Barely half a year has passed since the Austrian L’Âme Immortelle (website still under construction, check out the Myspace or the fansite Voiceless for more information) released Namenlos, a massive 2-CD album packed to the brim with EBM-influenced industrial metal. Now the duo formed by Thomas Rainer and Sonja Kraushofer are set to release a 2-CD rework album of Namenlos, titled Durch fremde Hand, on the 25th of July. Disc number 1 of Durch fremde Hand will feature every single song from the first CD of Namenlos, each remixed or covered by various artists, and the second disc has some completely new tracks recorded specifically for Durch fremde Hand.

Durch fremde Hand will be available as a basic jewel-case edition with both discs and a 20-page booklet, and in addition to that, there’s a strictly limited (2000 pieces worldwide) version in a digipak and a 28-page booklet. Now, this is where it gets complicated. First of all, there are differing accounts of the contents of disc 2, with some sites saying there are five new songs and others saying there’s six. Secondly, the only tracklisting I’ve found is a mammoth 19-piece one, and I just don’t have a bloody idea if it’s just for disc 1 or does it also include the tracks for disc 2. You can find it anyway at the end of this post.

Durch fremde Hand can be preordered at least at InfraRot and EMP, but word has it that it will be also be released in the US on Metropolis Records, so you should be able to get it from their shop or for example at Isotank.

Tracklisting for Durch fremde Hand by L’Âme Immortelle
1. 1000 Voices (Echoes Of A Thousand Voices Covered By ASP)
2. Behind The Light (Beautiful Light Remix By Bella Donna)
3. Bleib (Plastic Remix By Dope Stars Inc.)
4. Blutrot (Quiet Heart Remix By Necessary Response)
5. Das Kühle Grab
6. Durch Fremde Hand
7. Ein Blick Zurück
8. Es Tur Mir Leid (Entschuldigung Remix By Grendel)
9. Jenseits Der Schatten (Void Remix By Monozelle)
10. Lost (Pin-Up Remix By XPQ-21)
11. Namenlos (Drifting Downwards Remix By Perfidious Words)
12. Niemals (Club Remix By Wynardtage)
13. Now You’re Gone
14. Ophelia
15. Reborn (Hardcore Remix By Las Vegas 909)
16. Requiem (Satya Yuga Remix By Affentanz)
17. Suffocating Endlessly
18. The Cleansing (Voidian Cleansing Remix By Beyond The Void)
19. Vergessen (Die Namenlosen Von Berlin By Üebermutter)

Destroid on tour in the US

Destroid is a project created by Daniel Myer of Haujobb, along with Sebastian Ullman, in 2004. Their latest album Loudspeaker was released in October of 2007, before which they supported [:SITD:] in a tour acrossed Europe. Now, they are flying over the Atlantic for a tour of the United States.

The venue locations seem somewhat evenly spread out acrossed the country, so if you’re within a reasonable distance from any of them, I recommend going. If you’re on the West Coast, you may also have the opportunity to attend one of Daniel Myer’s DJ sets which are scheduled towards the end of the tour. Of course, if you’re not familiar with Myer or Destroid, check out their music on MySpace.

Destroid 2008 U.S. Tourdates
May 22 - Los Angeles, CA - Knitting Factory
May 23 - Austin, TX - Elysium
May 25 - Columbus, OH - Hi-5
May 28 - New York, NY - Sapony
May 29 - Washington, DC - Liv
May 30 - West Palm Beach, FL - Respectable Street
May 31 - Orlando, FL - AKA Lounge
June 03 - San Francisco, CA - Fat City
June 05 - Portland, OR - Mt. Tabor Legacy
June 06 - Seattle, WA - El Corazon
June 07 - Seattle, WA - El Corazon - Daniel Myer DJ set only
June 08 - Portland, OR - The Fez Ballroom - Daniel Myer DJ set only
June 09 - Denver, CO - Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom
June 13 - Los Angeles, CA - Knitting Factory - Daniel Myer DJ set only
June 14 - Phonix, AZ - Sadisco

King’s Tonic will do a quick tour, too

King’s Tonic might be a new name to some of you. I know they were to me when I first heard them on Radio Goethe last week. They’re a punk rock band who just released their second album Fuck Your Neighbour earlier this year and they’re doing a really short 5-show tour in the Southwestern United States at the end of May. Unless you’re near LA or Vegas, there’s not much of a chance you’ll be able to see them perform, but you should definitely visit their MySpace page and give them a listen.

