Jürgen Engler
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Die Krupps () ("The Krupps") is a German
industrial metal Industrial metal is the fusion of Heavy metal music, heavy metal and industrial music, typically employing repeating Heavy metal guitar, metal guitar riffs, sampling (music), sampling, synthesizer or music sequencer, sequencer lines, and Distor ...
/ EBM band, formed in 1980 by Jürgen Engler, Ralf Dörper, and
Bernward Malaka Bernward Malaka (born August 31, 1962, in Düsseldorf, West Germany) is an internet entrepreneur and consultant. He was also active as publisher and musician. In 1976 Malaka was co-founder and bass player of German punk band Male. He founded the b ...
in
Düsseldorf Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...
. The band has had a diverse range of musical influences over time, including the percussive industrial ''Stahlwerksynfonie'' (1981) then to a more
synth-pop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a music genre that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s b ...
styled ''
Volle Kraft voraus! ''Volle Kraft voraus!'' is the second studio album by German industrial metal band Die Krupps. It was released in 1982 through record label WEA The Wea were a Miami–Illinois-speaking Native American tribe originally located in western In ...
'' (1982) and ''
Entering the Arena ''Entering the Arena'' is the third studio album by the German industrial metal/ EBM band Die Krupps Die Krupps () ("The Krupps") is a German industrial metal/electronic body music, EBM band, formed in 1980 by Jürgen Engler, Ralf Dörper, ...
'' (1985), with the latter album featuring their first English-language material. The band later established itself as an industrial metal band, releasing four albums predominantly in this genre, from 1992 to 1997 with each labelled 1 to 4. The band has released additional albums since 1997, including the predominantly
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 ...
''
Als wären wir für immer Als wären wir für immer is an Extended play, EP by Germany, German Industrial music, Industrial/Electronic body music, EBM band Die Krupps. It was released on 3 December 2010 through German record label Synthetic Symphony. The EP was released in ...
'' (2010) and '' The Machinists of Joy'' (2013), before revisiting the metal sound they had pursued in the 90s with '' V – Metal Machine Music''.


History


Early years (1980–1985)

The band's name translates as "The Krupps" and comes from the
Krupp Friedrich Krupp AG Hoesch-Krupp (formerly Fried. Krupp AG and Friedrich Krupp GmbH), trade name, trading as Krupp, was the largest company in Europe at the beginning of the 20th century as well as Germany's premier weapons manufacturer dur ...
dynasty, one of Germany's main industrial families before and during
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. In some interviews, the band stated that Visconti's 1969 film '' The Damned'', a depiction of the fictitious German industrial dynasty of the Essenbecks, was the main inspiration. The initial sound on the band's first album ''Stahlwerksynfonie'', showed a mix of industry factory noises with metallic
percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...
and real instruments. Later on the ''Wahre Arbeit, wahrer Lohn'' EP and the ''
Volle Kraft voraus! ''Volle Kraft voraus!'' is the second studio album by German industrial metal band Die Krupps. It was released in 1982 through record label WEA The Wea were a Miami–Illinois-speaking Native American tribe originally located in western In ...
'' album in 1982 the band's sound moved toward a less experimental sound but rather a more
synthesizer A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis a ...
based sound while still keeping the metallic percussion. With the release of ''
Entering the Arena ''Entering the Arena'' is the third studio album by the German industrial metal/ EBM band Die Krupps Die Krupps () ("The Krupps") is a German industrial metal/electronic body music, EBM band, formed in 1980 by Jürgen Engler, Ralf Dörper, ...
'' the band almost virtually abandoned the metallic percussion and went for a more 1980s new wave sound. In the mid 1980s, Jurgen Engler went to work on his record label Atom-H, signing bands who played mainly
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, ...
and
hardcore punk Hardcore punk (commonly abbreviated to hardcore or hXc) is a punk rock music genre#subtypes, subgenre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. It is generally faster, harder, and more aggressive than other forms of punk rock. Its roots ...
. This influence would play a key part in the musical change in the 1990s.


Growing popularity and metal releases (1989–1997)

