot wie die Liebe" (Narrative & Concert Footage)
  • 2015: "Volle Kraft voraus" (Concert Footage)
  • 2017: "Was ist hier los?" (Narrative)
  • 2018: "Das Gesetz" (Narrative/Lyric)
  • 2020: "Stossgebet" (Narrative)

Other appearances
  • 2004: Asleep By Dawn magazine Issue #2 companion CD – song "Schwarze Witwe"[5]
  • 2005: Nachtwelten – song "Mein Blut"
  • 2005: Gothic Spirits – songs "Eisbrecher" and "Herz steht still"
  • 2007: Melodic Metal Dreams For Christmas – song "Vergissmeinnicht"
  • 2008: All For Metal – song "Vergissmeinnicht"
  • 2009: Metropolis: Rebirth 2.0 – song "Schwarze Witwe (Remix 2009)"
  • 2009: All For Metal, II – song "Heilig"
  • 2010: Amphi Festival 2009 – live DVD
  • 2010: Cold Hands Seduction Vol.105 – song "Heilig (Live)"
  • 2010: Krieg Im Kopf – song "Böse Mädchen"
  • 2010: European Metal Assault – song "Dornentanz"
  • 2010: Rock Mundial – song "Kann denn Liebe Sünde sein?"
  • 2014: Schattenreich Vol.6 – Song "Verrückt"
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References
  1. "Musik-CD mit Kopieranreiz | heise online". Heise.de. November 20, 2014. Retrieved August 11, 2015.
  2. "Die ganze Musik im Internet: Charts". musicline.de. Archived from the original on February 16, 2015. Retrieved August 11, 2015.
  3. "Radio Goethe". Radio Goethe. Retrieved August 11, 2015.
  4. "Neues Album "SCHOCK" Erscheint Am 16.01.2015". Eis-brecher.com. October 13, 2014. Archived from the original on October 29, 2014. Retrieved October 21, 2014.
  5. "Various - Asleep By Dawn Issue Two (CD)". Discogs.com. Retrieved August 11, 2015.
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