eisbrecher / bio

History

In January of 2000, Noel Pix would leave Megaherz due to creative frustration, falling out with Alexander Wesselsky along the way.

2002 (Es wird kalt)

In the Spring of 2002, Alex attended an Orchester Bürger Kreitmeier concert in Munich. At this concert, Alex would bump into former bandmate Noel Pix and, after some discussion between both men, their issues were set aside and they moved on in life as friends. In June of 2002, Noel approached Alex with a demo for the song Schwarze Witwe. Alex enjoyed the demo and wanted to add vocals to it. Leading into the creation of a band that would soon become Eisbrecher.

The rest of 2002 would quietly dedicated to working on the new album

Name creation

The next songs to be worked on for the album would be Polarstern and Eisbrecher. 

In November 2002, the band would find thematical elements of society and people and the world linking to "ice" and decide to name the band Eisbrecher, a few months after the album had been fully recorded.

2003 (Zeichen der Venus)

The first sign of life from the band would come on 2 January 2003 when 2 demo's from the debut album were played on the radio live. Schwarze Witwe and Zeichen der Venus. It was also mentioned that the album would release at the end of May.

On 18 March 2003, an announcement from mediamarkt.info announced that Eisbrecher had signed to ZYX Music and that an album would come in the middle of the year. 

Due to problems with the album's production problems and health reasons, the promotional cycle went from 1 single, to 2, with the first single and album receiving delays, pushing the album to 2004. The singles released were Mein Blut and Fanatica. The original plans for the second single for the upcoming album was Schwarze Witwe, but this was delayed for unknown reasons.

In October 2003, Alex would perform in his second live theatre production, Heiko Dietz's "wehr.krieg.macht".

On 28 December 2003, Alex and Noel would attend a 20 year anniversary for the Rockfabrik venue in Ludwigsburg and were asked to perform the song Miststuck by Megaherz. They were joined by 2 cover artists who are not, as of yet, known. This would be the first live performance featuring the pair since the creation of the band.

2004 (Eisbrecher)

On 26 January, the band's first album Eisbrecher would be released to the public. The album would contain 2 blank discs, which was a promotional tactic to show the band's stance against copyright protection.

The album would be supported with the band's first live tour, featuring 6 live musicians:

The bands first music video for the song Schwarze Witwe was recorded on April 6 and would release in November, filmed on the set of pornographic film Six Days to Hell and initially only available on the DVD. The video would later be posted to the official Eisbrecher website. A second video for Schwarze Witwe was also recorded.

The band would embark on a 9 date tour spanning clubs in Germany and Austria. The remainder of the live dates would be a handful of festivals (Rock am Tunnel, Wave Gotik Treffen etc.), an opening show for In Extremo, and a headline show for Halloween.

Before the In Extremo concert, bass player Anton would no-show the event after double booking himself in the same city with the band Used Underwear (Former band of Alexander Wesselsky), leaving former Megaherz guitarist and future full time Eisbrecher bass player Oliver Pohl (Merch seller at the time) to jump in on short notice and perform. Oliver would perform for a few dates before being replaced by a man only known as "Tom" for the 26 June and 3 July concerts. Not much is known of Tom or if he was even an intended full time live member of the band. But he was replaced by Michael "Miguel" Behnke at the Halloween show.

The rest of the year would be quiet for Eisbrecher as Alex performs in his third live theatre production, Heiko Dietz's "Trumpets of Jesolo".

2005 (Frigus crescit)

The Eisbrecher would lay low for the year. With only a select few festivals and headline shows to power through, the boys were released from their contract with ZYX and were on the hunt, sending out demo tapes and searching high and low for a new label to release their next album, which was already in the works.

The second music video for Schwarze Witwe, recorded back in 2004, would release in February 2005. After the 19.08.2005 Theatron show, the band declared that it was the "end of Eisbrecher Phase 1" and that full focus would be on the upcoming album.

2006 (Antikörper)

The year would begin quiet, with the band working on the new album, label searching, and Alex hosting a few DJ sets here and there. But things would soon pick up as on 18 May, it was announced that Eisbrecher had signed with AFM Records, becoming the first German language band to do so. The press release would also make mention of 2 singles, Leider and Vergissmeinnicht, and an upcoming album, Antikörper. Americans could expect a unique double single of the 2 releases, which would also release in Russia.

