Fragile as a flower of ice and equally beautiful. That’s how one could summarize Unter dem Eis, Eisblume’s very first release, which hit the stores on 16th May. And boy, what a first release! With just four tracks, one of which is actually a remix of the title song, and clocking in at just under 17 minutes it can only barely be considered an EP, but then again, not a single minute of those is wasted.

This is achieved by alternating between grandiose, orchestral walls of sound and distant, fragile pianoes and utilizing some carefully picked pop elements and most importantly, Ria’s incredible voice. Although the aforementioned elements aren’t the most innovative things you can imagine, with the help of Ria it holds Eisblume’s music together and makes it stand out. Excellent production values all over just accentuate the amount of thought and work has been put into this project.

The title track begins by treating the listener to some tender, distant sounds before the angel-like voice of the real iceflower herself, the singer Ria, takes over. Then the song crescendoes into the chorus… It’s frail, it’s emotional and it’s melancholic but at the same time it’s surprisingly massive and epic. Almost the same goes for the rest of the EP. Track number three, Zeit zu gehen, is as powerful as Unter dem Eis, whereas in the last track Louise Ria is accompanied by just a piano for a large part of the song. Even the remix of Unter dem Eis doesn’t feel like filler. It sounds more like the alternative direction Eisblume could’ve taken by bringing in a lot more guitars and being a lot heavier overall.

All in all, Unter dem Eis is absolutely fantastic, probably one of the very best debut releases ever and one of the best releases this year. Is it groundbreaking? Well, no, but damned if it doesn’t sound great and leave you wanting more. All the songs stand out on their own, and are just as single-class material as the title song, and even the remix of the latter earns its place with its substantially differnet take on it. I’m eager to find out if the forces behind this project are able to conjure up a whole album that’s as complete and thorough as Unter dem Eis. For all you who don’t mind a touch of pop in your gothic rock and enjoy an expertly produced piece of music, Eisblume is something you should not miss.

Check out our previous coverage on Eisblume and Unter dem Eis for tracklisting, a video and more.

Sinnflut is back with their 6th studio album to date, Epik, which will be released on Biohazzard Records. There have been conflicting release dates, either today (May 23rd) or next week (May 30th), but the date doesn’t matter as much as the phenomenal music does. Sinnflut and combines symphonic and darkwave elements in the manner of Janus or Der Eremit. It’s a really great sound that should appeal to a variety of listeners.

Check out the extended MP3 samples of Epik that are available for download on the band’s website. They also have a few full length songs from various albums on this page. There’s also a “music video” that the band posted on YouTube, but I’m not posting the actual video for it here because it’s not really worth watching. It’s better just so you can hear another full length song.

If you like what you hear, you can get the album from either AlphaMusic.de which has it the cheapest at 9.99, or you can choose to pay a bit more but support the band more directly by getting it from their own website for €12.00.

Sinnflut - Epik tracklisting
01. Intro
02. Wortkarg
03. Wie ein Gewittern
04. Wenn es leise wird
05. Spiegelverkehrt
06. Sie atmet nicht einmal
07. Mir ist das Bild
08. Eine Last voll Glück

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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Eisblume is a new melancholic pop project fronted by Ria, the singer and creative force of the band. Eisblume’s career in the music world will be started with the EP Unter dem Eis, which will be released on the 16th of May, and it will later be followed by a full-length album as stated in an interview with Ria in the latest German Orkus magazine. Unfortunately, there’s hardly any extensive information on the band anywhere, just check out Eisblume’s own website for proof. I guess it’s still under construction, as the band is really very new.

Eisblume’s music seems to be a lovely combination of almost excessive melancholy, fragile vocals, chilly winter themes, atmospheric, soft pianoes and just a slight touch of heavier elements thrown into the mix. If you are interested, you should head to Eisblume’s MySpace site, where you can find generous samples of four songs from the upcoming EP and album. You can also watch the video for Unter dem Eis embedded below. Unter Dem Eis can be ordered at Alphamusic.de for 5,49 €, but I’m afraid I wasn’t able to find it anywhere else

Important note from Greg: Don’t confuse this new band with the other existing band called Eisblume (this one is at Eisblume.net) which is led by singer Christine Westphal and released an album in 2006.

