Unheilig
Encyclopedia
Unheilig ˈʊnhaɪ̯lɪç is a German Neue Deutsche Härte
Neue Deutsche Härte
Neue Deutsche Härte is a genre of industrial metal. The term was invented by the German music press after the release of the debut album Herzeleid by Rammstein....

 band
Band (music)
In music, a musical ensemble or band is a group of musicians that works together to perform music. The following articles concern types of musical bands:* All-female band* Big band* Boy band* Christian band* Church band* Concert band* Cover band...

 with various pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...

 and electronic
Electronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...

 influences. The band founded in 2000 and now consists of principally Der Graf (German for "The Count"), with his live musicians Licky, Henning Verlage and Potti.

Early years 1999–2009

In 1999, together with Grant Stevens (songwriter of “Everlasting Friends” from the Holsten Pilsener TV spot) and José Alvarez-Brill (Wolfsheim
Wolfsheim (band)
Wolfsheim was a synthpop band from Hamburg, Germany that consisted of Markus Reinhardt and Peter Heppner. Although never officially disbanded, Wolfsheim has been inactive since 2005 due to a dispute between the two members, which even led to trials in 2007 and 2008 that forbade either member to...

, Joachim Witt
Joachim Witt
Joachim Witt is a German musician and actor.- Life and work :Joachim Witt became a major star of the German pop scene during the eighties with huge hits such as "Der Goldene Reiter"...

, De/Vision
De/Vision
De/Vision is a German synthpop musical group. The band started as a quartet consisting of Thomas Adam, Steffen Keth, Stefan Blender, and Markus Ganssert. They formed the band in 1988. The name De/Vision is a play on words. The majority of the band's lyrics are in English, but they have had some...

) the foundation for Unheilig was laid by Der Graf.

The single "Sage Ja!" (Say Yes!) was released on Bloodline Records in 1999, shot straight into the German DAC charts and became a club smash. In February 2001, the debut album “Phosphor
Phosphor (Unheilig)
Phosphor is the debut studio album released by the Neue Deutsche Härte band Unheilig. It was released in 2000. All of the artwork for the album is taken from the Unheilig music video Sage Ja! This is the only album from Unheilig that feature songs sung in English with the exception of a few...

” came on to the European market again on Bloodline/Connected Music.

Over the next few months, the band guested at major scene festivals and open air events throughout Germany (Zillo Open Air, Wave-Gotik-Treffen Leipzig, Doomsday Festival
Doomsday Festival
The Doomsday Festival was a two-day music festival held August 19-20, 2000, at the Ostragehege in Dresden, Germany. The event featured a wide range of bands, but is best known as the occasion of Skinny Puppy's reunion concert, which closed the festival and was recorded for the live album Doomsday:...

, Woodstage Festival) before taking a break from live work to write and produce the Christmas album “Frohes Fest
Frohes Fest
-Tannenbaum EP:...

" (Merry Christmas) released in 2002 and the third album Das 2. Gebot
Das 2. Gebot
Das 2. Gebot is the third studio album released by the Neue Deutsche Härte band Unheilig. It was released on April 7, 2003. It was released in two versions, a standard 12-track edition and a limited double-disc edition. The limited, double-disc edition includes the "Maschine" maxi-CD as a bonus...

(The 2nd Commandment).

In February 2003, the band went on tour as support to L'Âme Immortelle
L'Âme Immortelle
L' Âme Immortelle is an Austrian band. Many of L'Âme Immortelle's songs feature melancholy or lovelorn lyrics in German or English, and juxtaposed harsh male and emotional female vocals...

, introducing eleven European cities to its new album, Das 2. Gebot.
Directly after the tour, the EP “Schutzengel
Schutzengel
Schutzengel is the second studio EP released by the Neue Deutsche Härte band Unheilig. It was released on July 21, 2003.- Track listing :...

