Joachim Witt’s acclaimed Werkreihe Bayreuth phase of musical career and set of albums didn’t, in fact, come to a close with the 2007 best-of Auf Ewig. Instead, there was room for one final Bayreuth-release: Dorian Hunter Theme, the main theme for the successful German horror audio drama Dorian Hunter, which is based on the Dämonenkiller series of books by Ernst Vlcek. Currently five parts of Dorian Hunter have been released, with another five coming and the series ending sometime in 2010. Witt not only composed the main theme song, but he’s also responsible for all of the soundscapes present in the play. The theme song is pretty awesome - a haunting, dark and very electronic song that has more in common with Bayreuth I and Eisenherz than Witt’s latest works.

The Dorian Hunter Theme was released last month as a digital download and also as a CD single, and it contains the original version of the track, three remixes and as a bonus five short clips from the radio play. You can listen to samples and buy the single on at least Amazon.de, where you can also order the Dorian Hunter audio play CDs themselves. Alternatively, you can order everything from the publisher Zaubermond instead.

According to Witt himself, Dorian Hunter now finally wraps up the Bayreuth-era and next productions are looming in the horizon. I personally can’t wait to see what he has in store for the future. In the next few days we’ll at least be talking about Leichtmatrose, a new band Witt was recently completely enthralled by and which he gave a big hand by mentoring and providing artistic guidance, so look forward to seeing a post about that project soon!

Joachim Witt - Dorian Hunter Theme
1. Dorian Hunter Theme (Single version)
2. Dorian Hunter Theme (Moorland remix)
3. Dorian Hunter Theme (Forma tadre remix by Moorland Music)
4. Dorian Hunter Theme (Orchestral remix by Moorland Music)
5. “Mein lieber … Rest!” (snippet from part 1)
6. “Lilians Irrsinn” (snippet from part 1)
7. “Finde Dorian” (snippet from part 1)
8. “Sagen Sie mir die Wahrheit!” (snippet from the epilogue of part 2)
9. “Jeff Parker sagt Tschüss” (snippet from part 5)

I’m terribly sorry for the lack of updates recently! For me there’s been so much to do lately, and I presume it’s the same deal with Greg as well. But on to business! Again!

The ex-KMFDM, currently of Slick Idiot crazy bastard En Esch recently teamed up with Mona Mur, a respected and long-time sound engineer and vocalist. Both musicians are well-respected figures in the industrial scene but still of very different styles, so it’s interesting to see these artists perform together. Last month they finally released the fruits of their collaboration, a full-length album titled 120 Tage - The Fine Art of Beauty and Violence. The record contains eleven tracks of which seven are remade versions of Mona Mur’s 80s and 90s hits, and four are completely new songs (tracks 1, 4, 5 and 11). The project was extremely positively received by the press, and it indeed is a mystifying, oftentimes just plain weird but still extremely captivating meld of industrial elements, orchestral strings, gothic vocals and dark electro. Really a unique, extremely dynamic duo of artists. In any case, it’s damned difficult to describe but a lot more fun to listen to, so the best would be if you checked it out yourself by visiting Mona Mur & En Esch’s MySpace, where they have two full songs and two short clips.

You can find the album for sale on at least Amazon.de and Pale Music.

Thanks to teekey for the info on the all-new songs!

Mona Mur & En Esch - 120 Tage - The Fine Art of Beauty and Violence
1. Candy Cane
2. Die Ballade vom ertrunkenen Mädchen
3. 120 Tage
4. The Thin Red Line
5. Visions & Lies
6. Eintagsfliegen
7. Snake
8. Mon Amour
9. Surabaya Johnny
10. Der Song von Mandelay
11. The Wound

Eisblume released their first EP titled Unter dem Eis last year, and personally I was just blown away. Definitely one of my favourite releases last year. Now the incredibly beautiful goth pop band has come out with a brand new single titled Eisblumen, now meaning tomorrow on the 16th of January. And guess what? Eisblumen is actually a cover of Subway to Sally’s song released on the Nord Nord Ost record in 2005, and it also pretty much kicks the original version in the balls. Except breath-takingly gracefully and beautifully, if a beatdown can be performed with such qualities.

