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.

Yes, German metal fans should really be looking forward to this Friday. Not only does the 29th of February mark the release of Atrocity’s new album Werk 80 II, but this is also the day when the band will re-release many of their older albums again.

First, some info about the re-releases
Among the Atrocity albums to see life for the second time is the original Werk 80 which features lots of metal covers of songs from the ’80s, just like the new Werk 80 II. Also getting re-released are Willenskraft, Blut, Die Liebe (feat. Das Ich), Calling The Rain (feat. Yasmin), and Hallucinations/The Hunt. Several of these albums have extra bonus tracks that were not available on the original versions. For example, the Werk 80 re-release includes the 3 bonus tracks that were previously only on the limited festival edition of the album, plus 2 other remixes from related singles. Take a look at the end of this post for the full tracklisting of all the albums.

Some of these re-releases really go back to the time when Atrocity was a proper death metal band. I just had to start listening to Willenskraft as I type this post, and I am now remembering how much I love it. “Scorching Breath” is just an awesome track, the guitar riffs are insane. If this doesn’t get you moving, you’ve got to be comatose. I wish I could find someplace that has samples from this and the other albums for you to listen to, but I haven’t found any.

Where to find the 6 re-releases
You can find the 6 re-releases online in several different shops. Both AlphaMusic.de and EMP.de have them for 9.99 Euros each, except for Hallucinations/The Hunt which is slightly more because it has 2 CDs.

Now, an update about Werk 80 II
As you know, Werk 80 II is a followup to Atrocity’s first ’80s cover album, Werk 80. The standard album features 11 tracks, while the limited edition digipack has an extra bonus track. There is also a third version of the album that I just recently found out about, called the deluxe edition, in which you will actually get both Werk 80 albums (I and II) together in a special slipcase plus an alternate album cover. In case you were wondering, if you choose to get this deluxe double disc version, you will get the limited edition version of Werk 80 II with the bonus track, but only the standard version of the original Werk 80. This is a really great combination if you love metal and classic ’80s hits. I would definitely buy it if I didn’t already have the limited festival edition of the original Werk 80, which has 3 bonus tracks of its own.

Listen to Werk 80 II
Atrocity’s MySpace page provides a few medleys from Werk 80 II for your listening pleasure, plus some songs from their previous album Atlantis which is also really great.

Where to find Werk 80 II
EMP.de has Werk 80 II for the lowest price I’ve found online (13.99 Euros), but if you want to get the CD shipped to America you’ll have to go to the next site, AlphaMusic.de. Ironically, they actually have the limited edition for cheaper than the regular version, so you may as well pay less to get more, while you can.

All of the tracklists are going to make this a very long post, so I hid them below. (more…)

New album, Werk 80 II
As I reported a few months ago, Atrocity has been working on a bunch of cover songs for a follow-up to their nostalgic Werk 80 album. Werk 80 II was originally said to be released on February 8th, but the release has since been pushed back to February 29th (yes, 2008 is a leap year). The album’s cover artwork was first presented in an email newsletter last month, and the tracklisting was posted on the band’s website on Christmas Eve. There are a lot of titles I recognize, like “Relax” (originally by Frankie Goes To Hollywood) or “Don’t You Forget About Me” (by Simple Minds for the soundtrack of The Breakfast Club) and I am looking forward to hearing Atrocity’s metal covers of these classics.

New single and album samples
“Smalltown Boy” (originally by the British trio Bronski Beat) will be Werk 80 II’s first single. It will be exclusively released online this Friday, January 11th, and will also contain “Relax”. Building up to this release, Atrocity is uploading an MP3 sample of a new song from the album every day on their website, along with a piece of an interview with lead singer Alex Krull. So far, 5 samples have been posted, so head on over to the News section on Atrocity.de to download them and preview Werk 80 II. You can also listen a medley of songs from the album on Atrocity’s MySpace page.

Werk 80 II Release Dates:
February 27 - Finland
February 29 - Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Sweden
March 03 - Europe
March 04 - USA and Canada

Werk 80 II tracklisting:
01. People Are People
02. Smalltown Boy
03. Relax
04. Hey Little Girl
05. Don’t You Forget About Me
06. Fade To Grey
07. Such A Shame
08. The Sun Always Shines On TV
09. Keine Heimat
10. Here Comes The Rain
11. Forever Young
12. Feels Like Heaven (bonus track on the limited edition only)

The latest Atrocity newsletter was just mailed out, only this time it wasn’t about the new album they have been working on. In this email, Atrocity tells us that one of their oldest and most popular albums Todessehnsucht is getting re-released, both in Europe and in the U.S. The European release will take place on October 15th, while the Americans have to wait a few more weeks until November 5th. This re-release will feature the same songs as the original album, but they have been remastered by lead singer Alex Krull. The album will be packaged in an exclusive digipack.

Since Todessehnsucht is 15 years old, originally released way back in 1992, it has Atrocity’s early death metal sound. From what I’ve heard over the years, Atrocity fans are usually seperated on the subject of genres. Some love this older, harder sound, while other fans prefer some of their more recent Neue Deutsche Härte style music that has more electronic elements mixed in. Personally, I like both of their styles. The recent stuff (namely their album Gemini) got me into Atrocity, and I have come to enjoy nearly all of the music. Check out some songs from their current album Atlantis.

Atrocity - Todessehnsucht tracklist
01. Todessehnsucht
02. Godless Years
03. Unspoken Names
04. Defiance
05. Triumph at Dawn
06. Introduction
07. Sky Turned Red
08. Necropolis
09. A Prison Called Earth
10. Todessehnsucht (Reprise)
11. Archangel (Death cover)

10 years ago, Atrocity created an album called Werk 80 that introduced heavy metal guitars to popular hits from the 80s. They covered “Shout” and “Tainted Love” along with many others. The band has released a few other albums since then, but the band’s fascination with 80s covers has caught their attention again. For several months, Atrocity has been dropping hints about their progress on their next album, Werk 80 II, and the latest one just landed in our lap (or rather my email inbox, via the Atrocity newsletter). Werk 80 II will be released on February 8th, 2008. Alex tells us that the electronics of the original Werk 80 will take a back seat to the orchestra and choir the band has been working closely with for the new album. He also says the artwork will feature a very special female model, something Atrocity has come to be known for.

The release date is still quite far away, but I have no doubt that it will be worth the wait. Atrocity has been one of my favorite German bands for a very long time and I just know Werk 80 II will be incredible. I’m really looking forward to this one. Luckily, we will get a sneak preview when Atrocity releases an online single in November.