The group was founded in 1991. Before begetting Bethlehem, Bartsch and Matton used to play in a German thrash metal band called Morbid Vision. They recorded a few demos in the early 1990s before releasing their debut full-length album "Dark Metal" in 1994, which featured Andreas Classen on vocals.
On their second full-length album "Dictius te necare" (Latin: You must kill yourself), Classen was replaced with Rainer Landfermann on vocals (known as the bass player in the German death metal band Pavor). Landfermann's vocals were particularly extreme, described by critics and fans alike as "one of the sickest and most extreme voices you'll ever hear from a human being".
On "Sardonischer Untergang im Zeichen irreligiöser Darbietung", Landfermann was replaced by Marco Kehren from the band Deinonychus, Guido Meyer de Voltaire (Aardvarks) in turn replaced Kehren on "Schatten aus der Alexanderwelt" and "Mein Weg". With "Schatten aus der Alexander Welt" the band altered their style and abandoned the black and death-doom influences that made up their personal and distinguished style, favouring a more Neue Deutsche Härte (New German Hardness) and electronic approach.
Bethlehem faced censorship and was even banned from playing in some German cities. It started when Matton gave one copy of their first demo to a 14 year-old boy. After a while his mother started to call the band, saying that because of their music, her son become aggressive and built a "Satanic altar" in his room. In cooperation with other parents, they started a crusade against Bethlehem and their "satanic" music (although Bethlehem were never a satanic band).
Jürgen Bartsch, founder and bass player of Bethlehem, defines dark metal as such: "Dark Metal is a lifestyle, probably more than this. To the time we started with our own music, some of us made some ugly experiences with things like suicide or death in general. Myself was just back from the big German city I once lived in, where I lost nearly all of my friends and social contacts coz of drug overdoses or just coz they were bored by life in general and therefore killed themselves. Of course also lost people who were very close to me which totally shocked my complete appearance, from one day to the other let me feel lost and lonely again. When I came back into this miner´s ghost-town here, I had no friends, no nothing but only was buried in pain and suffering. Bethlehem was a way out, it totally helped to explain all those negative feelings and emotions into something so beautiful, which made it so easy to change all those dark things into something which always was a huge hold in my life, into music. Our former guitarist, Kläus Matton also lost his father who committed suicide and lost his mom who died from cancer and surely experienced everything in a similar way than I did. The others, Steinhoff and specially Classen came from broken homes and when I met them for the very first time, I very strongly felt that they also were completely lost. Basically four people came together, of such a kind that they all deeply were buried into something really dark, like living in a huge black hole. With no way out, no options or possibilities. Complete darkness, mental darkness. So the only chance to not follow the circumstances was to destroy darkness with music and though this was done instinctively, I believe today that the creation of a band like Bethlehem was the only chance to save our all lives. Not as a therapy or so, coz the therapy to that time were cigarettes and alcohol, more a promising path of light, completely born in the subconscious. We never discussed things like that but we all wanted to give it a name. Do remember this one rehearsal, shortly before we started recording our first demo, when suddenly our singer said: „the music is not evil, but it is dark. We all looked at each other and we knew it, that we exclusively play 'Dark Metal' and nothing else."
Schatten Aus Der Alexander Welt
Bethlehem Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
schwelgend
vergieße ich das vermalefeite Blut deines
kindlichen Leichnams
und erwarte mit bessener Hingabe
die erlösende Begierde meines vielgepriesenen
Untergangs
deren Dorn tief in den Pfuhl meiner
Prophezeiung stößt
Bare Vernichtung umweht meine lässigen
Schenkel
die Mitte kann nicht länger gehalten werden
und es bedarf nur zwei Schüsse den König zu
töten
Und wenn der Zirkel der Gehenkten spricht
und das verblichene Licht in schwarzem Weine
sich bricht
wird die Buße des toten Pferdes
meiner harschen Dunkelheit anheim fallen
(English translation: Shadows From The Alexander World)
Profilgate assassin revelling in purple sides
I shed the cursed blood of your
childlike corpse
And await with possessed dedication
the redeeming desire of my much praised downfall
Thunder rises and I feel like the tear
whose thorn thrusts deep into the pool of my
prophecy
Bare destruction blows round my slow thighs
The middle can no longer be kept
and it took only two shots to kill the king
And when the circle of the hanged ones speaks
and the faded light breaks in black wine
the penance of the dead horse will fall
share to my harsh darkness
The lyrics in Bethlehem's song "Schatten Aus Der Alexander Welt" paint a disturbing and violent picture. The opening lines describe the "profligate assassin" indulging in the blood of a child's corpse, eagerly anticipating their own downfall. This macabre imagery continues throughout, with references to thunder rising and tears with thorns that pierce the pool of prophecy. The final stanza suggests a sense of despair and darkness, as the penance for a dead horse falls to the harsh darkness.
