Where Are You?

Surgeon --FOUND!
Old brew German metal

Germany's Surgeon, not to be confused with America's Surgeon (who may get their very own Where Are You column in the near future), were part of what I like to think of as the "old brew". When I say "old brew", I'm referring to that well seasoned, German sound of old. Bands like Unrest, Powercrue, Reactor, Scanner, and Embargo are perfect examples of this "old brew" sound, which is basically a less polished Helloween influence, crossed with acts like Grave Digger and Running Wild to add a little more teutonic grit to it all, all neatly encased in the heavy duty German battle armor of Accept.

Surgeon, comprised of Frank Graffstedt (vocals, guitars), Markus Boehm (guitars), Jorg Lassek (drums), and Marcel Willnat (bass), released one album to my knowledge, the perfectly crafted power metal classic, "The Sign Of Ending Grace" in 1991 through Sko-Musik Germany. The record proved to be the perfect blend of all things power metal oriented, with vocalist Graffstedt sounding very unique and quite catchy as he soared through nine songs of epic power, with guitarists Boehm and Willnat mixing it up nicely with a blend of fast guitars and bass that occasionally dip down a notch with a slight touch of prog.

Songs like "Watching You" and "This Is My Life" are very much like Scanner, who were just coming into play at this time. A grinding bass and the bombastic guitars punctuate sold songwriting, with Graffstedt mastering the mic, sounding very much like Sabbath's Tony Martin or Savatage's Zak Stevens when he sings mid-range. "Walls" moves at a slower pace, buiding to a mighty crescendo in the middle, with plenty of twin guitar harmony and Lassek's fast double bass, reminding me of Running Wild crossed with Embargo.

"Try Again" borrows from the US, with its go ahead nod to the legendary Riot, with a fast beat and over the top vocal melodies. "Can't Blow Out The Fire" is a top choice cut, with Graffstedt going doing his best S.L. Coe (Angel Dust, Reactor, Scanner) imitation, one that works well with this mid-tempo song. Album closer "One Point In Time" is a real road racer, with Boehm and Graffstedt combining for a perfect Maiden/Thin Lizzy melody, almost like the German version of Saxon at times.

'In The Sign Of Ending Grace' basically went completely unnoticed, with the album getting absolutely no credit for their important contribution to the "old brew" sound, or the beginning of the power metal movement in Europe, with bigger bands like Grave Digger, Rage, and Gamma Ray getting huge followings in the 90s. Surgeon was somehow left behind, and unfortunately, disbanded after their only record.

Again, this is simply a Where Are You piece, and I have no clue if Surgeon released another record. I have been unable to locate any other albums by them, and can barely find any info on their one album. I would love to know where this band went, and why the disappearance. The group could have made it big in my opinion, with other bands in this style concentrating and working hard through the 90s, to see the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel when bands like Blind Guardian and Hammerfall finally broke the genre wide open, carrying it across the shores and into the homes of North America.

If you have any info on the whereabouts of Surgeon, don't hesitate to report it to your metal authorities here at Maximum Metal.

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Update: In response to the article we did entitled Where Are You Surgeon, ex-Surgeon member Markus Boehm was kind enough to send us an update on the band members' whereabouts:

"As I am one of those wanted “Surgeon”-guys I don't want to fail to thank you - slightly delayed but still very much - for your complimentary comments on “The Sign of Ending Grace”. Maybe some heartening reviews like yours would have kept the band together through the nineties. But unfortunately then there was just very little resonance to our release so we split at last to go our own ways.

Frank Graffstedt went to Bavaria to join “Justice” where he is still active. The others worked on different rather unknown projects.

Frank, Peter Damm (Bass), and me got together lately recording some tracks with Jörg Michael for our new band.

With best regards,

Markus Boehm

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