Dark Fortress

成军于1994年的Melodic Black Metal亡灵军团Dark Fortress，来自以旋律/速度而盛名的金属王朝–&德国&；但他们豪不理会主流市场之运作，以阴森气氛营造出一首首冰冷诡谲的邪恶之作，建立起一挂极端死忠信徒，登上Summer Breeze Open Air和Kaltenbach Open Air等重金属音乐祭典；更受到大厂钦点招揽，将Dark Fortress送上国际舞台，打造出德意志黑金属指标。
 
由主脑Asvargyr为首的Dark Fortress，96/97年分别自制Demo、Split开始在地下黑金属乐坛间广为流传；随即加入独立厂牌Red Stream，发表「Tales from Eternal Dusk」以及「Profane Genocidal Creations」两张作品，对于Dark Fortress那毫无人性的血腥作风，无疑是给了养惯顺耳旋律的德国民众一记当头棒喝！04年转入Black Attakk旗下推出封面由知名异类艺术家Travis Smith操刀的「Stab Wounds」；虽团员更动频繁，主要还是以Asvargyr以及01年入团的V. Santura为创作中心。
 
现在，Dark Fortress带来入主Century Media的第二作、也是乐团第五张的正式专辑「Eidolon」重返人间，继续袭击毫无防备的愚蠢人类。知名金属杂志Metal hammer奉上７/10高度评鉴！开场的&The Silver Gate&引领出毛骨悚然之低靡气压，随即爆出高速双踏、猛烈吉他刷扣，新主唱Morean龇牙列嘴的嘶吼把人推进无穷无尽的黑暗深渊中；&Cohorror&就像出地狱、手持鞭莿的恶魔不断疯狂往人们身上抽打；&Baphomet&有着Black/Doom名团Celtic Frost的主唱Tom Gabriel Fischer参与屠杀；&Analepsy&摧毁一切事物的既定认知合理性；明朗鼓点，扭曲吉他导入的&Edge of Night&为专辑内唯一旋律较明朗的歌曲，你以为痛楚结束了吗？不，&No Longer Human&将再度燃烧你的皮肤，吞食你的灵魂…
 
In Germany, there have been two different metal bands called Dark Fortress. One of them was an '80s-influenced power metal band that was formed in Riedstadt in 1998 and recorded an album titled Light and Darkness in 2000; after that band's breakup a few years later, three of its ex-members -- singer/bassist Torsten Thassilo Herbert and guitarists Thorsten Brand and Matthias Bludau -- went on to form the power metal band Dragonsfire in 2005. But there is also a black metal band from Landshut with the name Dark Fortress; the better known of the two groups, this Dark Fortress formed four years before the Riedstadt-based power metal band and they were still going strong after that band called it quits. Landshut's Dark Fortress (not to be confused with Dark Suns or the Swedish black metal band Dark Funeral) were formed in 1994, when guitarist Asvargr (the band's founder/leader) joined forces with lead singer Matthias Jell, aka Azathoth, bassist Njord, and drummer Charon. After rehearsing some material in 1994 and 1995, Dark Fortress recorded their first demo, Rebirth of the Dark Age, in 1996 -- and the following year, Asvargr added keyboardist Thamuz to the lineup and hired a second guitarist: Crom. It was also in 1997 that Dark Fortress started to perform live, replaced Njord with bassist Alex Stütz, aka Zoltan, and recorded a split CD titled Towards Immortality with the German black metal band Barad Dür; that disc was released by a small independent label called Fog of the Apocalypse Records.
 
Dark Fortress planned to start recording an album in 1998, the year in which Thamuz was replaced by keyboardist Paymon. But things did not work out as planned, and not until 2001 did Dark Fortress finally record their first full-length album, Tales from Eternal Dusk. The early 2000s found Dark Fortress experiencing some more lineup changes; Zoltan and Charon both left in 2000, and Crom took off in 2001 (Zoltan went on to join Seraph of Pestilence, originally known as Cremation, and Crom went on to join the black metal band Sindecade). Dark Fortress' early-2000s arrivals included V. Santura (who has also been with Celtic Frost, Noneuclid, and the Shroud) on guitar, Draug on bass, and Seraph (an ex-member of the Shroud) on drums. In 2003, Dark Fortress recorded their second full-length album, Stab Wounds, which was released on the small Black Attakk label and was followed by their third full-length album, Seance, in 2006. The following year, Azathoth parted company with Dark Fortress after 13 years with the band, and his departure made founder Asvargr the only remaining original member. Azathoth was replaced by singer Morean (founder of Noneuclid) and was featured on Dark Fortress' first post-Azathoth album, Eidolon, which Century Media released in the United States in 2008.