” (Guardian Angel) was released, including four previously unreleased tracks. The band played in festivals during the summer. The M'era Luna Festival
M'era Luna Festival
The M'era Luna is a festival of goth, metal and industrial music. It is held annually on the second weekend of every August, in Hildesheim, Germanyat Flugplatz Hildesheim-Drispenstedt, a former British Army airbase....

 was one of the highlights for the band and the fans. Der Graf produced remixes for Absurd Minds
Absurd Minds
minds is an electronic music group from Germany. It was created by Stefan Großmann and Tilo Ladwig in 1995.- History :The formation of Absurd Minds began in 1995 with Stefan Großmann and Tilo Ladwig . Musically they were inspired by the EBM of the early 1990s...

, Terminal Choice
Terminal Choice
Terminal Choice is a German electronic rock band. It was formed by singer Chris Pohl in 1993.- History :Their lyrics are sung in German and English...

 and other bands and finally produced a song for the Xbox
Xbox
The Xbox is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Microsoft. It was released on November 15, 2001 in North America, February 22, 2002 in Japan, and March 14, 2002 in Australia and Europe and is the predecessor to the Xbox 360. It was Microsoft's first foray into the gaming console...

 game Project Gotham Racing 2
Project Gotham Racing 2
Project Gotham Racing 2 is a racing game for the Xbox, developed by Bizarre Creations and published by Microsoft. PGR2 is the sequel to the highly successful Project Gotham Racing. It is the second title in the Project Gotham Racing series.As in PGR, the route to advancement in PGR2 differs from...

. Then the band started the production of the recordings for the upcoming album “Zelluloid”.

Zelluloid was released on 23 February 2004, and at the same time, the band toured with Terminal Choice
Terminal Choice
Terminal Choice is a German electronic rock band. It was formed by singer Chris Pohl in 1993.- History :Their lyrics are sung in German and English...

. With this release and the very successful tour, Unheilig finally reached all kinds of media and a lot of new fans. The result of this enthusiasm was that Unheilig gave the fans the chance to vote their own new single release which became Freiheit. The E.P. “Freiheit” was released 18 October 2004, and the band played some more release concerts to promote the record.
The fact that Unheilig played more concerts in 2004 than ever before in their career revealed the need for a live CD. To this end, the CD Gastspiel was released on 31 January 2005.
Preparations for the DVD “KopfKino” started. Six weeks before the DVD was released, Unheilig was played for the first time on one of the regular music television channels (VIVA Plus) with their videoclip “Freiheit”.

The album “Moderne Zeiten” (Modern Times) was released at 20 January 2006. The main topic of the album is dreams and their implementation. The intro track has the following text (translated from German):
With that Der Graf calls in addition to life the dreams without any censorship.
This message is also in songs like Lass uns Liebe machen or Ich will alles.

During 2007 the band limited their appearances to just a couple of festivals including Wacken Open Air
Wacken Open Air
Wacken Open Air is a summer open air heavy metal music festival. It takes place annually in the small town of Wacken in Schleswig-Holstein, northern Germany...

, Amphi festival
Amphi Festival
The Amphi Festival is a music festival that has been taking place since 2005 featuring a wide-ranging program for a heterogeneous audience, albeit primarily fans of alternative, electronic music, and dark music...

 and Burgrock Altena festival for the preparation of their sixth album Puppenspiel
Puppenspiel
-Charting:* European Top 100 Albums - #56* Media Control Charts - #13...

.

In 2008, Unheilig released the album “Puppenspiel”. The Album would hit the Media Control Charts
Media Control Charts
The official music charts in Germany are gathered and published by the company Media Control GfK International on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindustrie...

 at number 13.

During their tour in 2008 they played at (M'era luna, Zita-Rock, Wave-Gotik-Treffen and Castle Rock) festivals. Later the band released their second DVD titled “Vorhang Auf” (“Curtain Up”).

In 2009 the band performed at the Amphi festival
Amphi Festival
The Amphi Festival is a music festival that has been taking place since 2005 featuring a wide-ranging program for a heterogeneous audience, albeit primarily fans of alternative, electronic music, and dark music...

