Alexander Veljanov, the voice of Deine Lakaien, is currently working on a new album of his own called Porta Macedonia. While the tracklisting and release date are not yet known, we do know that this album will come in 3 variations. 1: a standard CD with the basic tracklisting. 2: a limited edition with bonus tracks and a more elaborately designed CD booklet. and 3: a double LP version for collectors and music enthusiasts.

The album has not been listed at any online stores yet, so it’s probably safe to say that we still have to wait a few more months for Porta Macedonia to be released. But if you can’t wait, or if you are somehow unfamiliar with the seductive vocals of Mr. Veljanov, you can always listen to his current music or his past work with Deine Lakaien on Myspace.

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.

On 29th this month the gothic electro outfit Blutengel will release a new live 2-disc live DVD titled Moments of our LIVEs. The DVD, which will feature a full live concert and a whole second DVD full of extra stuff like interviews, backstage goofiness and rehearsal videos, will be available in a grand total of three different setups:

The normal DVD with both the live and extra material DVD,

A limited version with the DVDs and a live CD all in a digipak

And finally, an even more limited fanbox with the DVDs, the CD and also an exclusive T-shirt thrown into a nifty box.

All versions of Moments of our LIVEs are available copiusly at a number of stores, including IsoTank: normal version for $32.99, limited version for $44.99 and the fanbox for $60,99, Poponaut.de: normal for 18,45 €, limited for 27,95 € and box for 44,95 € and EMP.de: normal for 19,99 €, limited for 27,99 € and box for 41,99 €

You can hear samples of Blutengel’s earlier works on their MySpace that doesn’t seem like it’s been updated in ages, slightly fresher material from their 2007 album Labyrinth can be caught here.

Hit the jump for a full tracklisting of the DVDs and CD.

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Das Ich announces new album Kannibale

The masters of harsh electronic music Das Ich have announced a new album titled Kannibale, and it is expected to hit the stores in October. Not much is known about Kannibale yet, except according to the band it is supposed to be their most brutal offering yet. Stay tuned for more information, previews of the soon-finished album will later be presented on Danse Macabre Records’ website.

If you aren’t yet familiar with Das Ich’s apocalyptic visions, be sure to visit their MySpace site for a whole bunch of full songs from their earlier records.

Die Apokalyptischen Reiter come out with Licht

Following the release of the single Der Weg, the German thrash metal band Die Apokalyptischen Reiter has now come out with the details for its seventh studio album: Licht will be released on 29th August. According to EMP.de, where Licht is already preorderable, there will be at least two different versions of the album, a normal CD version and a limited digipak edition with a bonus DVD.

You can hear two full songs from the upcoming album and a number of older tracks on DAR’s MySpace.

Tracklisting for Licht by Die Apokalyptischen Reiter

1. Es wird schlimmer
2. Auf die Liebe, die Freude und das Leben
3. Wir sind das Licht
4. Nach der Ebbe
5. Adrenalin
6. Der Elende
7. Heut’ ist der Tag
8. Wir hoffen
9. Der Weg
10. Ein Lichtlein
11. Auferstehen soll in Herrlichkeit

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!