Eisbrecher’s latest album Sünde, which has already been out in Europe for several months now, was not released in North America like their previous 2 albums were. That’s because Dancing Ferret, the label that previously distributed them across the continent, shut down late last year and left them without representation overseas. Fortunately, Eisbrecher has now been picked up by Metropolis Records, which is arguably the biggest electro and industrial label on this side of the Atlantic, and is a favorite for bringing great European bands to the States.

The North American version of Sünde will be released on March 10th. The tracklisting will remain the same as the (limited edition of the) European version, but the album will have completely new artwork as seen in the image above. You can already pre-order the album on the Metropolis mailorder site for just $12.98.

Maybe Eisbrecher has a better chance of touring North America now that they are being distributed and promoted here again, and by a much more prominent label. Let’s hope so!

Eisbrecher - Sünde (North American version)
01. Kann Denn Liebe Sünde Sein?
02. Alkohol
03. Komm Süsser Tod
04. Heilig
05. Verdammt Sind
06. Die Durch Die Hölle Gehen
07. Herzdieb
08. 1000 Flammen
09. This Is Deutsch
10. Zu Sterben
11. Mehr Licht
12. Kuss
13. This Is Deutsch (SITD-Remix)
14. Blut Und Tränen
15. Alkohol (Rotersand-Remix)
16. Kann Denn Liebe Sünde Sein? (SITD-Remix)

Fanoe’s Empire Dirt available as a free download

Greg told you all about Fanoe’s second album, Down to Heaven, but if you haven’t checked them out yet, now’s your chance to get a taste of what the Swiss industrial-rock group have been doing. The first album, Empire Dirt, is now available in its entirety as a free download, along with two tracks from Down to Heaven. Head on over to the download area of the site and choose between 320 and 192kbps mp3 packages. If you like what you hear, the albums are available at cdbaby, iTunes and cduniverse among other retailers, or consider making a donation to support the band directly.

Eisbrecher’s Sünde: US release delayed

Dancing Ferret Discs had been set to release Sünde in the US on August 26, but unfortunately this will not be happening, presumably as a result of the plans to shut down DFD’s operations. No new North American label or release date has yet been announced by Eisbrecher’s management, and at this point, there will likely be a delay of at best several months before a US version is on the shelves. Import versions of both the single and the album will however be available through IsoTank and amazon.com, or for download from iTunes and amazon. The German release is unaffected and still on schedule for release on August 22.

A new Treibhaus album out in October?

Last October, Treibhaus announced that they had begun work on their third album, Alarmstufe Rot. The other day, there was a brief mention on the band’s myspace page that the album would be released this October. This has not yet been confirmed and the note has since been removed, but it sounds like a reasonable timeframe.

UPDATE:

Curt from Treibhaus recently sent out a newsletter with more details on the album release. Recording and mixing is done, only the mastering left to be done. He reported they are on track for a late October or early November release.

Eisbrecher updated their website yesterday with news that their upcoming album Sünde is now completely recorded and that it is now being mastered. But the biggest news is that the band’s bassist Martin Motnik has left the band to move to Los Angeles. They tried making the long distance relationship work out, but it just wasn’t possible.

Who will be replacing him? It’s none other than Olli Pohl! Olli was formerly the bass player for Alexx and Noel’s old band Megaherz, and also helped fill in for a few Eisbrecher concerts in the earlier days of the band, but now he has become a full fledged member. Eisbrecher will be playing their first concerts with their new bassist later this month on the 19th and 20th at the Rockharz and Amphi Festivals.

Eisbrecher’s Sünde coverart is here, single tracks

The highly anticipated release of Eisbrecher’s third album Sünde is drawing ever closer, although it’s still about one and a half months until you can get your sinful hands on the CD. However, the coverart for the album has been showing up in various places, and there you have it on the left for your viewing pleasure (click for a slightly bigger picture). Like the cover for the soon upcoming single Kann denn Liebe Sünde sein?, it’s quite a departure from what you might have expected. You can already preorder the album (and the single) at various places, information on that can be found in the earlier newspost on the matter. As for some further information on the single Kann denn Liebe Sünde sein?, Infrarot.de tells us there’ll be three tracks: along with the title song there’s a remix and an exclusive, non-album track.

Oomph! Monster tracklisting, possible release date

The tracklisting for the other huge German metal release this August, namely Oomph!’s tenth album Monster, has been floating around the internet recently. I can’t say for sure if it’s the real one, but I don’t see why it couldn’t be legit. It seems the previous single track Wach auf! will not be on the album, which I think only makes it more believable (Wach auf! was featured on the Alien vs Predator 2 film and the single was released shortly after the film). Also, EMP.de tells us that the release date for Monster would be 15th August, but as often is the case with release dates given by retailers, it’s more or less likely to change. Here’s the tracklist:

Tracklisting for Monster by Oomph!
1. Unter Deiner Haut
2. Labyrinth
3. Wer Schön Sein Will Muss Leiden
4. Revolution
5. Beim Ersten Mal Tut’s Immer Weh
6. Ich Will Dich
7. Nie Mehr Sehen
8. Auf Kurs
9. Du Lügst
10. Geboren Zu Sterben In Deinen Hüften
11. Brich Aus
12. Bis Zum Schluss
13. Lass Mich Raus

It looks like Eisbrecher’s new single “Kann Denn Liebe Sünde Sein?” could be delayed by one week. The new release date, according to Amazon.de, is July 18th, but EMP.de still says the 11th as of now. Neither site has a tracklisting yet, but if you’re a big Eisbrecher fan and you want to order the single as soon as possible, just head on over to Amazon.de and get it for 7.99 Euros. EMP is a Euro more and won’t ship to the USA anyway.

