Fury in the Slaughterhouse is a German rock band from Hannover, Lower Saxony, founded in 1987. Their hits include "Time to Wonder", "Every Generation Got Its Own Disease", "Won't Forget These Days", "Radio Orchid", "Dancing in the Sunshine of the Dark", "Milk and Honey" and "Trapped Today, Trapped Tomorrow".
The band disbanded in 2008 before reuniting in June 2013 at the Expo Plaza Festival in Hanover for only one show, and reunited again in 2017 for a nationwide tour which started with three dates at the TUI Arena, Hanover, in March. The reunited band released their first album in 13 years, Now on 23 April 2021.
History In December 1986, the brothers Kai (vocals) and Thorsten Wingenfelder (guitar/vocals) founded the band Fury in the Slaughterhouse together with drummer Rainer Schumann, guitarist Christof Stein-Schneider and bassist Hannes Schäfer in Hanover. Keyboardist Gero Drnek joined in 1989. The band name means riot in the slaughterhouse, but according to another source it refers to the US children's series from the 1950s about a horse named Fury, which was shown on German television in the mid-1980s. Fury in the Slaughterhouse was supposed to be a mainstream rock band, which differed significantly from the punk-electronic influenced Neue Deutsche Welle movement sung in German, so all song lyrics were written in English. In 1988 the band played sold-out concerts and their first albums made it into the top 50 of the German album charts.
In 1992, their record company SPV and BMG Ariola founded the music label Slaughterhouse Music. The band now ventured live to Europe and the Anglo-American region, where they made their breakthrough in 1993 with the hits "Radio Orchid" and "Every Generation Got Its Own Disease" and the album Mono. The band opened for Meat Loaf on his 1994 tour. The albums Mono and The Hearing and the Sense of Balance were released in the US with altered track lists.
In 1996, Hannes Schäfer left the band and the music industry, and was replaced by bassist Christian Decker. In 2005 the band founded the record label Kick It Out. Their earlier albums have been reissued in revised versions with additional unreleased tracks. In 2006 the band signed the city of Hanover's Golden Book.
Fury in the Slaughterhouse sold over four million albums and played at more than 1000 concerts and festivals worldwide during the band's first run.
A farewell tour through Germany took place from March until the band's planned breakup at the end of August 2008. All concerts were recorded and could be purchased on USB sticks immediately after the concert. The band's final performance in Hanover was also published as a double DVD (director: Marc Schütrumpf ) and on CD under the name Farewell & Goodbye.
In 2011, the band reunited briefly and played their hit "Won't Forget These Days" in the stadium after a home game at Hannover 96.
On 8 June 2013, the band (with guests) performed a one-off concert in Hanover (Expo-Plaza / Messe) under the motto One City - One Band; 25,000 visitors saw the concert.
On 10, 11 and 12 March 2017, the band celebrated their 30th anniversary with three reunion concerts in the TUI-Arena in Hanover. For the first time since the dissolution in 2008, Fury recorded a new song, "The Last Order", which was presented on 3 February 2017 on Radio ffn and played as the opener at these concerts. They also released a new 2 CD best of called 30 - The Ultimate Best Of, which also featured an EP with "The Last Order" and five other new songs. Due to the successful advance sales of these three concerts, the band decided to play more concerts in Germany over the summer of 2017. According to the band's website, however, this was not the beginning of a reunion, just a show of respect to the fans.
They went on to play an acoustic tour in the fall of 2017, which was released as a double live album called Little Big World - Live & Acoustic. For this album/tour, they were joined by pedal steel guitarist Martin Huch and cellist Anne De Wolff. The band continued their performances at large festivals in the following years, but had to cancel tour dates in spring 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In Hanover that year, however, they played two concerts on the Schützenplatz on 14 and 15 May 2020 in front of around 2000 spectators sitting in their cars as part of the so-called car culture series.
On 22 October 2020, the officially reunited band announced a new studio album titled Now, the first in 13 years for release in April 2021. All of the band's studio albums are now available in the US, as the result of the band changing record labels to Starwatch. Now was released on 23 April 2021, and was followed up by another album, "Hope," released on 28 July 2023, which debuted on the German charts as the band's first #1 album. On 26 June 2026, the band released their third album since reuniting, titled "Changes".
