Despair is a

thrash metal Thrash metal (or simply thrash) is an Extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music characterized by its overall aggression and fast tempo.Kahn-Harris, Keith, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'', pp. 2–3, 9. Oxford: Berg, ...

band from

Dortmund Dortmund (; ; ) is the third-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia, after Cologne and Düsseldorf, and the List of cities in Germany by population, ninth-largest city in Germany. With a population of 614,495 inhabitants, it is the largest city ...

, Germany.

History

Original line-up

The group was formed in Dortmund in 1986 with Robert Kampf on vocals, Klaus Pachura on bass, Thomas "Donald" König on drums, and

Waldemar Sorychta Waldemar Sorychta (born 30 October 1967) is a Polish heavy metal record producer and musician who has lived in Germany since 1982. Career He initially worked with German thrash metal band Despair, founded in 1986. In 1994 he took part in the ...

and Marek Greschek on guitar. The following year, they released the demo ''Surviving You Always''. König was replaced shortly after by 16-year-old drummer Markus Freiwald. Kampf launched

Century Media Records Century Media Records is a German heavy metal record label with offices in Germany, the United States and the United Kingdom. In August 2015, Century Media was acquired by Sony Music for US$17 million. Background Century Media was founded by R ...

in 1988 and Despair's ''History of Hate'' was the first album released by the label. In 1989, Andreas Henschel replaced Kampf at the microphone when the latter decided to devote himself to Century Media. The label went on to release the group's other two albums, ''Decay of Humanity'' (1990) and ''Beyond All Reason'' (1992). Sorychta was in charge of production on ''History of Hate'' and was the principal composer. Kampf began hiring his colleague to produce other bands on his label, with Sorychta producing albums and EPs for

Unleashed Unleashed may refer to: Art and entertainment Film and television * ''Unleashed'' (2001 film), a film featuring Jeff Anderson * ''Unleashed'' (2005 film), a 2005 martial arts film starring Jet Li, Morgan Freeman and Bob Hoskins * ''Unleashed ...

, Crows,

Tiamat In Mesopotamian religion, Tiamat ( or , ) is the primordial sea, mating with Abzû (Apsu), the groundwater, to produce the gods in the Babylonian epic '' Enûma Elish'', which translates as "when on high". She is referred to as a woman, an ...

Asphyx Asphyx is a Dutch death metal band formed in Oldenzaal, Overijssel in 1987 by Bob Bagchus and Tony Brookhuis. Since 2014, no original members are still in the band. Vocalist Martin van Drunen is the only current and long-term member that appea ...

and

Samael Samael (; , ''Sammāʾēl'', "Venom of God"; , ''Samsama'il'' or , ''Samail''; alternatively Smal, Smil, Samil, or Samiel) is an archangel in Talmudic and post-Talmudic tradition; a figure who is the accuser or adversary (Satan#Judaism, Satan ...

After Despair

Despair disbanded in 1993. Sorychta went on to pursue a prolific career as a producer, often in association with Century Media. He formed Grip Inc. with

Dave Lombardo David Lombardo (born February 16, 1965) is a Cuban-American drummer, best known as a co-founding member of the thrash metal band Slayer. He currently plays drums with Fantômas, Dead Cross, Mr. Bungle, Empire State Bastard, and Misfits. Lo ...

with whom he worked on the first album by the supergroup

Voodoocult Voodoocult was a multinational thrash metal supergroup formed in 1993 by German Phillip Boa, vocalist of the alternative band Phillip Boa & The Voodooclub. The project was especially notable for the reputation of the participating musicians, ...

. Sorychta founded ''Eyes of Eden'' and ''Enemy of the Sun'' in the 2000s as Grip Inc. dissolved. He produced Sodom's '' In War and Pieces'' in 2010. Freiwald joined bands such as Flaming Anger, Everflow and Voodoocult. He became the session drummer for Century Media groups. He also replaced Ventor in

Kreator Kreator is a German thrash metal band from Essen, formed in 1982. Their current line-up consists of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Mille Petrozza, Miland "Mille" Petrozza, drummer Jürgen Reil, Jürgen "Ventor" Reil, lead guitarist Sami Yli- ...

for the ''

Endorama ''Endorama'' is the ninth studio album by German thrash metal band Kreator, released on 20 April, 1999 by Drakkar Records. The gothic metal influences were the most prominent on this release, and Lacrimosa frontman Tilo Wolff provided guest vo ...

'' European tour in 1999. Bernemann contacted him in 2010, to announce that Bobby Schottkowski had decided to leave Sodom because of the deterioration of his relationship with

Tom Angelripper Thomas Such (born 19 February 1963), known professionally as Tom Angelripper, is a German musician. He is the lead vocalist, bassist, main songwriter and only original remaining member of the thrash metal band Sodom (band), Sodom and also a me ...

. His debut album with Sodom was ''Epitome of Torture'', also produced by Sorychta. Marek Greschek committed suicide in 2013.

Revival

Robert Kampf announced a reformation of Despair which was to include Sorychta and Freiwald in November 2004. There was no follow-up to Kampf's announcement. In September 2017, it was Sorychta's turn to announce the return of Despair. Freiwald is still behind the drums, but Marc Grewe of

Morgoth Morgoth Bauglir (; originally Melkor ) is a character, one of the godlike Vala (Middle-earth), Valar and the primary antagonist of Tolkien's legendarium, the mythic epic published in parts as ''The Silmarillion'', ''The Children of Húrin'', ...

took over as lead singer. Grewe had been a backing vocalist on the band's second and third albums. Marius Ickert of the band In Weak Lights was hired on bass. The band is recording what Sorychta calls a rewrite of the album ''History of Hate''.

Discography

* ''Surviving You Always'' (1987) – demo * ''History of Hate'' (1988) * ''Decay of Humanity'' (1990) * ''Beyond All Reason'' (1992)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Despair German thrash metal musical groups Musical groups established in 1986 1986 establishments in West Germany Musical groups disestablished in 1993 Musical groups reestablished in 2017 Century Media Records artists Culture in Dortmund