Speaking of (our favorite not-quite-German band) Laibach, they have just announced tour dates in North America Volk yesterday. It’s a small tour with only 6 concerts confirmed, but they are hitting most of the biggest cities in the United States for maximum impact plus one just South of the border in Tijuana, Mexico. If you are a big German music fan and live anywhere near the venues listed below, you are almost required to go by law.

I will definitely be at the New York City show. It’s going to be an extra special event for Laibach fans in this area because their 2004 NYC concert in support of their album WAT was cancelled at the last minute, so we have been waiting a very long time for this. See you there!

Laibach’s 2008 North American Volk tour dates
September 22 - Seattle at Showbox at the Market
September 23 - Portland at Crystal Ballroom
September 25 - San Francisco at Independent
September 26 - Hollywood at Key Club
September 28 - Tijuana, Mexico at El Foro
September 30 - New York at The Fillmore (formerly Irving Plaza)

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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Rinderwahnsinn back together for a reunion concert

The previously split up hard rock band Rinderwahnsinn is scheduled to play a reunion concert this Thursday, May 22nd, in Frankfurt. There’s no word if this means the band will be back for good or produce another album, but at least any of the band’s fans who are nostalgic for their albums from the 90s will get one more chance to hear them performed live. Check out some of Rinderwahnsinn’s music on their MySpace page. I have the album Herrscher, it’s not bad.

Metropolis Records opens a forum

The US-based industrial and EBM record label Metropolis Records, which releases several German bands in North America, has just launched an online forum. There’s a section for Metropolis artists as well as a section for other musicians in the scene and a general discussion area. If you’re interested in joining, just head over to this page and sign up in the upper right corner.

Dog Eared Pages writes song for the Blue Devils

The pop-punk band Dog Eared Pages recently released a new song written for The Blue Devils, a football (American football, not soccer) team from Hamburg. You can hear the song, as well as others by the band, on their MySpace page. Dog Eared Pages is also scheduled to play several times at the Blue Devils stadium during the next few months.

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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Extra, Vol. 1 announced

Early in April, we found out that KMFDM would be releasing a 3-part series of compilations called Extra, which would feature lots of the non-album material from the band’s extensive back-catalog. Then they announced the tracklisting for the first volume on May 1st, but gave no mention of when it would actually be released. I figured it couldn’t be too much longer before a date was given, and then I would post it here. But here we are now halfway through the month and we still don’t have a date, so I’ve given up on waiting around for them to give us more details.

So, if you haven’t seen it already, here’s the tracklisting for KMFDM’s Extra Vol. 1 compilation. The release date will just have to be posted later. Nevermind, Metropolis says it will be out on June 3rd. Why couldn’t KMFDM write that on their site?

KMFDM - Extra, Volume 1 tracklist

Disc One
01. Sieg-Sieg (Z Records Version)
02. Don’t Blow Your Top (Adrian Sherwood Mix)
03. Disgust (12″ Mix)
04. Oh Look II
05. Rip The System
06. More & Faster (12″ Mix)
07. Naff Off
08. Virus (12″ Mix)
09. M+F 244 (High & Geil Mix)
10. Godlike (12″ Mix)
11. Friede (12″ Mix)
12. Naive (My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult Remix)
13. Naive (TKK Remix Edit)

Disc Two
01. Split (12″ Mix)
02. Piggybank (Shock Mix)
03. Go To Hell (Fearing & Burning Mix)
04. Vogue (12″ Mix)
05. Sex On The Flag (12″ Mix)
06. Split (Apart Version)
07. Split (Mirrorball Mix)
08. Money (Radio Mix)
09. Bargeld (Radio Mix)
10. Money (Cover Charge Mix)
11. Bargeld (Rubber Club Dub)
12. Money (Metal Mix)
13. Bargeld (Jezebeelzebutfunk Mix)
14. Money (Death Before Taxes Mix)

The June edition of 24/7

KMFDM has also recently announced that June’s edition of their 24/7 single series will be “Virus (12″ Mix)” with the B-side “More & Faster (High & Geil Mix)”. Head on over to the KMFDM Store on June 1st to order this limited edition single. All the past months’ singles have been selling out in just a few days, so you don’t want to be late.

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)

Laibach interprets J. S. Bach

Laibach, every Germaniac’s favourite not quite German but Slovenian super-political and awesome industrial/neo-classical/electronic/everything ensemble will be releasing a new record titled LAIBACHKUNSTDERFUGE. In 2006 Laibach performed at a festival celebrating the classic German composer Johann Sebastian Bach’s life and works, and now it will be available for everyone on CD or digital download. LAIBACHKUNSTDERFUGE is a laibachized (i.e. sodomized but a hell of a lot better than the original) interpretation of Bach’s composition Die Kunst der Fuge. The release will also be accompanied by a short LAIBACHKUNSTDERFUGE tour in Europe.

On 5th May, the CD will be available for digital purchase on Mute.com and later as a physical product on Laibach WTC Shop, which will be opened in May as well.

Visit LAIBACHKUNSTDERFUGE’s own page for information on the project, complete tracklisting and tour dates.

New material from Turmion Kätilöt this summer

Although the Finnish Turmion Kätilöt is far from German, their incredible music has some really strong ties to German industrial metal. In fact, I remember Greg once writing that B.O.S.C.H. is like the German equivalent of Turmion Kätilöt, so if you like B.O.S.C.H., (and chances are you do if you’re surfing Germaniac), Turmion Kätilöt should get you very, very excited if you aren’t already.

Turmion Kätilöt has now announced the release of a new single and album. The single, due for 21st May, will be titled Minä Määrään, and the new album USCH! will be released on 11th June. Turmion Kätilöt have had some major difficulties with their current record company Spinefarm, and the animosity between the band and the company will be solved in court. I hope everything goes well for them.

Tracklisting for the single and albums haven’t been published as of yet, but in the meantime you can check their website for information on the band and samples of every single song they’ve released if you aren’t familiar with them already. Trust me, you should be.

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