This single is available in two versions, a basic one with a radio mix and a remix, and a pricier version with… something. There are various kinds of tracklists available on the net, and some places even claim there would be a poster included. But what at least seems to be sure is that this edition has a music video included, which is also viewable for example here.

Oh hey, you can also get Derek van Krogh’s remix of Unter dem Eis for free if you sign up for Eisblume’s newsletter on the official site. Don’t miss out on the samples on Eisblume’s MySpace, either, if you haven’t heard the band before! Seriously, I recommend you to check this one out.

Eisblume - Eisblumen 2-track tracklist
1. Eisblumen (Radio Mix)
2. Eisblumen (Eisblumen Remix)

Available from Amazon.de, EMP.de

Eisblume - Eisblumen other edition (?)
1. Eisblumen Radio Mix
X extra tracks, ranging from none at all to three, two of which are remixes/instrumentals of Eisblumen and one of which is older track Louise or Zeit zu gehen. Thanks, Eisblume and the record label for not giving any sort of clear indication of what this version of the single contains.
Eisblumen Video

Available from Amazon.de, EMP.de

Blutengel’s new album Schwarzes Eis

Chris Pohl’s main project Blutengel has announced that a new album titled Schwarzes Eis will be released on Friday the 13th in February. The album, which was preceded by the single Dancing in the Light in November will be a grand package indeed, as even the normal version will have another CD along with the main album. The second disc is called Behind the Mirror and it’ll boast eight completely new instrumental tracks. The limited edition of the album, however, is where the real action is. Schwarzes Eis? Check. Behind the Mirror? Check. Fancy box? Check. Grandiose 40-page booklet? Check. A third CD with not just bonus tracks but an actual, second new album? Che… Wait, what? Yeah, the third disc is a whole album of its own, Redemption, and it’ll have 10 tracks that didn’t fit on Schwarzes Eis. One of the songs is a new version of Winter of my Life which was released earlier this year as a download and very limited 7 inch vinyl. So all in all, you’ll be getting a total of three discs full of brand-new Blutengel goodness. What’s not to like?

Unfortunately I wasn’t able to find the album anywhere for preorders, but in the meantime you can listen to a part of the song Dreh dich nicht um on Blutengel’s MySpace (which has actually been updated).

L’Âme Immortelle’s live DVD+CD emerges from the shadows

The Austrian L’Âme Immortelle’s new live DVD and CD package Jenseits der Schatten was released December 15th. The DVD side has the whole concert filmed during the band’s Namenlos tour, and it contains 21 songs from all around the band’s production, whereas the CD has 16 tracks picked from the set (you can see the track list for both after the break). Interestingly, the concert was filmed completely in black and white, making for a rather unique look. The DVD also contains some extras, for example more live material filmed in Vienna and behind the scenes goofiness.

The DVD+CD was initially only released as a limited edition six-panel digipack, and it’s available at most of your usual stores: Amazon.de for 21,95 €, Infrarot.de for 18,99 €, EMP.de for 21,99 € or for you in the US, Isotank for $24.99. Please note that the CD or DVD aren’t available separately! Just though I’d need to clear that up, since my original post was a bit ambiguous on the matter.

You can watch the trailer for the DVD here, or listen to two songs from the CD on L’Âme Immortelle’s MySpace.

(more…)

Originally founded as Sven West in 1997, the gothic electro and EBM outfit Cephalgy quickly gained fame in Germany’s electronic music scene. So much, in fact, that when they were performing live at Chemnitz, the city’s resident industrial EBM heavyweight Accessory’s people were so impressed with the band that they quickly got them into contact with Out of Line Records. In 2004, Cephalgy released their first album Engel sterben nie on Out of Line, and from there on they’ve gone on to release one EP and two more albums. Despite the super tight working pace, they’ve also had the time to make quite an amount of remixes for some of the most prominent artists in the genre, like Blutengel, Das Ich and Hocico.