In 1989, Ralf Dörper initiated a collaboration with
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 ...
on an old Die Krupps track (i.e. "Machineries of Joy", a newer version of their early-1980s track "Wahre Arbeit, wahrer Lohn") which he produced together with Jürgen Engler. The chart success of the record (
Billboard charts The ''Billboard'' charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in the United States and elsewhere. The results are published in ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' magazine. ''Billboard'' biz, the online extension of the ' ...
) led to the reactivation of Die Krupps fronted by Engler and Dörper. Die Krupps were key in the Europe wide progression of electronic body music, culminating with the collaboration in 1989 with British band Nitzer Ebb. In 1992, they began to utilize guitars and more sounds derived from
heavy metal music Heavy metal (or simply metal) is a Music genre, genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the United Kingdom and United States. With roots in blues rock, psychedelic rock and acid rock, heavy metal band ...
, with the release of their album '' I'' and the EP ''Tribute to Metallica'', which consisted of covers of
Metallica Metallica is an American heavy metal band. It was formed in Los Angeles in 1981 by vocalist and guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrume ...
songs. Combining electronic and metal elements was a pioneering move that led to a number of other bands using the electronic/metal combo as a template in keeping with a deeper industrial sound. The band continued in this vein through the 1990s, releasing '' II – The Final Option'' (with the album cover influenced by Deep Purple's ''
Machine Head A machine head (also referred to as a tuning machine, tuner, or gear head) is a geared apparatus for tuning stringed musical instruments by adjusting string tension. Machine heads are used on mandolins, guitars, double basses, and others, and ...
'') in 1993. A more experimental and pensive '' III – Odyssey of the Mind '' followed in 1995. After the release of the heavier
groove metal Groove metal, sometimes also called neo-thrash or post-thrash, is a subgenre of heavy metal music that began in the early 1990s. The genre is primarily derived from thrash metal, but played in slower tempos, and making use of rhythmic guitar pa ...
-influenced album''
Paradise Now ''Paradise Now'' () is a 2005 psychological drama film directed by Hany Abu-Assad. It follows the story of two Palestinian men preparing for a suicide attack in Israel. The film won the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film and recei ...
'' in 1997 (unofficially known as ''IV''), the band disbanded. Jürgen Engler founded the project DKay.com in 1997 after the break-up of Die Krupps and released two albums, ''Decaydenz'' (2000) and ''Deeper into the Heart of Dysfunction'' (2002).


Reunion and later years (2005–present)

Die Krupps celebrated their 25th anniversary with appearances in some major European festivals as well as solo appearances in 2005 and 2006. In fall 2007, two greatest-hits albums were released to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Die Krupps: ''Too Much History – The Electro Years Vol. 1'' and ''Too Much History – The Metal Years Vol. 2'', both in digipak format. Both albums were combined as the 2-disc ''Too Much History''. A collection of completely recorded old classics including four then new songs on their greatest hit album ''Too Much History'' (2007). "The Great Divide", "5 Millionen" with two cover songs " Ich bin ein Ausländer" by
Pop Will Eat Itself Pop Will Eat Itself are an English alternative rock band formed in 1986 in Stourbridge in the West Midlands of England with members from Birmingham, Coventry and the Black Country. Initially known as a grebo act, they changed style to incorpo ...
and "Der Amboss" by Visage (which was originally released two years before as a
B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...
to the re-release of ''Wahre Arbeit, wahrer Lohn''). The influential back-catalogue of Die Krupps has been remastered and expanded. So far four of their previous albums; ''Stahlwerksynfonie'', ''Volle Kraft voraus'', ''I'' and ''Final Option'' have been re-released. ''Volle Kraft Null Acht'' was released in 2009, which is a remix album of ''
Volle Kraft voraus! ''Volle Kraft voraus!'' is the second studio album by German industrial metal band Die Krupps. It was released in 1982 through record label WEA The Wea were a Miami–Illinois-speaking Native American tribe originally located in western In ...
'' In 2010, Die Krupps released an EP entitled "
Als wären wir für immer Als wären wir für immer is an Extended play, EP by Germany, German Industrial music, Industrial/Electronic body music, EBM band Die Krupps. It was released on 3 December 2010 through German record label Synthetic Symphony. The EP was released in ...
", which comprises two original electronic based tracks, two original metal based tracks, and a cover of Propaganda's 1980s hit " Dr Mabuse". At that time the first true new material since 1997. To celebrate thirty years of "True Work, True Pay" Die Krupps announced a joint European tour with Nitzer Ebb in spring 2011. In 2013, the band released their first full new album since 1997, an industrial/EBM record called '' The Machinists of Joy'', and in 2015, they released the heavy metal influenced album '' V – Metal Machine Music''. In 2016, the band recorded ''Stahlwerkrequiem'', a sequel/recording of the band's first album, ''Stahlwerksynfonie''. Later that year saw the release of ''Live im Schatten der Ringe'', a live album originally recorded in 2014. In 2019, the band released the album ''Vision 2020 Vision''. Additionally in 2019, Jürgen Engler formed Die Klute, an industrial metal supergroup featuring
Dino Cazares Dino Cazares (born September 2, 1966) is an American musician, best known as the guitarist and one of the co-founders of industrial metal band Fear Factory. He is also a co-founder of Divine Heresy, Asesino, and Brujeria (band), Brujeria. Cazar ...
(
Fear Factory Fear Factory is an American industrial metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1989. Throughout the band's career, they have released ten full-length albums and have evolved through a succession of sounds, all in their main style of industrial met ...
) and Claus Larsen (
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 ...
). The band released an album in 2019, titled ''Planet Fear'' on
Bandcamp Bandcamp is an American online music distribution platform founded in 2008 by Oddpost co-founder Ethan Diamond and programmers Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt and Neal Tucker, with an office and record store in Oakland, California. Acquired by Epic ...
. The album features Dino Cazares and Claus Larsen. In 2023, Die Krupps' main guitarist of 18 years, Marcel Zürcher, left the band. Nils Finkeisen now plays both guitar parts himself.


