De/Vision holds a remix contest for their 20th anniversary

One of the most famous synthpop acts from Germany, De/Vision has certainly performed their fair share of music for their fans over the past 2 decades. Now, to celebrate the their 20th anniversary, they are reversing the roles by holding a remix contest. Anyone with a little bit of musical talent is invited to create a remix for their song “Life Is Suffering” which is from their current album Noob. De/Vision is holding the contest in cooperation with DigitalMusician.net and they are offering several prizes including music equipment like a Roland synthesizer, a digital recorder, an effects pedal, and 5 pro memberships to DigitalMusician.net. Visit this site to sign up for the contest and get access to the original song files. All entires must be made by May 31st. Good luck!

New Oomph! album this summer

On GermanMetal.com, Joki reports that Oomph! are ready to release a new album this summer. No official release date or tracklisting has been announced yet, but it shouldn’t be too long until we hear something more. The band will also play some festivals during the summer, followed by a full length tour in November and December.

Guitarist change for 4Lyn

It was announced about a week ago that 4Lyn’s guitarist and songwriter René would be leaving the band. Sometimes when a band member leaves, it’s a sign of trouble. That’s not the case here, thankfully. René’s departure was friendly and the band respects his decision to move on. The new fourth member of the band will be Dennis, who has a big job ahead of him. 4Lyn has dozens of concerts scheduled across Germany during the next few months in support of their current album Hello. You can check the dates and the band’s music on their MySpace page.

Visit the “GERMANIACdotcom Labs” page

You may have noticed the new link in the side menu inviting you to visit the “GERMANIACdotcom Labs” page. If not, go check it out. That’s where we will keep you up to date with the progress of all our projects that are currently in development and post any new ideas we think might be a good addition to the site. Naturally, you are also invited to post your opinion in a comment there or offer a new idea that might benefit the site. As you may be aware, our current big project is the forthcoming Germaniac Shop which should be opening in a few weeks.

New Atrocity video and stadium appearance
We’re getting a double dose of news from Atrocity today. First of all, they recently filmed a new music video for the song “The Sun Always Shines On TV” from their current album Werk 80 II. The song is a metal interpretation of the Norwegian synthpop band a-ha’s 1985 single. Personally, I don’t think either the song or the video are that great so I’m not going to post it here, but you can still watch it on Youtube if you want.

Second, Atrocity will appear at the Gottlieb Daimler Stadium on May 17th for the VfB Stuttgart vs. Arminia Bielefeld final soccer match. The game is sold out which means they will be playing in front of 56,000 people, quite an experience I can imagine.

Wumpscut’s Schädling out in America today
Just a quick reminder to all Wumpscut fans in the USA and Canada: Schädling was just released here today on Metropolis Records. We have been keeping up pretty well with the news about this latest release from Rudy Ratzinger, so check out my post with the tracklisting and other details or Valtteri’s review of the Schädlingsbox if you haven’t been there already.

4lyn is heading to China
Yesterday, 4lyn announced on their website that they will be travelling to the Chongqing region of China to participate in a the German Cultural Weeks during May. They also plan to return to Chongqing, which is one of the most populated areas in China, for next year’s events. These cultural programs are being planned by the Goethe Institut to promote cultural exchange between the countries.

Piscide is now available on iTunes
The German electro-industrial band Piscide just released their second album Elekktroshokk a few weeks ago on March 14th, but it was only available as a physical CD. Now you can find Piscide’s music on iTunes if you prefer to download MP3s instead.

Technically, I should have posted this yesterday, but I got a bit carried away with other things. In any event, there are 3 new releases that just came out yesterday (Friday, January 25th) that I think are worth mentioning…

1 - Sara Noxx and Project Pitchfork - Earth Song
First of all, Project Pitchfork has teamed up with the singer Sara Noxx for a special single called Earth Song. Both acts are already well known in the German electronic scene, so the two of them working together should only make fans more excited. Sounds good so far. As you may have guessed from the title, “Earth Song” is a message about the environment and states the musicians’ position about what is (or what is not) being done to help it. A strong message behind the song, another plus. From the looks of things, Earth Song should be really great. But unfortunately, I think they have over-promised and under-delivered with this one. Of course this is my own personal opinion, but I just don’t think the music cuts it. For a song that is so meaningful, it should really leave an impact. That just doesn’t happen though. The music is boring, it didn’t even get me to move my head or tap my foot, and you can’t hear the lyrics which are supposed to have such significance. I’m sorry to say it, but I am terribly disappointed.

