Formation, Synthetic Generation (2000–2003)

The members of the band have known each other from childhood after growing up in Stockholm. Deathstars is, in fact, a metamorphosed version of 1993 founded heavy metal act Swordmaster, featuring former Dissection drummer Ole Ohman ("Bone W Machine") and guitarist Emil Nodtveidt ("Nightmare Industries"). Deathstars is fronted by Andreas Bergh ("Whiplasher Bernadotte") and saw Erik Halvorsen ("Beast X Electric") on guitar. The band took on both a radical image and change in musical direction for the album Synthetic Generation.

According to "Nightmare Industries" in an interview, the name "Deathstars" itself was never intended to be a reference to the Death Star in Star Wars, but was in fact supposed to be an amalgamation of "Death Metal" and "Stars".[1] They cite bands such as Kiss as an early inspiration, and have recently been compared to Rammstein, The Kovenant and Marilyn Manson.

Synthetic Generation first surfaced in Sweden during March 2002 on LED Recordings, but would be picked up for European release by the German Nuclear Blast label the following year.

Originally only a live bass player for Deathstars, Jonas Kangur ("Skinny Disco") became an official member on October 1, 2003.

Before Synthetic Generation was released, several demos were recorded, two of which are freely available on the internet; 'Razor End' and 'Black Medicine'. 'Razor End' is the most unusual as it is a song with strong female vocals, and is more like Synthetic Generation's material, whereas 'Black Medicine', can be described as featuring parts of 'The Last Ammunition', 'Tongues' and 'Blitzkrieg' from Termination Bliss. 'Black Medicine' may be linked to the song 'Tongues' as the song 'Tongues' describes "white medicine".


Termination Bliss, new line-up (2004–2006)

Plans to commence recording of a second album in June 2004 were delayed as, returning home from an appearance at the Wave Gotik Treffen festival in Leipzig, Germany, Deathstars had over $15,000 worth of gear stolen from their tour bus. The band later landed the support to the resurrected Dissection at their Stockholm Lilla Arenan gig in late October.

Deathstars undertook album recordings in early 2005 at the band's own Black Syndicate Studios for the Termination Bliss album.

In outside activity, both Emil Nodtveidt and bassist Skinny scored production credits on the Dissection album Reinkaos. Deathstars also remixed the track "Vyperpunk" on Dope Stars Inc.'s Neuromance album.

The band parted ways with guitarist Erik Halvorsen in August, citing "lack of enthusiasm".

Termination Bliss saw release in January 2006. Limited edition variants added a "Driven On" remix of the track "Blitzkrieg" by Mortiis.

The band supported Cradle of Filth on their 2006 tour through Europe.

In September 2006 Deathstars' website announced that Eric Backman ("Cat Casino") was now a full time guitarist for Deathstars.


Night Electric Night and current events (2007–present)

In September 2007 Deathstars' website announced that they would open shows for Korn on their European tour throughout January and February 2008. Deathstars headlined a few shows on their own between the dates they perform with Korn. Later, it was announced that "Bone W Machine" would not partake in the upcoming European tour with Korn due to personal reasons. Bergh attributed this to the fact that the drummer "had to take care of his family back home". Fellow Swede Adrian Erlandsson, who has also drummed for Cradle of Filth, filled in on drumming duties for the tour.[2]

For the next upcoming studio album, Deathstars producer and guitarist Nightmare Industries wrote the song "Via The End" when he heard of the suicide of his brother, Jon Nodtveidt. Of the album, lead Deathstars vocalist Whiplasher said: "I am very pleased with how the songs illustrates our lives, because that’s what it’s all about - our everynight situations and the timeless sounds of the depraved city. I just wanted to combine serious personal issues, destructive city nighttime, naked bodies and the dark presence of Russia. It is the absolute Fort Knox of modern dark rock".[3]

On 29 October 2007 Deathstars entered Metrosonic Recording Studios in New York City to begin the recording of their third studio album. The mixing was set for January 2008 with the album scheduled for release during Spring 2008. In a January 2008 interview, Bergh revealed that Deathstars' third studio album would be titled Deathglam.[2] However after Metallica releasing Death Magnetic, they soon changed the new album's name to Night Electric Night [4] and jokingly stated that Deathstars themselves inspired the signature font and the track name 'Cyanide' on the Metallica album. Later on, Whiplasher revealed (also jokingly) that the new album will now be titled Master of Muppets (a play on the famed Metallica album, Master of Puppets)[5]

Also, in May 2008, Nuclear Blast released an ultimate edition of the bands second album 'Termination Bliss' called 'Termination Bliss Extended' containing a CD and DVD. This contains 1 bonus track, "Termination Bliss (Piano Version)", but does not include "Blitzkrieg (Driven On Version)". The special-DVD includes all the music videos and special "making of" them. They have also released a single DVD entitled 'Termination Bliss EXTENSION".

On November 7, 2008, Deathstars announced on their official Myspace page the full track listing of the newest album, its release date as the 30th January, 2009, and the first single, 'Death Dies Hard' would be aired on Bandit Rock 106.3 Stockholm. The following day, the artwork for the standard edition CD cover was also released.