Amazon also gives us our first glimpse of the “Kann Denn Liebe Sünde Sein?” cover art. It seems pretty simplistic, nothing like previous Eisbrecher covers, but it is what it is. Click here or the image above to see a bigger version.

As for Eisbrecher’s forthcoming album Sünde…
There’s still not much info about it other than it will be available in 2 different versions. Both versions are available to pre-order from several sites including Amazon.de, AlphaMusic.de , and EMP.de.

Thanks to Nadja for keeping us up to date in this post.

3-CD Antikörper Summer Special

Eisbrecher also just released a 3 disc box set of their previous album Antikörper called the Antikörper Summer Special yesterday, June 27th. This limited edition item is essentially a combination of the album and its 2 related singles “Vergissmeinnicht” and “Leider”. You can find it on Amazon.de or EMP.de, both of which have it for the price of a typical album.

The combination of Greg going MIA and me slacking off because of the holidays is not a good thing for Germaniac. Here’s the catch-up news post for some of the most important stuff that’s been happening in these couple of weeks. I hope we’ll be able to resume normal operations as soon as possible! All the tracklistings and ordering information relevant to this post can be found behind the link at the end, because with them this already horribly lengthy post would be, simply put, INSANE.

Oomph!’s album #10 to be Monster

Oomph!, one of the pioneering bands of the industrial metal and NDH genres, will be releasing their tenth album in August according to Oomph!’s official site. The record, of which we got a little taster with the single Wach auf! which was released earlier this year, will be titled Monster. Not much else is known of the upcoming record, except for some tidbits revealed in a German interview. Amongst others, we’re going to get an “electro metal tango” piece and a blues song as well.

No doubt in celebration of their tenth album and as a sign of gratitude to their fans, Dero, Crap and Flux are also offering fans a unique chance to permanently cement themselves in the Oomph! legacy by running a contest for the cover design of the new album. Anyone can send in their visions of what the cover should be until June 27th, and the boys themselves will then choose the final design that will adorn the album. A number of the submissions can already be checked out here, and they range from quite horrible to insanely cool. I for one am eager to find out what the final product will look (and sound!) like!

Megaherz single soon

Before the hotly anticipated new album Heuchler, Megaherz will release the single Mann von Welt on June 20th. There will be two versions of the single: a basic one with Mann von Welt and Es Brennt, a bonus track from the sold out limited edition of Herzwerk II, and an EP-length limited fan edition version with three additional songs from older albums. As far as I can see, the fan edition is not very necessary unless you’re new to Megaherz and need to sample the older stuff, but the single is a great opportunity to hear Es Brennt, which is an excellent song you might very well have missed the first time around. You can hear a preview of Mann von Welt on Megaherz’s Myspace and official site.

Eisbrecher’s single detailed

The first single from Eisbrecher’s upcoming album Sünde will be titled “Kann denn Liebe Sünde sein?”, and it will be released on July 11th. This is, however, a Germany-only release, so completionists will have to pay an extra buck or two (or more like ten) if they want to get their hands on this release. No cover or tracklisting has been made public as of yet, but if the previous singles by Eisbrecher are of any indication, this one should too sport a couple of remixes and possibly a bonus song or other small feature alongside the main track itself.

Die Apokalyptischen Reiter single

Die Apokalyptischen Reiter, a well-respected German trash metal outfit will release a single titled Der Weg on 27th June. The single features two songs from the upcoming full-lenght release Licht, which doesn’t have a release date yet, and two bonus tracks. The physical CD version of the single published by Nuclear Blast is limited to only 1000 copies, as it was originally planned to only be available via iTunes. Die Apokalyptischen Reiter also released a live DVD earlier this year.

Unheilig’s Spiegelbild EP revealed

The tracklisting and cover design for Unheilig’s Spiegelbild EP have been finally revealed. True to the style of the EPs before, this release is limited to just 3333 pieces and has a total of three different versions of the title song, a new version of the earlier single An deiner Seite and also a trio of completely new Unheilig tracks. Spiegelbild will be released on 26th July.

Laibach’s Dead in Trbovlje in July

Laibach have pushed back the release of their new DVD, which was originally slated for release on 16th June, to 26th July. Titled Dead in Trbovlje, the DVD will feature a full live concert from their widely acclaimed Volk tour, four music videos and on top of that, six of the background screens/videos Laibach used in their Volk shows. There’s also a short commentary on the tour.