, Summer Breeze Open Air
Summer Breeze Open Air
Summer Breeze Open Air is a heavy metal music festival in Germany. It takes place annually in Dinkelsbühl, Bavaria. It was first held in 1997. The festival had been held in Abtsgmünd until 2006 when it was moved to its new location of Dinkelsbühl. The festival draws around 40,000 attendees annually...

 and the Rockharz open air festivals.
On 3 July 2009, the albums Phosphor
Phosphor
A phosphor, most generally, is a substance that exhibits the phenomenon of luminescence. Somewhat confusingly, this includes both phosphorescent materials, which show a slow decay in brightness , and fluorescent materials, where the emission decay takes place over tens of nanoseconds...

, Frohes Fest
Frohes Fest
-Tannenbaum EP:...

, Das 2. Gebot
Das 2. Gebot
Das 2. Gebot is the third studio album released by the Neue Deutsche Härte band Unheilig. It was released on April 7, 2003. It was released in two versions, a standard 12-track edition and a limited double-disc edition. The limited, double-disc edition includes the "Maschine" maxi-CD as a bonus...

, Zelluloid and Moderne Zeiten were released with new artwork and a remastered sound. The Limited Edition albums that included extra songs were not included.

Grosse Freiheit and Lichter Der Stadt (2009-Present)

On 7 December 2009, the official Unheilig website received a major redesign to reflect the upcoming release of Grosse Freiheit, including a three minute trailer showcasing Der Graf with a suitcase while playing “Das Meer”, the very first song off the new album.

On 14 January 2010, the first music video, For the first Single, "Geboren um zu leben
Geboren um zu leben
"Geboren um zu leben" is the first single from Unheilig's album Grosse Freiheit and the sixth single of the band. As of December 2010, the single has been certified triple gold with 450,000 copies sold.-Meaning:...

" (Born to Live) was posted on Unheilig's webpage.
The single "Geboren um zu leben" was released on 29 January 2010 and debuted on the Media Control Charts
Media Control Charts
The official music charts in Germany are gathered and published by the company Media Control GfK International on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindustrie...

 in the top 10 at #2. The single also peaked on the Austrian Singles Chart in the top 20 at #8.

Grosse Freiheit was released on 19 February 2010 under Vertigo Records
Vertigo Records
Vertigo Records today is a UK-based record label operated by Universal Music UK.-History:Vertigo Records was the name Philips Records chose in the late 1960s for its record sub-label to counter the progressive labels of its rivals EMI with Harvest Records and Decca Records with Deram...

 part of Universal Records
Universal Records
Universal Records was a record label owned by Universal Music Group, and it is now owned by Manny Patino and Michael Jackson, and operated as part of the Universal Motown Republic Group.-History:...

, with a tour following immediately.
The new album would then go on to peak in the Media Control Charts at number 1, in Austria at number 2 and in Switzerland at number 3.
The band performed at the Greenfield Festival
Greenfield Festival
The Greenfield Festival is an annual music festival on the outskirts of the Swiss city, Interlaken.- 2005 :* Date: 24. – 26. June 2005* Visitors: 25'500Line-up:* Adam Green* Aereogramme* Alter Bridge* Boss Martians* Breed 77* Bright Eyes...

 in Switzerland on the 12th of June.

The second single "Für immer
Fur Immer (Unheilig song)
"Für immer" is the second single from Unheilig's album Grosse Freiheit. It was released as a regular 2-track single and a limited deluxe version. The deluxe version comes in a digipak, includes a poster and is limited to 3000 copies worldwide....

" was released on the 21st of May & Peaked in the German Charts at #17.

Grosse Freiheit would break records as the longest staying #1 album on the German Media Control Charts, staying at #1 for 18 non-consecutive weeks. This beats the old record set by Herbert Grönemeyer
Herbert Grönemeyer
Herbert Grönemeyer is a German musician and actor, popular in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. He starred as war correspondent Lieutenant Werner in Wolfgang Petersen's movie Das Boot, but later concentrated on his musical career...

 in 1988 with the album Ö
Ö
"Ö", or "ö", is a character used in several extended Latin alphabets, or the letter O with umlaut to denote the front vowels or . In languages without umlaut, the character is also used as a "O with diaeresis" to denote a syllable break, wherein its pronunciation remains an unmodified .- O-Umlaut...