On 2 October, the band would release their third music video for Vergissmeinnicht, with the album officially releasing in Germany on 20 October. The album would reach number 85 in the charts.

On 26 November, it would be announced that bass player Michael Behnke and guitar player Felix Homeier would be leaving the band, with their announced replacements being Martin Motinik and Jürgen Plangger.

The band would have their first and only live shows of the year supporting J.B.O in 5 cities to end a succesful year.

2007 (Disco in Moskau)

The majority of the year would be devoted to live shows. After a couple of warm-up concerts opening for Tanzwut and a visit to Essen's Fetish Evolution convention, the official Antikörper tour would start in May and the band would be invited to Russia for the first time for some landmark concerts. This would all then lead into the festival season where Eisbrecher would have their first big festival performances at places such as Wave Gotik Treffen, Summer Breeze, and Amphi Festival.

After a performance in Munich's Theatron, the band would return to the studio to work on the upcoming third album, but would have some brief stops for concerts around the holidays, mainly Halloween and Christmas/New Year's. The year would close as another great adventure for the band, and things are only just getting colder.

2008 (Sünde)

2008 unthaws slowly as the first news and updates from the band begin to roll around in May. A new 12 date tour (with a first time performance in Switzerland) is announced and a new album with a release month of August is teased with an accompanying single. A 5-part podcast would be launched, doing behind the scenes of recording, photoshoots, and live shows.

Before the new album would release. The band would return to the Amphi festival while also making their debut at some more high profile festivals such as Rockharz and M'era Luna.

On 8 July, bass player Martin Motinik would announce that he is leaving the band for personal reasons. Former Megaherz guitarist Oliver Pohl would be named his replacement going forward.

The single Kann denn Liebe Sünde sein? was released on 18 July and shortly after, Sünde was released to the public on 22 August, scoring number 18 in the charts.

After the Sünde tour, the band would return to Russia for 2 dates and have a final headline show in Munich. The year would close with the band performing at the December festival Unheilig and Friends and announcing the 2009 leg of the Sünde tour, keeping the Eisbrecher rolling forward into 2009.

2009 (Breaking the Ice with Metropolis)

The year would have a fast start as the band runs a show almost immediately, kicking off a live focused year, sailing through festivals such as Deichbrand; Wacken's little brother festivals, Wacken Rocks South and Wacken Rocks Seaside; 2 of Unheilig's "Unheilig and Friends shows"; a first visit to the Netherlands for Summer Darkness; and a first time performance at December's Dark Storm Festival.

In March, the band would announce that they would be moving away from Dancing Ferret Discs, as it announced it would be moving away from new releases. U.S. distribution would move to Metropolis Records, who the band still operate with today.

In July, the band would make their first public mention that the next album was set for Spring 2010. With all efforts being focused on production when the band was not live. With tour dates announced for April 2010. A new ice age would be approaching.

2010 (Eiszeit)

With a new ice age approaching, the band would quickly start promoting in February, giving a release date of April and an announcement of a single for the song Segne deinen Schmerz in March. Less than a week later, the single would change to Eiszeit. It would release on 19 March and be the first Eisbrecher single to place on the charts, reaching number 84.

The album Eiszeit would be released on 16 April and would reach number 5 in the charts, the first single digit placement for the band. The release would immediately be followed by 5 dates on the Eiszeit tour. With a second leg of 11 dates happening in September. The 25 April date in Nuremburg would be recorded to be used in the music video for Eiszeit.

Due to the success of Eiszeit, the band was approached by multiple labels wanting to sign them. But on 9 August, it was announced that Eisbrecher would officially be signed to Sony Music going forward, under the branch Columbia Records, with a new album to come in Autumn 2011.

With Eisbrecher growing in popularity and becoming more busy, bass player Oliver Pohl would announce on 3 September that he would need to leave the band for personal and family reasons. His announced replacement going forward would be Dominik Palmer.

