Hidden Gems & Guilty Pleasures: Endseeker (Germany)
Photo by Florian Lübke
Endseeker (Death Metal // Germany)
After twelve years of seeking, Endseeker have finally found the end. The fiery »Coffin Born« EP is to be our last glimpse of the German death metal hellraisers before their premature retirement, this unaltered original lineup capping their career in uncompromising style with an incendiary five-tracker.
“We’ve accomplished more than we have ever imagined in our wildest dreams,” reflects the band, in celebratory mood. “We played with fantastic bands, played super-cool festivals, and released four albums and two EPs of which we are extremely proud. We were blessed with great and loyal fans and managed to stay a consistent lineup throughout our whole ‘career’. But after grinding for more than a decade and dedicating so much time and energy to this band, we feel like it’s time to move on to other projects. We wanted to end this band like we started – as very good friends. We started with an EP and we end it with an EP. It just feels right to do this now, while we still have the power to deliver a great farewell performance as well in the studio as on stage.”
Since 2015’s debut EP »Corrosive Revelation«, each Endseeker release has hoisted the Hamburg quintet further up the death metal mountain. 2021 breakthrough LP »Mount Carcass« received widespread acclaim for its blend of punchy, Swedish-style HM-2-tone riffing, furious punk energy and pointed songwriting. 2023’s »Global Worming« confirmed Endseeker’s ascension, as well as their streak of dark humour – especially the title track’s uproarious family-picnic-gone-wrong video. Their endearing soft spot for novelty cheese recurs here in the form of an unexpected, and glorious, David Hasselhoff cover.
“In the first place we just love this song,” begins the band when asked to explain themselves. “It’s from the movie »Kung Fury« which absolutely everyone must watch, because it’s a fucking masterpiece and this song is probably the best performance of Hasselhoff ever. We asked our friends in Lord Of The Lost if they would like to join us for this song because we felt like it needed some extra glitter. We think it turned out amazing! Two bands from Hamburg from different genres united in an unexpected cover song. Super-fun project and quite outside the box for a death metal band.”
Photo by Toni Gunner
Elsewhere on this coruscating valediction we find the anti-fascist hardcore/crust punk vibes of blasting opener »Enemies Of Peace«, as well as “technically the fastest song we’ve ever made”, »No After. No Before.«, with lyrics again focused around failing political systems. Although the title track is about corpses giving birth and »Life Breeds Death« concerns a medieval executioner, Endseeker have never shied away from putting across radical partisan statements in their lyrics. “The whole world is going insane,” notes the band. “Madmen are elected leaders. Democracies fall or are in serious danger. Doomsday Clock is very close to midnight. We have families, kids – what kind of world will they grow up in? It’s just scary. We are very aware that some people might not like what we sing about and highly disagree. But so what? This is our creative outlet. Death metal is not about pleasing everyone or restraining ourselves. Songs about zombies and serial killers are cool and fun but we think the real horror is reality, and nowadays it’s goddamn terrifying.”
None of the bandmates is sure yet if they’ll be launching any new musical projects. They discovered new ways of working together by producing »Coffin Born« themselves – apart from drum tracks, engineered by long-time friend and collaborator Eike Freese (Deep Purple, Alice Cooper, Helloween) – but all are focused on giving Endseeker the send-off it deserves. But when lights fade on their last ever show, what will they miss most?
“Definitely the bromance! When we get on stage we’re a fucking unit! The energy between us is very intense. Of course we went through some rough times – being that close with four other individuals isn’t always easy. But we kept working on our relationships and are now probably closer than ever. We’re brothers in a way. I’m pretty sure we will see each other on a regular basis and hang out even when the band is over. But it’s gonna be different. Those high dopamine moments on stage will be missing. And also the endless hours sitting in a van or in an overcrowded backstage room waiting for stage-time. We shared things with each other we didn’t share with anyone else. That is a very strong bond, and those moments are probably what we will miss the most. There’s the saying ‘Don’t grieve over what is lost, value what remains’, and that is the memory of great times with some of the best friends we’ve ever had.”
Pre-order »Coffin Born« EP HERE.
Courtesy of Metal Blade Records
Discography:
• »Corrosive Revelation« EP (FDA Records, 2015)
• »Awaking Corpses: Live at Bambi Galore 2017« Split (Testimony Records, 2017)
• »Flesh Hammer Prophecy« LP (FDA Records, 2017)
• »Spiritual Euphoria« Single (Metal Blade Records, 2019)
• »The Harvest« LP (Metal Blade Records, 2019)
• »Mount Carcass« LP (Metal Blade Records, 2021)
• »Global Worming« LP (Metal Blade Records, 2023)
• »Coffin Born« EP (Metal Blade Records, 2026)
Endseeker is:
Lenny Osterhus – Vocals
Ben Liepelt – Guitar
Jury Kowalczyk – Guitar
Torsten Eggert – Bass
André Kummer – Drums
FFO: Dismember, Entombed, Bloodbath, Grave, Carcass, Entrails, LIK, Fleshcrawl, Unleashed, Vomitory
Links:
Website | Facebook | Instagram | Bandcamp | Spotify | YouTube
Bojan Bidovc // music enthusiast, promoter, misanthrop and sometimes a journalist as well