Moonblood - Facts and Discography

Founded: 1994
Split up:   1999
Members: Gaamalzagoth - Vocals
                 Occulta-Mors - Instruments

History:

Moonblood somehow arose out of the ashes 

of Demoniac who formerly have been active since 1990 under the name of Purulent Obduction and playing primitive Doom/Death Metal in the vein of Asphyx, My Dying Bride, Paradise Lost, Autopsy and other bands of that period. And Purulent Obduction was the continuation of Bloodbrain, an raw early Thrash/Deathcore act that was started sometime in early 1989 as T and A (Terror and Agnostic) by Tino Mothes (aka Occulti-is, later Occulta Mors) and Andreas Schwach (aka Lord of the Necrotic Slaughters, Lord Asmoday). 

Partly other local "musicians" have been shortly members of the project in person of Michael Männel on guitar and Heiko Kahn (later joined the Hardcore band 4 Behind 3) on the drums. The line-up just lasted for a year or even less but long enough to play a horrible live show and 2 even more horrible sounding Grindcore Demo tapes (with Andreas Schwach and Tino Mothes as remaining members) were recorded in the attic namely "Satan's Lust" (end of 1989) and "Cadaverous Mutilation" (1990). Tino Röder (aka Necromaniac, Count Damien Nightsky), who was playing with the local Schneeberg Thrash/Crossover band Septic Terror (in the vein of S.O.D./Sodom/Kreator - Members: Torsten Seifert - Guitar, Tino Röder - Guitar, Torsten Oettel - Drums, Mirko Oechsner - Vocals) joined in late 1990 as guitarist and from this day forward the band was known as Purulent Obduction while the Grindcore changed to doomy Death Metal. 

Besides Purulent Obduction Tino Mothes and Andreas Schwach had a Grind/Noisecore project running as well called Excrement Terror were they recorded several sick trax that have been available in form of a Demo tape called "Achachnophobia" back in 1991. 

Purulent Obduction played 3 live gigs and locally released 3 Reh/Demo tapes ("Rotting Corpse" - 1991, "Live in Unterheinsdorf" - 1991, "Addictive" - 1992) until in spring 1993 they got the idea to change the band name once again due to the slightly changed lyrically content. The name they'd chosen was Demoniac and a first Demo "Divine grudge" was released in March 1993 while the musically concept did not change until late summer/autumn 1993 when Mirko Schmat (Blacksoul, later

Gaamalzagoth) joined on vocals and they also started writing faster, more Black/Death Metal oriented material highly influenced by Samael, Darkthrone, Mayhem, Emperor or Burzum. The line up was consisting now of Necromaniac - Guitar, Occulti-is - Drums, Lord of the Necrotic Slaughters - Vocals, Blacksoul - Vocals. With that line up they quickly recorded the Reh/Demos "Blaspherion" (September '93), "Black Prophets" (Oktober '93) and "Jesus never lived" (Januar '94). Shortly after releasing "Jesus never lived" that had almost no Death Metal influences of the early days left, the band broke up because of internal trouble. Necromaniac and Lord of the Necrotic Slaughters started Andras while Occulta-Mors and Blacksoul decided to change the band name to Moonblood because another band from New Zealand just had released their first Demo almost at the same time when they sold their last Demo "Demoniac" in early '94, a kind of compilation of 93er recordings. 

In July 1994 after several months of intense recording sessions

Moonblood finally had enough material for a fullenght Demo (entitled "Moonblood"). Sadly the sound was utter garbage, while the songs itself haven't been that horrible though. With that tape they got in touch with Unholy Baphomet Records to release the "Nosferatu" Demo in late 1994, a 40 min fucker on pro-tapes but again with terrible rehearsal quality. In January 1995 Moonblood entered for the first time ever a recording studio, the Digan Tonstudio in Annaberg (where most of the Death and Black Metal bands in that area recorded their stuff) and recorded the "The winter falls over the land" tape. Sadly they have been too unexperienced for such a session so the whole tape was mixed by the sound engineer himself. Therefore they later wasn't much satisfied with the result in the end. September in the same year they once again entered the Digan Studio again highly motivated to record 5 more trax, including the intro of the coming album. This time the sound mix was much more of their liking. In October, one month later, they released a Reh/Demo Tape that shouldn't really appear in their discography as lyrically it didn't fit in their concept. Therefore "Siegfried" was limited to only 50 copies, german written verses based on the Nibelungen Epos with Bathory-ish music underlayed. Definitely shouldn't represent Moonblood in general.

