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Armageddon Dildos is a German
electro-industrial Electro-industrial is a music genre that emerged from industrial music in the early 1980s. While EBM (electronic body music) has a minimal structure and clean production, electro-industrial tends to have a grittier, complex and layered sound ...
-duo originally consisting of Uwe Kanka (vocals) and Dirk Krause (synthesizer). The act was formed in 1988 in
Kassel Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in North Hesse, northern Hesse, in Central Germany (geography), central Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel (region), Kassel and the d ...
Germany, and the name comes from the slang term for
intercontinental ballistic missiles An intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) is a ballistic missile with a range (aeronautics), range greater than , primarily designed for nuclear weapons delivery (delivering one or more Thermonuclear weapon, thermonuclear warheads). Conven ...
. They perform songs in both German and English. The Armageddon Dildos have been popular within their native Germany. Outside of Germany they have a cult following among industrial music lovers. In the United States their music has had some airtime on
experimental music Experimental music is a general label for any music or music genre that pushes existing boundaries and genre definitions. Experimental compositional practice is defined broadly by exploratory sensibilities radically opposed to, and questioning of, ...
radio stations. They have been compared to bands like
Rammstein Rammstein (, "ramming stone") is a German band formed in Berlin in 1994. The band's lineup—consisting of lead vocalist Till Lindemann, lead guitarist Richard Kruspe, rhythm guitarist Paul Landers, bassist Oliver Riedel, drummer Christoph ...
,
Front 242 Front 242 is a Belgian electronic music group that came into prominence during the 1980s. Pioneering the style they called electronic body music, they influenced the electronic and industrial music genres. History Formation Front 242 were for ...
,
Nitzer Ebb Nitzer Ebb () are an English electronic body music, EBM group formed in 1982 by Essex school friends Bon Harris, Vaughan "Bon" Harris (programming, synthesizers, drums, vocals), Douglas McCarthy (vocals), and David Gooday (drums). The band were ...
, Ministry,
Revolting Cocks Revolting Cocks, also known as RevCo, are an American-Belgian industrial rock band, and sometimes supergroup, that began as a musical side project for Richard 23 of Front 242, Luc van Acker, and Al Jourgensen of Ministry. History 1984 ...
,
Einstürzende Neubauten (, 'Collapsing New Buildings') is a German experimental music group, formed in West Berlin in 1980. The band currently comprises founding members Blixa Bargeld (lead vocals, guitar, keyboard) and N.U. Unruh (custom-made instruments, percussion, ...
, and Coil.


