In 1992, Mario Klausner (bass, vocals) and Werner Freinbichler (guitar) decided to make their preference for extreme music a personal reality by forming Scent Of Paradise. Manfred Schneider supported them on the drums. In the beginning, the doom/death metal influences were quite pronounced, and in 1993 they recorded their first demo, named 'Solitude'. It soon became obvious that the bands direction was turning more and more toward the death Metal genre. No longer able to identify themselves with the band name, they changed it to Pathethic. In 1995,they released a demo entitled 'As We Fade'. In order to reproduce the fierce twin-guitar sound in a live environment, Gerald Huber joined the line-up in the fall of 1996. Manfred Schneider was forced to leave the band in 1998 due to personal reasons and a replacement was quickly found. Unfortunately, the new arrangement did not work out and Pathetic survived for a long time sans drummer. Werner, Mario, and Gerry, however, continued to compose new material. In 1996, Mario took over the bass responsibilities for Belphegor and joined Pungent Stench in 2001. Likewise in 2001, Werner and Mario joined Hollenthon’s live line-up, thus meeting their future drummer, Mike Gröger. He joined them in 2003 to record 'In Deep Silence', now as Collapse 7. The new band, and new sound are described as Apocalyptic Death Metal, creating a brutal and impressive sound doused with a good dose of aggression, complimented with melodic arrangements, and sealed with precise rhythmic support.

IN DEEP SILENCE (2004) NAPALM

Have you ever owned an album that you rarely put on, but when you do, it blows your mind why you do not listen to it more often? 'In Deep Silence' will become such an album for me. I've owned it for quite some time, but always seem to forget how much I enjoyed it the last time. These Austrian death metalers have delivered a debut album to be proud of. The production is good, yet aggressive. The musicianship is good, and it is obvious that these guys mean business. But first and foremost Collapse 7 have a theft for writing killer songs! They incorporate enough melody in their otherwise brutal death metal to prevent getting stale. But this is not to say that they belong to the Gothenburg sound of the genre. Because they are still well inside the boundaries that is death. I've read reviews stating that they are a death/black/thrash metal band, but to me that is utter nonsense. Why complicate it? Yes, the band have harmonic guitar-parts, even some twin guitars going on. But the foundation of their music is still on the extreme side of the scale. Mario's voice is just one of the elements that puts them in that category. That said, the music is still varied enough to please crowds far out of the usual death metal area. If you are into Sepultura, Morbid Angel, Soilwork and even Slipknot, you may and should find something to like on this CD. As for me personally, I really enjoy the first half of the album. If the CD had stopped after the 6 or 7 first tracks, 'In Deep Silence' would have been a near perfect death metal album. Unfortunately they do not keep up my interest towards the end. That is not to say that the songs presented there are bad in any way. They are just not up to par with the killer ones at the start. I'm looking forward to hear more Austrian death metal in the future!

Killer tracks: Infernal Apocalypse, In Deep Silence, Empty As We Are, A Prophet's Speech, Blessed With Pain