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Founded in 1996 by the old friends and musicians Hermann Gier (bass), Al Krott (guitar) and Theo Ruland (vocals and guitar), DIE SKLAVEN were a private project for many years, without higher professional goals or exaggerated ambitions. It was all about the rebellion against society and everyday routine, about the love for hard music – without ever sticking to only one style of music -, and about the zest for daring and unusual German lyrics.

In the spring of 2006, after the band had been confined to the very secluded but nevertheless extremely luxurious rehearsal room – their own – and after they had done some private recordings in their personal studio, there were some changes in the drum department and with the new drummer BJ the last needed ingredient added itself and a new era began. It must have been love at first sight, as it finally seemed that all pieces of the jigsaw had magically joined together.

Slowly but with increasing hunger for greater things the four began rehearsing their older songs that had already been praised by many of the band’s friends, re-arranging most of them to fit into a newer and fresher sound; and they started to write new material and to look out for possibilities to play bigger concerts. Having professional musicians and music industry pros in the band, they recorded and produced their first album titled "Arbeit am Verdorbenen" on their own in 2008/2009. Friends and fans as well as the pros and the press in the business were equally impressed by the firstling. Over the course of several months, they had worked simultaneously at perfecting their live skills as well as recording the album. Lo and behold, it was an exertion but one that paid off. "Arbeit am Verdorbenen" is a real killer album; a collection of excellent, high caliber songs that electrify from the first to the last note and will most likely propel DIE SKLAVEN to the highest heights in Rock hierarchy.

The album thematically tells of everything that enslaves man yet still gives them joy: it’s about love and sex, power and abuse, belief and fetishism. Every aspect is intensely savored and nailed to the point. Sometimes one will not believe what one hears. After a rather atmospheric and suspenseful opening, "Schneeweißchen und Rosenrot" – the first of the 15 songs – immediately hits the listener in the eye with a relentless beat and huge guitars and thus sets the mark for the rest of the album. Naturally, the following songs "Deutschland" and "Lehrerin" hit the highly explosive Rock’n’Roll-bullseye. In Songs like "Deutschland" and "Volk", DIE SKLAVEN denounce the government’s and society’s ever expanding obsession to rule and control and in true punk-style celebrate the rise of the little man against the regime. In "Bärenschweiß", the listener gets to follow an obsessed snoops’ nightly hunt for used panties and "Hau mir eine rein" witnesses the story of a slave who turns away from his unfaithful mistress. "Svenja" is about the perfect woman that turns out to be a disappointment because she does not master corporal punishment while "Lana" and "Lehrerin" allow juicy insights into the biography of the singer. "Rapunzel" tells of outrageous events in the world of the fairy tales. "Nordsee" is a declaration of love for the sea in fall and winter. "Sehnsucht" closes the album with a surprisingly tender and intimate sound that takes us all on a journey into our innermost self, only to erupt in a firework of orchestral grandeur and gives the album an awesome and impressive ending. "Tanze Für Mich" definitely is one of the highlights of the album. It catches the listener with its heavy beats and brutally blunt guitars only to open up to a masterfully poetic middle part with a beautiful cello and intricately woven percussion that create an almost mystical atmosphere.

DIE SKLAVEN master the art of saying the unspeakable, thinking the unthinkable and sometimes trivial with esprit and a twinkling eye through captivating and inspiring music. It is simply a lot of fun to be able to recognize oneself and one’s darker sides without having to feel ashamed for it ...

"Working on the album was very relaxed because we were under no commercial or professional pressure", Theo recounts. "We were able to test various mixes and musical styles and discover in a very natural way what was best for the album."

But be ye warned: He who thinks that DIE SKLAVEN are only able to show their strengths on the recording is sorely mistaken and will be proven wrong at any of their concerts and appearances. It is live when our four ambassadors of rock shift into the highest gear and conquer any audience with their impenetrable wall of guitars and vocals and their unscalable beats.