Grabak

Two bands become Grabak, 1995-1999

Leipzig, Germany; formed in 1995 after personnel changes around FFF, with vocalist Jan Klepel present from the beginning.

Grabak formed in Leipzig in 1995 from the remaining members of two earlier groups. The name refers to Grabakr, a serpent associated in Old Norse tradition with the roots of the world tree. A first demo followed in 1997. This origin places the band within the post-reunification East German underground while avoiding the tempting but unsupported claim that a single predecessor simply changed its name.

Jan’s retrospective account dates the foundation to 1995, when the members who still wanted to continue from two dissolving predecessor bands joined forces. The surviving interviews do not name both groups, so that detail remains an artist question. Grabak released its only demo in 1997 and later judged its promotion a mistake: it was sent only to Ablaze. Two years later CCP Records signed the band. The name derives from Grabakr, a serpent associated with the roots of Yggdrasil in the Eddic tradition.

The prophet and the infernal encyclopaedia

A self-titled 1997 demo preceded Der Prophet des Chaos (1999), Encyclopaedia Infernalis (2001), The Serpent Within Paradise (2003), Agash Daeva (2007), Sin (2011) and Bloodline Divine (2016).

Der Prophet des Chaos appeared in 1999 as an experimental concept album whose radio-play-like interludes follow a prophet surviving an apocalypse and writing a third book. Encyclopaedia Infernalis continued the conceptual world in 2001; The Serpent Within Paradise followed in 2003. A 2002 interview shows the band already preparing a rawer and more brutal next phase without keyboards or samples, while choosing German or English lyrics according to subject rather than one fixed language policy.

Lineup change, two basses and Agash Daeva

Across changing line-ups, the band maintained Saxon black metal while moving between aggressive, melodic, atmospheric and doom-coloured passages. Its unusual historical use of two bass guitars lasted until 2013.

In 2005 Grabak replaced its long-serving drummer with Basti. Jan credited the change with more variable drumming and a stronger death-metal influence that the band previously could not execute. The group’s unusual two-bass approach also became a defining production element: one bass was distorted and functioned almost like a rhythm guitar, while the other retained a more conventional foundation. By the 2006 sessions the band rehearsed three times a week for four hours and developed material collectively in the room. Black Blood Records signed Grabak late in 2006 and released Agash Daeva in 2007.

Sin, collapse and return

Scion, the seventh album, was produced at Echolux Tonstudios and released on 31 March 2021. Its nine tracks include Furia II – Weltenbrand and Heirs of the Serpent; Chris Cold created the cover.

The documented sequence runs through Der Prophet des Chaos after a 1999 CCP agreement, Encyclopaedia Infernalis in 2001, The Serpent Within Paradise in 2003 and Agash Daeva after the move to Black Blood Records. Scion belongs to a much later phase and was announced for 2021 through Talheim Records. The CMS still lacks a release document with the complete catalogue metadata required for a safe relation, so the chronicle names the record but does not fabricate that link.

Sin appeared through Twilight in 2011, but the distributor became insolvent only months later. Jan later described the release as disappearing into a void; the disruption contributed to a period in which many listeners missed both Sin and the later Bloodline Divine. A 2016 reissue gave Sin new artwork and restored availability. Bloodline Divine followed in 2017 through Massacre Records after further lineup instability and the arrival of new musicians on drums and guitar. Reviews heard a clearer production and a more stable balance of speed, melody and slower weight.

Scion and Talheim Records

Talheim Records released Scion.

Scion, the seventh album, was released by Talheim Records on 31 March 2021. Its nine tracks include a second Furia chapter, Blutkelch, Heirs of the Serpent and the closing Echoing the Sound of Hell. Two substantial reviews disagree sharply about the production: metal.de heard a muddy sound obscuring layered writing, while Voices From The Darkside described a more clinical and suitable presentation. Both agree that the album continues the fast, melodic black-metal identity rather than announcing a stylistic reset.

Thirty years and another record in progress

Grabak remains documented as active and marked three decades of band history.

On 22 November 2025 Grabak celebrated thirty years with an independently organised, sold-out concert for roughly 300 people at Leipzig’s Moritzbastei, joined by Eminenz and Nemesis Sopor. Former members attended but did not perform; the current lineup played songs across the catalogue. Jan described the band as sustained by enthusiasm rather than commercial breakthrough and confirmed almost eight new songs, with the rehearsal room due to become a studio after the anniversary. He considered late 2026 a realistic target, not a guaranteed release date.

Collective writing, rehearsals and live identity

The 2006 interview presents Grabak as a rehearsal-room band rather than a project assembled from exchanged files. Three four-hour rehearsals each week created a setting in which songs were developed collectively. Jan’s theatre background also belongs to the prehistory of the live identity: he left youth theatre after months of work led to only a few small performances and concluded that music could reach a larger room more directly. By 2002 the band described its concerts through aggression, blood and fire; by 2025 the imagery remained, but the anniversary account placed equal weight on craft, continuity and a catalogue shared with several generations of members.

What changed and what Grabak chose to preserve

Across the interviews, development does not mean permanent reinvention. The debut’s narrated concept gave way to a more direct attack; Basti’s arrival expanded rhythmic options; later records used clearer production, different labels and renewed lineups. Yet Jan rejected revisiting Der Prophet des Chaos for a modern remake because it belonged to another musical time. The 2016 Sin reissue served a different purpose: recovering an album buried by a distributor’s collapse. That distinction reveals a practical archival principle inside the band’s history, separating preservation of an old work from rewriting it.