[POST UPDATED]

After a four-year break, Megaherz established their status as one of the best German metal bands out there again with a renewed band lineup and the great comeback album Heuchler last year. Currently touring extensively in Germany, the band is now going to release a brand new best-of disc titled Totgesagte leben länger. This is the band’s second best-of, the first being the early collection Querschnitt which contained material from Megaherz’s first three albums, so this new one concentrates more on the later albums. According to the singer Lex himself on the Megaherz forums, they had to leave out all the material released on Megaherz’s fifth album titled 5 fronted by Mathias Elsholz (currently of Die!), because that album was released on a different label and they just couldn’t get the license for them. Too bad. In any case, Totgesagte leben länger seems to be quite a good introduction to the band for new fans and a probable collector’s piece for others, because in addition to the main bulk of the collection, there’s going to be at least two bonus tracks in the form of remixes by Heimataerde and Staubkind. The album also comes with a code for free online downloads.

According to Megaherz’s newsletter and official site, the collection will be released on March 13th. However, several online stores that already have the album up for preorders call it Kaltes Grab: Best of (and even have a preliminary cover with that title) and say it’s supposed to be released on March 6th, but this is likely a mix-up courtesy of a premature announcement by either the record label ZYX or the band itself. You can preorder the album at least on Amazon.de and EMP.de. The Heimataerde remix of Heuchler is already listenable on Megaherz’s MySpace.

Below is the real tracklisting, as provided by Lex on the band’s forums.

Megaherz - Totgesagte leben länger
1. 5. März
2. Miststück
3. Blender
4. Heuchler
5. An deinem Grab
6. Zu den Sternen
7. Ebenbild
8. Menschmaschine
9. Falsche Götter
10. Morgenrot
11. Glas und Tränen
12. Windkind
13. Mann von Welt
14. Schlag zurück
15. Heuchler (RMIX by Steinkind)
16. Heuchler (RMIX by Heimataerde)

Free downloads

17. Heute schon gelebt?
18. Beiss mich
19. Herzblut
20. Schizophren
21. Perfekte Droge
22. Das Tier (Orchester Version)

Breaking news from the Nilaihah Records newsletter sent out just minutes ago: Unheilig is crossing the Atlantic to play their first, and so far only, American concert! They will be playing at the March edition of Dracula’s Ball in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They will be supported by The Azoic, an American electro-industrial/EBM band also on Nilaihah Records.

The concert will take place on March 21st at the Shampoo club, which is on the corner of 7th and Willow in Philadelphia, and begins at 9 PM. Tickets are $15.50 and are on sale now at Isotank.com.

Now that Oomph!’s new single track Sandmann was unveiled in the form of a video a week ago, retailers have started getting the information on the single release itself. It’ll be released soon on February 20th, and as usual and predicted, there are two versions: the basic 2-track single with the title track and remix by [:SITD:], and a limited digipack edition with more than a little extra on the side. There’s the song Auf Kurs which was already featured on Monster, but also the B-side Du lügst which I believe was previously only available on iTunes’s version of the album. And there’s also three music videos packed on the disc, so that’s pretty cool.

By the way, it’s nice to have a digipack again, since the last three Oomph! releases were all jewelcases. Digipack just looks so much better it’s not even funny, it seems a lot of fans (including yours truly) were really disappointed to see that even the premium edition of the Labyrinth single was in your basic plastic cover. Oh well, now it looks like GUN Records learned their lesson - we pay for the package as well.

Oomph! - Sandmann basic tracklist
1. Sandmann
2. Sandmann ([:SITD:] remix)

Available from Amazon.de, EMP.de, jpc.de

Oomph! - Sandmann limited digipack tracklist
1. Sandmann
2. Sandmann ([:SITD:] remix)
3. Auf Kurs
4. Du lügst
5. Sandmann video
6. Auf Kurs video
7. Labyrinth video

Available from Amazon.de, EMP.de, jpc.de

2008’s new band number 100 here on Germaniac couldn’t possibly be anything else than what a lot of people most often associate with German music - industrial metal. And damn good industrial metal at that.