Head over to Sara Noxx’s MySpace page to have a 2-minute listen. Maybe you can convince me that it’s better than I think.

Sara Noxx and Project Pitchfork - Earth Song single tracklisting
1. Earth Song - Radio Edit
2. Earth Song - Original Version
3. Earth Song - Joachim Witt’s London Mix
4. Earth Song - Tanzwut’s Teufel Remix
5. Earth Song - Cat Rapes Dog’s All Hail Ishtar Mix
6. Earth Song - Subway to Sally’s Ready to Kill Mix

2 - 4lyn - Hello
It is now a few months after 4lyn’s single “Hello (For You I’m Dying)” introduced us to some of the music, and now their new full length album Hello has been released. This album is nothing like the band’s previous hardcore metal-influenced music. Instead, Hello is pretty much your typical modern day “alternative” rock aimed at teenage boys who wear their pants too tight. They have gone totally soft and I don’t like it at all. But who am I to judge? I’m not part of their audience. If you are, you would probably like listening to their new music.

4lyn - Hello tracklisting
01. The grind
02. Shadow valley
03. Hello (for you I’m dying)
04. World’s gone crazy
05. Too munch of everything
06. Nostalgia
07. Lovemaker/Soulshaker
08. The jumpoff
09. This heart
10. Cowboys

3 - Hämatom - Wut
I saved the best for last. Hämatom is a relatively new metal band hailing from the heart of Germany. After releasing their debut album Nein! in 2005, they are back for a second round. Their new album Wut is packed to the brim with thrashingly heavy guitar riffs and intensely pounding drums, all backed by good old German lyrics. It’s nothing revolutionary, but if you are a true fan of German metal, you have to hear this album. Go to Hämatom’s MySpace page and appease your inner headbanger with the 6 full length songs they have available, all from their new album Wut. You can also listen to some more MP3 samples from all the songs (and buy it for a pretty good price) on AlphaMusic.de.

Hämatom - Wut tracklist
01. Los Gehts
02. Leck Mich!
03. Fremd
04. Das Schwarze Schaf
05. Schmerz
06. Ihr Kotzt Mich An
07. Mit Dem Kopf Durch Die Wand
08. Freier Fall
09. Bow
10. Homo Sapiens
11. Solange Ich Noch Kann
12. Vorspiel
13. Sechs
14. Willkommen Im Nichts

In case you didn’t notice, 4Lyn has a new single out today. It’s called “Hello (For You I’m Dying)” and it is our first glimpse of the new material the band has been working on, and their new style. I remember years ago when 4Lyn was lost somewhere in the rapcore crossover style, but recently they have evolved into more of a straight-laced rock band by the sound of this new single. It’s not even nu metal like their current album Compadres is. They have really toned it down. It’s definitely not soft rock or anything like that, but they’re not nearly as hardcore as they used to be. Is this what the entire forthcoming album Hello is going to sound like? We’ll find out in January when its release date comes closer.

Until then, we have “Hello (For You I’m Dying)” to keep our 4Lyn appetite satisfied. The only catch is, the distribution of the single is a bit limited. You can find it online at the digital download website FineTunes.net, but the only way to get the single on CD is to order it through MerchUnited.com. The price there is less than 5 Euros and you get a free exclusive T-shirt as part of the package, so it’s a pretty great deal, while it lasts.

To listen to the single in advance, head on over to 4Lyn’s MySpace page. There, you can listen to both the title track from the single as well as the B-side “Nostalgia” along with 2 songs from their current album. Be sure to check out the music video (in high or low resolution) too.

4Lyn - “Hello (For You I’m Dying)” single tracklist
01. Hello (For You I’m Dying)
02. Nostalgia
03. Hello (For You I’m Dying) - video
04. Nostalgia - video