Unheilig recorded a show in Berlin during their recent Puppenspieler Tour, with the promise of an upcoming DVD release. Vorhang auf! is set to be released in October as a double-CD and DVD set, with a strictly limited (1500 copies) Deluxe Edition which will also include a photo book and an extra DVD of the 2006 Goldene Zeiten tour. The book will include fan photos, so if you have photos from an Unheilig signing session or concert, you can submit them to unheilig@orkus.de (with a statement giving permission for publication) until August 24th.

A full tracklisting and exact publication date for the DVD has not yet been announced, but when it comes out, it should be available through the usual places: emso.de, emp.de and amazon.de, and of course isotank.com. No word yet on when or if the DVD will be released in the US, but the Deluxe Edition is certainly going to be Germany-only, and it will definitely sell out quickly. If you really want it, my advice would be to order it from EMSO as soon as it is available for pre-order.

On a related note, Unheilig also recently announced that a full two weeks before its actual publication date, the limited edition EP Spiegelbild has already sold out. A very few copies may still be available for pre-order through EMSO, but those probably won’t last through this weekend’s M’era Luna festival.

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…
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The old saying “time flies” is certainly true. It seems like Unheilig’s current album Puppenspieler was just released last week, but it has already been 3 long months since it came out on February 22nd. During that time, the band performed a very successful tour (until Der Graf’s vocals gave up and some concerts had to be cancelled, but thankfully he is doing much better now) with the bands goJA Moon Rockah and F.A.Q. as their opening acts. Now, these 3 bands have been brought together once more, but this time it’s not on stage, it’s on a round piece of plastic.

Just yesterday, May 20th, the split album Schattenspiel was released. The tracklisting, which is packed with unreleased and live versions of songs from all 3 bands, is set up just like it was in the concerts with the 2 opening bands first and then Unheilig being the main event at the end. The idea, of course, is for the lesser-known openers to get some extra exposure and gain some new fans. And it’s a good idea, too, especially because both goJA moon Rockah and F.A.Q. are very talented bands and definitely worth a listen. Be sure to visit both of the bands’ MySpace pages and listen to some of their music: goJA’s is here and F.A.Q.’s is here.

Once you’ve determined that you like all 3 bands and you want to snatch this album up (because it’s limited to just 3,333 units and is sure to sell out fast), head on over to Emso.de if you’re in Europe or Isotank.com if you call North America home. I know there are a lot of Unheilig fans here, you’ll really like this.

Schattenspiel split CD tracklisting

goJA moon Rockah section
01. Attackah Massakah
02. Rockah
03. Schwarz

F.A.Q. section
04. Ten bells
05. Leather Apron

Unheilig section
06. Schutzengel (live)
07. Kalt (exclusive)
08. Sage Ja (live)
09. Brief an Dich (exclusive)
10. Freiheit (live)
11. Leblos (exclusive)
12. Mein Stern (live)
13. Dornröschen (exclusive)

Straftanz’s EP released today

Straftanz released their EP Tanzt Kaputt, Was Euch Kaputt Macht! today (16th May). This is Straftanz’s second release since their self-titled debut EP. Straftanz’s music is straightforward industrial dance music with some clear EBM influences. You can get an idea of this sonic assault on their MySpace, where they have a couple of generous samples from the current EP and also some older material for you to listen.

You can order the fresh EP with a pretty atrocious cover from at least Alphamusic.de for 5,49 €, or if you’re in the States, you can find it at Isotank for $11,99.

I’ve hidden the tracklisting for Tanzt Kaputt, Was Euch Kaputt Macht! and also a video for the title song behind the link at the end of the post.

Unheilig’s next EP to be Spiegelbild

Following the smashingly successful album Puppenspiel and the accompanying single An Deiner Seite, Unheilig will be releasing a new EP in July. Spiegelbild, track #2 on Puppenspiel was chosen by the fans in an extensive voting to be the next EP, just like the previous Unheilig EPs Freiheit and Astronaut. And, just like those ones, Spiegelbild will boast numerous versions of the title song and other tracks from Puppenspiel and also some all-new material recorded specifically for the EP. Unfortunately, no tracklisting has been published as of yet. Spiegelbild will be released on 19th July, and it will be limited to just 3333 copies worldwide. The most certain way of obtaining this release seems to be through emso.de, but you’ll have to wait till June 1st to preorder it.

If you somehow still aren’t familiar with Unheilig’s magnificent, electronically enhanced rock antics, you can check out a few samples on Unheilig’s MySpace site. Additionally, you can watch the video for the latest single cut An deiner Seite hidden behind the link.

Eisblume’s Unter Dem Eis

And finally, just a reminder: the lovely gothic pop band Eisblume just released their debut EP Unter dem Eis today! See the previous post on the subject for track listing, a video for the title song and more.