The third album by Cephalgy from Dresden saw light of the day two months ago on October 10th. Initially released as a limited 2CD edition, Herzschlag is packed to the brim with cold, massive electronic beats and plenty of commanding vocals. The second disc features even more new songs and also some remixes including one by Accessory. Personally, I don’t really know if what I should think of this band, because to me they sound just a wee bit too generic and it doesn’t seem like they’re trying to do anything at all new, but hey, if you’re looking for some quality electro to add to your collection, you should definitely give them a try. I’m not saying they’re bad per se, but maybe you’ll get some more mileage out of them than me.

Cephalgy’s MySpace has a total of six full-length songs from their latest up for listening. You can get Herzschlag at most stores, for example Amazon.de for 15,95 €, EMP.de for 15,99 €, or for you people in the States, Isotank for $20.99.

Cephalgy - Herzschlag tracklist
CD1
1 Erlöse mich
2 Dunkelseele
3 Hass mich
4 Königin
5 Du
6 Electroholic
7 Müde
8 Tiefer
9 Schutzengel
10 I`ll survive
11 Lebe
12 Tränen zu Staub
13 Herzschlag

CD2:
1 Schwarze Göttin
2 Unsterblich
3 Hilfeschrei
4 Rache
5 Tiefer (Battlescream remix)
6 Erlöse mich (Accessory remix)
7 Königin (Shizophobia remix)
8 Hass mich (Deadtronic remix)

If you haven’t heard, there’s a new German music radio program broadcasting out of Ontario, Canada called Radio Nietzsche. The concept is very similar to Radio Goethe, even down to the name, so if you love the broad variety of German music you get from Radio Goethe, listening to Radio Nietzsche is a no-brainer. The show airs every Saturday afternoon from 3 PM to 5 PM (Eastern time) via TheRiotRadio.com. Check it out this weekend!

Radio Nietzsche has also just recently performed its first interview. It’s with Aliaksandr from Shino, an acoustic-gothic project from the southern German state of Baden-Württemberg. The interview, which is hosted online courtesy of DeutschMusikLand, reveals a lot about Shino’s music as well as some more personal details. Head on over to Shino’s MySpace page to listen to a few songs while you read the interview.

Mina Harker goes Tiefer on debut album

Do you remember the awesome remix version of Rammstein’s Ohne Dich by Laibach and Mina Harker? Well, now Mina Harker has finally, just about a week ago on October 31st, released her very first album titled Tiefer. Tiefer seems to be a very promising blend of gothic, industrial, rock and poppy things with Harker’s great voice on top of it all. On top of ten other rock-pop-goth songs, there’s also a duet with Dero from Oomph!, who Harker will be supporting on their German tour for the successful album Monster.

You can check several samples from the album, including the aforementioned duet with Dero, on Mina Harker’s MySpace site. Tiefer is obtainable from most stores, like EMP.de for 15,99 €, Infrarot.de for 14,99 €, Out of Line Shop for 12,99 € or Isotank for $19,99.

You’ll find the track listing for the album after the break.

Blutengel presses onwards with new single Dancing in the Light

Just a couple of months have passed since Blutengel released their huge live DVD set Moments of our LIVEs. Now the band is back at it again: a new single, titled Dancing in the Light, will be dancing in the light of day in nine days on 14th November! The single will be a teaser for the next album, which is scheduled to be released sometime early next year, and there’s going to be two different variations of the single. Both Dancing in the Light (”Forsaken”) and Dancing in the Light (”Solitary”) will feature the title track, a music video, an exclusive remix and two extra songs. The remixes and the bonus tracks are, of course, all different on both versions.

You can catch a trailer for the single here. The single seems to be orderable from just about everywhere, for example EMP.de has both versions (Solitary, Forsaken) for 6,99 €, Isotank has them (Solitary, Forsaken) for $9,99 each and Out of Line Shop has a bundle with both versions for 11,98 €.