In November, Eisbrecher would be selected to perform 8 dates opening for Alice Cooper's Theatre of Death Tour, performing in their largest venues to date. Drummer  René Greil would not perform with the band during the tour, with a post to the Eisbrecher forums stating that a back injury would be keeping him out of action temporarily. The position of drummer would temporarily be filled by French drummer Sébastien Angrand for the remainder of the year.

The year would end with 4 year ending concerts to celebrate the most important year in Eisbrecher history so far. With things only going upwards from here.

2011 (Eiskalt)

The year would start with some sombre news. With album work rolling in the background, it was announced on 27 February that drummer René Greil would be departing from the band due to personal and family reasons. His replacement drummer was announced to be Achim Färber.

On 30 March, a press release  was made stating that the upcoming compilation from AFM Records was not worked on/approved by the band in any way. Though if people wished to buy it, they could. But there was no connection with the band. The compilation released on 29 April and reached number 69 in the charts. A shorter version of the same compilation would release in 2012.

On 11 April, a 10 date tour would be announced through official Eisbrecher social media pages for November 2011. However, on 18 August, it would be announced that the Fall album and November tour would both be delayed to February, with the band's first tour delay. The delay announcement came with an additional 4 dates for the 2012 version of the tour.

On 23 September, the band Subway to Sally released their new album "Schwarz in Schwarz", the iTunes version of the album would include an Eisbrecher remix of the song Kämpfen Wir!

The band would only perform 10 shows throughout the year after the tour cancellation, with the most important show being on 5 November. Atop Germany's highest mountain, the Zugspitze, the band would perform a small set filled with usual hits and classics, as well as a live debut of the upcoming single Verrückt. Before the show, journalists would be shown 13 songs from the upcoming album and reports of the concert would reveal a release date and name, Die Hölle muss warten.

On 16 December, the band would release the music video for the song Verrückt. Getting the promotion for the 2012 Eisbrecher to a roaring start. With multiple singles, an album, and a tour to start off the next year, the Eisbrecher would plow forward into their biggest year on record.

2012 (Die Hölle muss warten)

Following the video release in December, the Verrückt single would release on 20 January. It would be the last Eisbrecher single to chart, reaching number 43.

The Eisbrecher would keep rolling with the album Die Hölle muss warten releasing on 3 February and it would go on to achieve a miraculous 3rd place in the German charts. The highest chart position for the band so far.

Eisbrecher's live voyages for 2012 would be their most action packed year yet. Shortly following the album release was a 14 date tour in February/March through 3 countries. One tour date in Vienna, Austria was postponed due to an Ammonia leak in the venue. In September/October, the band would go on to do 8 dates of a second leg of the tour. On 12 March, the band would perform  the song Die Hölle muss warten and give an interview on the TV show TV Total.

On 23 February, a music video for the title track Die Hölle muss warten would be released, marking the first time that the band would release more than 1 music video for an album release. The Die Hölle muss warten single would release on 23 March.

On 2 September, the band would announce the Miststück edition of the latest album along with the release of the music video for Miststück 2012, a remake of the Megaherz original Miststück, on 3 September. This bonus edition would include 5 extra songs, some live recordings and a tour documentary. This special edition would release on 28 September.

Among a wide range of festivals like Amphi and M'era Luna, the band would have 4 supporting concerts for the band Scorpions in May and December and 1 support concert for Motörhead, which would go on to be cancelled due to lead singer Lemmy catching the flu. The ending 5 December concerts for the band would have some cancellations due to illness with drummer Achim, leading to some dates being filled in by Manuel Di Camillo.

On 14 December, guitarist Jürgen Plangger's band A Life Divided would release the first single, The Last Dance, for the band's, then upcoming, 4th album The Great Escape. Included on the tracklist was an Eisbrecher remix of the title track of the single. 

With the year coming to a close, the band was preparing to enter their 10th year of public existence. Celebrating huge growth and success that would only keep getting stronger.

2013 (10 Jahre Eisbrecher)

The decade celebration would start with a second remix release for A Life Divided, this time for the band's second single for The Great Escape, Feel. The single would release on 8 February.