, which stayed at #1 for 14 weeks.

The third single "Unter deiner Flagge" was released on September 24, 2010 and peaked in the German charts at #13.
On October 1 the band performed the song Unter Deiner Flagge at the Bundesvision Song Contest
Bundesvision Song Contest
The Bundesvision Song Contest is an annual competition created by German TV entertainer Stefan Raab in 2005. For each of the 16 states of Germany a song is chosen by regional radio stations. The songs are performed on live television in order to find the most popular song in the competition...

 held at Max-Schmeling-Halle
Max-Schmeling-Halle
Max-Schmeling-Halle is a multi-purpose arena, in Berlin, Germany, named after the famous German boxer Max Schmeling. Apart from the Velodrom, it's one of Berlin's biggest sport places and holds from 8,861 people, up to 10,050 people....

, as a result they won the contest, beating other acts like (Silly
Silly (band)
Silly is a German rock band. Founded in East Germany in the year 1978, Silly was one of the country's most popular music acts, and was well known for its charismatic lead singer Tamara Danz. Her death in 1996 ended the band's recording career for 14 years...

, Ich + Ich
Ich + Ich
Ich + Ich , also pronounced "Ich und Ich", is the name of a musical project by the German musicians Annette Humpe and Adel Tawil. They met in a Berlin recording studio in 2002 when Tawil sang on a production that Humpe had written...

, Blumentopf
Blumentopf
Blumentopf is a German hip hop band from Freising, near Munich.In the early days of the band, the members met irregularly and did not have ambitions to become professional musicians. Each week a new name was chosen . The band was invited to perform at a festival for their first live show...

) among others.

A new song "Winterland was released on November 19th, 2010 as a fourth single from Grosse Freiheit, as it was also a part of the "Grosse Freiheit (Winter Edition)" as a separate CD containing remixes.
The single would then become Unheilig's third top ten single in Germany, peaking at #4.

Announced on February 16, 2011, Unheilig have been writing new material for their upcoming 8th album Lichter der Stadt (City Lights), Like the ones before it, it will be a Concept album. No release date has been mentioned yet.
And on March 25, 2011 Unheilig was nominated for 5 ECHO Awards (Best Video National for Geboren um zu Leban, ECHO Radio, Most Successful Production Team, Best National Rock/Alternative Group and Album Of The Year for Grosse Freiheit), Eventually winning 3.

On May 11 Unheilig announced that they will premier two new songs "Brenne Auf" & "Ein Guter Weg" from the upcoming new album "Lichter Der Stadt" during the upcoming "Heime Reise Tour", they also mentioned that "Lichter Der Stadt" will be released in Spring 2012.

On September 29th, 2011 Unheilig appeared at the Bundesvision Song Contest
Bundesvision Song Contest
The Bundesvision Song Contest is an annual competition created by German TV entertainer Stefan Raab in 2005. For each of the 16 states of Germany a song is chosen by regional radio stations. The songs are performed on live television in order to find the most popular song in the competition...

 held at Lanxess Arena playing their last years winning song "Unter Deiner Flagge".

Band members

  • Der Graf – vocals, programming
    Programming (music)
    Programming is a form of music production and performance using electronic devices, often sequencers or computer programs, to generate music. Programming is used in nearly all forms of electronic music and in most hip hop music since the 1990s. It is also frequently used in modern pop and rock...

     (1999–present)
  • Henning Verlage – keyboards, programming (1999–present)
  • Christoph “Licky” Tremühlen – guitars (1999–present)
  • Potti – live drums & percussion (2009–present)

Awards and nominations

Year Award Category Nominated work Result
2010 Comet Award Best Artist Unheilig Nominated
2010 Comet Award Best Newcomer Unheilig Nominated
2010 Comet Award Best German Act Unheilig Nominated
2010 ARD
ARD (broadcaster)
ARD is a joint organization of Germany's regional public-service broadcasters...

