Harmful

Formed in Germany during 1992, Harmful fused the off-kilter rhythms favored by early-nineties metal outfits with longstanding genre traditions, drawing notably on the approach of Black Sabbath. The lineup of Aren Emirze on vocals and guitar, Chris Aidonopoulos on bass, and Nico Heimann on drums issued its debut, the self-titled Harmful, through BluNoise in 1995. A second independent outing, Apoplexy 136, appeared on the same imprint two years later. The group then secured a two-album contract with BMG, resulting in Counterbalance in 2000 and Wromantic in 2001. After parting ways with the major in 2002, the trio spent considerable time on the road and returned with Sanguine on Steamhammer/SPV in 2003, followed by Sis Masis in 2005. For their seventh full-length, titled 7 and released in 2007, they enlisted former Faith No More bassist Billy Gould as producer. The collaboration proved fruitful, prompting Gould to become a permanent member for live work and potential future sessions.