On 21 March, it was publicly announced that Dominik Palmer would be leaving the band's bassist position, and his replacement would be announced as Rupert Keplinger, who had written some songs for last year's Die Hölle muss warten.

On April 25, it would be announced that Wesselsky would be the final announced act for Amphi 2013. The live debut of Alex's side project where old Megaherz tracks would be performed live once more. 

With the Jubiläumstournee announced in 2012, the middle of the year would be primarily be focused on festivals, namely Alpen Flair (The first performance in Italy), Wacken, and Summer Breeze. 2 festivals in particular stick out. One being the concert at Veldensteiner Open Air, which had to be delayed a year to 2014 due to a rockslide disrupting all events at Veldenstein castle. And the second date being the Dark Ice Night festival. The event originally planned for 8 June would be delayed due to severe flooding in the Crimmitschau area. It would be delayed to 19 July and all proceeds from the festival would go to flooding relief in the area. Eisbrecher would also auction off some items to help support the charity effort.

On 6 September, The band Dark Age would release their album A Matter of Trust, which would include the second Eisbrecher remix of the year for the track Afterlife. The lead singer of Dark Age, Eike Freese, would go on to write 3 songs for Eisbrecher in the future.

On 6 November, Rupert Keplinger's band Darkhaus would release a YouTube video which would contain an Eisbrecher remix of the track Breaking the Silence. The remix would go on to be included on the Darkhaus album My Only Shelter.

On 29 November, the band would digitally release the single 10 Jahre Eisbrecher; containing 2 instrumental remakes of 2 classic Eisbrecher songs, Eisbrecher and Adrenalin.

On 6 December, the band would release a vinyl of the album Eiszeit for the first time, the remaining albums would be released for the first time on vinyl in early 2014.

Late November/December would be dedicated to the Jubiläumstournee. A 10 date tour in 3 countries with A Life Divided as support. The band would host a vote every month to allow fans to choose between 3 songs from 4 albums to see which tracks would be added to the setlist of the tour. More information can be found on the tour page.

The end of the year would be rounded off with a performance at RockXmas and a headline show in Oberhausen. Putting a close on a very successful anniversary year, with the next year already promising to be just as incredible for the band.

2014: Zehn Jahre Kalt

The year 2014 would be a small year for live dates. The year would start strong with 2 dates in Russia and would lead to 7 dates sprinkled throughout the year as the band would power down and focus their efforts on writing for the upcoming album. In February, a website post  would push a September release date into early 2015.

On 31 January and 4 April, the band's former label AFM Records would continue re-releasing the previous albums, Antikörper and Sünde, on a variety of coloured vinyl.

On 28 February, Gabi Delgado would release his album "1", the album would include an Eisbrecher remix of the track Lippenstift.

On 11 March 2014, the band would release the compilation album Zehn Jahre Kalt, a 10 year anniversary release exclusive to American audiences, including exclusive remixes, the 10 Jahre Eisbrecher remake tracks, and the Die Hölle muss warten (Miststück edition) 5 bonus tracks.

There would be a small festival run for the band, doing 5 shows during the season, with a headline show in Aschaffenburg and a cancelled festival debut in the U.K., the small live season would already come to a close by the end of August. A planned 5 date November tour for the Wesselsky side project would be cancelled for production reasons/festival cancellations in September, leaving 2 remaining live dates in December for Eisbrecher for the rest of the year.

On 10 August, the band ASP would release a 2 minute snippet of a cover by Eisbrecher of the song Schwarzes Blut. The track would be made as a surprise gift to ASP on the occasion of their 15 year anniversary. The track would be included on ASP's 15 year best-of album Per aspera ad aspera.

Starting on 10 November, the band started releasing parts of a story to their website. The story would contain 2 titles from the album and the game was for fans to guess the tracks names. Fans who guessed the 2 names correctly were placed into a raffle for 2 free tickets to the Schock Tour. The stories ended on 18 November 2014 with the entire tracklist revealed. The entire story can be found, alongside translations, here.

On 20 November, Alex would broadcast the song 1000 Narben live on Rock Antenne for the first time. Giving the world the first sneak peek of the upcoming album Schock.

