~ILLUMINATE~

Если Вы неравнодушны к творчеству Йоханнеса Бертхольда и немецкой группы Illuminate, то Вам сюда! Группа Illuminate (название произносится не на английском, а на латинском или немецком языке) была основана в 1993 году Йоханнесом Бертольдом (Johannes Berthold). ILLUMINATE (it's spoken out in German or Latin - not in English!) was founded in the year 1993 by the musician Johannes Berthold and became very soon an important part of the German Wave- and Gothic-Scene. For all, who have never listened to their music: The mass-media, strictly sopken one of the biggest magazines for dark culture in Europe, once gave them the titel: "The dark-romantic band number one". Now, they are always confronted with this expression, while ILLUMINATE doesn't absolutely agreed with it, because this is just one part of their work. The lyrics are like Johannes' personal diary: Sometimes very melancholic and sad, but always with a very clear positive touch. He always stressed that he never made "depressive" music! 1996 their first CD "Verfall" appeared on the European "market" which was the final breaktrough for the band. The German as well as the international press was very enthusiastic about ILLUMINATE's debut CD. "Verfall" also made them a very popular Live-Act! In August 1997 the second album "Erinnerungen" appeared. In this year the band played for the first time at the very famous "Wave- & Gotik-Treffen" in Leipzig / Germany and also at the "ZILLO-OpenAir". A very successful European Tour was the culmination for ILLUMINATE in this year. 1998 the band created their third CD "Erwachen" which was the finale and climax of their trilogy. After a very successful Headliner Tour at the end of this year, ILLUMINATE were elected to the "Band of the Year" by a German discotheque. In the year 1999 ILLUMINATE started with the Single "nur fur Dich" which was, just a few days after the release, a new Club-Hit and nearly two months in the German Alternative-Charts. In July '99 the CD "letzter Blick zuruck" appeared and made ILLUMINATE one of the most popular and successful bands in the German-speaking Wave-Scene. The "mysterious" new year 2000 brought a very special meeting: The new MCD "Dunkellicht" and the new album "Ein neuer Tag" were produced by Bruno Kramm (DAS ICH) on his castle near Bayreuth. The song "Dunkellicht" became straight a new Hit in the German Charts - a very good sign for ILLUMINATE's future! Scarcely another band among the German-speaking Alternative /(Dark)Wave-scene has polarized media and audience within the last eleven years as much as ILLUMINATE. Either praised up to the skies or torn apart as „Schlager“ (a German derogatory term for bad pop songs) – be that as it may, for the last decade, Johannes Berthold and his band have left their mark on the Dark scene... ILLUMINATE manage to combine classical elements, dance rhythms, electronic sound collages, romantic piano parts and heavy guitars without being unfaithful to their typical, unmistakable sound. After twelve years of band history, 8 studio albums with roundabout over 120.000 sold records (just in the German-speaking area!), world-wide life-performances, and having an enormous fan-base, ILLUMINATE are one of the most successful acts of the Alternative / Dark Wave-segment. 2004, ILLUMINATE released their ninth studio album „AugenBlicke“ which takes up the topics and musical motives from the successful trilogy of the band?s first years. „AugenBlicke“ is the most grown-up and most personal album of these charismatic musicians so far, a work which - last but not least due to a perfect production - will not only appeal to the ILLUMINATE-aficionado, but convince a great number of new fans, too!<br