Schmerz:

Until 1998, Schmerz was just an idea shared between Roman Rossbach and Dominik Kessler. It was at this time that Jerry Schönrock joined them, and they decided to make the band a reality. By the time Schmerz was working on music for their debut album "Schmerzwerk", the full band lineup consisted of Dominik as the singer, Roman playing lead guitar, and Jerry doing samples and playing keyboards, as well as a second guitarist, Beni, their new bass player, Stefan, and their drummer, Chris.

These six members came together to play a stunning blend of fast, heavy metal mixed with electronic and gothic sounds. This interesting combination can be imagined as a mixture of Rammstein, Schweisser, and Goethes Erben. The lyrics that accompany the music are gloomy and expressive, hard and violent. Some songs talk about pain and blood, while others are about God and fire.

Schmerz, which means "pain" in English, is named for the anxiety and mental stress that the band has faced, and not really any idea of physical pain. The loss of friends and other difficulties within the lives of the members, not to mention the very small production budget that Schmerz could afford at the time, has strongly influenced the band and their music. The cover art of "Schmerzwerk" is a clear representation of these issues.

When the debut album "Schmerzwerk" was released in 2000 by Dominik's own label Mischpoke Musikproduktion, it attracted a lot of good attention because it is very musical and innovative. The guitar riffs, bass, keyboards, and drums are all balanced perfectly throughout the album. Excellent technical production ties all these elements together smoothly in a seamless composition. The album soon caught the attention of Vegaland Records, who signed a deal with Schmerz to distribute "Schmerzwerk" across Germany and have the band release a second album.

There was a tour in 2001 consisting of small club gigs across Germany, which make up the band's only live performances. Schmerz won first place in the Hardsampler band competition that year, but did not go on to play at the Hardsampler open air festival. Sadly, there were no more live performances after this from the band.

Some time after releasing "Schmerzwerk", Beni, Chris, and Stefan left the band and Schmerz was reduced to the original three members. However, this did not stop the remaining members from finding a new drummer, Specki, and a new bass player, HTG (Hoerman-the-German). Beni eventually came back to his original position also. Despite all these changes, Schmerz continued writing and recording new songs to create the beginning of a new album. Unfortunately, late in 2001, some personal arguements grew out of hand and the two core members of Schmerz, Dominik and Roman, stopped talking to eachother. Although this second album is still unfinished, the band did not officially break-up. Dominik has expressed hope that they will resolve their old conflicts and continue working together as a band.

In the meantime, both of these members have been active in other bands. Dominik has a solo project called Doctor Dom, and Roman is a singer and guitarist in the punkrock band One Fine Day.

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