Cadaverous Condition

Austria's Cadaverous Condition came together in the early '90s and immediately aligned itself with the surging doom/death metal scene of that era. The lineup featured vocalist Wolfgang Weiss, guitarist Rene Kramer, bassist Peter Droneberger, and drummer Paul Droneberger, who was Peter's brother. Their first release, the fittingly titled In Melancholy, appeared in 1993 and was followed two years later by the equally somber "For Love" I Said. In the same year the group joined a wave of Germanic metal acts by cutting a version of the 1980s new romantic track "Eisbaer," originally by Groovezone. Shortly afterward bassist Peter departed, and guitarist Jürgen Weinhofer joined in time to record the 1997 split CD Tryst alongside underground psychedelic composer Todd Dillingham. The band then entered a period of reduced activity during which members pursued outside collaborations and unusual experiments, one of which involved performing with a full orchestra inside an abandoned Austrian castle. By 1999 a new permanent bassist, Manfred Paul Bayer, had come aboard, and after assembling the cassette-only retrospective Nostalgia (Diary 1990-1999) the group resumed regular work with the 2001 album The Lesser Travelled Seas, confirming that its distinctive blend of ambient textures and deathly grinds had stayed unchanged.