Live Song Of The Year Geboren um zu leben Nominated
2010 1Live Krone Award Best Song Geboren um zu Leben Nominated
2010 1Live Krone Award Best Album Große Freiheit Nominated
2011 Diva Award Artist of the Year 2010 Unheilig Winner
2011 Diva Award Best Single & Album 2010 Geboren um zu Leben & Große Freiheit Winner
2011 ECHO Award Best Video National Geboren um zu Leben Nominated
2011 ECHO Award Echo Radio Unheilig Nominated
2011 ECHO Award Most Successful Production Team Unheilig Winner
2011 ECHO Award Best National Rock/Alternative Group Unheilig Winner
2011 ECHO Award Album of the Year 2010 Große Freiheit Winner
2011 Swiss Music Award Best Breakout International Unheilig Winner
2011 Rainbow Radio Band Award National Band 2010 Unheilig Winner
2011 Comet Award Best Artist Unheilig Nominated
2011 Comet Award Best Song Geboren um zu Leben Winner

Other Awards and Nominations

  • 2010 Bundesvision Song Contest
    Bundesvision Song Contest
    The Bundesvision Song Contest is an annual competition created by German TV entertainer Stefan Raab in 2005. For each of the 16 states of Germany a song is chosen by regional radio stations. The songs are performed on live television in order to find the most popular song in the competition...

     Winner
  • Bambi
    Bambi (prize)
    The Bambi - Deutschlands Wichtigster Medienpreis, often simply called Bambi Awards and stylized as BAMBI, are presented annually by Hubert Burda Media to recognize excellence in international media and television "with vision and creativity who affected and inspired the German public that year",...

     2010 for Pop National

Studio albums

Year Title Chart positions Certifications
Music recording sales certification
Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...


(sales thresholds)
Germany
Media Control Charts
The official music charts in Germany are gathered and published by the company Media Control GfK International on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindustrie...

Austria Switzerland Euro Top 100
European Top 100 Albums
The European Top 100 Albums chart is the European adaptation of the Billboard 200 albums chart. It was created in March 1984.The European Top 100 Albums, commonly referred to as Eurochart Top 100 Albums shows the sales of an act in 19 European countries based on IFPI data.The European Top 100...


2000 Phosphor
Phosphor (Unheilig)
Phosphor is the debut studio album released by the Neue Deutsche Härte band Unheilig. It was released in 2000. All of the artwork for the album is taken from the Unheilig music video Sage Ja! This is the only album from Unheilig that feature songs sung in English with the exception of a few...

2002 Frohes Fest
Frohes Fest
-Tannenbaum EP:...

57
2003 Das 2. Gebot
Das 2. Gebot
Das 2. Gebot is the third studio album released by the Neue Deutsche Härte band Unheilig. It was released on April 7, 2003. It was released in two versions, a standard 12-track edition and a limited double-disc edition. The limited, double-disc edition includes the "Maschine" maxi-CD as a bonus...

2004 Zelluloid
2006 Moderne Zeiten 76
2008 Puppenspiel
Puppenspiel
-Charting:* European Top 100 Albums - #56* Media Control Charts - #13...

13 54
  • GER: Gold
2010 Große Freiheit
Große Freiheit Winteredition
1 1 3 5
  • GER: 7× Platinum
  • AT: Platinum
  • CH: 2× Platinum
  • EU: Platinum
  • 2012 Lichter der Stadt - - - -

    Live albums

    Year Title Chart positions Certifications
    Music recording sales certification
    Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...


    (sales thresholds)
    Germany
    Media Control Charts
    The official music charts in Germany are gathered and published by the company Media Control GfK International on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindustrie...

    Austria Switzerland
    2005 Gastspiel
    2006 Goldene Zeiten
    2008 Puppenspiel Live Vorhang auf! 29
    2010 Grosse Freiheit Live 8

    Singles

    Year Title Peak chart positions Certifications
    Music recording sales certification
    Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...