The project Neuroticfisch, featuring long-time co-producer for Eisbrecher Henning Verlage, would release their ep "Silence" on 12 December, featuring an Eisbrecher remix of the title track Silence.

Only a week later, on 19 December, Eisbrecher would release their music video for the song Zwischen uns, with a promo single sent to radio stations to promote the track. The video premiere on sonic-seducer.de crashed the websites servers. 

To finish off the year, the band would host 2 concerts aboard the MS Rheinenergie on 20 and 21 December. 2 nights to celebrate the end of the year, and the end of the last album cycle as the band moves ahead to 2015. The concerts aboard the boat would include the live debut of 2 tracks from the upcoming album, 1000 Narben and Himmel, Arsch und Zwirn.

With an end of year party waving goodbye to the past. Eisbrecher set their sights on bringing a shock to 2015, with the biggest year in Eisbrecher history just beyond the horizon.

2015 (Schock)

The year would start with immediate promotion of the upcoming album Schock. With the single 1000 Narben releasing on 9 January, swiftly followed by a 23 January release of the album itself. The album would continue Eisbrecher's rise in the charts and would reach position 2, a new record for the band.

With the release of Schock; an 18 date Schock Tour spanning Germany, Russia, Austria, and Finland (For the first time) ran from the end of February to the beginning of April.

The year would also be heavy with festival visits. Starting with an unfortunate Finnish festival cancellation, the band would attend 13 festivals, though not presented with the full line up. Due to Jürgen Plangger  providing tour support for Unheilig's Gipfelstürmer Tour with his band A Life Divided, he would be unable to attend the first 5 festivals of the season, leading to guitars being fulfilled by bassist Rupert Keplinger and former bassist for Eisbrecher Olli Pohl returning for a small time to assist. Jürgen would return after Rock im Revier.

With a brief pause in the festival season, the band would head to the Circus Krone in Munich on 3 June to film their first, and so far only, live DVD. The DVD would be titled Schock Live and would include 23 recorded tracks (Including a live debut of the Schock track Fehler machen Leute) and some bonus footage documenting the entirety of the Schock Tour.

On 12 June, the band would release the single Rot wie die Liebe. Releasing with an accompanying music video, the single would also include the bonus track Ozean.

An incredibly busy year would conclude on the 25th and 26th of December, with a visit to Chemnitz's Dark Storm Festival and a special Eisbrecher headlined showcase in Stuttgart, leading the band to sail into 2016 on an incredible high, with the waves of their success taking them even higher than the band could have ever hoped.

2016 (Wir sind Gold)

The year would start with the groundbreaking accomplishment of the band's first "Goldene Schalplatte" for the album Die Hölle muss warten, an award that is given upon an album selling 100,000 copies in Germany. The band would release an exclusive single to celebrate the milestone, and it would be given away for free on the first date of the upcoming Volle Kraft Voraus Tour. The tour would span 6 dates around Germany.

Multiple releases would be set for the first date of the tour, these releases would be:

  • Wir sind Gold, the "Goldene Schalplatte" celebration single.
  • Volle Kraft voraus; a new single containing 4 tracks, including the first CD release of susswasserfisch. The single would be sold exclusively at merch stands, with remaining stock being sold on the Eisbrecher shop website.
  • A 4 disc "Tour edition" of the album Schock. It would contain the album, 2 discs for the Schock Live DVD, and the Volle Kraft voraus single.

With the band's influence only growing stronger, the album Schock would also receive its own "Goldene Schalplatte" on 11 April.

2 remixes would be crafted through the year with the Eisbrecher label. On 12 August. the band Lacrimas Profundere would release the album "Hope is Here". The track Aramis would receive a remix. And on 12 December, the project Neuroticfish would release their EP Agony. With Eisbrecher providing a remix of the title track Agony among other artists.

On 30 September until 4 October, the band would tease a blurred image with an impending announcement to follow. Once revealed, the image would tease a tour for 2017 titled the Sturmfahrt Tour, also revealing that a new album would be releasing in 2017

On 7 October, Alex Wesselsky would be invited to participate in a 29 Date, 38 performance live stage show tour of Tabaluga: Es lebe die Freundschaft!, an album project he would provide singing work for in the same year. This absence would leave the band with a semi-limited live run for the end of 2016 and a slight delay to album production.

