Band of the week: Sanz

Band of the week 09/2025

Origin: Germany
Genre: Modern Industrial Dark Rock

The band about itself:

SANZ is a German dark rock band founded in 2021 by Sandro “Sanz” Geissler, the former frontman of Groovenom. Their debut album Let Us Die was released in 2022, followed by the new edition We Are Lost in 2023. Since then, SANZ has developed into a five-piece band.

Their music, called modern dark rock, combines catchy pop vocals with fat walls of guitars, modern synthesizers, driving bass and groovy drums. The album Ending Things, released in 2024, shows a heavier and darker direction in their style and their songs deal with fears, depression, hopes and love and are full of emotion and authenticity.

SANZ is a band that is absolutely convincing live. Singer Sandro Geissler enchants the audience with his melancholic and authentic performance, while Joe Gastel provides the right groove with his virtuoso guitar work. The band brings a breath of fresh air to the scene by combining stylistic characteristics of retro and modern.

Editorial commentary:

How do you get to know new bands these days?

I usually get to know bands, apart from streaming services, when they play at festivals or as support for bigger bands. They convince me if they fit into the genre and there isn’t too much of a break – and I’m already used to a lot of that. When I saw the SANZ logo, the first thing I associated it with was a bit of deathcore, metalcore and so on, because in most cases I can’t read the logos either.

Fortunately, that wasn’t the case with SANZ. They were allowed to go on tour last year as support with Schattenmann. I saw them at the Colos-Saal in Aschaffenburg. For me, part of a good show is that I want to hear exactly this music. In this case it was NDH, and SANZ fitted in well.

Stage presence and authenticity are also important to me. I don’t want a jumping jack on stage or someone who thinks they have to do everything to get the audience going – I want musicians who identify with the songs. Singer Sandro “Sanz” Geissler lives the songs. He emphasised the songs with gestures, facial expressions, different vocal variations (including growls/screams for one song), but always with eye contact to the audience. That really impressed me. Guitarist Joe Gastel provided plenty of variety with his versatile guitar playing. He took over announcements, impressed with guitar solos and was also fully involved as a backing singer.

I didn’t know the songs beforehand, but they were immediately singable. The audience joined in, which is not comparable with my normal concerts in this genre. There are mosh pits, circle pits and walls of death. But the band is still fun, it’s a kind of meditation among metalheads and rockers. 😉

To summarise briefly: The band is varied, authentic, friendly and simply likeable, and a great introduction to the world of modern dark rock/NdH for everyone, even for people who are not yet familiar with the genre.

The band at Dark-Art:

Live impressions:

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Music recommendation:

Upcoming live dates:

22. Mai 2025: Oberhausen, Kulttempel
23. Mai 2025: Hannover, Subkultur
24. Mai 2025: Stuttgart, Club Zentral
25. Mai 2025: München, Backstage Club
28. Mai 2025: Berlin, Cassiopeia
29. Mai 2025: Hamburg, LOGO Hamburg
30. Mai 2025: Leipzig/Engelsdorf, Hellraiser-Leipzig
31. Mai 2025: Frankfurt am Main, Nachtleben

Links:

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Spotify
YouTube

Band of the week is our weekly posting about a band we recommend and is posted every Tuesday at 8pm (CET). These are bands that are just at the beginning of their career and that we think should receive more attention.

You can also find all the bands we’ve featured this year in our playlist on Spotify!

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