In the ides of March of the year 2004 deep in the industrialized Franconian wastelands a fateful alliance took place. The till then inconsiderable Black Metal formation "Puritan Disbelief", consisting of rhythm guitarist Draugh, bass player Rico, drummer Christoph [aka Galt] and singer mr alphavarg got reinforced by two outstanding talents namely Hrím [now known as NhéVaN] as lead guitarist and Hrísdólgr as keyboard wizard. Due to a thoroughgoing change in both sound and content this strong union was sealed by a new name: KromleK was born. The first steps in musical expression lead the band into the pagan genre especially the Viking Metal in the epic vein of ere Thyrfing songs. Another inspiration manifersted in the earliest songs was the folky Humppa style with its catchy melodies and off-beat rhythm that impressed all members at that time. So the first four songs ["Han som rider" (never released), "Träskens näve", "När tiden vissnar" and "Huldrasson" (never released)] were forged underneath that "Trollish Viking Metal" banner.
Armed with that four-headed Hydra KromleK faced their fate in the early days of the year 2005 by participating the Newcomer Festival in their hometown Schweinfurt. Rico left the band right before the first gig so KromleK was forced to perform without a bass player, a state that became a sad tradition from time to time. Nevertheless the first live-battle was adumbrated by a great victory as KromleK won the competition. From that point the band was fuelled by the will to grow concerning to the huge number of followers and fans. Two gigs in 2005 followed that heralded the name KromleK to the much appreciated Thuringian realm.
But the crowning glory of that year was definitely the release of the first, long awaited debut EP called KVELDRIÐUR right after the band signed a deal with Trollzorn Records. With Kai and Stefan from Trollzorn KromleK found two passionated partners that both discovered and supported the young formation with all their energy and appreciation. Draugh left the band during the recordings and was replaced by Foradh. Through label and distribution work the name KromleK crawled slowly but surely into the auditory canals of fans of the by and by growing Pagan Metal wave all over Germany and even beyond the borders. As consequence KromleK was booked for shows an Bavaria, Thuringia again and Northrhine-Westfalia in 2006.
In March 2007, exactly three years after the "Swamp fist" [Träskens näve] was raised for the first time, the first first long-player STRANGE RUMOURS… DISTANT TREMORS was forged by an enormous increase in both sound and composition. As KVELDRIÐUR was quite naïve, SR…DT became much more serious, more epic. Thus the Humppa parts were reduced. Through a short period that also included the recording of the album KromleK introduced a seventh band member, the fiddle player Aoife. She left after a few gigs due to personnel differences. Another member has been inaugurated: Alex, who also did the recording, mix and mastering for both releases, became a full member as bass player. The inofficial release of SR... DT at the Ragnarök Festival broke loose an incredible wave of euphory and although KromleK was the second band in the line-up the crowd transformed into a melting pot yet unseen by the band. Further festival invitations followed, not only in Germany but the Netherlands by our appreciated friends of Elexorien. Through a three days lasting mini-tour the Kromlexorien-pact was sealed.
The year 2008 brought the hardest time for the established pagan force. As mr alphavarg and KromleK seemed to diverge in substance and the ideas of the future sound, appearence and content grew inconsistent, the late summer marked the deepest cut in the band's history. Mr alphavarg left the band due to a different vision of audiovisual art.
He returned in March 2009. But the personnel carousel had to move on, so Galt left the band for private reasons. His successor Jules completed the line-up that has become stronger than ever before.
Meanwhile KromleK managed to liberate from the inappropriate stamp ‘another band riding the Pagan-wave’ and is heading a great future with an own style, an own vision and especially without any puristic cliché immature. The third output FINIS TERRAE will underline the proclamation of being unique and lead into a new, higher sphere of Metal Music. The date of release is not fixed yet, but the recording process is on the way.
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