Bethlehem
A punishing German depressive black metal group united by a morbid, almost pathological fascination with suicide, madness, sickness, and death, Bethlehem emerged in the early 1990s with a style that hewed closely to the frosty tenets of doomy European black metal. Debuting in 1994 with the uncompromising and aptly named Dark Metal, the band would add elements of industrial and post-metal to their sonic arsenal on later offerings like A Sacrificial Offering to the Kingdom of Heaven in a Cracked Dog's Ear (2010), before returning to the icy miasma of earlier offerings with Bethlehem (2014) and Lebe Dich Leer (2019).
Having grown tired of the thrash-based aggressions of their earlier joint project, Dark Tempest, bassist Jürgen Bartsch and guitarist Klaus Matton (who as a boy lost his father to suicide and mother to cancer) founded Bethlehem in 1991. Along with vocalist Andreas Classen and drummer Chris Steinhoff, they proceeded to channel their rampant negativity into the moody, atmospheric brand of dark/black metal (punctuated by tortured shrieking) presented on 1994's Thy Pale Dominion 7" EP and 1995's seminal full-length debut Dark Metal. Their spirits did not improve on subsequent, despair-drenched outings like 1996's Dictus Te Necare (translation: "Kill Yourself"), 1997's S.U.I.Z.I.D. (full title: Sardonischer Untergang Im Zeichen Irreliogiosen Darbietung), and 1998's Reflektionen Auf's Sterben EP, and various vocalists, drummers, and keyboard players sifted through their ranks as well.
Bethlehem also ran into quite a bit of trouble with German authorities over their perceived glorification of death and, among many tasteless self-promotion stunts, claiming that former singer Classen had "offed" himself. The band managed to stay a few steps ahead of the law, however, and even endured the departure of leader-in-misery Matton to complete 2001's ambitiously avant-garde industrial-tinged double-disc set Schatten Aus der Alexander Welt. Heading into 2002, the Bethlehem lineup consisted of founder Bartsch, Guido Meyer de Voltaire (vocals), Olaf Eckhardt (guitar), Reiner Tiedemann (keyboards), and Steve Wolz (drums), and was hard at work on an interactive release under the disturbing title Suicide Radio. The following year saw the release of the group's fifth full-length studio effort, Mein Weg, with the punitive A Sacrificial Offering to the Kingdom of Heaven in a Cracked Dog's Ear arriving in 2009.
Bethlehem continued to explore new sonic territories on 2014's industrial-tinged Hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia, which means fear of the number 666, but reverted back to their bleak, doom-laden black metal past on 2016's eponymous Bethlehem. They continued in that suicidal black metal vein on 2019's Lebe Dich Leer, which marked the debut of frontwoman Onielar, formerly of Darkened Nocturn Slaughtercult.
© Eduardo Rivadavia /TiVo
Discography
18 album(s) • Sorted by Bestseller
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Bethlehem
Gospel - Released by Maranatha Music (MRA) on 1 Jan 1978
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Reflektionen aufs Sterben
Rock - Released by Prophecy Productions on 1 Aug 1998
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Thy Pale Dominion
Rock - Released by Prophecy Productions on 5 Apr 1993
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schatten aus der Alexander Welt
Rock - Released by Prophecy Productions on 10 Oct 2001
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia (Deluxe Edition)
Rock - Released by Prophecy Productions on 10 Oct 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Lebe Dich Leer (Deluxe Edition)
Rock - Released by Prophecy Productions on 17 May 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Dictius Te Necare
Rock - Released by Prophecy Productions on 14 May 1996
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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The Gospel According to Alexander
Metal - Released by The Sinister Initiative on 5 Aug 2022
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Lebe Dich Leer
Rock - Released by Prophecy Productions on 17 May 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Sardonischer Untergang im Zeichen irreligiöser Darbietung
Rock - Released by Prophecy Productions on 11 Sep 1998
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Dark Metal
Rock - Released by Prophecy Productions on 24 Nov 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia
Rock - Released by Prophecy Productions on 10 Oct 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
A Sacrifical Offering to the Kingdom of Heaven in a Cracked Dog's Ear
Rock - Released by Prophecy Productions on 31 Oct 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Profane fetmilch lenzt Elf krank
Rock - Released by Prophecy Productions on 1 Nov 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Stönkfitzchen
Rock - Released by Prophecy Productions on 20 Sep 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bethlehem (Deluxe Edition)
Rock - Released by Prophecy Productions on 2 Dec 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo