Angelas Park – Generation Monoton

Talk about a newcomer! Angelas Park from Sachsen-Anhalt was formed just three years ago in 2006, and their career has definitely started with a bang: amidst touring all over Germany with Virginia jetzt! and EL*KE, the band has won both the YOU-festival’s MySpace band award and the respected Udo-Lindenberg-Stiftung’s Panikpreis and also released an EP, Essen für die Seele. For 2009 they’re already planning some great things, like inevitable first album and of course winning the Bundesvision Song Contest. Angelas Park’s cheerily anarchistic poprock is sure to win many a heart to their favor.

Generation Monoton doesn’t unfortunately have a music video, but thanks to Raab’s show, you can check out the energetic band perform the song live here. I’m afraid the self-released EP doesn’t seem to be available anymore, but you can purchase the download-only single Generation Monoton on Musicload.de and iTunes. The band’s MySpace has a total of six full-length tracks, including Generation Monoton for you to check out. You can also download two free tracks on the official site’s Ohrwürmer section.

Rage – Gib dich nie auf

By contrast to the many young bands in the contest, by far the most long-running and well-known band outside Germany taking part in the Bundesvision is Rage, representing Nordrhein-Westfalen. Their debut was released a mighty 24 years ago under the name Avenger, and the current studio album Carved in Stone is their eighteenth studio album. Rage was there when the heavy metal scene in Germany was just emerging, and they’re still here, blasting their thrash-influenced power metal with no less ferocity than over twenty years ago. It seems to be a sort of a tradition to have at least one metal band of some sort at BuViSoCo (they also often finish with pretty high points), and this year Rage is here to fill the slot.

Gib dich nie auf is Rage’s entry piece and also the title of their latest EP. They don’t have a music video, but as always, you can see the band perform Gib dich nie auf live on Raab’s TV show here. You can also find the track on both the band’s MySpace as well as a free download (and either in English or German!) in the media section of their site. There’s also a whole load of other completely free songs for you to download, if the MySpace samples aren’t enough. The EP is exclusively available on Nuclear Blast’s webshop, and they also have the latest album and a bundle of both.

Ruben Cossani – Bis auf letzte Nacht

Although the band Ruben Cossani was formed in 2006, the forces behind it are hardcore professionals. Michael van Dyke, the frontman of the band, is a successful solo artist, producer and composer and has been working with music since the 80s, and it shows: Ruben Cossani’s debut album Tägliche Landschaft was released in February 2008 to wild critical acclaim. The band calls itself a retro-pop band, and that means they’re all about bringing the classic sounds of sixties’ pop bands back to life. The next album is already in the works and supposedly out early this year, but before that, we’ll see whether or not their interesting retro style has what it takes to win a contest full of modern German music.

In keeping with their retro principles, Ruben Cossani’s Bis auf letzte Nacht’s music video is an entertainingly archaic-looking piece, viewable here. You can also hear it on Cossani’s MySpace, or check out the player on their official site (right-hand bottom corner) where you’ll get to hear every song from the debut album. Bis auf letzte Nacht was only released as a digital download, available for example at Musicload.de, but Tägliche Landschaft can be found at least on Amazon.de.

Fotos – Du fehlst mir

Now, Niedersachsen’s representative Fotos (founded in 2005) is embracing the possibilities of the internet and Web 2.0 in a refreshingly different sort of way. Of course, they have a strong MySpace presence, but who doesn’t these days? For example, their official site is actually a photo blog, and most updates on whatever the band’s been doing are posted on their Twitter page, and the band even has a Facebook profile where updates and live dates are posted as well. Unfortunately, despite their firm grasp of internet’s different applications, they don’t practice what I would’ve liked the most – giving away at least some of their very british-sounding indie rock for free.

Fotos is coming to Bundesvision with a song from their second album, Nach dem Goldrausch, released in 2008. Du fehlst mir’s music video can be viewed here, or about a half of it can be heard on the band’s MySpace. The song was released as a digital download –only single, available for example at Musicload.de. You can also buy the full-length from Amazon.de.

It hasn’t been much longer than a year since October 2007 when Subway To Sally released their previous album Bastard, but they are already preparing for their next longplayer, Kreuzfeuer. The band’s site doesn’t seem to have a confirmed release date, but EMP.de has both a standard and a digipack version of Kreuzfeuer available for pre-order with a release date of March 27th listed, so we’ll go with that for now.

Judging by the few clips of music that can be heard in the video of the band in the studio (which can be seen down below the tracklisting) there will be plenty of heavy guitars, more traditional instruments like the flute which can be seen in one clip, something else that sounds like a new wave song, and of course Eric Fish’s distinctive voice… all things we’re expecting, except for that new wave thing. If we hear about any new samples from Kreuzfeuer, we’ll post an update.