The next studio date was in February 1996 when they recorded the first album "Blut & Krieg" for the label Majestic Union Records again at Digan Studio. In August 1996 Unholy Baphomet Records finally published the Split 7" with Nema, which the track "Moonstruck" was recorded for in September 95. "I am all" from the same session was placed on the canadian Compilation CD "Under the pagan moon". In November 1996 they had another Digan date and recorded the outrageous "Fullmoonwitchery" and the hymnic "Under the abyssic black of the 3rd angel" (previously never used). The cassette version of "Blut & Krieg" was ready in March 1997 as a co-production of Majestic Union and Sombre Records. They've made 666 copies and in contrary to the LP version contains "I am all" and "My evil soul" from the September 95 session as bonus trax. July 1997 the "Enceclopedia Pestilentia" Triple Compilation CD's got released and they opened the massacre with the aforementioned "Fullmoon-witchery" track. In the meanwhile they were waiting for the release of "Blut & Krieg" on vinyl as promised but nothing more happened in 1997 except that Moonblood entered the Digan Studio again in November 97. Originally the 5 tracks recorded should be meant for a Split CD with malay Black Metal band Purnamwulan but it just did not happen. In March 1998 Sombre Records released the Split 7" with Asakku with Moonblood's part being "Hordes of hate", the last  unreleased track from the September '95 session. Sombre Records also suggested to do the "Blut & Krieg" LP by himself which happened already in November. He did 333 copies, but it's not a secret that more copies are circulating. When he died there was a complete box with 50 copies (or more) found at his place. You should at least watch out for the insert and the sticker if you plan to buy the LP, all copies without them are highly doubtable, especially the stickers as they've made them by theirselves, so there are just 333 stickers available. 

It was in August 98 when they recorded 7 new trax in a newly built up recording studio in their neighbour city and part of the songs have been used for the Split Tape with brazilian band Evil. Sometime in autumn 1999 the whole songwriting process began to stagnate, they still rehearsed but apparently have both been busy with other things in their life. Moonblood called it's quit somewhere in late 1999 while Occulta-Mors already had recorded songs for his Nachtfalke project and was also been playing bass in the Death Metal band Lyssa while Gaamalzagoth was more focussed on Azaxul that he started in 1997. Still in December 99 the Split 7" with czech Inferno once again on Sombre Records was published. The track "Kingdom under funeral skies" from the Erzschlag session August 98 and the Split Tape with Evil was ready in the same month featuring "Burning in hell" a hommage to early Bathory, "These graves and wooden coffins are my realm" and "The quest for the doctrines of might and wisdom" of the same session and the second mix with the shitty vocal effect.The tape was a co-production of the Southern Productions label and Gaamalzagoth's own Steeldawn Inc. Though on the paper Moonblood was dead they received an offer from End All Life Records for an album and decided to record some of the last tracks so they lended an 8-track-recorder from the Erzschlag Studio and in mid November 1999 Katharsis agreed that they could use their other technical equipment (they almost had a complete demo studio there except of the 8-tracker) to record "Taste our german steel!" (released March 2000) at the Reichsmusikkammer Ruppertsgrün. The session included the track "Troglodytin" too that appeared only on the "Black Metal Blitzkrieg" Compilation LP (March 2001 - EAL). 2 months earlier in January the Split LP with Deathspell Omega was ready that EAL did together with Sombre Records. The reason for doing that was because of the massive left over material of the November 97 Digan session that was meant for the Split CD with Purnamwulan and later with Rhodos based Adhill that both did not happen. From that session the track "Supreme black forces of steel" was still unreleased and Sombre Records did a 600 copies edition Split 7" with Katharsis in late 2001. 