    (sales thresholds)
    Album
    GER
    Media Control Charts
    The official music charts in Germany are gathered and published by the company Media Control GfK International on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindustrie...

    AUT
    Ö3 Austria Top 40
    Ö3 Austria Top 40 is the name of the official Austrian singles chart, as well as the radio show which presents it, aired Fridays on Hitradio Ö3. The show presents the Austrian singles, ringtones and downloads chart. It premiered on 26 November 1968 as Disc Parade and was presented by Ernst Grissemann...

    SWI
    Swiss Music Charts
    The Swiss Music Charts are Switzerland's main music sales charts. The charts are a record of the highest-selling singles and albums in various genres in Switzerland.The Swiss Charts include:* Singles Top 75...

    EU
    2000 "Sage Ja!" Phosphor
    2001 "Komm zu Mir"
    2003 "Maschine" Das 2.Gebot
    2006 "Ich Will Leben" (Feat. Project Pitchfork) Goldene Zeiten
    2008 "An deiner Seite" 49 Puppenspiel
    2010 "Geboren um zu leben
    Geboren um zu leben
    "Geboren um zu leben" is the first single from Unheilig's album Grosse Freiheit and the sixth single of the band. As of December 2010, the single has been certified triple gold with 450,000 copies sold.-Meaning:...

    "
    2 8 13 13
    • GER: 3× Gold
    • CH: Platinum
    Grosse Freiheit
    "Für immer
    Fur Immer (Unheilig song)
    "Für immer" is the second single from Unheilig's album Grosse Freiheit. It was released as a regular 2-track single and a limited deluxe version. The deluxe version comes in a digipak, includes a poster and is limited to 3000 copies worldwide....

    "
    17 51 57
    "Unter deiner Flagge" 9 29 38
    "Winter
    Winter (Unheilig song)
    "Winter" is the upcoming single from Unheilig. There are two versions, a standard two-track single and a limited edition disc that will have a poster included. It is the ninth single to be released from Unheilig.-Track listing:- Charts :...

    "
    4 6 64
  • GER :Gold
  • Große Freiheit - Winter Edition

    EPs

    • 2002: Tannenbaum
      Frohes Fest
      -Tannenbaum EP:...

      (As part of the Frohes Fest Limited Edition Release)
    • 2003: Schutzengel
      Schutzengel
      Schutzengel is the second studio EP released by the Neue Deutsche Härte band Unheilig. It was released on July 21, 2003.- Track listing :...

      – (Limited to 2,222 copies)
    • 2004: Freiheit
    • 2006: Astronaut – (Limited to 4,444 copies)
    • 2008: Spiegelbild
      Spiegelbild
      Spiegelbild is the fifth studio EP released by the Neue Deutsche Härte band Unheilig. It was released on July 25, 2008. It was strictly limited to 3,333 copies.- Track listing :# "Spiegelbild " - 7:03...

      – (Limited to 3,333 copies)
    • 2010: Winterland Special - (As part of the Grosse Freiheit Winter Edition Release)
    • 2010: Zeitreise - (Limited Tenth Anniversary tour only release)

    DVDs

    • 2005: KopfKino - (Germany #75)
    • 2008: Vorhang Auf - (Germany #3)
    • 2010: Sternstunde (Only available during the Grosse Freiheit tour)
    • 2010: Grosse Freiheit Live - (Germany #1, Gold)

    Music videos

    • 2000:Sage Ja!
    • 2004:Freiheit
    • 2006:Astronaut
    • 2008:An Deiner Seite
    • 2010:Geboren um zu Leben
    • 2010:Für immer
    • 2010:Unter deiner Flagge
    • 2010:Winterland

    Re-release's

    • 2009:Phosphor
    • 2009:Frohes Fest
    • 2009:Das 2.Gebot
    • 2009:Zelluloid
    • 2009:Moderne Zeiten
    • 2011:Kopfino

    External links

    The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
     
    x
    OK