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Although metalcore is a largely North American phenomenon, Western Europe has its share of metalcore bands as well; one of them is Germany's blistering Deadsoil. Like their counterparts in the United States (Hatebreed, Throwdown, Brick Bath, Himsa, NDE, among many others), Deadsoil believes in the take-no-prisoners approach. From their screaming vocals to their use of extreme density, Deadsoil is all about sensory assault; the German agitators (who have cited Hatebreed and Slayer as primary influences) provide a metal/punk attack that is harsh, violent, punishing, angry and incredibly vicious. Deadsoil was formed by guitarist Boris Pracht and drummer Christian Bass in late 2002, when the musicians put together a five-man lineup that also included lead singer Marcel Strotter, guitarist Jan Olejnik and bassist Stefan Eutebach. Most of them had been with other German bands (some metal, some punk, some hardcore) in their pre-Deadsoil days. While Bass had played with Night in Gales (which recorded for the Nuclear Blast and Massacre labels) as well as a band called Bloodred Bacteria, and Pracht had been a part of Copykill, Surface, End of Days and Spawn. Eutebach was an ex-member of Six Reasons to Kill, April, and Gomorrha. Strotter, meanwhile, listed the bands Drift and Bloodstring on his resume. With that original Pracht/Bass/Strotter/Olejnik/Eutebach lineup in place, Deadsoil recorded their skullcrushing debut EP, Forever the Enemy, in May 2003; the five-song EP was first released in Western Europe by Poisonfree.com Records before coming out on Tribunal Records in the United States in early 2004. After Forever the Enemy, Deadsoil went through some lineup changes, which is not uncommon in the metalcore field. Pracht, Eutebach and Bass remained, but Strotter left and was replaced by singer Bastian Pasinski (who had performed with three different bands -- Discord, 45 Chambers and SMA -- and had also been part of the German hip-hop scene). However, Pasinski wasn't with Deadsoil for very long and never recorded with the band; eventually, Friedrich Weber became Deadsoil's new lead singer. Olejnik also left Deadsoil after Forever the Enemy; his replacement was guitarist Jens Basten (who, like Bass, had been with Night in Gales). With Weber and Basten having settled in, Deadsoil's new Pracht/Eutebach/Bass/Weber/Basten lineup ventured to Sweden and recorded the band's first full-length album, The Venom Divine, which was released by Germany's Lifeforce Records in September 2004. ~ Alex Henderson, All Music Guide |
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