Band members
Current members Kai-Uwe Wingenfelder (1987–present) – vocals Thorsten Wingenfelder (1987–present) – guitar, vocals Christof Stein-Schneider (1987–present) – guitar Rainer Schumann (1987–present) – drums Christian Decker (1996–present) – bass guitar Gero Drnek (1989–present) – keyboards, guitar, mandolin
Former members Hannes Schäfer (1987–1996) – bass guitar Kai Liekenbröcker (1988–1989) – keyboards
Discography Studio albums + List of studio albums, with selected chart positions and certifications Title Album details Peak chart positions Certifications GER SWI Fury in the Slaughterhouse Released: 1988 Label: Pinpoint — — GER: Gold Jau! Released: 26 March 1990 Label: SPV 43 — Hooka Hey Released: 1 March 1991 Label: SPV 32 — Mono Released: 1 February 1993 Label: RCA 12 — GER: Gold The Hearing and the Sense of Balance Released: 1 February 1995 Label: RCA 6 — GER: Gold Brilliant Thieves Released: 3 March 1997 Label: Slaughterhouse Music (SPV) 3 — GER: Gold Nowhere…Fast! Released: 25 May 1998 Label: Slaughterhouse Music (SPV) 5 — Home Inside Released: 29 May 2000 Label: Electrola 9 — The Color Fury Released: 2 April 2002 Label: Electrola 13 — Nimby Released: 22 March 2004 Label: SPV 19 — Every Heart Is a Revolutionary Cell Released: 28 June 2006 Label: SPV 30 — Don't Look Back Released: 28 March 2008 Label: SPV 33 — Now Released: 23 April 2021 Label: Starwatch 2 80 Hope Released: 28 July 2023 Label: Starwatch 1 83 Changes Released: 26 June 2026 Label: Starwatch 2 — "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.
Live albums + List of live albums, with selected chart positions Title Album details Peak chart positions GER Pure Live! Released: 27 January 1992 Label: SPV 21 Monochrome Released: 28 October 2002 Label: SPV 82 Château Fury – Appellation Slaughterhouse Contrôlée Released: 11 July 2005 Label: SPV 38 Farewell & Goodbye Tour 2008 Released: 21 November 2008 Label: Warner 63 Little Big World – Live & Acoustic Released: 21 November 2008 Label: Starwatch 5 Fahrvergnügen – Drive in Concerts 2020 Released: 23 April 2021 Label: Starwatch — "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.
Compilation albums + List of compilation albums, with selected chart positions Title Album details Peak chart positions GER Super Fury Released: 17 November 1998 Label: Slaughterhouse Music (SPV) 20 30 – The Ultimate Best of Collection Released: 10 March 2017 Label: Starwatch 3
Singles + List of singles, with selected chart positions, showing year released and album name Single Year Peak chart positions Album GER USMod Rock US Main Rock "Time to Wonder" 1988 — — — Fury in the Slaughterhouse "Kick It Out" 1989 — — — "Won't Forget These Days" 1990 — — — Jau! "One Good Reason (To Go) / Tears and Fears" — — — "Rain Will Fall" — — — Hooka Hey "Cut Myself into Pieces" 1991 — — — "Trapped Today, Trapped Tomorrow" — — — "On Alarm" 1992 — — — Jau! "Won't Forget These Days" (SPA only) — — — "Radio Orchid" 1993 59 — — Mono "Every Generation Got Its Own Disease" 44 13 21 "When I'm Dead and Gone" 1994 44 — — "Dead Before I Was Born" (US promo only) — — — "Dancing in the Sunshine of the Dark" 1995 — — — The Hearing and the Sense of Balance "Down There" 83 — — "Milk and Honey" 94 — — "Hello and Goodbye" 1996 97 — — "Riding on a Dead Horse" (GER promo only) 1997 — — — Brilliant Thieves "Bring Me Home" — — — "Brilliant Thieves" 92 — — "Everything I Did" 1998 — — — Nowhere…Fast! "One Way Dead End Street" — — — "Won't Forget These Days (Remix)" 1999 — — — Super Fury "Are You Real?" 2000 91 — — Home Inside "Do You Feel?" — — — "She's a Star" 2001 — — — "Angels & Saints" 2002 — — — The Color Fury "Midnight Rider" — — — "Protection" 2004 — — — Nimby "Homesick" 2006 — — — Every Heart Is a Revolutionary Cell "Radio Orchid (Live)" 2008 — — — Farewell & Goodbye Tour 2008 "The Last Order" 2017 — — — 30 – The Ultimate Best of Collection "Dance on the Frontline" — — — "30 (It's Not Easy)" — — — "Boy's Dont Cry (Live & Acoustic)" — — — Farewell & Goodbye Tour 2008 "We Believe in Sometimes" 2020 — — — "Sometimes (Stop to Call)" — — — Now "The Beauty" — — — "1995" 2021 — — — "Letter to Myself" — — — "Good Day to Remember" 2022 — — — "Better Times Will Come" — — — Hope "So Are You" — — — "9 Lives" 2026 — — — Changes "Viva La Revolución" — — — "When We Were Young" — — — "Fix This Crack" — — — "—" denotes a single that did not chart or was not released in that territory.
Video albums Clicksongs & Peppermint Stories (1991) Especially Ordinary (1997) Monochrome (2002) The Videos 1988–2008 (2008) Farewell & Goodbye Tour 2008 (2008) Welcome to the Other World – Nimby Live 2004 (2010)
References
External links
Official website F.I.T.S. – Label