King’s Tonic U.S. Mini-Tour
May 23 - Los Angeles, CA - Doll Hut
May 24 - Anaheim, CA - Ceros
May 28 - Los Angeles, CA - Di Piazzas
May 30 - Los Angeles, CA - Fullerton Back Alley
June 06 - Las Vegas, NV - Double Down Saloon

Also… Festival Kinetik starts tomorrow

Just a reminder, the Festival Kinetik in Montreal starts tomorrow and goes on until Saturday. If you’re lucky enough to be going, enjoy the performances by the 5 German industrial and noise bands that will be there: Feindflug, Funker Vogt, Kiew, Noisuf-X, and Xotox.

Just shy of one year after their last album Symbol, Greifenkeil is already back with a new album that was just released today, May 9th. It’s called Blood Mystery and features 12 new songs from this dark electro-industrial act.

The traditional album format of all songs being mostly the same length is pretty much ignored here. Several of tracks (called “intros” in the tracklisting, although they are probably more like interludes) are pretty short, between 1:30 and 2:30 in length. To make up for this, most of the songs in between are more than 8 minutes, while one (”Blood Motion”) is almost 11 minutes long. All summed up, the album comes out to be about an hour in length.

Check out Greifenkeil’s MySpace page for several samples from the new album. You can find it online at AlphaMusic.de for 13.99 EUR.

Greifenkeil - Blood Mystery tracklisting
01. Reveal (Intro)
02. Blood Mystery
03. The Flow (Intro)
04. Blood Motion
05. Impasse (Intro)
06. Vendetta
07. Unleash (Intro)
08. Blood War
09. Goddess Of Blood
10. Tears Of Blood
11. Mystery (Outro)
12. Blood Mystery (Video Edit)

There’s a lot of buzz online surrounding Shnarph!’s debut full-length album Lautlos, especially because it’s now almost 4 years since their introductory EP, but some of the news is kind of confusing to be honest. For example, I’ve seen about a half dozen different release dates listed all over the internet. The majority of them are pointing us towards May 9th, however.

You may also notice that they’re calling this release of Lautlos a “limited edition” even in the absence of a normal version of the album. That doesn’t make any sense at first, but some sources seem to hint at a lesser version of the album (probably without the 3 bonus remixes) being released at a later time. When that is exactly is not yet known.

So, amidst all the buzz, some useful information does emerge. The first pressing of Lautlos will be released on May 9th. You can find it at online retailers like Infrarot.de in Europe and Isotank.com in North America.

You can listen to a few samples of Shnraph!’s music on their MySpace page, however just one is from Lautlos.

Shnarph! - Lautlos tracklisting
01. Von der Einsamkeit
02. Der Eiertanz
03. Virus
04. Die letzte Pussy
05. Albtraum
06. Reden und Atmen (Album Version)
07. Lebensangst
08. Ausgebrannt
09. Schnelle Kugel
10. Eine tolle Predigt
11. Donnern im Tal (Das Berghaus 2)
Bonus Tracks:
12. Virus (Gegenmittelmix von Schallfaktor)
13. Virus (U.N.K. Retractor Mix)
14. Virus (Krankheit Mensch Mix von Splitterpuppe)

Soman is becoming well known for their industrial-EBM style that is geared specifically for clubs. Their latest album Mask proved that this strategy is quite effective… and also great listen to. Now, the crew is back with a new EP, albeit a very long one, called Re:Up which has lots of remixes of their songs done by a range of other industrial, noise, and EBM acts. Just take a look at the tracklisting below for names like Noisuf-X, Xotox, XP8, and others.

Re:Up is being released tomorrow, May 2nd, on Infacted Recordings. We will also see an American release on COP International. They don’t seem to specify an exact release date for the American version, but it doesn’t really matter since you can already get it from them now for $9.99 (and they use PayPal so payment should be very easy). If you’re in Europe, I would recommend AlphaMusic.de which has Re:Up for €9.99.

If you’re not sure you want it, check out Soman’s MySpace page and see if it convinces you. It did for me.

