Unheilig

Unheilig, a German industrial and gothic rock outfit whose name translates literally to “Unholy,” came together in 1999 and issued the single “Sage Ja!” within months of forming. After signing with the Bloodline label, the trio—Grant Stevens, José Alvarez-Brill, and Der Graf—followed that early club success with the full-length Phosphor in 2001. Those releases secured festival appearances on the European circuit, among them Zillo Open Air and the Doomsday Festival, yet the members soon returned to the studio, yielding the 2002 holiday release Frohes Fest and the 2003 album Das 2. Gebot. Additional touring across the continent, along with further EPs and soundtrack contributions, led to remix commissions and video-game placements.

The 2004 studio effort Zelluloid prompted another extensive tour and, in turn, the live document Gastspiel, which appeared early in 2005. A DVD arrived shortly afterward, and 2006 brought two simultaneous releases: the studio album Moderne Zeiten and its live counterpart Goldene Zeiten. Two years later the band delivered its eighth album, Puppenspiel; subsequent festival dates and concerts prompted a “Touring Edition” reissue that added bonus tracks.

Große Freiheit, issued in February 2010, became the group’s first domestic number-one album, holding the summit for twenty-three non-consecutive weeks and setting a record for a German artist at the time. A “Fanbox Edition” box set accompanied the release, containing a flag and a book by Der Graf that chronicled the album’s creation. A live album followed, after which Lichter der Stadt surfaced in early 2012 and again topped the charts in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. A special collector’s edition helped push the record to quadruple-platinum status in Germany, and the supporting-tour recording Lichter der Stadt: Live appeared before year’s end.

Der Graf’s group biography Als Musik Meine Sprache Wurde reached bookstores in 2013 and was simultaneously offered as a seven-disc audio version narrated by the frontman. The following year Unheilig assembled the retrospective Alles Hat Seine Zeit: Best of Unheilig 1999-2014 and closed 2014 with the studio album Gipfelstürmer, their third consecutive release to debut at number one on the German charts.