Legacy

Critics worldwide hail Die Krupps alongside
Kraftwerk Kraftwerk (, ) is a Germany, German Electronic music, electronic band formed in Düsseldorf in 1970 by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider. Widely considered innovators and pioneers of electronic music, Kraftwerk was among the first successful a ...
and
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, ...
as pioneers of electronic and industrial music, bands like
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 ...
and
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 ...
called them their inspiration, and their musical ideas found their way into the sound of a wide spectrum of music, from
Depeche Mode Depeche Mode are an English electronic music, electronic band formed in Basildon, Essex in 1980. Originally formed with the line-up of Dave Gahan, Martin Gore, Andy Fletcher (musician), Andy Fletcher and Vince Clarke, the band currently consists ...
to the innovative pioneers of
Detroit techno Detroit techno is a type of techno music that generally includes the first techno productions by Detroit-based artists during the 1980s and early 1990s. Prominent Detroit techno artists include Juan Atkins, Eddie Fowlkes, Derrick May, Jeff Mi ...
. They are also seen as one of the pioneers of fusing
heavy metal music Heavy metal (or simply metal) is a Music genre, genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the United Kingdom and United States. With roots in blues rock, psychedelic rock and acid rock, heavy metal band ...
with
electronic music Electronic music broadly is a group of music genres that employ electronic musical instruments, circuitry-based music technology and software, or general-purpose electronics (such as personal computers) in its creation. It includes both music ...
. Ralf Dörper who was part of the initial line-up which created the acclaimed early recordings ''Stahlwerksynfonie'' and ''Wahre Arbeit, wahrer Lohn'' in 1981, left the band in 1982 to found the band
Propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded l ...
. Propaganda became one of the few German bands which were internationally successful in the 1980s.


Members

* Jürgen Engler – vocals, guitars, keyboards,
synthesizer A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis a ...
s and
programming Program (American English; also Commonwealth English in terms of computer programming and related activities) or programme (Commonwealth English in all other meanings), programmer, or programming may refer to: Business and management * Program m ...
, Stahlophon (metallic
percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...
) (1980–1985, 1989–1997, 2005–present) * Ralf Dörper – keyboards, synthesizers and programming (1980–1982, 1985, 1989–1997, 2005–present) * Paul Keller – drums (2018–present) * Dylan Smith - guitars (2024- present)


Former members

* Nils Finkeisen - guitars, guitar technician (2015-2024) * Marcel Zürcher – guitars, keyboards (2005–2023) * Bradley Bills – live drums (2013–2014) * Rüdiger Esch – bass (1989–1997, 2005–2011) * Christoph "Nook" Michelfeit – drums, electronic percussion *
Bernward Malaka Bernward Malaka (born August 31, 1962, in Düsseldorf, West Germany) is an internet entrepreneur and consultant. He was also active as publisher and musician. In 1976 Malaka was co-founder and bass player of German punk band Male. He founded the b ...
– bass (1980–1982) * Hendrik Thiesbrummel – live drums (2016–2018) * Frank Köllges – drums * Eva Gossling – saxophone (1981) * Tina Schnekenburger – syncussion, bass * Walter Jäger – ? * Christopher Lietz – programming, samples (1995–1997) *
Lee Altus Lee Altus (born Leonid Altus, May 13, 1966) is a guitarist who is a member of the thrash metal bands Exodus and Heathen. Career Altus first came to public attention in the mid-1980s with his original band, Heathen. He served as the princi ...
– guitars (1992–1997) * Darren Minter – drums (1993) * George Lewis – drums (1997) * Oliver Röhl – drums * Achim Färber – drums *Volker Borchert – drums (1992, 2015–2016)


