Deadlock are a German Melodic Death Metal Band. The band was formed in 1997. The band's lyrical themes are widely vegan/human rights based.
What makes Deadlock different is the combination of death growls by vocalist Johannes Prem/John Gahlert and the clean vocals of Sabine Scherer/Margi Gerlitz. Also included in their sound are techno sections, often used as intros but sometimes used as a whole breakdown section, where a complete genre change takes place
They formed in 1997 as a Hardcore Punk band with vocalist Johannes Prem, guitarist Sebastian Reichl, and drummer Tobias Graf. They released a demo in 2000, along with their debut in 2002, with Sabine Scherer as a session vocalist before joining full time in 2004, making her true debut. Their fourth album, Manifesto, was released in November 2008. (January 2009 in North America). Bassist Thomas Huschka had left the band due to personal and musical differences, being replaced by John Gahlert, who himself would be the vocalist in 2011 when Prem decided to call it quits.
in 2016, Sabine left to focus on her family. She'd been on maternity leave for the previous 18 months. Her replacement was named as Margi Gerlitz, who'd been the touring replacement during this time.
Current Members
- Margi Gerlitz - clean/female vocals (2014–present) - Made official in 2016
- John Gahlert - harsh vocals (2011–present), (originally bass guitar: 2009–2011)
- Sebastian Reichl – lead and rhythm guitars, keyboards (1997–present)
- Ferdinand Rewicki - bass guitar (2011–2013), guitar (2013-present)
- Christian Simmerl - bass guitar (2014-present)
- Werner Riedl - drums (2014-present)
Notable Past Members:
- Sabine Scherer – clean/female vocals (2004–2016) (originally p/t member 2002-2004)
- Johannes Prem – harsh vocals, lyrics (1997–2011)
- Thomas Huschka – bass guitar (2002–2008)
- Tobias Graf – drums (1997–2014), died later in 2014
- Gert Rymen - guitar (2004-2013)
Discography
- The Arrival (2002)
- Earth.Revolt (2005)
- Wolves (2007)
- Manifesto (2008)
- Bizarro World (2011)
- The Arsonist (2013)
- The Re-Arrival (2014) - Compilation of re-recorded songs from their first five albums
- Hybris (2016)
This band displays the examples of these tropes:
- An Aesop: Very common in their songs.
- Ascended Extra: Sabine was originally a part-time member before joining full-time in 2004.
- Badass in a Nice Suit: The members are well dressed in the music video for "Virus Jones".
- This seems to be their default looks for photos, as shown in the image above.
- Concept Album: Bizzaro World is one, based on the truth beyond what we see around us.Sabine: “Bizarro World” is a place where all good is bad and all ugly is beautiful and vice versa. Sad but true, we often find that this “Bizarro World” often corresponds to the world we actually live in, way too often. It has become quite common not to question the things we’re confronted with and we’re accepting the presented solutions in a non-critical and non-constructive way. For example, we’re trying to heal so-called diseases by poisoning ourselves, states go bankrupt but spend a horrifying amount of money on weapons and the war industry, everybody is talking about saving the environment but who’s actually doing something? This is Bizarro World.
- Cover Version: "Temple of Love" by The Sisters of Mercy, "Small Town Boy" by Bronski Beat, "Uncivil Hands" by Morning Again, and "Fight Song" by Marilyn Manson.
- Early-Installment Weirdness: The Arrival was more standard Melodic Death Metal, with a greater emphasis on harsh vocals.
- It can be weird now looking at older Deadlock pictures and videos, and seeing Sabine with short hair and eyeliner.
- Emo Teen: Not the members themselves, but "My Pain" is pretty much about one.A single tear escapes my eye - I cure my pain with a razor blade!
- Epic Rocking:
- "Killing the Time with Haemoglobin" at 11:03 minutes, "... for the New Prophets" at 7:59 off The Arrival.
- "May Angels Come", clocking at 11:12, "10,000 Generations in Blood" at 8:04, "Everlasting Pain" at 6:45, and "More Tragedies to Come" off Earth.Revolt
- "We Shall All Bleed" at 6:05 from Wolves
- "Deathrace" at 6:46 off Manifesto
- "Blood Ghost" at 6:34 and "Welcome Deathrow" clocking in at 6:29 courtesy of Hybris
- Harsh Vocals:
- Prem had more standard melodeath growls.
- Gahlert's vocals sound more like unhinged howling and yelping of than any actual stereotypical death vocals.
- Humans Are Flawed/Humans Are Bastards: A common lyrical theme.
- Melodic Death Metal: Their most recognizable genre.
- New Sound Album:
- Earth.Revolt made up the sound that would stick for the next few albums, with a greater increase in cleans brought by Sabine.
- Wolves continued the Electronic and Trance influences.
- Bizarro World featured a bigger emphasis on poppiness whilst infusing that with the direction of Deadlock's last two albums.
- The Arsonist is borderline djent that essentially accentuated said style of riffing.
- Nobody Loves the Bassist: Christian Simmerl still isn't listed as an official member on their Facebook page despite being in the band since 2015, and recording Hybris with them. They noticeably excluded him to make a joke about becoming a six-piece band again when they were announcing Sabine's pregnancy.
- Precision F-Strike: Sabine on "Deathrace". Sure other songs could qualify but this one is most notable because it's Sabine doing it, not Prem or Galhert.
- Revolving Door Band: Sebastian Reichl is the only constant member.
- Running Gag: Hired as bassist for this band? It won't be too long before you get promoted to someone else's job.
- Soprano and Gravel: Sabine (later Margi) performs the clean vocals while Johannes Prem (eventually ex-bassist John Gahlert) does the harsh ones.
- An interesting take on this is "Renegade", where the usual pattern is flipped around. Sabine sings the verses and Prem screams the chorus.
- Special Guest:
- Christian Älvestam on "Dying Breed"
- Sabine and Sebastian Reichl were this for the Heaven Shall Burn song "Given in Death"
- Kevin Heiderich is one live.
- Start My Own: Thomas Huschka founded the Death Metal/Sludge Metal band I the Unlord after he left.
- Surprisingly Gentle Song: "Hurt", "Paranoia Extravaganza" and "State of Decay" among others.