Tracklisting for Unter dem Eis
01. Unter dem Eis
02. Unter dem Eis (Derek van Krogh Remix)
03. Zeit zu gehen
04. Louise

Unter dem Eis video

On April 30th, Sopor Aeternus & The Ensemble of Shadows (or just Sopor Aeternus) released its eleventh album titled Sanatorium Altrosa (Musical Therapy for Spiritual Dysfunction). Sopor Aeternus is a German oddity of a darkwave, folk and gothic project comprised of just one person, the mysterious Anna-Varney Cantodea. Not much is known about Anna-Varney, “not much” meaning not a bloody thing including his/her actual gender, real name or age.

The new album Sanatorium Altrosa comes in two different setups, a deluxe hardcover book edition and an even more deluxe boxed set. Both of them are limited to just 999 copies, so the CD is highly difficult to get anywhere. Actually, the only place I managed to find it at is Isotank where you can get the book edition for $59.99. The record is already completely sold out in other retailers I checked, so good luck getting your hands on this one.

To get a taster for Sopor Aeternus’s interesting mix of folkish and gothic aesthetics and musical elements, check out their MySpace site.

Track Listing for Sanatorium Altrosa:
01. Consider this: the true Meaning of Love (instr.)
02. Architecture II
03. Shave, if you love me (remix)
04. La Mort d’Arthur (instr.)
05. Consider this (orig. version)
06. The Conqueror Worm II (instr.)
07. In der Palästra (instr.)
08. Collision
09. Les Fleurs du Mal (instr.)
10. Bitter Sweet (instr.)
11. Consider this: the true Meaning of Love

E Nomine is a well known name among German music fans. Their catchy electronic dance music combined with traditional Gregorian-style chanting elements is quite an impressive combination to say the least. Unfortunately, it has been several years since a new E Nomine album was released and fans have begun to get anxious. The band hasn’t even updated their website in 3 years! There was a glimpse of hope last year when a new single called “Heilig” appeared on some music mailorder sites including Amazon.de, but the supposed December 28th, 2007 release was cancelled and we still have no new E Nomine to listen to.

Or do we? You obviously can’t order the single from anywhere, but a little bit of research did reveal a website where you can listen to short clips from this 6-track maxi single. Well, that’s a start. But I’ve also heard that the new album is called Das Dunkle Element and it’s been finished for a while now. It also appears to contain some songs that were already previously released (for example, the title track “Das Dunkle Element” was released on the “Das Böse” single). So what’s stopping the release? Maybe E Nomine is having label problems, maybe the members are having personal issues, I really don’t know. If you have any tips about E Nomine, please leave a comment and share your knowledge with us.

E Nomine - Heilig single tracklisting:
01. Heilig (Radio Edit)
02. Heilig (Single Mix)
03. Heilig (Rock It Radio Mix)
04. Heilig (Extended Version)
05. Heilig (Beat This Mix)
06. Heilig (Instrumental Mix)

E Nomine - Das Dunkle Element tracklisting:
01. Das Dunkle Element (Opening)
02. Wiegenlied (Album Version)
03. Element Interlude 1
04. Heilig (Single Version)
05. Element Interlude 2
06. Mala (Album Version)
07. Element Interlude 3 (Gebet)
08. Der Ring Der Nebelungen (New Version)
09. Element Interlude 4
10. Per L’Eternita (Album Version)
11. Element Interlude 5 (Spirale)
12. Spiegelbilder (Album Version)
13. Element Interlude 6 (des Lichts)
14. Carpe Noctem (Album Version)
15. Element Interlude 7
16. Wer Den Wind Sat…(Album Version)
17. Element Interlude 8
18. Espiritu Del Aire (Album Version)
19. Element Interlude 9
20. Ein Neuer Tag (Album Version)

Edit: Yes, I know most of the tracks on the album were already released. The album tracklisting is just a rumor so far, it’s not official, so please don’t mistake it for anything confirmed!