With the limited live run, the band would still enjoy a select few dates. Debuting at Bospop, appearances at M'era Luna and Summer Breeze, and a few negative experiences (A headline show production-related cancellation, an unknown cancelled appearance at Graspop, and an underperforming ticket related festival cancellation in Austria). But the year would end on a high with the first ever Adventssingen. An official end of year celebration in a small club in Alex Wesselsky's birth city of Augsburg. The event would occur on 16 December.

With 2016 drawing to a close, the Eisbrecher is preparing itself to traverse a stormy voyage into 2017.

2017 (Sturmfahrt)

With the beginning of the year dedicated to album production, the year would begin quiet except for frequent Facebook posts for fans. It wouldn't be until June where things would begin to go full speed ahead.

On 23 June, the first single for the upcoming album, Was ist hier los?, would release. An accompanying music video would release on 10 August, featuring very graphic imagery and requiring a warning before watching on YouTube. The footage was found by Alex himself.

The band would debut their very own festival for the first time, Volle Kraft voraus. 6 bands taking over the Ratiopharm arena in Neu-Ulm. The band would plan on running the event every year going forward. The band would play the latest single Was ist hier los? live here for the very first time.

On 11 August, the track In einem Boot would be released on select streaming services as a single. The single had no promotion or mention on any social media and the reason for its creation is not known.

Shortly following the single, the band's seventh album Sturmfahrt would release on 18 August. The 14-track album would be the band's first ever number 1 position in the charts. To celebrate the release, on 29 September, the band would embark on a 13 date Sturmfahrt Tour throughout Germany, Austria, Switzerland, The Netherlands, and a live debut in France. And would finally top off the year with another round of Adventssingen and a final date in Oberhausen on 16 December.

With the storm voyage passed and an amazing year coming to an end, all ships set sail for 2018, where an anniversary celebration is waiting just around the corner.

2018 (Ewiges Eis)

Echoes of 2017 would ring into 2018 with a visit to the Echo awards. On 12 April, the album Sturmfahrt would be nominated for an Echo award for "Rock - national". They would lose the award to the band Die Toten Hosen.

On 8 June 2018, the band would release the single and music video for the song Das Gesetz.

To properly celebrate the 15 year anniversary of the band, the compilation album Ewiges Eis would be released on 5 October. It would feature all non-base album tracks (Except Blut und Tränen and Wir sind Gold) and new remixes. A special edition would also include a DVD featuring all music videos released up until the albums release (Except the first music video for Schwarze Witwe). The compilation would feature a cover of the Rio Reiser original Menschenfresse, which would also be released as a promotional single.

To further celebrate the band's longevity, a collection of vinyl's of all of the band's first 4 albums re-issued under the Sony label + one bonus rarity vinyl On The Rocks One, would be released on 16 November. The collection would be called Black Box One.

On the same day as the compilation release, Eisbrecher would head to Russia for 2 special shows in Moscow and St. Petersburg. The shows would be the only headline shows for the band excluding the annual 2 day Adventssingen showcase. The rest of the band's live presence for the year would be 14 festival dates. The band would visit high level festivals such as Graspop, Summer Breeze, Deichbrand, Unter Schwarzer Flagge, M'era Luna, and the band's very own festival, Volle Kraft Voraus. Following the 2 Adventssingen dates and a visit to Chemnitz's Dark Storm Festival, the year would end on a high. With 15 years secured behind them and an eye towards the future, the band would enter the new year with plans to write an 8th album, and continue blazing a trail of eternal ice.

2019 (The Ice Shifts)

With 2019 primarily focused on album writing, the year would not be burdened by releases and purposefully focused on live events. With the year starting in May with the Ewiges Eis Tour. 4 dates in Germany to celebrate 15 years of Eisbrecher which would re-introduce a few Eisbrecher hits from the past back into the setlist.

