Stoneman is a Swiss rock band formed in 2004. With the release of their fourth album in 2014, the band underwent a change in style from English-language
gothic rock
Gothic rock (also called goth rock or simply goth) is a style of rock music that emerged from post-punk in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s. The first post-punk bands which shifted toward dark music with gothic overtones include Siouxsie an ...
to
Neue Deutsche Härte
(; "New German Hardness", sometimes abbreviated as NDH), also known as dance-metal, is a crossover style drawing from Neue Deutsche Welle, alternative metal, groove metal, electro-industrial and techno. It developed in Germany and Austria d ...
.
History
After Mikki Chixx and Rico H decided to form a band in spring 2004, they quickly found some like-minded people. Despite several changing bassists, the original formation of the band Stoneman was clear.
On 20 October 2006, the debut album ''Sex Drugs Murder'' was released, in which
Sabine Dünser
Sabine Michaela Dünser (27 June 1977 – 8 July 2006) was a Liechtensteiner gothic metal and symphonic metal singer and lyricist. She was the vocalist and lyricist for Liechtenstein gothic metal band Erben der Schöpfung, and then the band Elis ...
contributed the vocals to ''Devil In A Gucci Dress'' and ''Protect Me''. The video for ''Devil in a Gucci Dress'' was shown on several TV stations like MTV and VIVA. In autumn 2006 Stoneman were on tour with the
Deathstars
Deathstars is a Swedish Industrial metal music, industrial metal band from Strömstad. Formed in 2000, the group are noted for their dark Horror fiction, horror-themed lyrics, pessimistic and misanthropic social commentary, distinctive trademark ...
. In early 2007 Dave Snow switched to bass, whereupon the keyboards are played by a sampler. In May 2007 followed another European tour, this time already as headliner.
On 14 September 2007, the second album ''How to Spell Heroin'' was released, which was again produced by Dave Snow. It received conflicting reviews. While it was perceived as a clear increase to ''Sex Drugs Murder'', others criticized the songs always built according to the same knitting pattern.
In 2008 they performed at one of the biggest festivals of the alternative scene, the
Wave-Gotik-Treffen
The (WGT; German for "Wave Gothic Meeting") is an annual world festival for "dark" music and "dark culture" in Leipzig, Germany. 150+ bands and artists from various backgrounds (gothic rock, Electronic body music, EBM, Industrial music, indust ...
in Leipzig. Tours with the German rock band
Xandria
Xandria is a German symphonic metal band founded by Marco Heubaum in 1994. Originally a project, Heubaum later restarted the project as a band in 1999, and has gone through various lineup changes. The German vocalist Lisa Middelhauve joined for ...
and the glam rocker
Wednesday 13
Joseph Michael Poole (born August 12, 1976), better known by his stage name Wednesday 13, is an American singer and musician. Apart from his solo career, he was the frontman of the horror punk/glam metal band Murderdolls and has also played in s ...
followed, whereby the latter recorded a feature song on the third album ''Human Hater''.
In 2011 the band signed a management contract with ICS Festival Service GmbH and the music publisher Enorm Music.
In 2014, Stoneman released their fourth and only full German album ''Goldmarie'', which was published by the leading dark label Danse Macabre and Bruno Kramm. The band made it onto the cover and poster inserts of specific music magazines The band placed fourth on the German Alternative Charts (DAC). In 2015, Stoneman was the opening act on the "Terlingua" tour of Mono Inc. Stoneman also performed on the main stage at the
Wacken Open Air
Wacken Open Air (, abbreviated as W:O:A) is a Heavy metal music, heavy metal music festival, held annually since 1990 on the first weekend of August in the village of Wacken, Schleswig-Holstein, Wacken in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. Almost all ...
Massacre Records
Massacre Records is an independent record label based in Abstatt, Germany, specializing in bands from the heavier genres of metal.
The label was founded in 1991 by Torsten Hartmann. Associated with Massacre Records are the marketing and music ...