So we’ve spent a week in sunny Brazil, soaking up the sun and the music, checking out the scenery and the women and wondering why we hadn’t the foresight to do this
WHEN THE WORLD CUP WAS ON, and now we’re back closer to home, to look a little into the music of a country which has certainly risen from the ashes of defeat to become a dominant world power, especially in the finances of Europe. Yes, all hail Chancellor Merkel! It’s time to go all teutonic and see what Heavy Metal is like in
Of course, Germany has a rich and varied history in the Metal scene, with bands like Scorpions, Accept, Rammstein, Helloween and Kreator hailing from their borders, to name but a few. It’s hopefully obvious that I have no chance whatever of getting though all the well-known bands, and equally obvious that some major names may, and probably will, be overlooked in this brief foray into German Metal. But bear in mind that all I’m doing here is picking examples of the music played and enjoyed in this country: they do not have to be, nor are they necessarily meant to be, representative of the country. Just as though Brazil has a lot of Thrash Metal it probably quite likely has equally as much Doom, Death or Prog Metal. I’m restricted in my choices, having only five artistes to look at and just one week to showcase them, so forgive me if your favourite, or just a really well-known band is left out.
I also am trying to take examples from artistes who may not be that well-known anyway. Anyone can go to Germany and present Kreator or Helloween as the band they want to check out, but I’m trying to go down maybe less travelled roads, and listen to bands I have never heard, nor perhaps even heard of. Hah! Wait till we get to Ireland! But right now we’re in Germany, and this is the first album I want to look at.
Moral & wahnsinn --- Die Apokalyptischen reiter --- 2011 (Nuclear Blast)
All right, first things first: the band’s name literally translates to “the apocalyptic riders”, so essentially we’re talking about the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse here. As the name is so long and hard to spell I’m going to use the acronym DAR to refer to the band. They have been around since 1995 and have eight albums under their belt, of which this is the seventh. Originally they favoured a mixture of Black and Folk Metal, but their more recent material has ditched many of those influences and has become more of a traditional Metal. Their early albums also tended to feature a mixture of lyrics in English and German, but in recent years they have decided to sing in just their mother tongue.
“Die boten” gets us underway with a big crashing rolling drumbeat and hard metal guitar, but then settles down to piano and softer guitar, slowing down as the vocals come in from the unfortunately-named Fuchs, and his voice, while rough, is nothing I haven’t heard on any viking Metal or Pagan Metal album before. There’s certainly a lot of passion in it, and the piano, with Dr. Pest (obviously these are pseudonyms) behind it changes to a synth, while the guitar in the hands of Ady gets harder before changing to Spanish for a moment. It’s a good hard opener and is followed by a somewhat more frenetic song in “Gib dich hin”, which almost edges into Power Metal territory and has, of all things, whistling (!) in it. Nice bass solo by Volk-Man as Sir G hammers away on the drumkit. No complaints so far.
DAR apparently don’t go in for long songs, or at least not on this album, as everything comes in just slightly over or under the three-minute mark, which is just about right for music like this, especially when I can’t say anything about the lyrics. Hmm. Sounded like a sitar there; perhaps made on the synth of the good Doctor. “Hammer oder amboss” has a more relaxed, bluesy feel to it, much slower and low-key, though the guitars kick back in --- Fuchs plays the guitar as well as singing --- and if anything the gentler part reminds me a little of RHCP. Very nice sparse piano passage, as Pest accompanies Fuchs solo for a short moment before the rest of the band join in. More bluesy guitar, kind of slide, in “Dir gehört nichts”, though it’s a more uptempo and features what appears to be synth brass from the Doctor. I like this one a lot; it has an almost hard rock sensibility to it. The horns definitely add something, and there’s some great work from Ady here too, kind of the first time we really hear him cut loose.
The keyboard man gets his own song next, with the track entitled “Dr. Pest”, and I would have expected it to be a keyboard instrumental, but there are vocals. It is however as expected led by an almost Nick Cavesque piano, this solo with perhaps some bass (though that could be created on the synth) and the vocal much less ragged and angry, reinforcing the similarities to Cave. Some violin there too, whether it’s real or on synth I don’t know, but given that this is the pianist’s own song I would guess it to be synthesised. Nice strings section too, with choral vocals. Very, very impressive. Sort of a gothic/doomy feel to the whole thing. The title track is up next (no I don’t know what it means) and it kicks the tempo right back up, Ady re-establishing his mastery of the music as he cranks off some excellent riffs, Pest adding in almost electronica flurries. The song takes on a heavy, dramatic turn as it slows down and strides along majestically until almost funky guitar jazzes it up again.
Speed guitar again holds court as Ady stamps his authority all over “Erwache”, the song the closest this band has come so far to Thrash Metal or Speed Metal, the keys of Dr. Pest though helping to push it in a more Power Metal direction. Fluid solos from Ady and clever work by Dr. Pest combine to make this song really quite special, then we’re into the only instrumental on the album. As you might expect, “Heimkehr” is carried by Pest’s lilting piano and soft keyboard, with some lovely strings effects adding to the overall flavour. It’s less than two minutes long but an emotional and compelling piece.
“Wir reiten” (we ride?) opens on atmospheric guitar and a relatively low-key vocal, slow percussion and gentle synth that makes me wonder if this might be a ballad, and despite the momentary roll on the drums from Sir G which I expected to presage a sudden heads-down charge it doesn’t happen, and the song remains a ballad, or a possible one. I would have thought there was a role for piano here, and indeed it does come in a little later, taking the tune as Fuchs continues to sing. Some nice backing vocals as the song moves towards its conclusion, with “Hört auf” taking us close to the end of proceedings with a big crashing drum and snarling guitar, the song marching along on a solid synth line in a sort of mid-paced style despite the rather cannoning drumbeat at times.
A false ending allows Pest to take the reins, with synth effects and layers of keys, while Ady’s guitar moans in the background, Sir G slowing down the percussion but it ends strongly and takes us into “Ein liebes lied”, the closing track with a sort of acoustic opening almost reminiscent of folk, perhaps a nod back to DAR’s original influences. The vocal is softer, more restrained, but then rises on Ady’s suddenly soaring guitar solo as the closer takes off, before it returns to the low-key opening, ending on a single plucked guitar string.
TRACKLISTING
1. Die Boten
2. Gib Dich Hin
3. Hammer Oder Amboß
4. Dir Gehört Nichts
5. Dr. Pest
6. Moral & Wahnsinn
7. Erwache
8. Heimkehr
9. Wir Reiten
10. Hört Auf
11. Ein Liebes Lied
It’s a good start for our brief odyssey into German metal. Though I didn’t understand a word of this album I really liked it; the piano and synth helped raise what could have been a fairly bog-standard Metal album to the status of something much more. Whether I would listen to another one is not a question I can answer right now. I’m a big lyrics man, as most of you know, and not to be able to follow the lyrics is a big minus for me. But I certainly enjoyed this album and would heartily recommend it.