Subway To Sally - Kreuzfeuer tracklisting
01. Aufstieg
02. Judaskuss
03. Besser, Du rennst
04. So fern, so nah
05. Die Jagd
06. Einsam
07. Komm in meinen Schlaf
08. Angelus
09. Krähenkönig
10. Niemals
11. Versteckt
12. Vater

Callejon is a crazy hardcore metal (or as they themselves put it, zombiecore) band from western Germany, who released their second full-length album Zombieactionhauptquartier a couple of months ago on 28th November. Before this one, the band has released two EPs and another album, and although horror has been thematic throughout the band’s work, on Zombieactionhauptquartier Callejon goes full-on with zombies and draws much of its imagery and lyrical content from classic horror movies such as Dawn of the Dead or 28 Days Later.

You can check out Callejon’s intensive punk-influenced metal on their MySpace, where they have three complete tracks from the new album, as well as two other tracks from earlier releases. They’ve also just released a video (viewable here) for the song Phantomschmerz, which actually happens to be a mellow, touching ballad. Not exactly what you’d exactly expect from a band like Callejon, but it’s great to see the band is more than capable of doing something completely different than just in-your-face metal.

Zombieactionhauptquartier came out in two editions, a basic one and a special version where you’ll get a DVD with a making of the album feature. The album is widely available: for example Amazon.de has both versions, and so does Alphamusic.de. EMP.de too has both, but they also have a third option - the special edition and a poster for the same price as just the special edition.

Callejon - Zombieactionhauptquartier tracklist
1. ZAHQ (Intro)
2. Zombiefied
3. Spiel Mir Das Lied Vom Sterben
4. Und wenn der Schnee…
5. Mein Puls = 0
6. Tanz Der Teufel
7. Phantomschmerz
8. Quarantäne
9. Infiziert
10. Der Tag an dem die Schwärze blieb
11. Fremdkörper
12. Das Ende von John Wayne
13. Porn From Spain

Limbogott are quickly becoming industrial-shock-metal extraordinaires, but their first 2 albums were sung entirely in English, a language not native to this German group. It looks like things are changing, though… at least for “Haus der Lüge”, the song they teamed up with Chris Pohl of Blutengel to record. But “Haus der Lüge” is not just the band’s first song recorded in German. It is also the first single from their forthcoming third album Spit or Swallow. And now you can download it as an MP3 file for free!

Head over to e-junkie.com to download “Haus der Lüge”, Limbogott’s Christmas present to their fans. (Be sure to hurry, because it’s only available for free until December 31st.) The song is likely to be an indication about how Limbogott’s sound is progressing, but will the German lyrics make it over to the rest of the songs on Spit or Swallow? We’ll just have to wait and find out in the time leading up to it’s February 13th release date.

Thanks to Mikki for the tip

Since Kreator’s inception a generation ago in 1982 in Essen, Germany, the band has become legends of thrash metal. They have continually gained fans and fame worldwide as they remain at the forefront of the genre. Their latest album, Enemy of God, proved to be their most successful, reaching spot 19 in the German album charts… quite good for a band that’s so far away from the popularity contest where most mainstream musicians battle it out. But Enemy of God is now 4 years old and has already been re-released, so it’s time for something new.

Enter Hordes of Chaos, Kreator’s new album for 2009. The 10 tracks it contains were recorded earlier this year during July and August, and are expected to be a bit more organic sounding, given the relative simplicity of the live setting and analog tape method that was used to record them. This is the first time in 20 years the band has recorded this way, according to the band’s singer Mille Petrozza. The length of the album is different also, in that it’s more than 15 minutes shorter than Enemy of God, coming in at under 40 minutes. Don’t expect the quality to suffer, though. A quick listen to the sample of the song “Warcurse” won’t let you down.

Are 4 different versions enough?
Hordes of Chaos will be released in 4 different formats. First, the standard version will just have the 10 songs on a CD in a normal jewel case. Second, the limited edition will contain the CD plus a bonus DVD with a “making of Hordes of Chaos” video, 2 videos of songs performed live, and the music video for the album’s title track which was influenced by the movie 300. Third, the “ultra deluxe edition” will contain the CD, an extended version of the bonus DVD, a Kreator T-shirt, and a book. And finally, there will be an LP version of the album which will feature alternative artwork not available on any of the CD versions. All the versions will be released on January 13th in North America, January 16th in Germany, and January 19th in the rest of Europe.

You can find the album anywhere
Because Kreator is such a well known band around the world, you should have no problem finding Hordes of Chaos (or most other Kreator albums) in your local CD shop. And if you’re a child of the internet age, you can easily find it on any major online retailer like Amazon.com. They’ve got most of the versions available: the standard edition, the limited edition, and the vinyl LP version, but not the ultra deluxe edition. I haven’t found anywhere you can buy that version yet. Amazon.com also has the tracks for sale as MP3 downloads, which you can buy either together as an album or as individual songs. You just have to wait for the release date before they become available.

Follow the jump and read to rest of the article, including the album track listing and Kreator’s North American tour dates.
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If gothic metal is your style, you’ll want to give Coronatus a listen. Their new album Porta Obscura was released last week on November 28th, just 14 months after their impressive debut Lux Noctis. The band’s overall symphonic metal style have continued on to Porta Obscura, which is available in two versions. The standard version has 11 songs, and the limited edition contains 2 bonus tracks including a song from the band’s early days in 2002.

