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Dies Irae, the Latin translation of „Day of Wrath“, were a band from Saarland, consisting of Rainer Wahlmann (voc/harp), Harald H.G. Thoma (g/voc), Robert J. Schiff (b) and Andreas F. Cornelius (dr). Founded in 1968, they gave numerous concerts in clubs in Germany, France and Switzerland right from the start. With their exclusively self-written songs in a bluesy, hard rock and psychedelic Krautrock style, they soon became darlings of the live scene. At the beginning of 1970, they signed a record contract with the progressive Pilz label, a subsidiary of the BASF Group. At the beginning of June 1971, they recorded their debut album First within two days at Star Studios in Hamburg. The sound engineer was none other than Conny Plank, the production was handled by Jürgen Schmeisser, who had already produced Ardo Dombec, Blackwater Park, McChurch Soundroom and Virus for the Pilz label.
The release caused quite a furore, as most German radio stations refused to play the record because it contained drug-heavy lyrics with religious undertones. Due to this ban and the lack of advertising and promotion by BASF, the album was a flop. They continued to play it until 1973, when they finally gave up in frustration. Like several other albums released by the BASF record company, this rare first and only LP by Dies Irae is now a sought-after collector's item.
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