Documentary about Einstürzende Neubauten planned
The Berlin-based film maker Uli Schueppel is planning a documentary about Einstürzende Neubauten’s first concert which took place on December 21st, 1989 in what was then East Berlin. This should be really interesting to see when it’s completed, but for now Uli is in search of anyone who attended that concert and who can provide some additional information for his documentary. Anyone who can help should contact him at info@schueppel-films.de.

Diary Of Dreams has a clothing collection
I don’t know how old this news is, but it caught me by surprise as I was browsing Infrarot.de. Apparently Diary Of Dreams has launched a clothing line in association with the gothic clothing company Aderlass. They have several different styles of jackets, trench coats, pants and skirts available. You can see them all on Infrarot.de here, but I have to warn you, they are pretty expensive. The prices range from €89.90 to €239.90.

Lacrimosa begins work on new album
Lacrimosa, the Swiss gothic metal band headed up by Tilo Wolff, has begun working on their next album. This will be the band’s 10th studio album since they formed in 1990, and their first major release since their 2007 live album Lichtjahre. If you’re in Europe, be sure to catch one of their upcoming concerts or the Blackfield Festival in Gelsenkirchen where they will be headlining.

Every once in a while, there is a certain non-German band that’s just too good not to mention, so I always try to find some obscure reason that makes them eligible for this blog. Luckily for me, that’s not too hard to do in the case of Apocalyptica. They are from Finland, but they do have links to several German bands like Rammstein, The Farmer Boys, Die Happy and Guano Apes, all of whom have provided guest vocals at one time or another to Apocalyptica. So now that we have established that much, let’s get on with the whole purpose of this post.

News about the tour
Apocalyptica will be touring the United States and Canada very soon. Their tour begins next Friday, April 11th, and continues on until mid-May for a grand total of 30 concerts. This is a really big tour for a foreign band and they are visiting lots of regions that most bands don’t go to, so let’s help make it worth it for them. Go to one of their concerts, you won’t be disappointed!

Ticket info
Tickets for most of the venues are for sale here on Ticketmaster.com. Also, please note that Ticketmaster lists a few of the venues as being in different towns than the official tour list which is listed below. The venues are all the same, but the actual city it’s in may be a neighboring town to the major city in the list below, so just do a little homework ahead of time to find out exactly where you’re going.

Worlds Collide will be released in North America
One last thing. Apocalyptica’s current album Worlds Collide, which was originally released in Europe on September 14th, will be released in the United States and Canada on Tuesday, April 15th. Chances are, you can probably buy it at their concerts as well. Check out my original post about Worlds Collide for all the info and tracklisting.

Apocalyptica’s 2008 North American Tour dates:
April 12 - House of Blues - San Diego, CA
April 13 - The Boardwalk - Orangevale, CA
April 14 - Roxy - Los Angeles, CA
April 16 - Slim’s - San Francisco, CA
April 17 - Roseland - Portland, OR
April 18 - El Corazon - Seattle, WA
April 19 - Commodore - Vancouver, BC
April 21 - In the Venue - Salt Lake City, UT
April 22 - Gothic Theatre - Denver, CO
April 23 - Beaumont Club - Kansas City, MO
April 24 - Pop’s - St. Louis, IL
April 26 - Fine Line - Minneapolis, MN
April 27 - House of Blues - Chicago, IL
April 28 - House of Blues - Cleveland, OH
April 29 - Crofoot - Detroit, MI
April 30 - Phoenix Theater - Toronto, ON
May 1 - Metropolis - Montreal, QC
May 2 - Paradise Club - Boston, MA
May 4 - Trocadero Theatre - Philadelphia, PA
May 5 - Fillmore / Irving Plaza - New York, NY
May 7 - Club - Washington, DC
May 8 - Amos - Charlotte, NC
May 9 - The Masquerade - Atlanta, GA
May 10 - Parish at House of Blues - New Orleans, LA
May 11 - Warehouse Live - Houston, TX
May 12 - House of Blues - Dallas, TX
May 14 - Sunshine Theatre - Albuquerque, NM
May 15 - Marquee - Phoenix, AZ
May 16 - Pima County Fairgrounds (KFMA Radio Day) - Tucson, AZ
May 19 - House of Blues - Las Vegas, NV

