THE HOUSE OF USHER

Those who sow the storm...
The “project“ was born in 1990 with Jörg Kleugden and Markus Pick as its parents. They aimed at arranging gloomy post-punk horror sound tracks. At the time, no one suspected it would develop into one of the today's most interesting German gothic-rock acts. The project worked as a band amazingly well, releasing a few demos and starting a buzz in the German gothic underground scene. Their very first Vinyl-EP “Relic” (1993) is practically unavailable now. The “Black Sunday” MCD sold out six months after release. Even the author of this note has had little luck in obtaining a copy yet. Their début album “Stars Fall Down“ (1995) caused eye-brow-raising enthusiasm in the German/pan-European trade press. From the very beginning, Jörg Kleudgen and his comrades emphasized combining gothic horror literature and the music of The House of Usher. The album “Zephyre“ (1996) had been accompanied by the parallel release of the “Succubus“-Maxi - a limited edition of 1000 copies. It sold-out fast and brought the band sensational attention. They followed it with their triumphant show at the world-famous German Wave-Gothic Days in 1997.

In between seemingly endless domestic and international shows (Germany, England, Italy, France, Lebanon, Belgium, etc.) the band worked feverishly on their album “Cosmogenesis” which saw the light of day in December 1999.

Yearning and waiting for the album was relieved by the release of “Black Sunday Chronology”, the best-of/remix album. The re-release of the “Black Sunday” material had filled a painful void. The album earned euphoric critiques in all scene magazines & fanzines. The audible pleasure turned into near-obsession for everyone who encountered the beauty of its songs for the first time. Energetic sounds crash into the listener’s ears and linger there. Jörg’s charismatic voice and imagery of gothic horror dooms his audience to sleepless nights and pleasant nightmares. But the most intense impression of his visions are experienced at their performances as THE HOUSE OF USHER.

A peak in the band’s ten years history was the show in front of thousands at the “1st Beirut Rock Festival” in Lebanon. Hitting the Lebanese charts for several weeks, plus appearances on the Lebanese MTV and at the radio station RML, THE HOUSE OF USHER gave the Lebanese a crash course in stylish goth-rock.

The band’s members are: Jörg Kleudgen: voc., progr., Martin Krötz: guit., Ralf Dunkel: bass, Dominic Daub: guit. Their live shows smash every last doubt of their extraordinary – unique - quality. The event CARNIVAL OF SOULS/England, with The House of Usher headlining, sold more than 1200 tickets, which gives a solid indication of the band's reputation in Europe.

The new material of “Cosmogenesis” was introduced to their fans live at festivals such as the German “Wave-Gothic-Days” in 1999, showing up there as special surprise guests. As well as at the “Autumn Nights” (Herbstnächte) at Castle Querfurt (in Germany). In 2000, THE HOUSE OF USHER appeared at almost any festival high light possible in Germany, such as the Wave-Gothic Days/Leipzig, the MERA LUNA/Hildesheim (Ex-ZILLO-Festival), as well as the “Autumn Nights” (Herbstnächte) and “Dry Ice Mist” festival (Trockeneisnebel) and turned them into an act of morbid beauty. They celebrated on many other occasions their individual, very own version of gothic rock. A punishing but rewarding schedule that has earned them many admirers.

The third album “Cosmogenesis“ raised the stakes. It did not attempt to gain favor with trendy, flavour-of-the-month Goth-metal tunes but carried the true gothic feeling into the next millennium. A different class that proved to be the right road. The decision of huge magazines such as Zillo and the chain store WOM (in Europe) to finally thrust this album into their promotion of talent support was then nothing but a logically consequential step.

THE HOUSE OF USHER never rested in the face of continuing success. They’re endlessly inspired to produce more material. A limited split vinyl single was released just in time, before the next Wave-Gothic Days in Leipzig. It complimented the gothic anachronism and also featured the Italian gothic rock band “Burning Gates”. The single contains two brand new tracks of each of the bands as well as the story “Medusa” written by Jörg, which - could it be otherwise? - is sold out already. Last July, the band went to the Bretagne (France) to work intensively on their new album and be inspired by the picturesque, melancholic landscape there “...ashes to ashes, we’ll be back soon!“

After playing more shows at the end of 2000, of which the acoustic appearance at the Leipzig ELSTERCON (international meeting of Sci-Fi and horror literature) aroused considerable public attention, the band focused on working on new material. In May 2001, they went to England (Leeds) again for several shows and attended the GOTHAM-Festival (London). At the same time shooting for the planned Live-Video and Video-Clip took place. In late Autumn the band finished their work on the fourth album “Inferno/L`énfer“ and returned to German stages around November/December. Their new thrilling album will be released in March 2002, something to look forward to.

Keep the fire burning...