End of Green have re-recorded their legendary debut “Infinity”. Almost 30 years later, the band are revisiting their crushing roots, while at the same time setting the course for the future with a new deal with Reaper Entertainment.
With their stoner goth, End of Green placed themselves in their very own pigeonhole right from the start back in 1996. The legendary debut “Infinity”, released by Nuclear Blast, is a massive bridge between the gothic doom walls of Type O Negative and the bone-dry desert groove of Kyuss. Big songs, lots of reverb and plenty of oomph, somehow lamenting like the weeping marble statue in the cemetery and yet nonchalantly fucked up like a reveller after a rather successful pub crawl. And yes, singer Michelle Darkness indeed sounds like he’s singing to us from a mouldy crypt. They are like the Lost Boys, only with guitars.
Back then, the band described this as “Depressed Subcore” – probably because even they didn’t really know what else to call it. It’s metal, it’s rock, it’s goth, it’s alternative… and somehow the Swabians pierce it all together as if it was always meant to be. It rocks, like hell even. It has coolness and vibe. It mourns. It sits between the chairs with the bravado of a libertine. 30 years on, Michelle Darkness, Kerker, Hundi, Lusiffer and Sad Sir have re-recorded this monument between depression and hedonism – and the crushing result is just as spectacular and special as you would imagine. “I wanted to stay close to the feeling of the original recording and carefully bring it into the present,” explains singer, guitarist and songwriter Michelle Darkness. “With better sound and hopefully a better band. These old songs are still very dear to me and I wanted to record them the way they were always meant to sound. It is a tribute to our beginnings.”
End of Green have grown older, maybe even a little wiser, and have experienced a lot over the last few decades spent on the road. This new recording of course reflects that: It’s a bit like a couple of old school friends who, after decades, find themselves back in the pub of their school days.What this re-recording also shows is that no other band sounds like them. Then as now. For over 30 years, they have been exploring the depths of the human psyche. With nine studio albums and hundreds of record-breakingly intense concerts under their belts, they have achieved an unrivalled standing not just in the German music scene. 30 years, that’s a lot of life right there. End of Green work their way through their emotional collateral damage, but they don’t do it wallowing in self-pity, but with a composed attitude, a wry smile on their lips, a cigarette hanging from the corner of their mouth and a sense of humour that is as black as they drink their coffee.
Recorded in the late summer of 1995 at Ecki Erlenbusch’s Nightmare Studios in Fautspach and mixed by titan Harris Johns, End of Green unknowingly unleashed a piece of music history that still has the quality to shatter us 30 years later. “Back then, we were very young, idealistic and naive in the best sense of the word,” Michelle Darkness looks back. “We played without any pretence and didn’t even tune the guitars before recording. Those were unforgettable times.” There are changes to the songs on the new recording, yes, but they are very subtle. What counted was giving “Infinity” a dark, contemporary twin – “Twinfinity”. The re-recording also comes with the original album, which has been hard to obtain for years. Mind you, it still has its very own charm. It rumbles, it echoes, it groans, even back then developing that very special gravitational pull the band is famous for. “For us, it all started with ‘Infinity’,” says the singer. “This album is the starting point of a 30-year journey. This band is my life, I can’t and won’t say it any other way. Without this band, without my boys, I wouldn’t exist. It’s all about the music for me. That’s why this new recording was a very emotional experience for me. It’s probably my most important album.”
“Twinfinity” sees End of Green entering a new era. Seven years have passed since the last record “Void Estate”, back in 2022 the band celebrated 30 years of history with a triumphant home show at the Stuttgart institution LKA. But you can only look forward if you know where you come from. So, like salmon, the band set off on the long journey back to the source from which they sprang in the early nineties. This also includes their new label home, Reaper Entertainment: co-owner Achim Ostertag is one of the most important figures in the band’s history. “It feels like coming home,” nods Darkness. And hints at 30 new songs he’s already written.
Suffering can certainly be fun. If you do it the End of Green way.
Tracklist:
01 – Left My Way
02 – Away
03 – Seasons Of Black
04 – Infinity
05 – Tomorrow Not Today
06 – Sleep
07 – You
08 – Nice Day to Die
09 – No More Pleasure
Disc 2 “Infinity” (1996)
01 – Left My Way
02 – Away
03 – Seasons Of Black
04 – Infinity
05 – Tomorrow Not Today
06 – Sleep
07 – You
08 – Nice Day to Die
09 – No More Pleasure
Line-Up:
– Michelle Darkness – Vocals
– Sad Sir – Guitar
– Kirk Kerker – Guitar
– Hundi – Bass
– Lusiffer – Drums