History

Uwe Kanka and Dirk Krause met in 1986 in Kassel, Germany, at a shared rehearsal space where Krause was working with a synthpop band and Kanka was with a new wave band called Beat The Beat. Uwe had self-taught to play guitar and Dirk studied piano at a music college. The pair rented an apartment and began to play music together, formalizing as a band by December 1988. It soon became clear that the duo wanted to work together on music that was more electronic and aggressive, which eventually led them to Music Research and Talla 2XLC (Andreas Tomalla). Armageddon Dildos were one of the first acts on the Music research imprint
Zoth Ommog Records Zoth Ommog Records was a German record label that focused on Industrial music and was owned by parent label Music Research. The company was established by German music producer Andreas Tomalla (aka Talla 2XLC) in 1989 and later handed over to pro ...
, alongside other significant acts such as
Leæther Strip Leæther Strip is a Danish musical project founded on 13 January 1988 by Claus Larsen. Its influence has been most felt in the electronic body music and electro-industrial genres. Leæther Strip was one of the earliest and most prominent acts ...
,
X Marks the Pedwalk X Marks the Pedwalk (sometimes written as X-Marks the Pedwalk) is a German band whose styles range from post-industrial dance to electronic body music. X Marks the Pedwalk’s influence in the industrial and electronic music scenes was consider ...
, and Tomalla's own band,
Bigod 20 Bigod 20 was a German EBM-techno band which was formed in 1988 by music producers Andreas Tomalla (a.k.a. Talla 2XLC and formerly of the band Moskwa TV) and Markus Nikolai (a.k.a. Jallokin). Nikolai, together with Thomas Franzmann, run the Berl ...
. In 1990, the band released their first single, "East West," followed in 1991 by their first album ''That's Armageddon''. These were followed by album singles "Never Mind" and "Resist." After the release of "Resist", the band embarked on a European tour through Germany and Sweden, with additional dates in Spain, Hungary, and the U.S. In 1993, the band released the single "Homicidal Maniac" which added a layer of guitar to their otherwise all-electronic sound. Prior to 1993, Tomalla's band Bigod 20 had scored a hit with the track "The Bog," which led to a major label deal with
Sire Records Sire Records (formerly Sire Records Company) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group and distributed by Warner Records. History Beginnings The label was founded in 1966 as Sire Productions by Seymour Stein and Richard Gotteh ...
. In 1993, Tomalla used this relationship to arrange a deal with Sire for Armageddon Dildos. Sire released "Homicidal Maniac" in the US as a prelude to their next album ''Homicidal Dolls''. In 1994, the band covered fellow Sire artist
Morrissey Steven Patrick Morrissey ( ; born 22 May 1959), known :wikt:mononym, mononymously as Morrissey, is an English singer and songwriter. He came to prominence as the frontman and lyricist of rock band the Smiths, who were active from 1982 to 198 ...
's "
Everyday Is Like Sunday "Everyday Is Like Sunday" is the third track of Morrissey's debut solo album, ''Viva Hate'', and the second single to be released by the artist. Co-written by Morrissey and former Smiths producer Stephen Street, the song was Morrissey's secon ...
," released as the maxi-single, ''Come Armageddon''. The cover was suggested by the label as a tongue-in-cheek take on the song's lyric, "come, armageddon, come." By this point, the band had toured across Europe, including Germany, Hungary, Sweden, Spain, Holland, Italy, and France, and two shows in the US at the
New Music Seminar The New Music Seminar (NMS) originated in New York City as an event dedicated to education and the celebration of music throughout history, taking place each June from 1980-1995. After several years, the annual NMS was relaunched in 2009. In 20 ...
in New York City. In May 1994, the band went to Chicago to record the album ''Lost'' with producer Keith "Fluffy" Auerbach. The album featured guitar work by Skatenigs guitarist Mat Mitchell and percussion by Felix Miklik of Hip Deep Trilogy and Drag. Commenting on the Chicago recording session, Kanka said "we got what we came for, an American sound." The album made an appearance on the
CMJ CMJ Holdings Corp. is a music events, online media company and a distributor of up and coming music CDs, originally founded in 1978, which ran a website, hosted an annual festival in New York City, and published two magazines, ''CMJ New Music ...
RPM charts, peaking at #21. ''Lost'' and the album single "Too Far To Suicide" would be the band's last releases on Sire. The band released a couple of singles, "Unite" and "We Are What We Are," before landing a deal with
Bertelsmann Music Group Bertelsmann Music Group (BMG) was a division of a German media company Bertelsmann before its completion of sale of the majority of its assets to Sony Corporation of America on 1 October 2008. Although it was established in 1987, the music c ...
in 1997. Under BMG, the group released a new album, ''Speed'', and two singles, produced by
Andy Gill Andrew James Dalrymple Gill (1 January 1956 – 1 February 2020) was an English musician and record producer. He was the lead guitarist for the rock band Gang of Four, which he co-founded in 1976. Gill was known for his angular, jagged style of ...
and mixed by Bob Kraushaar. For "Unite" and ''Speed'', the band brought on UK drummer Steve "Vom" Ritchie, former member of
Doctor and the Medics Doctor and the Medics is a British glam rock band formed in London in 1981. The group was most successful during the 1980s and is best known for their cover of Norman Greenbaum's "Spirit in the Sky," which reached No. 1 in the UK Singles Chart. Th ...
. The duo closed out the 1990s with the album ''Re:Match'' and a remix maxi of "East West" as ''Eastwest 2000'', both released by Zoth Ommog. In 2000, Krause left the group leaving Kanka to continue on his own. In the early 2000s, Kanka released a pair of Armageddon Dildos albums on Ausfahrt/Electric Blue, ''Morgengrauen'' in 2003 and ''Sangreal'' in 2005. In April 2007 the band embarked on a US tour, marking the band's first live dates in North America in more than a decade. In 2011, Armageddon Dildos signed with
Alfa Matrix Alfa Matrix is a Belgian record label. Founded in 2001, the label releases musical styles including aggrotech, industrial music, dark elektro, synthpop, and electronica. Based in Brussels, the label consists of label and artists manager Séba ...
and released their first album in six years: ''Untergrund''. On ''Untergrund'', Kanka worked with producer Mattias Black, as well as musicians Rene Nowotny and Ulf Häusgen and Kanka's daughter Denise (aka Malin) on guest vocals. After several more years, the band released the single "Herbstzeitlose" in 2018, followed by the single "Heut Nacht" and album ''Dystopia'' in 2020. In 2021, the band joined former label mates, Orange Sector, to co-release a single, "War of the Religions". "War of the Religions" reached #8 on the German Alternative Charts (DAC). In 2022, Kanka joined with Martin Bodewell of Orange Sector to form a side project named Kanka Bodewell. The duo released two albums, ''Herzblut'' in 2022 and ''Stroboscope'' in 2024.


