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

Barroom Heroes is a new punkrock band from Emden that formed in 2006 and then started playing their first shows in 2007. Now they are on the verge of taking the next big step, releasing their debut album …Once It Was An Attitude!? in just under a month from now. The release date according to their website is February 13th (although their latest MySpace newsletter says January 30th), and it will be released on the Sunny Bastards label.

In everything Barroom Heroes does, they strive to keep the original punk attitude alive. That’s how the band started, after all. They were simply tired of the local scene and wanted to start something they actually liked. You can hear this in the band’s music, of course, which you can sample on their MySpace page. That should give you a nice taste of what the rest of the 14 song album sounds like. If you like what you hear, you can find their album in the Sunny Bastard online shop for €10.90.

Barroom Heroes - Once It Was An Attitude tracklisting
01. Alice
02. Best Days
03. Johnny To Jail
04. Bad Time Story
05. Corporate Identity
06. Football
07. Still The Same
08. No Reality
09. Rich Kid
10. Unity
11. Sad But True
12. Follow Your Leader
13. Oldschool Criminal
14. One Last Beer

We missed talking about a few good releases earlier in the year, one of which was the album Die Wahrheit Übers Lügen by the Farin Urlaub Racing Team. Of course, you know Farin Urlaub as the singer of the punk rock band Die Ärzte, which released their incredibly successful album Jazz Ist Anders about a year ago. Taking into consideration all the related activities the band did, like touring, it’s a bit of a miracle that he got another solo album out so quickly. But he did, and it’s a quality album, too.

Die Wahrheit Übers Lügen, which was released back on Halloween, translates to “the truth about lies”, a name that is both funny and serious at the same time. You can hear hints of this duality in the music itself, as well. Speaking of the music, Farin Urlaub’s website has samples so you can listen to bits of all 15 songs from the album. You can also watch all kinds of Farin Urlaub-related videos on FUtube.de, a really great website idea.

Farin Urlaub Racing Team will also be releasing a new single for the song “Niemals” on January 9th. It will be the second single for the album, following “Nichimgriff” which was released 2 weeks before Die Wahrheit Übers Lügen on October 17th.

You can find the album Die Wahrheit Übers Lügen and the 2 singles on most German online shops like Amazon.de, Abella.de, and AlphaMusic.de which seems to be priced the lowest.

Farin Urlaub Racing Team - Die Wahrheit Übers Lügen tracklist
Disc 1:
01. Nichimgriff
02. Unscharf
03. Gobi Todic
04. Seltsam
05. Krieg
06. Pakistan
07. Niemals
08. Die Leiche
09. Monster
10. Atem
11. