Dreams of Sanity

Dreams of Sanity was a gothic metal band from Austria. Founded in 1991, they released three full-length albums, before disbanding in 2002. Many of their songs are about Buddha. Their most famous song, "Window to the Sky," deals with the loneliness and despair of enlightenment, and is based on legends of Siddartha Gautama's experiences in isolation beneath the Bodhi Tree.

History

Dreams of Sanity was founded in April 1991 by Christian Marx (guitar and music) and Michael Knoflach (bass, lyrics) together with Hannes Richter (drums, ex-Blitzgemetzel, ex-Hypen) as a trio.

In the Summer of 1992, the first vocalist - Gudrun Gfrerer - and Florian Razesberger (keys) joined the band and Dreams of Sanity debuted live in the cellar of Michael's parents. Backing-vocals were sung by Christian.

In the Winter of 1993, Hannes Richter left the band and was replaced by Romed Astner, Florian Razesberger switched to second guitar and Sefan Manges took place behind the keyboard. Instead of Gudrun Gfrerer, Birgit Moser and her friend Robert were featured on vocals.

Luckily, Sandra Schleret and Martina Hornbacher replaced the former vocalists and finally Dreams of Sanity released their first Demo Tape in May 1994. In December of 1994, Florian Ratzesberger was replaced by Andreas Wilauer on guitar.

With this line-up, Dreams of Sanity recorded "Komödia I" and "Komödia II" in the Z-Sound-Studios in Innsbruck and released the two songs on the self-financed "A God Damned City" sampler together with four other Innsbruck underground-bands. In 1996, "Ein Liebeslied" was recorded in the same studio and released on the Hardboiled-Sampler together with a lot of other bands from the Tyrol. The song Komödia I got the attention of HALL OF SERMON in 1996, after the "DARK WINTER NIGHTS" Tour together with Lacrimosa, The Gathering, Sentenced and D-Age, a contract was signed on the April 6th, 1997. In January of 1997, the Komödia album was recorded in Zero-Point Studios, mixed in the Impuls Studios Hamburg and released on November 11th, 1997.

In the Summer of 1997, Dreams of Sanity split from Martina Hornbacher and Romed Astner for musical and personal differences and after a lot of vocal-auditions decided not to fill Martina's place anymore. Harald Obexer replaced Romed and later, as Stefan Manges left the band, Frédéric Heil joined the little "Sanity Family".

With this line-up Dreams of Sanity recorded "Masquerade" in August 1998, and "The Game" in August 1999. After the recordings of "The Game",Harald Obexer left the band and was replaced by Patrick Schritwieser (drums). Soon also Frédéric Heil had to be replaced by Florian Steiner due to severe musical differences.

After "The Game" was released in 2000, the band went through some unstable times in which some line-up changes were made and even though work on the following album began. The band disbanded in July 2002..

Members

Final Lineup

• Sandra Schleret - Vocals
• Christian Marx - Guitar
• Andreas Wildaur - Guitar
• Michael Knoflach - Bass
• Florian Steiner - Keyboards
• Patrick Shcritweiser - Drums

Former Members

• Martina Hornbacher - Vocals
• Gudrun Gfrerer - Vocals
• Florian Razesberger - Keyboards, Guitar
• Stephan Manges - Keyboards
• Frédéric Heil - Keyboards
• Romed Astner - Drums
• Harald Obexer - Drums

Discography

• Demo (1994)
• A God damned City (demo compilation CD, 1995)
• Ein Liebeslied (demo, 1996)
• Komödia (Hall of Sermon, 1997)
• Masquerade (Hall of Sermon, 1999)
• The Game (Hall of Sermon, 2000)