Biography
Living Death stands among Germany's earliest—and indeed the planet's—trailblazing thrash metal outfits. Their timeline reaches back to 1981, although their gritty, aggressive approach and self-financed releases kept the group confined to the heavy metal underground. Formed in Velbert, the town situated halfway between Düsseldorf and Dortmund, the band followed the same evolutionary arc from traditional metal through speed metal into thrash that characterized most first-wave Teutonic acts such as Helloween, Grave Digger, and Iron Angel. That progression secured them a deal with Earthshaker Records, which issued the 1984 LP Vengeance of Hell.
The debut arrived as an uneven effort, audibly shaped by Metallica, yet it drew power from the unbridled drive and commitment of guitarists Reiner Kelch and Frank Fricke, bassist Dieter Kelch, and drummer Frank Schubring, together with the raw, cutting vocal style of Thorsten Bergmann, whose approach plainly echoed Accept's Udo Dirkschneider.
Living Death soon sharpened their sound and arguably reached their artistic high point—commercial breakthrough remaining elusive—with the excellent 1985 album Metal Revolution, released after the Watch Out EP had already introduced drummer Andreas Oberhoff. Further momentum came via the well-regarded 1986 Back to the Weapons EP and 1987's Protected from Reality album, both featuring drummer Metal Steif. Around the same period, guitarist Fricke and bassist Reiner Kelch also worked in secret with Mekong Delta, whose stronger sales unfortunately bred tension inside the original lineup.
After issuing only a live EP in 1988 and clashing repeatedly while tracking the atypically experimental 1989 album World Neuroses, Living Death split. Bergmann and Steif started the rival project L.D., later renamed Sacred Chaos before they abandoned it. The remaining Kelch brothers brought in vocalist Gerald Thelen and drummer Frank Ullrich to complete 1991's Killing in Action, then decided nothing remained worth pursuing and dropped the Living Death name. A two-disc retrospective surfaced in 1994, yet the band largely slipped into the lesser-known corners of thrash metal history, even as their records continue to attract strong collector demand.
The debut arrived as an uneven effort, audibly shaped by Metallica, yet it drew power from the unbridled drive and commitment of guitarists Reiner Kelch and Frank Fricke, bassist Dieter Kelch, and drummer Frank Schubring, together with the raw, cutting vocal style of Thorsten Bergmann, whose approach plainly echoed Accept's Udo Dirkschneider.
Living Death soon sharpened their sound and arguably reached their artistic high point—commercial breakthrough remaining elusive—with the excellent 1985 album Metal Revolution, released after the Watch Out EP had already introduced drummer Andreas Oberhoff. Further momentum came via the well-regarded 1986 Back to the Weapons EP and 1987's Protected from Reality album, both featuring drummer Metal Steif. Around the same period, guitarist Fricke and bassist Reiner Kelch also worked in secret with Mekong Delta, whose stronger sales unfortunately bred tension inside the original lineup.
After issuing only a live EP in 1988 and clashing repeatedly while tracking the atypically experimental 1989 album World Neuroses, Living Death split. Bergmann and Steif started the rival project L.D., later renamed Sacred Chaos before they abandoned it. The remaining Kelch brothers brought in vocalist Gerald Thelen and drummer Frank Ullrich to complete 1991's Killing in Action, then decided nothing remained worth pursuing and dropped the Living Death name. A two-disc retrospective surfaced in 1994, yet the band largely slipped into the lesser-known corners of thrash metal history, even as their records continue to attract strong collector demand.