Fragments Of Unbecoming

Though power metal is widely viewed as a German domain, with Helloween credited as its prime architects, and melodic death metal is most closely associated with Sweden thanks to trailblazers such as In Flames and At the Gates, growing stylistic overlap has steadily eroded those long-held boundaries. Fragments of Unbecoming from Laudenbach exemplify this shift. The quartet blends melodic death metal with black metal elements, most notably through frequent blastbeats, and consists of Stefan Weimar on vocals and guitar, Sascha Ehrich on guitar, Wolle Schellenberg on bass, and Ingo Maier on drums. Since forming in 2000, the group leveraged its 2002 demo Bloodred Tales: The Crimson Season to secure a contract with Metal Blade Records, after which it issued the studio albums Skywards: A Sylphe's Ascension in 2004 and Sterling Black Icon in 2006.