Endstille

by Eduardo Rivadavia A black metal band from Kiel, Germany, Endstille were founded in the year 2000 by vocalist Iblis, guitarist Lars Wachtfels, bassist Cruor, and drummer Mayhemic Destructor (no, really!), the latter threesome having already played together in the underground band Tauthr. United by the mission to perpetrate -- in their words -- "the ugliest aggressive black metal with the fire-speed of an MG42 and the power of heavy ship-artillery" (!), Endstille presented some of the fastest, most remorselessly single-minded black metal onslaughts ever recorded on ensuing albums like Operation Wintersturm (2002), Frühlingserwachen (2003), Dominanz (2004), and Navigator (2005) -- all of them released through Sweden's Regain Records. As their public profile grew, Endstille's peculiar penchant for describing infamous German weaponry from World War II in their lyrics led some critics to question their political alliances, but the group vehemently refuted any right-wing agenda in spite of eyebrow-raising subsequent offerings like 2006's Lauschangriff EP (a split with satanic black metallers Graupel), 2007's Endstilles Reich, and 2009's Verführer.