Discography


Albums

*That’s Armageddon – (CD Album) 1991 -
Zoth Ommog Zoth Ommog Records was a German record label that focused on Industrial music and was owned by parent label Music Research. The company was established by German music producer Andreas Tomalla (aka Talla 2XLC) in 1989 and later handed over to pro ...
*Homicidal Dolls – (CD Album) 1993 - Zoth Ommog,
Sire Records Sire Records (formerly Sire Records Company) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group and distributed by Warner Records. History Beginnings The label was founded in 1966 as Sire Productions by Seymour Stein and Richard Gotteh ...
*Lost – (CD Album) 1994 - Zoth Ommog • (CD) 1995 - Sire Records *07 104 – (CD Compilation) 1994 - Zoth Ommog, Semaphore *Speed – (CD Album) 1997 - BMG,
RCA RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded in 1919 as the Radio Corporation of America. It was initially a patent pool, patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Westinghou ...
*Re:Match – (CD Album) 1999 - Zoth Ommog *Morgengrauen – (CD Album) 2003 - Electric Blue *Sangreal – (CD Album) 2005 - Ausfahrt *Untergrund – (CD Album) 2011 -
Alfa Matrix Alfa Matrix is a Belgian record label. Founded in 2001, the label releases musical styles including aggrotech, industrial music, dark elektro, synthpop, and electronica. Based in Brussels, the label consists of label and artists manager Séba ...
*Dystopia – (CD Album) 2020 - Alfa Matrix


Singles & EPs

*East West – (12") 1990 - Zoth Ommog *Never Mind/Pressure – (12") 1990 - Zoth Ommog *Resist – (12") 1991 - Zoth Ommog *Homicidal Maniac – (12", CD Maxi) 1992 - Zoth Ommog • (12", CD Maxi) 1993 - Sire Records *Fear – (CD EP) 1993 - Zoth Ommog *Come Armageddon – (12", CD Maxi) 1994 - Sire Records *Too Far To Suicide – (CD Maxi) 1994 Zoth Ommog • (CS Single) 1995 - Sire Records *Unite – (CD Maxi) 1995 - Zoth Ommog *We Are What We Are – (12", CD Single) 1996 - Metronome *Blue Light – (CD Maxi) 1997 - RCA *Open Up Your Eyes – (CD Maxi) 1997 - BMG Ariola Hamburg GmbH, RCA *Eastwest 2000 – (CD Maxi) 1999 - Zoth Ommog *Herbstzeitlose – (Digital) 2018 - Alfa Matrix *Heut Nacht – (Digital) 2020 - Alfa Matrix