The language used in this song is highly poetic and metaphorical, making it difficult to discern a concrete meaning. However, the repeated references to violence, death, and destruction suggest a deep sense of darkness and despair. The use of religious imagery, such as the reference to penance, adds another layer to the song's meaning, potentially suggesting a struggle with guilt or sin.
Line by Line Meaning
Ruchloser Mörder in purpurnen Seiten schwelgend
As a wicked killer, I take pleasure in indulging in sinful desires
vergieße ich das vermalefeite Blut deines kindlichen Leichnams
I spill the tainted blood of your innocent body
und erwarte mit bessener Hingabe die erlösende Begierde meines vielgepriesenen Untergangs
I eagerly await the satisfying desire of my highly praised downfall
Gewitter zieht auf und ich fühle wie de Träne deren Dorn tief in den Pfuhl meiner Prophezeiung stößt
A storm is brewing and I feel the prick of a tear that falls deeply into the pool of my prophecy
Bare Vernichtung umweht meine lässigen Schenkel
Absolute destruction surrounds my relaxed thighs
die Mitte kann nicht länger gehalten werden und es bedarf nur zwei Schüsse den König zu töten
The balance cannot be maintained any longer and only two shots are needed to kill the king
Und wenn der Zirkel der Gehenkten spricht und das verblichene Licht in schwarzem Weine sich bricht
And when the circle of the hanged ones speaks and the faded light shatters in black wine
wird die Buße des toten Pferdes meiner harschen Dunkelheit anheim fallen
The punishment of the dead horse will befall my harsh darkness
Contributed by Savannah F. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@ronin667
Lyrics translation:
Nefarious murderer reveling in crimson pages
I spill the mischievous blood of your childish corpse
And await with obsessive devotion
The redemptive desire of my much-vaunted demise
Thunderstorm is gathering and I feel like the tear
Whose thorn pierces deep into the pool of my prophecy
Bare annihilation wafts around my casual thighs
The center can no longer be held
And it takes but two shots to kill the king
And when the circle of the hanged speaks
And the faded light breaks in black wine
The repentance of the dead horse
Will fall to my harsh darkness
@trencijacksasdk2802
an album doesn't start any better than this
@prophecyBC
thanks
@joeyuzwa891
such pained vocals! great performance
@prophecyBC
You are welcome
@tommytelstar
Bought this on CD when it 1st came out. And my god it’s still a masterpiece. How can nearly ever song be so killer ?
@niace3423
Один из лучших... нет - лучший вокал в смысле передаваемых эмоций во всех жанрах экстримальной музыки
@bibby5000
best vocals ever
@Teddybeere
Over 25 years and it still slaps hard. Very cool.
@ronin667
Lyrics translation:
Nefarious murderer reveling in crimson pages
I spill the mischievous blood of your childish corpse
And await with obsessive devotion
The redemptive desire of my much-vaunted demise
Thunderstorm is gathering and I feel like the tear
Whose thorn pierces deep into the pool of my prophecy
Bare annihilation wafts around my casual thighs
The center can no longer be held
And it takes but two shots to kill the king
And when the circle of the hanged speaks
And the faded light breaks in black wine
The repentance of the dead horse
Will fall to my harsh darkness
@kingofthedust5551
Brutal intro