Soman - Re:Up EP tracklisting
01. Absolution
02. Noise Anthem
03. Hear The Noise
04. Innocence V.2 (Sam Remix)
05. Divine (Clean Remix)
06. Divine (Noisuf-X Remix)
07. Tears (2008 Rmx)
08. Hear The Noise (Remix)
09. Divine (Modulate Remix)
10. Divine (Acylum Remix)
11. Tears (Xotox Remix)
12. Divine (XP8 Remix)
13. Mask (Pt. 1 MS Mix)
14. Divine (Original Mix)

Chris Pohl is the founder of a handful of bands like Blutengel and Terminal Choice and now he has yet another new project called Miss Construction. The release of the band’s debut album Kunstprodukt is just around the corner on Friday, April 25th. Most of the songs on the album are new, but the tracklist also features a remade version of Terminal Choice’s “Totes Fleisch”, a cover of Eco’s “Hass und Liebe” and is rounded out by 2 additional remixes.

Listen to Miss Construction
Miss Construction’s MySpace page has a “MC megamix” that lets you hear a medley of songs from Kunstprodukt. The music is basically in an electro-industrial or EBM style, but the band prefers to ridicule themselves with the term “industrial splatter porno pop”… I am consistently amused by such ridiculous self-imposed genre names.

Purchase Kunstprodukt
Kunstprodukt is being distributed by the German label Out Of Line. In Europe, the lowest prices for the album can be found in their own webshop or at Infrarot.de, both of which have it for €12.99. Isotank.com has it as an import for us Americans, for $19.99.

Miss Construction - Kunstprodukt tracklisting
01. Intro
02. Miss Construction Theme
03. Kunstprodukt
04. Eins und Zwei
05. Headshot
06. F**k Me, too
07. Hass und Liebe
08. Lunatic
09. I Luv U
10. Totes Fleisch
11. Slaughterhouse
12. F**k U bitch
13. Pornostar
14. Electro Beast
15. Kunstprodukt - remixed by Gintronic
16. Electro Beast - remixed by Dolls Of Pain

I just found out that 2 more German bands will be performing concerts in the United States later this year. So far, [:SITD:] is supposed to be playing on September 20th at Das Bunker in Los Angeles, and Soman will be appearing at the same club on August 22nd and will be headlining the Reverence Festival in Madison, Wisconsin the very next day. That’s all the shows in America these 2 electro-industrial acts have planned so far, but I am really hoping these evolve into longer tours that reach the New York area. I would love to see both these bands, and I know plenty of others who would too.

I’ll keep you updated about these bands and any more American concerts they plan. Until then, be sure to check out some of their music. Visit either SITD’s MySpace page or Soman’s Myspace page.

Usually when a band describes their music as something new and hard to describe, it’s a load of bullshit. Amnistia is no different, then. The band’s own biography describes their music as being “without a main focus on trends in the clubscene.” And then immediately afterward, it says “kickdrums, hard basslines, snaresounds, discreet but striking placed samples and a charismatic voice are the attributes of their sound.” Is it just me, or did they completely contradict themselves there? I think they did. And a quick sampling of the music on their MySpace page confirms that all of this talk about sounding different and unique is meaningless. There are lots of bands that sound almost exactly like them. Why try to trick people into thinking otherwise?

The saving grace
You’re probably wondering by now if this band is even worth a listen, given my harsh criticism so far. Is it best to simply avoid Amnistia all together? No. Actually, their music is pretty good, and I would suggest having a listen. It may not be anything new, but a band’s sound doesn’t have to be new to be good. It just has to appeal to you, and if you like dark electro-industrial music, you will probably like Amnistia. So go and have a listen. Their new album Blackguard was just released on April 11th and is available at all the typical webshops.

The point
The whole point of my criticism is to show the stupidity of typical marketing campaign that tries to turn a band into something it’s not. Don’t lie (or let others lie for you) about your sound because you will be called out on it every time. You only stand to lose the respect of lots of would-be fans by doing this. You don’t have to be humble, just be genuine. Let people listen to your music and let them decide what genre you fit into or what bands you do or don’t sound like. Because at the end of the day when all is said and done, bands don’t place themselves into genres, fans do.