Seelenzorn really has realized how important it is to offer free tasters of its music during the four years it’s been active. Last November the band released their third free web-only EP titled Keine Angst, which contains a total of five fantastically dark, stomping industrial metal songs. Three are brand-new tracks and one is a Russian version of the title song featuring the singer Draw from the Russian gothic industrial band Otto Dix, whereas the final track is an acoustic version of the song Frei which was featured on Seelenzorn’s very first album, Töte alles. You can listen to and download each song here, the band’s also included the front and back covers there if you’re inclined to put the EP on a CD. You can also check out the music video for Keine Angst.

I’m afraid the previous two web-EPs /lebenszeichen and Schwarz und Schwer aren’t available anymore, although I guess (and hope) you can find the same songs on Seelenzorn’s albums Töte alles and Gnadenloser Zorn, which are both available on Amazon.de for 13,99 €. Amazon also has samples of every song on both albums, so if Keine Angst wasn’t enough, there’s your chance to hear some of their older material. The media section of Seelenzorn’s site also has some tracks for you to listen to, including another acoustic version of a song and remixes.

Seelenzorn - Keine Angst free web-EP tracklist
1. Keine Angst
2. Sexzess
3. Obsession
4. Keine Angst feat. Draw
5. Frei Akustik Version

The Oomph! trio has certainly had a year full of work. After releasing their fantastically successful 10th album Monster, the Wach auf! and Labyrinth singles and an incredible four music videos (Wach auf!, Beim ersten Mal tut’s immer Weh, Labyrinth and Auf Kurs, in case you can’t keep up with them anymore) and touring extensively in Germany, the boys still don’t seem to be able to take a day off even though the holidays are closing in like a freight train. The latest update on Oomph!’s German website tells us that Dero, Flux and Crap are already shooting another music video, and it’s not even for a track recorded during the Monster sessions, but a completely new one. The new piece will be released as a single in the near future, and, knowing Oomph!, we’ll get at least a remix or two and very probably also B-sides alongside the main track (there’s no word of these in the update). Stay tuned for more info, you can bet we’ll be on it as soon as we get something.

I’d say these are some damn good times for Oomph! fans. Of course, not everyone likes the band’s current style, but even if you don’t like it, you can’t help but admire how much work the guys are putting into their band. And that, my friends, is playing directly into the fans’ hands as far as I can see it. Yeah, you could say a lot about GUN Records‘ release policy (seriously, how many different editions has Monster actually been released in?), but then again, Oomph! has stated that they don’t really have that much to do with those decisions, it’s the record label’s call. At the end of the day, I personally can’t help but giggle with delight at how awesome an Oomph! year this one has been and will be.

EDIT: Also, in a new interview (thanks, Oomph-Supernova.com’s forums!) Dero tells Oomph! will release another best-of album at some point. The compilation Delikatessen came out just last year, but there’s a catch to the new one: it’ll feature only English songs, with some of Oomph!’s German tracks translated into the new language and even a couple of all-new ones recorded just for the compilation. I don’t generally dig compilations, but ones with something more than just a bunch of tracks thrown into them are always worth a look, so this album might actually end up in my collection. Dero also says they’ll make “a couple more” videos for Monster, so the just-announced new video definitely won’t be their last. Read the full German interview here, most of it is personal opinions on stuff like Christmas, but you can find the bit about Oomph!’s future at the very bottom.

EDIT2: The English update DOES explicitly talk about a new single, and I also originally translated the German update too quickly so I misunderstood something - check out the corrected post.

Debut album Einsam is “nearly finished”
B.O.S.C.H. is back in the news with the recent announcement that their highly anticipated debut album is “nearly finished” but not quite yet ready for release. According to their MySpace blog post, the album will be called Einsam and will be available in at least 2 different versions. The most exclusive version will come in an autographed, round metal box and be limited to just 100 units, and there will also be a 3-fold digipack. Perhaps the best news of all, though, is the statement that Einsam will also be released in both the UK and the USA! We’re still waiting for a release date, and we’ll report back once we find out.

Remix for Krystal System
B.O.S.C.H. has also recently finished a remix for French industrial-metal band Krystal System’s debut album Underground. You can hear samples from the album here on the band’s website or by visiting them on MySpace. They’re not German, but you should check it out. They’re really good.

