Biography
Offering a rapid, ferocious blend of thrash and death metal, Final Breath never achieved widespread recognition among metal listeners yet cultivated a modest audience across Western Europe beginning in the 1990s. The German group evokes the transitional period when thrash began yielding to nascent death metal, drawing heavily from Slayer—one of the earliest death metal acts—while also pulling from other late-'80s and early-'90s sources that include the pioneering death metal outfit Death alongside thrash stalwarts such as Testament, Dark Angel, Metallica, and Megadeth. Occasional echoes of Scandinavian death metal surface in their recordings, though the predominant influences remain American.
The band originated in Germany during 1993 when vocalist Michael "Jimmy" Imhof assembled guitarists Thomas Böttcher and Steffen Diel, bassist Thomas Wissel, and drummer Heiko Krumpholz. Initially functioning as a cover act, Final Breath shifted toward original compositions in 1994. Their debut demo, Soulchange, appeared in 1995, followed by End of It All two years later. Seven years after forming, they issued their first widely distributed studio album, Flash-Burnt Crucifixes, in 2000; the record circulated throughout Western Europe but never reached the United States. The personnel featured Imhof on vocals, Wissel on bass, Markus Werthmann and Jörg Breitenbach on guitars, and Krumpholz behind the kit.
Their second full-length effort, Mind Explosion, surfaced in Europe in 2002 via Nuclear Blast. The follow-up, Let Me Be Your Tank, was tracked across 2003 and 2004 and became the first Final Breath release to receive proper North American distribution, arriving on Remedy Records in Germany in November 2004 and then through Magick/Cleopatra in the United States in April 2005. By the time of Let Me Be Your Tank, the lineup comprised survivors Breitenbach and Krumpholz together with newer members Jürgen "Eumel" Aumann on lead vocals and Werner "Space" Müller on rhythm guitar. Further personnel shifts occurred afterward; as of June 2005 the group consisted of Krumpholz—the sole remaining founding member—Aumann, lead guitarist Jörg Widthbrook, rhythm guitarist Dennis Cutter, and bassist Dominik Merz.
The band originated in Germany during 1993 when vocalist Michael "Jimmy" Imhof assembled guitarists Thomas Böttcher and Steffen Diel, bassist Thomas Wissel, and drummer Heiko Krumpholz. Initially functioning as a cover act, Final Breath shifted toward original compositions in 1994. Their debut demo, Soulchange, appeared in 1995, followed by End of It All two years later. Seven years after forming, they issued their first widely distributed studio album, Flash-Burnt Crucifixes, in 2000; the record circulated throughout Western Europe but never reached the United States. The personnel featured Imhof on vocals, Wissel on bass, Markus Werthmann and Jörg Breitenbach on guitars, and Krumpholz behind the kit.
Their second full-length effort, Mind Explosion, surfaced in Europe in 2002 via Nuclear Blast. The follow-up, Let Me Be Your Tank, was tracked across 2003 and 2004 and became the first Final Breath release to receive proper North American distribution, arriving on Remedy Records in Germany in November 2004 and then through Magick/Cleopatra in the United States in April 2005. By the time of Let Me Be Your Tank, the lineup comprised survivors Breitenbach and Krumpholz together with newer members Jürgen "Eumel" Aumann on lead vocals and Werner "Space" Müller on rhythm guitar. Further personnel shifts occurred afterward; as of June 2005 the group consisted of Krumpholz—the sole remaining founding member—Aumann, lead guitarist Jörg Widthbrook, rhythm guitarist Dennis Cutter, and bassist Dominik Merz.
Albums
