Disaster Area is a German punk band who have been around since the 1980s. They were in the
Skate-punk genre.
Background
They were described by Pushead in Maximum Rocknroll as "Probably the first German skate-oriented band". Among the bands in Berlin trying to make a go of it, Disaster Area began in the 1980s. The nucleus of the group was the Thummerer brothers who started out as C&A. They didn't rehearse much and hardly played any gigs. The legacy of this band is just some songs on two tape samplers.
The name for this group came from watching ''
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'' is a comedy science fiction franchise created by Douglas Adams. Originally a radio sitcom broadcast over two series on BBC Radio 4 between 1978 and 1980, it was soon adapted to other formats, incl ...
'' which featured a band called Disaster Area, the loudest band in the universe.
They were described by ''Burn Your Ears'' as five guys dabbling in the Skate-punk genre who caused a stir in the late 1980s.
They went through a series of lineup changes. By 1992 the lineup comprised Naughty on vocals, Norman on lead guitar, Scheune on guitar and vocals, Marky on bass and vocals, and Frusty on drums. They were then veteran punk musicians.
Career
In 1984/85 Disaster Area had a shared release with Die Schlimmen Finger on EP, ''Skate Tonight / Rebels with Horst''. The Disaster Area contributions were, "Skate To-Nite" and "Realität". The review by Puszone was good with the reviewer saying that "Skate Tonight" was a new skate anthem, and they brought forth a "distinct character of song stylings that strives to please". Maximum Rocknroll said that Disaster area didn't thrash but gave a powerful assault with lots of choruses, and they had a Misfits appeal.
In the beginning of 1988, they started work on their second album, ''Back from the Reservation'' which they produced and financed themselves. With only five days to have to record and mix the album, they completed it, and it was released on the Berlin-based Bonzen Records label.
The group played at the Skate'n'Roll Festival on 14 August 1988. The drummer Oli got an ear injury which resulted in ringing sounds and headaches. He left the band and Berlin for Australia.
In 1994, they released their ''Shred Ready'' fourteen-track album on the Bonzen Records label.
In 1997, they released their single, "Powder" on Bonzen DAR 0816.
In 1998, they released their ''Slam Selection'' album on
Noise Records
Noise Records is a German heavy metal record label founded in 1983 by German music industry personality Karl-Ulrich Walterbach as an expansion of his company Modern Music Records. It was sold to the Sanctuary Records Group in 2001 and ceased an ...
. According to
laut.de
''laut.de'' is a German online magazine covering music and entertainment. It was founded in Konstanz in 1996 by Rainer Henze[Skateboard
A skateboard is a type of sports equipment used for skateboarding. It is usually made of a specially designed 7–8-ply maple plywood deck and has polyurethane wheels attached to the underside by a pair of skateboarding trucks.
The skateboard ...]
" wasn't necessary and spoilt the overall impression of the album. He finished off with saying that it was an album that one could take or leave. Power Metal's review on the album was positive with the reviewer saying it gets better with every spin. The reviewer also said that the band wasn't interested in pseudo-intellectual lyrics, they simply let the music do the talking. It was also reviewed in ''Plastic Bomb''.
[''Plastic Bomb'', 052 2005 ]
Page 40 DISASTER AREA-forever-CD
/ref>
Further reading
* ''4 Chaos'', 06 (1997)
Page 29 Disaster Area (in German)
* Power Metal, 17.06.2005
References
{{reflist
External links
* Discogs
Disaster Area
* Rock in Berlin
Disaster Area
* Disaster Area - Topic channel, May 14, 2021
Skateboard (Uh Ah Ah)
* Disaster Area - Topic channel, Jul 9, 2021
Skateboarding Is Not a Crime
Skate punk groups
Musical groups established in the 1980s
German musical quintets
Noise Records artists