The gothic band Lacrimas Profundere recently announced on their MySpace page that they will release their next album Songs For The Last View sometime in May. That announcement was made a little over a week ago on March 19th, but I’m seeing signs of the album being released later than they said. More specifically, EMP.de (which is the only site that has the album available to pre-order already, as far as I can tell) has the release date listed as June 27th. Just judging from EMP’s past, I’d say the release date they have listed is psobably more accurate.

Interestingly, EMP.de is also showing 3 different versions of Songs For The Last View including a standard CD version, and CD+DVD version in a digipack, and a CD+DVD digipack version that also comes with a T-shirt. I haven’t seen a tracklisting for the album yet, nor have I heard any samples of the music, but I will be sure to post these in the future when I see them.

ASP just released a new compilation called Horror Vacui yesterday. It’s a best-of album and includes 33 songs spanning the band’s entire history on 2 discs. Some are just copies of the original songs, but most are either remastered or totally rerecorded. You’ll also find several remixes, live versions, and even a few previously unreleased tracks as you listen. I’ve been listening to ASP for years, and I think they did a great job with this selection.

If you like electronic influenced gothic rock but you don’t know ASP’s music, this would surely be a good place to start. You’ll probably want to go for the regular version of Horror Vacui which just has the 2 CDs and all the music. But if you’re already a big fan of ASP and a collector, maybe you would prefer the limited edition which comes with a 40 page booklet. There’s also a bonus DVD with photo galleries, a short film, and an original frame from the 35mm film reel.

More info about ASP and Horror Vacui
Be sure to check out the ASP interview on DeutschMusikLand.com that Joki performed with the members of ASP before their concert in Köln back in November. It is incredibly informative and reveals a lot about the band’s history as well as Horror Vacui.

Don’t forget to read all about some of ASP’s other recent releases, too.

ASP - Horror Vacui tracklist

Disc 1:
01. How far would you go? (single version)
02. Hunger (re-recorded)
03. Coming Home
04. Schwarzer Schmetterling (re-mastered)
05. Ich will brennen (re-recorded)
06. Dancing (re-recorded)
07. Weltunter (re-recorded)
08. Demon Love (re-recorded)
09. De Profundis
10. Sing Child (re-mastered)
11. Panik (Horror Vacui mix)
12. Die kleine Ballade vom Schwarzen Schmetterling (re-mastered)
13. Raserei
14. Stille der Nacht (re-recorded)
15. Once in a Lifetime (re-mastered)
16. Die Ruhe vor dem Sturm (re-mastered)

Disc 2:
01. Ich bin ein wahrer Satan (single version)
02. Me (video edit 2.0)
03. Schwarzes Blut (club version)
04. Kokon (Horror Vacui mix)
05. Biotopia
06. Werben (re-recorded)
07. Ballade von der Erweckung (re-mastered)
08. Sanctus Benedictus (End of Virginity-version)
09. Krabat (club version)
10. Lykantropie (re-recorded)
11. Finger Weg! Finger!
12. Schwarz (re-recorded)
13. Tiefenrausch-LIVE (previously unreleased)
14. Und wir tanzten - Ungeschickte Liebesbriefe (re-mastered)
15. Nie Mehr (Horror Vacui mix)
16. Duett - Minnelied der Incubi
17. So viel tiefer (previously unreleased)

Horror Vacui video trailer

Source: youtube.com/watch?v=5Sv2Cq8ZGDM