Track on Schattenreich Vol. 10
And finally, B.O.S.C.H. also made it onto the Schattenreich Vol. 10 compilation, which puts them next to many other awesome bands like Oomph!, CombiChrist (who are on tour this January, btw), In Extremo, and others. I haven’t been able to find a tracklist or even figure out which B.O.S.C.H. song is on the CD, but if you’re interested in buying it, Amazon.de has it for just under 10 Euros.

As you know, Rammstein is currently recording their sixth album in California. It looks like they are making good progress, too. Rammstein.com has been updated with a video of Christoph pounding out the rhythms of a new song on the drums. From the sound of it, only Flake and Till have recorded their parts by the time this video was made. You can’t hear any guitars in the song, but that doesn’t necessarily mean there won’t be any.

Watch the video now on Rammstein.com and let us know what you think in the comments below. If you’re sneaky, you can figure out how to download it, too.

Eisschock’s new EP is web-only (also awesome)

Eisschock, a one-woman EBM outfit released its debut titled Therapie two years ago. It was a solid album with some rough edges like the rather undeveloped sound, but it was really promising anyway and left me wanting more. Well, now there’s a chance to get some more: last month a new EP, Play the Game, was released - although only on the web. And boy, the five new tracks do sound pretty good. Almost everything sounds better than the last time: the sounds have more punch to them, there’s more meat to the compositions and the singer sings better than ever before. Better check it out if you can spare a measly couple of bucks for some quality EBM/electro (I’m sure you can).

You can listen to lengthy samples of all five tracks on Eisschock’s MySpace site, or catch a music video for the pretty fantastic title track of the EP here. Eisschock also released a free instrumental track titled Secret World in July, you can download it here. You can buy the EP at several web shops, for example Amazon.com for $0,89 a track, Junodownload.com for something like 1£ for each song or MP3.de for 1,29 € a piece.

Tracklisting for Play the Game by Eisschock
1. Hass mich
2. Play the Game
3. Pictures of the Past
4. Platitudes
5. Far Far Away

Unheilig to re-release Puppenspiel and An deiner Seite

Yeah, we know that Unheilig’s newest album Puppenspiel, released early this year, was a massive success and probably also one of the very best releases this year, but is it really necessary to rub it in our faces? Now that the album has been more or less completely sold out, they’re going to release it again on November 28th, but this time in a total of three different versions. In addition to another pressing of the very basic CD with all the tracks, booklets and what have you, there’s going to be a stripped-down, so-called PUR version where you’ll get the album in a minimalistic cardboard sleeve. Finally you’ll be able to get a new “Limited Deluxe Edition” with the 14 main tracks and a bonus DVD. So, sorry, it seems that if you missed the two extra songs (Glaub an mich, Spielzeugmann) on the original digipak limited edition, you still won’t get your hands on them…

Also, Unheilig’s single An deiner Seite was pretty much sold out, and so even more rubbing-in-face is available. An deiner Seite will be re-released November 14th in two configurations: a normal single with the original radio mix and a whole new radio mix produced by the producer Oliver Pinelli and re-recorded specifically for the single, and a premium single with a new orchestral mix of the song and a video feature thingy. Yeah, one orchestral version was already included on the Spiegelbild EP, but this is a new one. At least EMP.de already has both editions of the single.

Tracklisting for An deiner Seite by Unheilig
1. An deiner Seite (Pinelli Radio Mix)
2. An deiner Seite (Original Radio Mix)

Tracklisting for An deiner Seite premium edition by Unheilig
1. An Deiner Seite (Pinelli Orchester Mix)
2. Videospezial (Impressionen, Making Of, Live, Video)

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…)

Looong time, no updates… We’re sorry! As for myself, I’ve had so much fun with school and other things I haven’t really had time for anything. Hopefully we’ll be able to resume normal operations soon!

As Nadja previously posted, Treibhaus indeed is back with a new album. Titled Alarmstufe Rot, it will be released on November 3rd, but unfortunately it doesn’t seem as if you can preorder it anywhere yet. Also, the track listing hasn’t been published thus far. However, what we do have is Treibhaus’s MySpace with two of the brand-new, ass-kicking songs for you to check out!