Discography


Albums

* ''Stahlwerksynfonie'' (1981) * ''
Volle Kraft voraus! ''Volle Kraft voraus!'' is the second studio album by German industrial metal band Die Krupps. It was released in 1982 through record label WEA The Wea were a Miami–Illinois-speaking Native American tribe originally located in western In ...
'' (1982) * ''
Entering the Arena ''Entering the Arena'' is the third studio album by the German industrial metal/ EBM band Die Krupps Die Krupps () ("The Krupps") is a German industrial metal/electronic body music, EBM band, formed in 1980 by Jürgen Engler, Ralf Dörper, ...
'' (1985) * '' I'' (1992) * '' II – The Final Option'' (1993) * '' III – Odyssey of the Mind'' (1995) * ''
Paradise Now ''Paradise Now'' () is a 2005 psychological drama film directed by Hany Abu-Assad. It follows the story of two Palestinian men preparing for a suicide attack in Israel. The film won the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film and recei ...
'' (1997) * '' The Machinists of Joy'' (2013) * '' V – Metal Machine Music'' (2015) *''Vision 2020 Vision'' (2019) *''Songs from the Dark Side of Heaven'' (2021)


Singles and EPs

* ''Wahre Arbeit, wahrer Lohn'' (1981) * ''Goldfinger'' (1982) * ''Risk'' (1985) * ''Machineries of Joy'' (1989) * ''Germaniac'' (1990) * ''Metal Machine Music'' (1992) * ''The Power'' (1992) * ''A Tribute to Metallica'' (1992) * ''Fatherland'' (1993) * ''To the Hilt'' (1994) * ''Crossfire'' (1994) * ''Bloodsuckers'' (1994) * ''Isolation'' (1995) * ''Scent'' (1995) * ''Remix Wars Strike 2: Die Krupps vs.
Front Line Assembly Front Line Assembly (FLA) is a Canadian electro-industrial band formed by Bill Leeb in 1986 in music, 1986 after leaving Skinny Puppy. FLA has developed its own sound incorporating elements of electronic body music and electro-industrial. The ba ...
'' (1996) * ''Fire'' (1997) * ''Rise Up'' (1997) * ''Black Beauty White Heat'' (1997) * ''Wahre Arbeit, wahrer Lohn / Der Amboss'' (2005) * ''Volle Kraft Null Acht'' (2009) * ''
Als wären wir für immer Als wären wir für immer is an Extended play, EP by Germany, German Industrial music, Industrial/Electronic body music, EBM band Die Krupps. It was released on 3 December 2010 through German record label Synthetic Symphony. The EP was released in ...
'' (2010) * ''Industrie-Mädchen'' (2012) * ''Risikofaktor'' (2013) * "Nazis on Speed" (2013) * "Robo Sapien" (2014) * "Battle Extreme" / "Fly Martyrs Fly" (2015) * "Kaltes Herz" (2015) * "Alive in a Glass Cage" (2016) – feat. Caliban * "F*ck You" (2018) * "Vision 2020 Vision" (2019) * "Welcome to the Blackout" (2019) * "The Number One Song in Heaven" (2021) * "No More Heroes" (2021) * "To Hell With Poverty" (2021) * "Collapsing New People" (2021) * "New York" (2021) * "Temple of Love" (2023) * "Beautiful People" (2024)


Anthologies

* ''Metall Maschinen Musik 91-81 Past Forward'' (1991) * ''The Final Remixes'' (1994) * ''
Rings of Steel Rings of Steel is a compilation album by German industrial rock/ EBM band Die Krupps. It was released in May 1995 via Cleopatra Records and targeted towards the US markets. The album combines tracks from '' I'', '' II - The Final Option'' (1993), ...
'' (1995) * ''Metalmorphosis of Die Krupps'' (1997) * ''Foundation'' (1997) * ''Too Much History. The Electro Years (Vol. 1) ''(2007) * ''Too Much History. The Metal Years (Vol. 2) ''(2007) * ''Too Much History. Limited edition double CD set ''(2007)


Compilations appearances and tributes (Partial)

* ''Extended Electronics'' (2006) * ''This Is Industrial Hits of the '90s '' (2007) * ''Advanced Electronics Vol. 8'' (2010) * ''The Dark Box – The Ultimate Goth, Wave & Industrial Collection 1980–2011'' (2011) * '' Russian Industrial Tribute to Die Krupps'' (2013) * '' Elektrozorn Vol. 1'' (2014)


Live

* ''Live im Schatten der Ringe'' (2016) * "Front Line Assembly Vs. Die Krupps – The Machinists Reunited Tour EP" (2022)


Re-recorded albums

* ''Stahlwerkrequiem'' (2016)


References


External links


Official website
*

*Ormeny, Francisc-Norbert (11 August 2010). "Interview with Jürgen Engler"
Pest Webzine, Underground Metal Flavour since 2006
{{DEFAULTSORT:Krupps, Die German industrial music groups German electronic music groups Electronic body music groups Musical groups established in 1980 Mute Records artists German musical quintets Musical groups from Düsseldorf German industrial metal musical groups German industrial rock musical groups Metropolis Records artists