Bernd Seeberger (vocals/keyboards), Larsen Beattie (guitars), Christian Reichel (bass guitar) and Marek Karakasevic (drums).
With this formation Cryptic Wintermoon played a few local concerts. At the end of 1994 Bernd Seeberger decided to leave the band because of personal reasons. Ronny Dörfler, the vocalist of a local Thrash band called Terrible Somnium took the place behind the Cryptic Wintermoon microphone. Later drummer Marek had been replaced with the former Terrible Somnium guitar player Alexander Pöhlmann. With this line-up the band recorded the demo-tape "Voyage Dans La Lune" in August 1995, which was mainly sold in the underground. As Ronny decided to concentrate on his part as singer, Andrea Walter came into the band to play the keys.
Musicial and personal differences between Christian Reichel and the rest of the band almost lead to the end of Cryptic Wintermoon. So the split in summer of 1996 was unavoidable. Christian Ender took upon the part of the bass and background vocals. A second guitar player, Jochen Kressin, completed the line-up.
In March 1997, the MCD "Cryptic Wintermoon" was recorded in the Frost studios in half a year later in October the MCD was published without a label. In the same month, Jochen decided to study and was no longer possible for him to play with Cryptic Wintermoon. He was replaced by Michael Schürger. In this formation the band played a lot of concerts in Germany with bands like Desaster, Night In Gales, Purgatory, Agathodaimon, Ancient Rites, Impending Doom... And managed to make a name in the underground as a Black/Death/Thrash Metal band.
In autumn 1998, Cryptic Wintermoon released a split EP with the band Lord Astaroth, containing “Shadowland” (re-recorded) and “Beyond The Night”. The split EP was distributed by Perverted Taste Records. Because of still no label deal, a promo-tape with four songs was recorded. After that tape, Ars Metalli offered a contract in December 1998. And so the recordings for the long player "The Age Of Cataclysm" started in May 1999 in the famous Frost studios, which had developed into a professional studio. In November the album was released. It contained eleven songs with 60 minutes playing time. “The Age Of Cataclysm” got best results Metal magazines like Rock Hard (9 of 10 pts), Heavy Or What (10 of 12 pts). After the recordings Christian Ender decided to give up active music and Alexander Pöhlmann had to give up because of his eardrum. Both were replaced by Jens "Jason" Löhner (bass) and Andreas "Goatie" Schmidt (drums) known from the Death Metal band Violation.
Cryptic Wintermoon finally quit the record deal with Ars Metalli cause the label didn’t pay anything and also didn’t do shit for the band.
Again without deal a new 5 track promo CD was recorded and later on the complete "A Coming Storm" album; the band managed to sign a deal with Massacre Records. After the recordings of the album, the bass player Jason lost interest in the band and the music, and was replaced by Gary Kietz. “A Coming Storm” was released in May 2003 and got again very good reviews: 8,5/10 RockHard, 10/12 Heavy Oder Was, 89/100 Metalreviews.com…
After the release of "A coming Storm" the new guy on the Bassguitar had to drop out of the band because he wasnt able to play Bassguitar anymore cause of a serious injury. A new Bassplayer was found in the 18 year old Nicolaj Rüster woh also plays guitar in the Band "Angelus Mortis".
Discography
Voyage Dans La Lune Demo, 1995
Cryptic Wintermoon EP, 1997
Franconian Frost Split, 1998
The Age of Cataclysm Full-length, 1999
A Coming Storm Full-length, 2003
of Shadows...And the Dark Things You Fear Full-length, 2005
God With Us
Cryptic Wintermoon Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Last letter home is done
God with us sing the victory songs
For honour god and fatherland
As time stands still who will remain who is the one to pass
Did you resist while others fell or while they drowned in gas
A generation fading like sand in an hour glass
Did you want to die here were you one of them
Was your wish to leave here to see your family again
Did you ever had a doubt or had you been deceived
Like millions of your comrades who never saw their homes again
God with us here in no mans land erase the best of youth
God with us play the death march for the route down below
Not one to stop not one to hold
In this hell men won't grow old
God with us strong in faith we stand
Handwritten on a yellowed group portrait
Young men with carbines in their hands
Still together carved in stone they lie
A generation damned to suffer working busy on a new world order
One by one almost brothers no hope... and no mother
God with us heroes will be made
But no hero will survive
God with us don't let us be downhearted
Please let death come quick
God with us
Do you hear the silence now
Where once thousand cannons spoke
On the fields where the poppies grow
A mother bemoans her son
The lyrics of Cryptic Wintermoon's song "God With Us" speak to the futility and tragedy of war. The opening lines establish a sense of unity among soldiers fighting in a conflict, with the phrase "God with us standing one by one" implying that all soldiers, regardless of nationality or allegiance, share a common experience in the face of war. The following lines suggest that the soldiers are writing their last letters home, perhaps as a way of saying goodbye or preparing for the worst.