The very last recording session happened in September 2000 again at Reichsmusikkammer Ruppertsgrün. There don't even exist rehearsal versions of the "Dusk Woerot" trilogy (unlike of all the other studio tracks) as it's prohably the last material that they wrote together. The songs has been the first time ever recorded there in the studio. "Born to live in the shadows of damnation" was at that time a really old song. Therefore the huge difference in the songwriting and style. "Dusk Woerot" Demo was published on Ataud Y Muerte Syndicate (666 copies) in Colombia. After during the years gone uncountable masses of bootlegs on Tape, CD and Vinyl did appear, the band decided to re-release everything again and this way take out the wind of the bootleggers sails. "From Hell - The Gift of Hatred" was an anthology vinyl box containing 4 LP's plus a 7" with (even partly unreleased) old studio and 4-track recordings, all restaurated from the original master tapes, done in co-operation with Iron Bonehead and Tales from the Crypt. Furthermore the immense bootlegged "Blut & Krieg" album got it's long expected vinyl and CD re-release together with the complete "Sob a lua do bode" session. All ever recorded studio trax of the band are now available on official professionally remastered CD's. In summer 2015 Gaamalzagoth finally realized the idea that was born when writing the liner notes for the "From Hell" vinyl box book, to finish the 2 unfinished trax recorded back in 1999, that both have been featured in that vinyl box without vocals and he recorded the missing vocal trax. Both songs are now officially available on a limited vinyl edition for collectors and simultaneously as part of a Split CD with ENSOM SKOGEN and FORGOTTEN SPELL. This release marks the final act of the bands long discography. In the meanwhile 3 of the founding members of Demoniac have started rehearsing again. A full album is almost recorded, featuring old re-recorded and re-arranged songs from 1993 (songs are known from the '94er Reh/Demo like f. e. "Inquisition") and completely new material, also in the vein of the early 90's Black Metal style.

The last line up was: L.O.N.S. - Vocals, Necromaniac - Guitars, Profano Mysteriis - Bass, Wolfen - Drums  

One last important note; Moonblood at NO TIME during their existence has ever been a political especially not an NSBM band. We did never write any lyrics in that direction and furthermore we don't see any connection between Nacional Socialism and Black Metal. As far as we do know on the beltbuckles of Hitlers soldiers was written "Gott mit uns" and most of them indeed have been severe religious christians. Moonblood does not support any religious or political fanatism! In death you're all the same, rotten flesh and bones, falling slowly to dust ... KEEP THE METAL PURE!

Official Discography:

"Moonblood" 
Reh/Demo July 1994 (166 copies)

"Nosferatu"
Reh/Demo December 1994 (Unholy Baphomet Records - 100 copies)

"The winter falls over the land"
Demo March 1995 (Gospel of the Witches Promotions - 333 copies)

"Siegfried" 
Reh/Demo October 1995 (50 copies)

Moonblood/Nema
Split 7" EP August 1996 (Unholy Baphomet Records - 600 copies)

"Blut & Krieg"
MC March 1997 (Majestic Union/Sombre Records - 666 copies)

Asakku/Moonblood 
Split 7" EP March 1998 (Sombre Records - 500 copies)

"Blut & Krieg"
LP November 1998 (Sombre Records - 333 copies)

Inferno/Moonblood
Split 7" EP December 1999 (Sombre Records - 500 copies)

Evil/Moonblood
Split Demo December 1999 (Southern Prod./Steeldawn Inc. - 500 copies)

"Taste our german steel!"
LP March 2000 (End All Life Productions - 100 copies)

Deathspell Omega/Moonblood
Split LP January 2001 (End All Life/Sombre Records - 350 copies)

Katharsis/Moonblood
Split 7"EP 2001 (Sombre Records - 600 copies)

"Dusk Woerot" 
Demo December 2002 (Ataud Y Muerte Syndicate - 666 copies)

"From Hell - The Gift of Hatred" 
4 LP Box November 2013 ( Iron Bonehead Productions/Tales from the Crypt)
"Blut & Krieg/Sob a lua do bode" 
DLP/CD July/September 2014 ( Iron Bonehead Productions/Misanthrophia Discos)

"Dusk Woerot/Taste our german steel!" 
CD December 2014 (Misanthrophia Discos)

"Of lunar passion and sombre blood" 
CD February 2015 (Misanthrophia Discos)

"The winter falls over the land" 
MLP/CD February/May 2015 ( Iron Bonehead Productions/Misanthrophia Discos)
Ensom Skogen/Forgotten Spell/Moonblood 
Split CD October 2015 (Misanthrophia Discos)
"The Unholy" 
12" EP December 2015 (Misanthrophia Discos)