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Get ready for 3 awesome singles coming this Friday, March 28th…

1 - Nik Page - Vicious Girls
First up, we have Nik Page’s new single “Vicious Girls” which is the first we’ve heard from him since his collaboration with Kash on the single Kommunion which came out back in September 2007. This new electro-rock single features 6 songs including the title track, 3 remixes, and 2 B-sides. Head on over to Infrarot.de to listen to 45-second samples of all 6 songs (I particularly like “Get On II”) or Nik Page’s MySpace page to hear “Vicious girls” in its entirety. If you want this single, you’ll have to buy it from Infrarot too, because I haven’t found it anywhere else. It’s not even in the Wannsee shop (run by their label) yet.

Nik Page - Vicious Girls single tracklisting
01. Vicious Girls (Radio Edit)
02. Vicious Girls (Razorblade Classic Extended Version)
03. Medusa (feat. Menichal Servants)
04. Vicious Girls (Razorblade Miss Evil Mix)
05. Vicious Girls (Short & Dirty Version)
06. Get On II

2 - Songs Of Lemuria - Footprints
Next is Songs Of Lemuria, another band that Nik Page is a singer in, along with Michaela Laubach. “Footprints” is actually short for “Footprints On The Moon” which comes from the band’s debut album Deep. This single doesn’t have any remixes, but it does include a previous unreleased song called “Twist In My Sobriety” and one other song from the album. Once again, finding this single was a pain because nobody has it except Infrarot.de (and you can find the 45-second samples there, too). Wannsee could definitely use some better distribution.

Songs Of Lemuria - Footprints single tracklisting
01. Footprints On The Moon (Radio Edit)
02. Twist In My Sobriety
03. Hunting High And Low
04. Footprints On The Moon (Basic Version)

3 - Unheilig - An Deiner Seite
Just as a reminder, Unheilig is releasing their new single “An Deiner Seite” to support their amazing new album Puppenspiel. This is a great song and the single even includes its music video. For details and the complete tracklisting, be sure to see Valtteri’s post about “An Deiner Seite”.

Hot on the heels of the phenomenal new album Puppenspiel (you can also read the review here), Unheilig is set to release a new single An Deiner Seite on the 28th of this month. Although the voting for the next EP which’ll be released later in May is still open and going strong, the band’s frontman Der Graf has personally chosen An Deiner Seite as the next single. It seems to be a very personal song for him, as it’s about a close friend of his, in addition to being a very nice track. It’s interesting to note that the single will also have a video for the song, the first one since the Freiheit video of 2004.

Tracklisting for the An deiner Seite single:
1. An Deiner Seite (Radio Version)
2. An Deiner Seite
3. Goldene Zeiten (Clubmix)
4. An Deiner Seite (Video)

There are many bands that undoubtedly are great overall, but on every record amongst the masterpieces there’s a bunch of a lot inferior or even downright bad songs. A prime German example of such a band would be KMFDM. Every album has its fair share of instant classics, yet to counter them there’s always a couple of really insignificant and inane tracks that don’t do anything to justify their existence. But what does this have to do with Unheilig?

Yeah, nothing at all, because Unheilig isn’t like that. On Unheilig’s latest offering Puppenspiel (released February 22nd) Der Graf shows yet again his nearly unreal talent in songwriting and manages to churn out a full 14 tracks (16 if you’ve got the limited edition, like yours truly), every single one of which are enjoyable. Yes, the previous albums Moderne Zeiten and Zelluloid were both very solid and the same could’ve been said about them, but Puppenspiel is bordering perfection. To be quite honest, I was kind of skeptical when the first three samples of the album (Der Vorhang fällt, An deiner Seite and Kleine Puppe) were revealed. They were good, but they didn’t predict that many changes to the sound and formula that proved to be a winning combination on the last two CDs. However, when the urgent intro Vorhang auf exploded perfectly into Puppenspieler, it grabbed me by the throat and didn’t let go until I’d listened the CD straight through.

Most of the album is darker and notably more furious than the almost overly sluggish and romantic Moderne Zeiten, especially Lampenfieber is a surprisingly brutal cut for Unheilig, while the ballads Feuerengel, An deiner Seite and Der Vorhäng fällt are no slouches either, as they are genuinely touching and powerful. Guitars seem to have more of a driving role here than electronics making for a heavier sound than before, although synths, pianos and strings are still a large part of the band’s sound. Der Graf also uses his voice in ways we haven’t heard before. Too bad the limited edition is already completely sold out, as the two bonus songs are also terrific additions to the core experience. Probably the only song that doesn’t stand out as much as everything else is Wie viele Jahre, which seems more like filler with its weird, out-of-place Gregorian sample and is grudgingly slow.

In other words, Puppenspiel is tougher, catchier, more epic and simply put better than anything Der Graf has created before. It’s chock-full of songs that’ve been composed and produced so excellently that it’s almost ridiculous, a brilliant, expert combination of both familiar and new Unheilig elements. For fans it’s automatically a must-have, and if you’re not a fan of Unheilig yet, Puppenspiel proves that you bloody well should be, it’s that damn good. Get it and see for yourself.

Check out samples for each track on Nilaihah’s website, where you can also order it if you’re in the US. When you’ve got the album, don’t forget to vote for your favourite title on the German side of Unheilig’s website.