Compilation appearances

*Body Rapture – 1990 - "Raise Your Head" - Zoth Ommog *Metropolis 00.01 – 1990 - "East West (Metropolis Mix)" - Metropolis (defunct DJ label) *Technopolis 2 – 1990 - "East West (Metropolis Mix)" - New Zone *Technopolis 3 – 1991 - "Resist (Demonstrate Mix)" - New Zone *The World of Techno – 1991 - "Never Mind" - Intercord Tonträger GmbH *The World of Techno Compilation – 1991 - "Never Mind" - Blow Up *Twitch Recordings Volume 3 – 1991 - "Resist (Remix Mike Wertheim)" - Twitch Recordings *For Crying Out Loud Chapter 2 – 1992 - "Resist" and Track #2 "Sex For Money" - FCOL *The World of Techno Vol. 2 – 1992 - "Frontline of Violence" - Intercord Tonträger GmbH *The World of Techno Volume 2 – 1992 - "Frontline of Violence" - Blow Up *Zoth In Your Mind – 1993 - "Homicidal Maniac (Crash Head Mix)" - Zoth Ommog *A Matter of Taste - Intercord PopKomm Compilation 1994 – 1994 - "Too Far To Suicide (Radio Edit)" - Intercord Tonträger GmbH *Art & Dance 5 – 1994 - "The Hunter" - Gothic Arts Records/Lost Paradise *Moonraker – 1994 - "Homicidal Maniac (Video Mix)" - Sub Terranean *The Colours of Zoth Ommog – 1994 - "I Can't Remember" - Zoth Ommog *Totentanz - The Best of Zoth Ommog – 1994 - "Resist (Lard Mix)" and "Frontline of Violence" - Cleopatra *We Came to Dance - Indie Dancefloor Vol. IV – 1994 - "The Hunter" - Sub Terranean *Alternative Final Mix 11 – 1995 - "Too Far To Suicide" - Warner Music (Australia) *Best Of Zoth Ommog Vol. 1 – 1995 - "East West" and "Never Mind" - Zoth Ommog *Colourized Vol. 1 - Cyber Rave & Hard Floor Metal – 1995 - "Unite (Remix)" - Zoth Ommog *E-Beat – 1995 - "Unite" - Polymedia Marketing Group GmbH *Demolition Zoth – 1996 - "East West Edit" - Cleopatra *Guitars & Machines Vol. 2 – 1996 - "In My Mind (Like A Knife)" - Blanco Y Negro *Sounds Of 96 Vol. 3 – 1996 - "We Are What We Are" - Musikexpress *The Digital Space Between Vol. 3 – 1996 - "Uncle D." - Cleopatra *GötterDÄmmerung – 1997 - "Ich Weiß Nicht (Ob Es Liebe Ist...)" - Gringo Records, Intercord Tonträger GmbH *Off Road Tracks Vol. 5 – 1997 - "Guilty" - Metal Hammer (Germany) *The History Files - Volume One – 1997 - "East West (Dildo Effect Mix)", "In My Mind (Like A Knife...)", "East West (Airplay Mix)" and "Z.O.D." - Zoth Ommog *Totentanz Vol. II - The History of Zoth Ommog – 1997 - "East West" and "Never Mind" - Zoth Ommog *German Classics Electrobeats – 1998 - "Haut (Krupps Mix)" - TCM Musikproduktionsgesellschaft mbH *10 Years of Zoth Ommog – 1999 - "Never Mind (New 99 Version)" and "Never Mind (Original Version) - Zoth Ommog *Bodyhorst's Popshow 3 – 1999 - "In My Mind (2000 Remix)" - Bodystyler Magazine *Cover Classics Volume One – 1999 - "Everyday Is Like Sunday" - Synthetic Symphony *Electrocity Vol. 12 – 1999 - "Resist 2000" - Ausfahrt *Music Research Promotional CD Pop.komm '99 Zoth Ommog – 1999 - "2000 In My Mind" - Zoth Ommog *Straight Shooter (Original Soundtrack) – 1999 - "Straight Shooter" - EastWest Records GmbH *The Complete History of Zoth Ommog: Totentanz – 1999 - "Frontline of Violence" and "Godshit (Re-Possessed Relievo Version)" - Cleopatra *We Came to Watch Part 2 – 1999 - "Homicidal Maniac" - Credo, Nova Tekk *ZilloScope: New Signs & Sounds 07-08/99 – 1999 - "In My Mind (Version 2000)" - Zillo *Cyberl@b V2.0 – 2000 - "In My Mind 2000" - Matrix Cube *N.O.D. The Final Sessions – 2000 - "Resist" - Energy Network *Cyberl@b V.4.0 – 2003 - "Traurige Nation" - Alfa Matrix *Sonic Seducer Cold Hands Seduction Vol. 28 – 2003 - "Morgengrauen" - Sonic Seducer *Electrocity XIII – 2003 - "Morgengrauen" - Ausfahrt *Bright Lights, Dark Room: Depeche Mode Tribute – 2006 - "Dangerous" - Cryonica Music *XX-Ray – 2008 - Appearing as 'Sara Noxx Feat. Armageddon Dildos', "Your Face In My Brain" - Prussia Records


References


External links


artist information/discography page at CyberNoise
*
Armageddon Dildos
at
Discogs Discogs ( ; short for " discographies") is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. Database contents are user-generated, and described in ''T ...
{{Authority control Electronic body music groups German musical groups Musical groups established in 1988 Zoth Ommog Records artists Sire Records artists