German Music - Tumblr Posts
Deutsch-Amerikanische Freundschaft (DAF), early 1980ies
German Industrial Band Funker Vogt is coming to America!!
Saturday, June 29th, 2019.
Seattle, Washington.
Mechanismus Festival.
German Neue Deutsche Härte godfathers Oomph! have just released their newest album Ritual.
So far every single released has been superb, and this is shaping up to possibly be one of their best albums.
You can pick it up from Napalm Records.
Germany's In Strict Confidence happen to be one of my favorite Dark Electro/ Synth- Pop bands, and I really love the Utopia album.
I've been listening to this one a lot while writing my Thesis, as it tends to have a calming effect on me. It's beautiful, ethereal, upbeat, and even a touch angsty. The dual vocals are always on point, and mix seamlessly. It has a softer approach than genres like industrial, but elicits a great deal of emotion instead.
As it seems rather hard to find the whole thing on Youtube, I'll leave you with some of the music videos from it. However, I do strongly suggest checking out the full album sometime, especially if you like darker electronic music.
Oomph!
Ritual
I finally sat down with the entirety of Neue-Deutsche-Härte founders Oomph!'s latest album, and I consider this to be one of their greatest albums. This is absolutely fantastic from start to finish, and I really don't think it slows down at all. It's got the hefty weight and crunch of metal but the catchy melody of rock, and the industrial elements are both harsh and majestic.
Dero's vocal work is on point, nailing nasty vicious bits and then morphing into powerful cleans with gusto. The guitar riffs are pummeling, almost reminiscent of Rammstein's level of heaviness. Not to mention chorus vocals are well mixed, aligning perfectly while still being discernable. The rythym doesn't let up, and enforces the heavy crush of the riffwork. It's aggressively melodic, and will lift you up before smashing you like a train repeatedly. It's wild, weighty, and moving.
Again, definitely one of their best albums to me. The singles such as Tausend Mann und ein Befehl and TRRR-FCKN-HTLR are intensely catchy, and songs like Europa (ft. Chris Harms of Lord of the Lost, who released an excellent album last year) and Lazarus are majestically powerful.
You can get it everywhere from Bandcamp to Amazon, so do yourself a favor and check it out.
Obscured
BlutEngel + Hocico
Well it finally happened, an alliance between two prominent dark electronic acts that really should have been done ages ago.
Chris Pohl of BlutEngel has been busier than ever it seems. He released two albums as BlutEngel last year, just dropped this, and has a new project, She Hates Emotions, that just released material. But I digress, back to the track at hand.
I find the song has a decidedly more Hocico sound to the music, but a very BlutEngel bend to the vocal work. It makes for a nice blend, and frankly I'd actually be up for a whole album of it. All three vocalists present lend their easily identifiable twist on their respective parts, and the combination of Pohl and Agroyam as music composers is fantastic, a mix of dark melody and harsh beats. Honestly this single is a superb combination of these bands and their sounds, and they really outdid themselves ensuring it blended well.
The other tracks present are remixes by each band that showcases their personal styles more, and an additional remix by Rasco Agroyam's side project Dulce Liquido that has a very minimalist Aggrotech sound. If you get the digital version there is a bonus remix by German electronic act S.I.T.D., with a bit more ebm/ industrial sound.
As of this writing there's a handful of physical copies left, however it is also available digitally on the Out of Line Music Bandcamp page, and probably other digital platforms as well.
Panoptikum
Die Kreatur
Somehow this release flew under my radar, which I feel is more on Napalm Records than me, probably being buried under an armada of pirate metal. Dero of Oomph! and Chris Harms of Lord of the Lost combine forces for a new Neue Deutsche Härte outing as Die Kreatur.
This project definitely draws from both musicians' respective sonic tendencies. I find several of the tracks particularly remind me of Oomph!'s amazing album Ritual, released last year. I would also guess that is where this project formed, considering Chris Harms' guest spot on "Europa" off that album. However I find the first half of the album tends to be more aggressively abrasive in sound than most material either musician has recently released. Which is not a bad thing, and definitely roots the album more in metal than rock. Harsh vocals abound, particularly from Harms, and many of the songs are rapid and full blast. The latter half seems to mellow just a tad, with a little more symphonic and even medieval metal elements, particularly with tracks like "Schlafes Braut," and "Glück Auf!," Overall though it retains the industrial metal crunch throughout. I have not picked a favorite track yet, but I find " Mensch/Maschine," "Zwei 100%," and "Unzertrennlich" mighty enjoyable.
If you enjoy Industrial metal / Neue Deutsche Härte, I strongly encourage checking out this album.
You can pick up a copy from Napalm Records, digitally on Bandcamp, and on Amazon.