What remained of the year would be 13 dates, featuring a mix of headliner shows, festivals and the famed third edition of Volle Kraft Voraus. The only real events of note would be the 30 August headline show in Chemnitz, where Noel Pix, during the end solo of Miststück, fell off of the stage. He would continue to play and finish the show, however, he would be unable to perform the following day at Hämatom's festival Maskenball. He would be replaced by stage hand Dodo.

The band would run a fan competition from 24 July to 24 October, encouraging them to film their own music videos to Eisbrecher songs for a prize. The winning entry would be for the song Ohne dich (Fan video linked here ).

The band would post on social media that they were working in studio specifically on a cover of Powerwolf's Stoßgebet. During this production time, the band decided that they wanted to make a cover album after the next album release.

The year would close with 2 dates at the annual Adventssingen celebration. With album writing coming to an end and the year finished, the lighter schedule of the year would aim to re-ignite in the next year with a planned new album and 2 tours over Europe and Germany. Whispers of a virus approaching would make the world prepare for more than just a sailing Eisbrecher going into 2020.

2020 (Schicksalsmelodien)

In March, the world would come to a stand still due to the Coronavirus pandemic . The planned tours for Eis over Europe and the Liebe Macht Monstour would be delayed in April and June and the Volle Kraft Voraus festival would also be postponed. Other festivals would be postponed over the course of the year. The only live date that would happen during the year would be on 26 September in Dresden. With a show that would have Covid safety precautions set in place for people to remain clear of infection.

Album production would be finished in March, but with the virus taking over Germany, the band knew that they would not be able to perform the new songs from their upcoming album live. So the band decided that Noel Pix would have a 2 week break and immediately return to the studio and flip the planned release schedule so that the cover album would be released during the pandemic. The new album would then have a planed release of 2021, hoping that the world would heal and the new songs could be performed live.

To give the fans an immediate release to get through the pandemic easier, the band chose to release a small live album simply titled "M'era Luna Festival 2018". A collection of 10 songs recorded live from the 2018 M'era Luna festival. The 11-2020 issue of Sonic Seducer would include a shortened version of the album as a single version.

The single for the cover of Powerwolf's Stoßgebet would release on 21 May, with the music video releasing 9 days later. In the 08/2020 edition of Orkus magazine, Alex would joke that Eisbrecher should make an album of covers. The interview was conducted shortly before 3 July where Alex and Noel would publicly announce that a cover album would be releasing before the end of the year, and the new album would be delayed to early 2021.

The album would be a combination of previously released covers and re-interpretations of songs that formed Eisbrecher in their youth, even going as far as to include a cover of the Megaherz track Freiflug. The album would be titled Schicksalsmelodien and would release on 23 October. The album would receive 2 singles (Skandal im Sperrbezirk, Anna lassmichrein lassmichraus) and 2 music videos (Skandal im Sperrbezirk, Out of the Dark), as well as very positive reactions from 2 of the covered artists (Joachim Witt - Goldener Reiter, Doro - All We Are). The album would reach number 4 in the charts.

With the world still turning despite the pandemic, the band would prepare all over again with their fingers crossed that 2 tours, a new album, and a healthy festival season would be waiting ahead in 2021.

2021 (Liebe Macht Monster)

The year would start with a bang with the release of the first single of the new album FAKK and accompanying music video. The release would also reveal the album title, Liebe Macht Monster. The album promotion would also include a further 2 singles (Es lohnt sich nicht ein Mensch zu sein, Im Guten im Bösen) and 1 new video (Im Guten im Bösen). The album would release on 12 March 2021 and the band would once again reach number 2 in the charts.

On 10 March, the band would collaborate with Metal Hammer magazine to release an exclusive compilation titled Maximum monster. The compilation would include 2 demo's titled Anfang and Zauberstab, some live tracks, Wir sind Gold, and an exclusive remix.

The live schedule for the year would face a multitude of further delays. The tours, Adventssingen and Volle Kraft Voraus facing pushes to 2022, as well as many festivals planned from the previous year. However, 3 dates would be able to occur, giving the band some live experience with the new material.

The last stamp the band would leave on the year is a music video for Himmel. The video would be filmed earlier in the year but would be released with no promotion or mention on social media.