Thanks to Nadja for all the tips!

That’s it for now. I know there’s a ton I missed, but at least we have something to cover up the massive time gap we’ve been experiencing. Here’s hoping that Greg will be back in full force soon!

Check out the tracklistings for these items after the jump…
(more…)

A few days ago, Eisbrecher’s website was updated with more news about their forthcoming third album. We now know that the name of it will be Suende (or more appropriately, Sünde, imo). Production of the album is nearly complete now, keeping the band on course for an expected release date in August. No artwork, tracklisting, or other details have been released yet, but we are all eagerly awaiting more info (and some previews, too!).

The first single from Eisbrecher’s new album will be released sometime in July, although the title and exact release date are still unknown. And if you’re lucky enough to be in Europe, be sure to check out their site’s news page for tourdates which are being scheduled for September.

Don’t forget to sign up for the street team
Eisbrecher’s international street team is still open for new members to join. Just check out our last Eisbrecher update or the Eisbrecher forum for details.

New album, tour, and DVD
Eisbrecher is one of our favorite bands here at Germaniac, so I always try to keep the site up to date whenever there is news from the band. Their most recent announcement: Plans to release their third album later this year in August! This is great news, even though there are no details yet… no exact release date, album title or song names. Eisbrecher is also marking off September for a German tour, and would like to release a DVD in the future, too. My guess would be that the DVD will have some live material recorded during the tour and then released some time after that.

Join the Eisbrecher street team
Alexx and the rest of the band have high hopes for the future, but they will need your support. They are asking fans to sign up for a street team to help spread the word about Eisbrecher. If you’re a fan and would like to help out (and I hope you would), just send an email to anna@eis-brecher.com and let them know. If you do, please include your name and address, email, the cities you’re active in, and your favorite CD shops and clubs. They would also like to know where you might be able to bring posters or flyers and what online forums you participate in. Any other promo ideas are welcome, too.

The new Radio Goethe podcast has a bunch of great songs this week. Most of them are guitar-based, ranging from electronic rock to punk rock. The first couple songs are totally new to me and I am really enjoying them. Unfortunately, I can’t find their websites because the names are so generic. Any help?

A look at Alexx Wesselsky
Arndt also included 2 songs with Alexx Wesselsky on this podcast. “Königin der Nacht” is a fantastic song he guest-sang on for the band IFF, and then of course Eisbrecher is the band he created after leaving Megaherz. That’s a nice look at Alexx’s more recent musical projects, but recently on the Megaherz.com Forum, we have also been talking about the very first bands Alexx was involved with: Bad Hoven, Xanda, and Used Underwear. Feel free to join in the discussion there as we investigate this great singer’s early years.

Heiko Maile composes movie soundtrack
Camouflage member Heiko Maile recently composed the music for the German movie Die Welle. The soundtrack was just released on EMI this past Friday.

Listen to Radio Goethe
The Radio Goethe podcast can be found each week on RadioGoethe.org or on Apple iTunes. Or, if you’re lucky, you can find the Radio Goethe broadcast on a radio station near you. Check out the Radio Goethe website for details.

This week’s Radio Goethe podcast playlist:
Uptide: Deny
Sun: Swallow without chewing
Eric Fish: Turn the page
Sportfreunde Stiller: Pogo in Togo
Silbermond: Meer sein
IFF feat. Alexx: Königin der Nacht
Eisbrecher: Vergissmeinnicht
Rammstein: Amerika
Sputnik: Hallo
Stendal Blast: Nur ein Tag
Camouflage: We are lovers
Catastrophe Ballet: Consequently
Shiny Gnomes: In Nadreena’s Garden

Alexx Wesselsky is one of the biggest names in German electro-metal music, and his physical presence doesn’t let you forget it. This Eisbrecher (and formerly Megaherz) frontman is a lifelong resident of Munich and knows all about his hometown. So when Radio Goethe correspondent Nina Pauler got the opportunity to take a tour of this beautiful city with Alexx as her guide, she couldn’t resist.

The two started out by visiting the Tollwood Festival in the Munich Olympiapark. (This structure was actually designed by the German architect Günter Behnisch, not a Danish designer like Alexx said.) Later that night, they headed to The Garage where Megaherz played many of their first concerts, and eventually found themselves in the Nerodom where Alexx is a DJ once a month. The next day, he and Nina visited the world famous Frauenkirche which is the biggest church in Munich. Then, they visited a number of other landmarks in the city including the opera house (where they heard the music of the Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg, not Tchaikovsky as Nina guessed) and some other museums and monuments. They ended their tour in one of Munich’s famous beer gardens.

If you listen to the full show, you will not only get a great tour of Munich with a fantastic musician, but you’ll also hear some interesting history lessons. To listen to the full 30-minute segment, head on over to the Radio Goethe Magazine website or download it directly here. Please let Arndt know what you think of this new program with musicians taking us on a tour of their hometown. We would appreciate it if you leave a message in the Radio Goethe guestbook or just write a short review of the show on iTunes.