And now for the piece of news countless people have been waiting for…

Rammstein begins recording of the new album

Yeah, that’s right, the NDH band that made the genre popular around the world has finally started recording their next album. The newly updated official website has been stripped of the Völkerball-look that’s been annoying eager fans for a couple of years by not displaying any updates at all with a simple black-and-gray style. Also, just about everything on the site has also been cleaned up and replaced with a newspost stating that recording will commence on November 9th in a studio in San Fransisco, while the drum tracks are being worked on in Los Angeles. Not much yet, but darned if I’m not excited. Rammstein’s definitely not my favourite German band anymore, but they bloody well do deserve the praise and the success they’ve had for their efforts in making German music (and German altogether) more popular all around the globe.

(more…)

ASP shares the tale of Krabat

ASP recently released a new album, Zaubererbruder: Der Krabat-Liederzyklus, which retells an old story of Krabat in musical form. A selection of songs from the new album are available at the ASP myspace site and a 2-CD standard edition along with a limited edition box set are available at emp.de, jpc.de and amazon.de as well as at isotank.com.

Tracklisting and update for Unheilig’s Vorhang auf!

According to EMSO, the new Unheilig live DVD will not in fact be published at this time in the previously-announced Deluxe Edition format. Appearing on October 3rd will be three versions — a single DVD, a double CD and a digipack LE double-DVD which includes the recording of the 2006 Nürnberg concert which was used for Goldene Zeiten.

All three versions are currently available for pre-order at emso.de and jpc.de and will hopefully show up in the catalogs of other retailers shortly.

Track listings follow on the next page.
(more…)

Veljanov - “His Vita”
Alexander Veljanov gave us a very generous sample (almost 4 minutes long!) of a song from his forthcoming solo album Porta Macedonia a few days ago. As you’d expect, his vocals are superbly executed, but the music itself isn’t quite as powerful as what Ernst Horn produces with him for Deine Lakaien. Go check out the song “His Vita” on Veljanov’s MySpace page and hear for yourself.

Markus Winter - “Life Ain’t Worth Living”
Markus Winter also has a new sample of his upcoming single “Life Ain’t Worth Living“. It’s much shorter than the Veljanov sample, but should still give you an idea of what his 2009 album Life In Uncertain Times should sound like. You can hear the sample on the Hertzton MySpace page.

The UK-based online music shop MusicNonStop.co.uk suddenly shut down its business back in March and left many musicians and labels in debt from unpaid merchandise. The company also left countless customers in the dark with unfilled orders in the last few days of their operation, causing many of them to lose money as well. It was sad to see a once-great site like MusicNonStop go down, but what they did to the musicians and their customers was even worse.

Now, despite all of this, Side-Line reports that MusicNonStop is planning to relaunch their webshop on August 26th under the new ownership of Grufti Limited. While this new ownership means that all the previous debts are the responsibility of the original owners, Music Non Stop Limited, there is still a lot of debate about the use of the MusicNonStop name, the close relationship between the old and new owners, and how the old stock of CDs and merchandise was transferred from Music Non Stop Limited to Grufti Limited. On one side of the debate, there is the new owner who wants to keep an institution of the industrial and gothic music scenes alive and well, but on the other side, there are lots of musicians, labels, and customers who are owed lots of money that may never be paid back. There are still plenty of unanswered questions and angry people.

That leaves us with what is perhaps the most important question about MusicNonStop’s relaunch: Should you buy your music there and give them business? With everything that has happened, I would not recommend it. But even if you ignore all of this, ordering anything from the UK for delivery anywhere else in the world is prohibitively expensive due to the poor Dollar (or Euro) to Pound exchange rate. And if you do live in the UK, I would recommend using Resurrection Music from now on. They have pretty much everything that MusicNonStop ever had, and they are significantly cheaper.

You will have no problems finding great music without MusicNonStop. I’m sure you got along just fine during their 5 month absence.