While female-fronted metal bands seem to be all the rage lately, Coronatus has put their own spin on this popular trend by having two female singers instead of just one. Carmen Schäfer and Ada Flechtner each provide a different sound as well, one is a rock style vocalist and the other is more classical and operatic. Some critics have said that this still doesn’t make the band unique because it’s been done before, which is true, but it is definitely less common than the typical one-male, one-female, or one-of-each singers that most bands utilize. In any case, it’s always best to determine for yourself whether a band sounds good or not, so let’s move on to the samples…

For online listening, Coronatus has provided 3 one-minute MP3 samples from Porta Obscura that you can get on their website’s Download page, right below a full-length track from last year’s debut. If you like those and want to get the album, you’ll be happy to know that it’s being widely distributed by Massacre Records. Amazon.com has both versions of Porta Obscura (standard version and limited edition), and although they are listed as imports, buying them there will still be a lot cheaper than importing them yourself from some other German site. Coronatus’s debut Lux Noctis is also available from Amazon.com as either a CD or as an MP3 download. If you’re in Europe, you can find all Coronatus albums on AlphaMusic.de.

Coronatus - Porta Obscura track listing:
01. Prologue
02. Exitus
03. Fallen
04. In Silence
05. Beauty In Black
06. Cast My Spell
07. In Your Hands
08. Mein Herz
09. Am Kreuz
10. Der Vierte Reiter
11. Strahlendster Erster
12. Flos Obscura (Bonus Track)
13. Volles Leben (2002) (Bonus Track)

Die’s new frontman, Mathias “Jablonski” Elsholz, recorded a video for the band’s Youtube channel a few days ago. In the video, he admits that the wait for new music has been a long one, but he asks fans to be patient because the new album is coming soon. The band is currently looking for a record label since they are no longer signed with BBE, but the album will be released as soon as they find one.

Matze also tells us that Die! has recorded a whopping 17 new songs for the album, one of which is already available to hear on the band’s MySpace page. Just click on the song “Lüg Mich An” and have a listen. You’ll get a pretty good idea of what’s to come for the rest of the album from that song and the other demos there.

Mathias Elsholz’s December 1st video (English version)

Thanks to Wared for the tip!

The German black metal band Nocte Obducta will be releasing a new album, titled Sequenzen einer Wanderung real soon on 5th this month. During its over ten years of musical adventures, the band has moved far from their humble black metal roots to encompass a wide variety of styles of metal, such as folk, ambient and progressive metal. A whole new direction has been achieved on the new album: Sequenzen einer Wanderung will feature a whopping two (2) tracks of atmospheric metal, both halves of the album clocking in at over 20 minutes. I have no idea of how credible the information is, but it seems as though this one might be Nocte Obducta’s last one for an indefinite time. If you have some concrete info on this, please feel free to comment!

The new album will be available as your usual CD, but also a limited vinyl version and a wooden box edition. Apart from the fancier packaging and very marginally bigger price, the box doesn’t hold any (other) wonders beside the album itself, but it is however limited to just 1000 pieces and also each one is numbered individually. Amazon.de has all the different versions for sale - 17,99€ for the regular CD, 19,99€ for the vinyl LP and 20,95€ for the box. If you order the box for 19,90€ at Nocte Obducta’s record label Supreme Chaos Records, you’ll also get a free poster and button.

You can catch a trailer of sorts for the album here, unfortunately that’s pretty much one of the only places you can get any sort of feel for the album. You can, however, listen to some samples from earlier records on their (horribly outdated) website.

Tracklisting for Sequenzen einer Wanderung by Nocte Obducta
1. Ende
2. Nebel II

This week’s Radio Goethe podcast has a special focus on Megaherz’s new album Heuchler. The second half of the broadcast has 6 songs from the album for you to listen to, and the first half is filled with other German metal and hard rock bands to maintain the same sound for the entire hour.

If you like the hard side of German music, you definitely need to listen to this podcast. Start listening anytime in the next week by clicking “Listen to the latest show” at the top of the Radio Goethe website or by subscribing to it on iTunes.

Be sure not to miss the audio tour of the German city of Cologne with the members of Geist, the first band on the podcast. This is a separate MP3 file, as it is part of the Radio Goethe Magazine show, which you can download here. The guys have very good English and are pretty entertaining, plus their music isn’t bad, either. Check it out on the main RG podcast and their MySpace page if you want more.

This week’s Radio Goethe podcast
Geist: Leider
Tonkraft: Diener und Herrscher
KMFDM: WWII (live)
Rammstein: Amerika (live)
Inchtabokatables: Die Taube (live)
Crematory: Left the ground
Megaherz: Heuchler
Megaherz: Fauler Zauber
Megaherz: L’Aventure
Megaherz: Alles nur Lüge
Megaherz: Das Tier
Megaherz: Schau in mein Herz

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