Amnistia - Blackguard tracklisting:
01. init²
02. emulate
03. anger management
04. blackguard
05. komplex
06. creed
07. fractured
08. zu staub
09. menacing
10. outrage
11. cold
12. our darkest path
13. scars [not just words]

Patenbrigade Wolff is one of the bands I’ve discovered by listening to Radio Goethe, and they could become one of my newest favorite bands. I love everything I’ve heard so far and I’m really looking forward to their new album Demokratischer Sektor which is being released next week on Friday, April 18th. The electronics are precise and refined, very much in the style of EBM, but Patenbrigade Wolff is a bit more electronic and approaches synthpop at times. Their club mixes in particular are bouncier and less stompey than your typical EBM, but you still get that driving beat that pushes it beyond mere synthpop. No matter what you want to call it, it’s worth listening to and I am even putting it in my recommendations category.

If you haven’t taken the opportunity to hear Patenbrigade Wolff on some of the recent Radio Goethe podcasts, you can hear several of their new songs on their MySpace page. There, they have 2 standard album songs including the title track “Demokratischer Sektor” plus 4 great club mixes to listen to. You can also listen to samples from every song on the album on the band’s website by clicking Music in the menu and selecting the Demokratischer Sektor album.

The album is filled to the brim with music, containing 20 tracks with a playtime of almost 75 minutes. There are 3 versions to choose from, starting with the standard version in a jewel case. Next, there is a limited edition (to 555 copies) that comes in a metal box with a round window in the front to display the CD. And finally, the “Premium East Collectors Edition” is limited to just 111 copies and includes the metal box version, a limited T-shirt and other goodies all inside a special box. You can find all 3 versions in the Patenbrigade Wolff webshop which conveniently accepts PayPal payments. They also have the Maurerradio and Turmdrehkran singles, both of which made it into the top 10 of the Deutsche Alternative Charts when they were released last year.

Patenbrigade Wolff - Demokratischer Sektor tracklisting:
01. Maurerradio (Extended Version)
02. Sendersuche 1
03. Stalinallee
04. Sendersuche 2
05. Demokratischer Sektor (Blutfuss Club Mix)
06. Schusswechsel
07. Die rote Fahne fällt
08. Ostberliner Bauarbeiter (Rohbau Remix by KiEw)
09. Demokratischer Sektor (PvD Club Mix)
10. Turmdrehkran (Extended Version)
11. Maurerradio (Old School Retro Club Mix)
12. Mit jedem Sender Informationen
13. Turmdrehkran (Remix by Absurd Minds)
14. Turmdrehkran (PvD Club Mix)
15. Ostberliner Bauarbeiter (Club Mix)
16. Gefahrstoffe feat. Sara Noxx (Hocinoizeflug Club Mix)
17. Krantransport feat. Sara Noxx
18. Schadenshöhe unbekannt
19. Karl-Eduard von Schnitzler
20. Maurerradio (Remix by Leserotique)

Paul and a few others recently asked me when I was going to write about the upcoming Festival Kinetik, and I am happy to oblige. For those of you who haven’t heard about Festival Kinetik, it’s a new electro/industrial/noise festival that is replacing the C.O.M.A. Festival which ran from 2004 until 2007. It will take place in Montreal, Canada from May 15th to the 17th and will feature dozens of bands and DJs from North America and across Europe, including 5 from Germany. They are Funker Vogt, Kiew, Noisuf-X, Feindflug, and Xotox. Also worth noting, this will be the first North American appearance by the latter 2 bands.

Tickets and other info for attendees
Tickets to the festival are available in the Kinetik Store at various prices depending on what the package includes. The festival website also has lots of information for anyone who might be travelling from a distance about hotels, places to eat, and lots of other stuff about the city of Montreal.

Listen to the bands of Festival Kinetik
ArtOfFact has a 2CD compilation that has music by most of the bands that will be performing at the festival (plus a few extras) called Festival Kinetik Volume 1. While this is a great mix for fans to pick up, it’s also a terrific sampler for anyone who wants to learn more about the festival’s bands before making the decision whether to go or not. You can actually listen to every song from the compilation right there on the website. Just click on a track name and then look to the left side of the screen and click the play button. If you like it, the 2CD compilation is just 12.99 CAD to purchase.

Are you going?
Is anyone planning to go to Festival Kinetik? Leave a comment if you plan on attending, or if you just have something to say about one of the bands.