BiografieEarly years


Ctulu were formed in late Winter 2004 in Delmenhorst (Northern Germany) by Stefan Schulz (vocals/drums/keyboards) and Mathias Junge (guitars/bass). The band was meant to be a studio project about Lovecraft-inspired tales and mysteries. Soon the first demo “Zins der Zeit” was recorded and released in 2005.


This demo still contained keyboards and had a very melodic yet rough charm. In these early times, a strong link to Lovecraftian fictional prosa was still given, as "Ctulus Ruf" for example was clearly inspired by the text "Call of Cthulhu".


2006


After the release, drummer Jan Westermann joined the band and Stefan Schulz focused on vocals. Soon, the second demo “Freie Geister” was recorded while first concerts were played in Hamburg, Delmenhorst and Athens (GR) with Christian Minner taking over the bass.


2007


“Freie Geister” was released in Athens and sold out very fast.

This demo, unlike “Zins der Zeit” was more guitar-dominated and contained blast beats while there were no keyboards left. The lyrics went into various directions while there were few links left to a Lovecraftian background whatsoever.

Christian Minner left Ctulu already after four live shows and was replaced by Mario Dahl. This marked a new era for Ctulu since things went into a more professional direction. Mario Dahl took over the merchandise duties and delivered the band with its first record deal at “Northfire Records”.


2008


Three shows later, Arne Uekert joined Ctulu as rhythm guitarist and booking agent. Soon, concerts in whole Germany followed. “Freie Geister” was released in May as a self-recorded album.


2009


Ctulu took part in its first German tour supporting Taake (NO). This tour was played without Stefan Schulz, who later left the band since his visions of a studio project collided with the other members’ idea of a touring full-time band. Mathias Junge and Arne Uekert split up the vocals and the first show abroad took place in Austria. Rolf Quast-Janßen joined Ctulu on a very successful concert in Copenhagen (DK) and pushed the band with his outstanding vocals. From late summer on, Ctulu were rehearsing with Martin Herfurth since Jan Westermann was about to emigrate to Greece.


2010


Ctulu were abroad for the second time and hit Rotterdam (NL) with the Colombian beasts of Inquisition and headliner Melechesh (NL/IL). The Recording sessions for “Sarkomand” started in a deep-frozen Bremen in early March. Jan Westermann nailed down his drum tracks in 10 hours without any longer pauses but instead with a serious lumbago. These recordings meant a huge improvement for Ctulu as Hoschi’s studio offered what was needed to let the music sound the way the band hoped for. Jan Westermann left the band after an outstanding live performance at Ragnarök Festival in Bavaria. During the bass recordings, it became obvious that Mario Dahl could no longer fulfill the band’s expectations and he had to leave Ctulu after his last live show in Kiel with Mistur (NO). This way, Arne Uekert had to lay down the bass tracks anew and Ctulu lacked of a bass player with several shows booked. Producer Hoschi helped out until Ctulu found its new bassist in Paulo Gomes.


2011


“Sarkomand” (Godeater Records) was released at Ragnarök Festival and a new live show was introduced to the audience. The pre-release took place in France, Ctulu’s third time abroad with Alcest (FR) and Dornenreich (A). After the festival season, Rolf Quast-Janßen and Paulo Gomes left Ctulu to focus on their families. Once again, Ctulu had a serious line-up issue which seemed to be solved after just some weeks. Lasse Bodenstein joined on bass guitar and Lars Michalsky took over the vocals. Soon after, Lars had to leave again because he plainly couldn’t afford enough time to decently work with the band.

"Sarkomand" went back to the band's roots both regarding a more melodic sound, as well as a strong fixation on Lovecraft's tales as basis of the lyrics. To be more precise, "Sarkomand" is a kind of an hommage to the Dreamland-cycle covered in texts such as "The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath". Furthermore, Ctulu started to put a heavy focus on the ocean as a consistently recurring topic of the lyrics.

From September on, Ctulu were already working on a new album again and drum sessions started in December.


2012


As recording proceeded, Ctulu decided not to search for a new vocalist again but to stay a band of four with Mathias Junge and Arne Uekert doing the vocals. This was followed up by live shows in the Netherlands, Cyprus, Athens (GR) and London (GB). In mid of October, Ctulu parted ways with drummer Martin Herfurth.Quelle: http://www.ctulu.de/ www