2021 would be full of ups and down, a number 1 album but multiple tour cancellations would provide a rollercoaster year for the band. With hearts full of hope, 2022 would finally allow the band to tour and launch the Eisbrecher into Europe.

2022 (The disease starts to freeze)

The year would start quite quickly with the band Sündenrausch releasing their single Original Sin on 25 February. The single would feature a remix from Eisbrecher.

But sadly, the pandemic would not be clear by March and the decision was made to delay the Eis over Europe Tour another year. The Liebe Macht Monstour would also be delayed further into the year. The planned concerts in Russia would also be fully cancelled due to the escalation of the Russia-Ukraine conflict .

The live season however would be filled with festivals. Covid restrictions would become more lax during the Summer and most big festivals would be able to run. Eisbrecher would be able to return to grand festivals like Graspop, Amphi, M'era Luna, and Summer Breeze to name just a few. The band would also be able to host their own festivities with the return of the Volle Kraft Voraus festival and the year end Adventssingen dates. 

After much turmoil, the pandemic's restrictions would wind down further and touring would finally be within the band's grasp, leading to grand expectations of a great tour year for 2023.

2023 (Es bleibt kalt)

2023 would allow the band to finally go on both planned tours. However, the tour would encounter some problems as they would go along. The most prominent issue being that of Noel Pix suffering from post-surgery injuries during the tour. He would only be able to perform 2 dates of the Eis over Europe Tour and 7 dates of the Liebe Macht Monstour. He would be replaced by stage hand Dodo on all missed dates. Additionally, Rupert Keplinger would miss the Luxembourg date of the Eis over Europe Tour due to being present at Eurovison 2023, representing his written song Blood and Glitter by Lord of the Lost.

After the first date of the Liebe Macht Monstour, flyers featuring dates for a 2024 tour were printed on the back. No tour was named and only listed as a "2024 tour"

Due to Noel's injuries, he would miss 3 of the 4 planned festivals of the year. He would only be present at the 2023 edition of Volle Kraft Voraus, which would be his final live performance with the band.

On 18 August, the band would release their 20 year compilation album Es bleibt kalt°!, featuring 40 of the band's greatest hits.

The year would end with the annual Adventssingen concerts, once again having Pix's spot replaced by Dodo. And not long after, a video would be posted to the official Eisbrecher Facebook  announcing that all planned live dates for 2024 were cancelled and that Volle Kraft Voraus would not be done that year. The reason given was for focused album production.

With a messy year finally coming to a close, the band can look back on a successful 20 year triumph with their heads held high, entering 2024 with high hopes. It would however, go on to be the scariest year in Eisbrecher's history.

2024 (Everything is Wunderbar)

To start off the year, Joachim Witt would release a special edition of his album Der Fels in der Brandung. The special edition would feature a new version of the song Signale, featuring Alex as guest vocals. The special edition would release on 9 February.

On 20 February, it was publicly announced that founding member Noel Pix would be leaving the band. His replacement would be named as Marc "Micki" Richter, fellow Die Herren Wesselsky member and Rockstar Kantine show performer. The news would leak a week early with an early release of an article in the Augsburg Allgemeine.

On 29 April, it would be announced that Alex would need to get some emergency surgery due to a bowel perforation. This would result in some show delays/cancellations but the surgery would be a success.

Some noticeable dates for the tour would have guitarist Jürgen Plangger absent due to a performance in Deutzen with A Life Divided, these dates being 07.09.2024 and 08.09.2024. He was replaced by bassist Rupert with stage hand Waik stepping in on bass.

On 21 November, the promotion cycle for the next album would begin quite surprisingly with a piano ballad cover of long-time live song Tränen lügen nicht. Some reports claimed the song would not be included on the upcoming album, though it was always intended.

But only one week later, the band would release a more typical Eisbrecher track with the single Everything is Wunderbar. Marking Micki's first appearance with the band in a music video.

The year would round out once again with the return of Adventssingen, but this time, in a brand new location, the Kaminwerk in Memmingen. The shows would mark the live debut of the new single as the band prepares to enter its biggest live show period in its history for 2025.

2025 (Kaltfront°!)

Singles

Album

Europe+Germany tour

Final VKV

Waff vid