Mourning Caress

MOURNING CARESS was founded by vocalist Gerrit Mohr and drummer Dominik Schlüter at the end of 1998. Shortly after, guitarist Benedikt Bjarnason, guitarist Florian Erhart and bassist Daniel Busche joined. One year later the band released its first sonic attack entitled THE DIVINE GRAVE, which got good response from the underground press all around the world and helped spread the word about the band. As some of you might already know, the purpose of the release was to do something against the void of heavy music in the town of Münster. These days you can find an intact rock and metal community in the German capital of bicycles.
The second attempt to irritate the public was made at the end of the year 2000 with the release of the second self-produced MCD entitled PERSPECTIVES. Incorporating some clean guitars, more dynamics and straight Rock'n'Roll elements, the band felt it had found a musical style it could more or less claim its own. Reactions to PERSPECTIVES were far greater than expected. The MCD was positively reviewed in lots of popular Metal magazines, webzines and fanzines all around the world, the tunes were played in underground radio-shows and quite a few interview inquiries followed.
Arise Rec. from Spain became aware of the lunatic quintet and decided to help the band on their mission to one day make the M of Münster stand for Metal. After having signed a deal with the Spanish label in spring 2001 the band released the debut album IMBALANCE in 2002. This very album nowadays is a classic of German Melodic Death Metal. The song "Creating A Hell" turned out to be the fans favourite and is mandatory at every live show.
The following years the band had to face difficult times: After parting ways with Arise Rec. in 2003 the guys had to deal with the lack of clarity regarding the musical direction, looking for a new label, getting older and dealing with a bunch of other bullshit. In 2005 guitarist Florian Erhart was replaced through old fellow Florian Albers, who brought some fresh sounds into the club, but also fully understands the trademarks of the band.
Another three years later the band finally released their second full length album INNER EXILE, via Dutch label Restrain Records, which once again offers catchy melodies and hooklines, twin guitars, aggressive riffs, melancholia, hope, love, despair and most of all Metal! To make it short, the band's musical style hasn't changed dramatically, except for the fact that they might have gotten a bit heavier. That was 2008, the light at the end of the tunnel seemed to be more than just a rumour. You better think again …
Some months after the release of INNER EXILE Restrain Records closed its doors and retired from the metal business and 2009 guitarist Benedikt Bjarnason unfortunately decided to leave the band due to ongoing job obligations. The band continued as a four-piece and replaced the emerging frustration with creativity. Nine brand-new and very heavy yet melodic tracks have been written in a relatively short period of time. So the next logical step for the four boys (Dominik Schlüter, Florian Albers, Gerrit Mohr and Daniel Busche) was to enter the DocMaKlang studio in Osnabrück, Germany end of 2010 to record the third album DEEP WOUNDS, BRIGHT SCARS with producer Matthias Lohmöller.
During the recording sessions the guys received a shocking and devastating message: End of December 2010 longtime friend and guitarist Benedikt Bjarnason died. In Spring 2010 he got diagnosed with cancer. But in spite of his positive attitude, distinctive humour, courage and immense will to defeat the disease, he lost this battle. DEEP WOUNDS, BRIGHT SCARS is dedicated to their brother Benedikt Bjarnason (1978 -2010) R.I.P.
Nevertheless MOURNING CARESS managed to finish the recordings early 2011 and felt stronger and more powerful than ever before after the completion of the new opus - Benedikt would love the new stuff. In the meantime the guys have found a new guitarist and are officially a five-piece again. The new member is called Wolfgang "Sandman" Sander, a skilled guitar player and insane metalhead. He joined the band directly after the recordings, so you naturally can't hear him on the new album.
DEEP WOUNDS, BRIGHT SCARS was mastered by Ulf Horbelt at DMS in Marl, Germany and the cover art was done by Björn Goosses, Killustrations. The nine tracks (plus a cover of the Scorpions hit "Black Out" as bonus track) definitely kick major ass. Some tunes are the heaviest and fastest in the history of MOURNING CARESS, some groove like shit and all of them will enchant you with beautiful melodies. The vocals still sound frustrated, fragile and full of despair. This well-known combination will surely please all fans of the predecessors IMBALANCE and INNER EXILE.
So far MOURNING CARESS have played with bands such as Tankard, Naglfar, Grave, Mercenary, God Dethroned, Die Apokalyptischen Reiter, The Forsaken, Dew-Scented, Unleashed, Night In Gales, Krisiun, Burden Of Grief to name a few. Festival appearances include: Summer Breeze Open Air in Abtsgmünd / Germany, Rock Station Festival in Ankara / Turkey, Westfalen Festival in Dortmund / Germany, Zillo Festival in St. Goarshausen (Loreley) / Germany and Rock Republic Open Air in Istanbul / Turkey with Slayer headlining the festival.