Nosferatu

Named after the vampire from the early expressionist film, Nosferatu were one of the earliest groups from Germany to explore beyond the conventional beat music and blues into the far more progressive realms of Krautrock in the late 1960s. The group is also one of the most obscure Krautrock bands, with only one record to their name. The 1968 students riots in Paris were the spark for several groups of musicians, in both France and Germany, and that event marks the starting point of the earliest Krautrock bands, among them Can, Xhol Caravan, and others, including Nosferatu. One early member was guitarist Michael Winzkowski, who later went on to the better-known prog-rock band Epsilon in 1970. The group's music still owed some debt to more conventional British rock and earlier beat bands, but also saw the group adventuring out on longer compositions and some fusion elements, and their music was imbued with that dark Teutonic angst that often distinguishes Krautrock from other rock music of that era. In 1970 Nosferatu recorded their one and only self-titled album, which was released by the French label Vogue in both France and Germany. At this time the band consisted of vocalist Michael Thierfelder, sax and flute player Christian Felke, bassist Michael Kessler, organist Reinhard Grohe, guitarist Michael Meixner, and drummer Byally Braumann. Since Vogue wasn't a label normally associated with Krautrock, record sales languished and the group disbanded the next year when Felke joined Winzkowski in Epsilon. The rare LP has since become one of the more pricey items on the collector's circuit, with mint copies fetching the equivalent of $500 or more. In 1993 the album was released on CD by Ohrwaschl. ~ Rolf Semprebon, All Music Guide