Stillste Stund
Stillste Stund () is a German musical group formed by Oliver Uckermann and female vocalist Birgit S. in 1998. Their songs are written primarily in German, supported by male and female vocalists. The band's name comes from Friedrich Nietzsche's most famous book: "Thus Spoke Zarathustra", Part II - Die Stillste Stunde. History. Stillste Stund released a Demo-Version of "Ein Mensch, ein Ding, Ein Traum" in 2000. They signed a record contract with music label 'Alice In...' of the Dark Dimensions label group shortly after that. There were originally two supporting female vocalists: Birgit S. and Inanis Kurzweil . Inanis appeared on the band's first three releases. "Ein Mensch, ein Ding, Ein Traum", the band's debut album, was released in mid-2000. In May 2002, Stillste Stund was nominated as Best Newcomer Band by German music magazine "Orkus". The ever-popular "Der Untergang" from "Ein Mensch, ein Ding, Ein Traum", was featured on four different compilations, all in two years. Some of the lyrical content is inspired by legends and fairy tales along with the thoughts of such notable German philosophers and novelists as Friedrich Nietzsche, Hugo von Hofmannsthal, Joseph von Eichendorff, and Hermann Hesse. In 2001, the  band released their second full-length album, "Ursprung Paradoxon". Its release gained Stillste Stund much popularity throughout Europe and even parts of South America . The music consists of theatrical, classical, and industrial influences. The band's album artwork and sleeve design and website design is all made by Birgit S. This album featured the first part of the "Alice Trilogy" named ""Alice (Der Spiegeltanz)". The track was originally written for the anniversary of their label Alice In... and was inspired by "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland". Their next album "Biestblut – Zwei in Einem (Ein Gedankenkonstrukt in sieben Szenen)" appeared in  late 2003. The musical content of this concept album has a much more classical influence and "Nebelland", "Golem", "Weltwinternacht", "Sublunaris", and "Wo die Wirklichkeit schweigt" are among some of the notably popular tracks from "Biestblut". This was also the last album featuring additional female vocal support from Inanis Kurzweil. In 2005, Stillste Stund presented their fourth album "Blendwerk Antikunst" as a worthy successor to "Ursprung Paradoxon". The lyrics are written mostly in German except for three songs in English: "Apocalyptic Noon", "Darksomely", and "Obsessed with Purple". The most recent album "Von Rosen und Neurosen - Eine erlesene Sammlung grausamster Albträume" was  released on March 14, 2008. The standard edition features twelve tracks all sung in German. The limited edition of this album includes a bonus disc named "Alice EP" with ten tracks that continue and end the very popular story that began on the second album "Ursprung Paradoxon" with the track "Alice (Der Spiegeltanz)" (amongst other titles, the EP features a remastered version of "Alice (Der Spiegeltanz)" and full-length versions of "Alice II" and "Alice III"). Ending. Stillste Stund claimed to be a "project" instead of a band. It announced that the production of Alice III would complete the project , and that Stillste Stund would dissolve, having fulfilled its purpose. There was speculation about more music being released under a new name, but to date, there has been no further official information. References. 1. 2. 3. 4.