On their official webpage Deathstars announced on the 31st January '09 that they would be completing the 2nd leg of their European tour in the UK and announced the dates at 15 different locations to happen in April '09.[6]

March 10 gave news on the "attack on America". On the Deathstars official web page, it was announced that they had signed with Bieler Bros Records. Night Electric Night is slated to be released in America on May 19 with supporting tour dates following thereafter. To date Deathstars have not toured in North America in support of Night Electric Night as they claimed they would, nor has there been any tour dates set.[7]


Current members

* Andreas "Whiplasher Bernadotte" Bergh (b. May 2, 1977) – vocals
* Eric "Cat Casino" Backman (b. May 24, 1988) – guitar
* Emil "Nightmare Industries" Nodtveidt (b. November 11, 1976) – producer, guitars and keyboards
* Jonas "Skinny Disco" Kangur (b. July 25, 1979) – bass and backing vocals
* Ole "Bone W. Machine" Ohman (b. October 1973) – drums

Sessional members

* Ann Ekberg – additional female vocals
* Johanna Beckstrom – additional female vocals
* Adrian Erlandsson - session drums

Former members

* Erik "Beast X Electric" Halvorsen – guitar

«This black syndicate is a burning ballroom Dirt, drinks and pills and Gucci drenched in blood». — «Death in Vogue» — цитата с оф. сайта Deathstars.

При образовании группы состав включал: Whiplasher Bernadotte (Andreas Bergh) в качестве ведущего вокала и автора текстов, Beast X Electric (Erik Halvorsen) гитариста, Nightmare Industries (Emil Nodtveidt) автора музыки, гитариста и клавишника, Bone W Machine (Ole Ohman) барабанщика. Первый альбом «Synthetic Generation» был записан весной 2002 года, тогда же его вы выпустили на LED Recording в Швеции. Группа с 2000 года контактировала с людьми из LED Recording — когда им дали послушать демо Deathstars, они пришли в восторг, был записан альбом и отснято два видеоклипа. Мировой релиз состоялся 10 ноября 2003 года.

Видеоклипы группы вошли не только на двойной DVD сборник «Monsters Of Metal», но и получили ротацию на немецком канале Viva Plus TV. Альбом «Synthetic Generation» был записан в Fredman Studios (HammerFall, In Flames, Dimmu Borgir, The Haunted, At The Gates, Soilwork) под присмотром Андерса Фридена (участник In Flames), смикширован Штефаном Глауманном (Rammstein, Clawfinger, Def Leppard), продюсированием занимался Nightmare Industries. На альбоме - 2 бонус-трека, включая композицию «White Wedding», кавер Билли Айдола. Оформление буклета — Thomas Ewerhard, первое, шведское издание альбома было с другой обложкой. В поддержку «Synthetic Generation» отыграли более 20 концертов. Осенью 2003 года прошло турне с Paradise Lost (Германия, Швейцария, Италия, Франция, Испания, Бельгия, Великобритания). Альбом также выпущен в Южной и Северной Америке и в России.

В октябре 2003 года для организации полноценных концертов в поддержку альбома был взят новый бас-гитарист — Skinny Disco (Jonas Kangur), в начале 2004 года он стал полноправным участником коллектива. Летом того же года группа выступила на фестивале Wave Gothic Treffen (Лейпциг, Германия), а в сентябре — на Stockholm Pride. Одна из композиций с альбома «Synthetic Generation» вошла в саундтрек фильма «Alone In The Dark» с участием Кристиана Слейтера.

В августе 2005 года из группы уходит Beast X Electric. Deathstars начинают запись нового альбома «Termination Bliss» в собственной студии Nightmare Industries и Skinny Disco — Black Syndicate Studios, в которой был записан не только «Termination Bliss», но и «камбэк» Dissection — первый за 10 лет. Смикшировал альбом вновь Штефан Глауманн. Nightmare Industries исполнил на записи все гитарные партии и для туров был приглашён сессионный музыкант Cat Casino (Eric Backman). Релиз альбома состоялся 27 января 2006 года, альбом содержит два бонус-трека — ремикс от Mortiis «Blitzkrieg (Driven On Mix)» и фортепианную версию заглавной композиции. Партии женского бэк-вокала принадлежат оперной шведской певице Ann Ekberg.

В мае 2009 года, Deathstars выступали в Москве [1] и Санкт-Петербурге [2]

Текущие участники

* Andreas «Whiplasher Bernadotte» Bergh [3] — вокал
* Emil «Nightmare Industries» Nodtveidt — гитара и клавишные
* Jonas «Skinny Disco» Kangur — бас-гитара и бэк-вокал
* Eric «Cat Casino» Backman — гитара
* Ole «Bone W Machine» Ohman — ударные

Приглашённые участники

* Ann Ekberg — женский бэк-вокал на альбоме «Termination Bliss»
* Johanna Beckstrom — женский бэк-вокал в некоторых композициях
* Oscar Leander — ударные, тур 2008 года
* Adrian Erlandsson — ударные, тур 2008 года

Бывшие участники

* Erik «Beast X Electric» Halvorsen — гитара