Where to get Puppenspiel
In the USA/Canada direct from Nilaihah Records
In the UK at MusicNonStop.co.uk
In Germany/Europe at AlphaMusic.de

We have been experiencing a major influx of German bands touring over here in North America in recent months. So far in 2008, we have seen The Jeans Team, De/Vision, and And One all successfully complete their tours, but the fun has just begun! 4 more German bands have recently confirmed that they will also be touring America. They are: Seabound, Doro, Accessory, and Destroid. In addition to these confirmed bands, Unheilig fans also know that there have been rumors of an American tour later in the year for that band. And as an extra boost to all of this excitement, the Finnish cello rock band Apocalyptica (which has a lot of connections with German bands) will also be going on an extensive 30-concert tour across the continent. 2008 has just gotten a lot better!

I will certainly post the full tourdates for all of the bands listed above in the coming weeks, but the next band to arrive is Seabound so I need to tell you about them first…

Seabound is the next German band to tour America
Seabound is a synthpop duo which has produced 4 studio albums to date. With a rapidly expanding fanbase worldwide thanks to the support of Metropolis Records, they are now preparing to embark on their first tour overseas. The “Alliance Tour 2008″ will take Seabound across the United States for 14 concerts. Shortly after the tour concludes, the band will release their first live album Come Forward - Live In Berlin on April 8th. The electro group Iris will be opening for Seabound throughout the entire tour, except the Connecticut show because that’s a larger festival with lots of bands.

You can listen to some of Seabound’s music on their MySpace page. Seabound.de also has lots of info about the band, from photos and lyrics to album reviews and additional MP3 samples. Take some time to check this band out, and head to one of their concerts if you like their music. I’ve heard they put on really great shows.

Seabound “Alliance Tour 2008″ dates:
Click the link on the venue for ticket info

Mar 12 - Shampoo - Philadelphia, PA
Mar 13 - Rock and Roll Hotel - Washington D.C.
Mar 14 - Blacksun Festival - New Haven, CT
Mar 15 - The Madison - New York City, NY
Mar 16 - Water Street - Rochester, NY
Mar 18 - Pegasus - Pittsburgh, PA
Mar 19 - Luna - Detroit, MI
Mar 20 - Darkroom - Chicago, IL
Mar 22 - Elysium - Austin, TX
Mar 24 - Club Dada - Dallas, TX
Mar 26 - El Corazon - Seattle, WA
Mar 27 - Mt. Tabor - Portland, OR
Mar 29 - DNA Lounge - San Francisco, CA
Mar 30 - Safari Sam’s - Los Angeles, CA

German music fans have been awaiting the release of Unheilig’s new album for a long time now, but finally Puppenspiel is almost here! Tomorrow, February 22nd, the album will be released in Europe via Four Rock Entertainment. A week later on February 29th, Unheilig will have their first North American album release ever when Nilaihah Records distributes Puppenspiel for the band’s overseas fans.

As is typical with most new album releases, there will be 2 versions of Puppenspiel. The standard version will have 14 new songs including an instrumental at the end. There is also a limited edition digipack with 2 bonus tracks, but the evidence I have seen suggests that this version will only be released in Europe. If you really want it outside of Europe, you can head to your favorite foreign music importer like Isotank.com.

Listen to Puppenspiel
Puppenspiel keeps Unheilig’s fantastic combination of electronic and rock music intact. The band has uploaded samples to 3 of the new songs a few weeks ago on their MySpace page. Full versions of those 3 songs are also available to buy as MP3s here. More recently, Nilaihah’s website has also added more samples of every song on the album so you can get a better idea of how it sounds.

Unheilig on tour
Unheilig will be busy running all over Europe for a while with the tour they already have planned. Most of the dates run from March through May and span all the way from Spain to Russia. You can see all the tourdates by visiting Unheilig.com and clicking on “Concerts” in the menu. Rumor has it that the band will be touring the United States sometime in the Fall, too! Stay tuned for that, you won’t want to miss it.

Unheilig - Puppenspiel tracklist
01. Vorhang auf
02. Puppenspieler
03. Spiegelbild
04. Dein Clown
05. Sei mein Licht
06. Fang mich auf
07. Feuerengel
08. Kleine Puppe
09. An deiner Seite
10. Die Bestie
11. Lampenfieber
12. Wie viele Jahre
13. Der Vorhang fällt
14. Memoria (instrumental)
15. Glaub an mich (bonus track on limited edition only)
16. Spielzeugmann (bonus track on limited edition only)

Where to get Puppenspiel
In the USA/Canada direct from Nilaihah Records
In the UK at MusicNonStop.co.uk
In Germany/Europe at AlphaMusic.de

The German gothic rock band Unheilig is currently planning the release of a new album. The band’s newsletter just announced that it will be called Puppenspiel, and it will be released on February 22nd, 2008. That’s just slightly over 2 years after the release of their current full-length album, Moderne Zeiten, which hit stores in January of 2006. However, they did have 2 smaller EPs that were released since then, so the band certainly hasn’t been sitting around doing nothing all this time. You can hear a few songs from those on Unheilig’s MySpace page.

I’m looking forward to hearing more news about Puppenspiel as February gets closer, and I’ll be sure to post it here for you. Stay tuned!

Thanks to Paul for pointing this out.