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.

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

Every year since 2004, the European Commission has given several of the most internationally successful European musicians the European Border Breakers Award at the MIDEM music conference in Cannes, France. The ceremony for this year’s awards was conducted earlier today with a total of 10 recipients, each from a different country in the EU. The winner from Germany this year is a musician named Cascada.

You may be forgiven if you didn’t have any idea who that is until today (I didn’t know, either) because we usually focus on the less mainstream artists here, but I thought this award was worth mentioning today. So for those of you who don’t know, Cascada is a “eurodance” group led by singer Natalie Horler. They have had a number of hits in the past few years, with their 2005 single “Everytime We Touch” hitting #1 on several charts around the world including the US Dance charts. their most recent hit was “What Hurts The Most” from 2007, which also hit #1.

If you’re curious, you can hear some of Cascada’s music on their MySpace page.

It’s Friday, September 28th, and if this date sounds familiar it’s because there are a lot of new German music releases out today. There’s a little bit of everything for you… industrial, metal, gothic, rock, and pop. Here’s a quick overview of these 8 new releases just to refresh your memory. Click on the bold title to read the full article and get the tracklist for that album or single.

• Eisheilig - Auf Dem Weg In Deine Welt album

Eisheilig’s new album features plenty of dark, gothic rock sounds that have gained them quite a following in recent years. Ten new tracks will keep you company when you’re feeling down.

• Emigrate - New York City single

“New York City” is the first single from Emigrate, Rammstein guitarist Richard Kruspe’s side project. The single has 3 album songs plus a remix of “New York City” by Alec Empire and the “My World” music video which is based on the new movie Resident Evil: Extinction.

• Juli - Ein Neuer Tag live album and DVD

Juli has become one of the most popular pop rock bands in Germany over the past few years. Ein Neuer Tag is their new live album, not to be confused with their studio album of the same name. The Ein Neuer Tag DVD set features footage from several entire concerts.

• Kash and Nik Page - Kommunion single

Much more than just an ordinary single, “Kommunion” offers 6 remixes of the title song where Kash collaborated with Nik Page, plus 6 more remixes of previous Kash songs. A total of 12 remixes makes this more of an über-single.

• Krieger - Krieger album

Krieger is a brand new German rock band who looks very promising. Their sound is nice and heavy and they are under the same management company as Rammstein. This is definitely one to pick up.

• Nena - Cover Me album

One of Germany’s most famous pop musicians is doing coversongs of a wide range of bands from around the world. Nena’s new album Cover Me offers up 2 discs filled to the brim with her remakes of classic songs.

• Painbastard - Borderline album

Painbastard’s new album Borderline is sure to please fans of industrial-dance music. These 14 new tracks are the band’s main attraction, following the preview songs we heard back in July on Nyctophobia.

• Songs of Lemuria - Deep album

Songs of Lemuria covers bands from Nirvana to Einstürzende Neubauten on their new album, Deep. Their use of gothic-influenced classical music and the beautiful vocals by Michaela Laubach and Nik Page make the sound pretty deep, too.

Not bad for one day, eh?

Nena, the German singer most famous here in the USA for her hit “99 Red Balloons” from back in the 80s, is releasing a new album this Friday, September 28th. The double-disc album Cover Me will consist entirely of coversongs. You will hear pop remakes of international superstars as well as little-known German bands, all on the same album. Some of the musicians Nena covers are Deichkind, Ideal, Udo Lindenberg, Peter Gabriel, Bob Dylan, Moby, Rolling Stones, David Bowie, and Pink Floyd.

I saw the video for “Mach Die Augen Auf” and wasn’t too impressed. But then again I don’t usually listen to pop music, German or otherwise. Maybe you’ll like it. Have a look.

CD1
01. Mach Die Augen Auf
02. Eiszeit
03. Der Sheriff
04. Mein Weg Ist Mein Weg
05. Helden
06. Ich Werde Dich Lieben
07. Remmidemmi
08. Für Alle, Die
09. Winter Sommer
10. Astronaut
11. Ein Lied
12. Schön Von Hinten
13. Wir Bauen Eine Neue Stadt
14. In Den Tiefen Dunklen Gängen Der Vergangenheit
15. Die Kinder Deiner Kinder
16. Für Dich Tu Ich Fast Alles
17. Das Jahr 2000
18. Mein Schwert

CD2
01. The Last Time
02. It’s All Over Now Baby Blue
03. She’s Like A Rainbow
04. Fade Into You
05. Friday I’m In Love
06. Starman
07. Blowin’ In The Wind
08. Slipping Away
09. Sexy Boy
10. Big Yellow Taxi
11. Children Of The Revolution
12. After The Goldrush
13. Us And Them
14. Darkness