The lyrics go on to describe the horrors of war, with references to gas attacks, trench warfare, and the high mortality rate among soldiers. There is a sense of questioning and uncertainty throughout the song, as the singer wonders about the intentions and motivations of the soldiers, and whether they truly believed in the cause for which they were fighting. The repeated refrain of "God with us" can be interpreted in different ways - it may be a form of prayer, a statement of faith, or a plea for divine intervention in a situation that seems beyond human control.
The final verses of the song describe the aftermath of the conflict, with references to the silence that replaces the sounds of battle, and the grief of mothers who have lost their sons. The song ends on a note of resignation, with the plea for death to "come quick" suggesting that life has become unbearable for those who have survived the war.
Line by Line Meaning
God with us standing one by one
We all stand together with God on our side
Last letter home is done
The soldiers have written their final letters home
God with us sing the victory songs
We sing praises to God for our victories
For honour god and fatherland
Our actions are done in the name of God and our country
As time stands still who will remain who is the one to pass
In war, time seems to stand still and we question who will survive and who will die
Did you resist while others fell or while they drowned in gas
Did you fight on even when others fell or succumbed to gas attacks?
A generation fading like sand in an hour glass
An entire generation of young men is dying, slipping away like sand in an hourglass
Young men in trenches gunfire shakes the ground
Young men endure constant gunfire and the ground trembles beneath them
Did you want to die here were you one of them
Did you choose to die here, were you one of those who saw no way out?
Was your wish to leave here to see your family again
Did you hope to survive and leave this place to see your family once more?
Did you ever had a doubt or had you been deceived
Did you ever doubt the cause or were you misled?
Like millions of your comrades who never saw their homes again
Many soldiers lost their lives and never returned home
God with us here in no mans land erase the best of youth
Even in no man's land, God seems to have abandoned us and the best of youth die
God with us play the death march for the route down below
God is present even in death, playing the death march for those who have passed
Not one to stop not one to hold
We keep moving forward, never stopping, never giving up
In this hell men won't grow old
In this war, men don't grow old, they die too soon
God with us strong in faith we stand
We stand strong with our faith in God
Handwritten on a yellowed group portrait
Remembrance of the fallen, captured in a group photograph
Young men with carbines in their hands
Young soldiers ready for battle, armed with carbines
Still together carved in stone they lie
Those who passed away together are remembered together, carved in stone
A generation damned to suffer working busy on a new world order
A generation of young men suffered and died for the cause of establishing a new world order
One by one almost brothers no hope... and no mother
One by one, young soldiers die, almost like brothers, with no hope or mother to comfort them
God with us heroes will be made
Many heroes will be made during this war, fighting bravely for their country
But no hero will survive
Sadly, even the bravest heroes will not all survive the war
God with us don't let us be downhearted
We pray to God to not let us lose hope or become discouraged
Please let death come quick
We ask for a quick death to end our suffering
Do you hear the silence now
The silence after the war is deafening
Where once thousand cannons spoke
Where once the sounds of thousands of cannons filled the air
On the fields where the poppies grow
On the battlefield, where the flowers of poppies grow, a symbol of remembrance for the fallen
A mother bemoans her son
A mother mourns the loss of her son, one of many who died in the war
Contributed by Brooklyn D. Suggest a correction in the comments below.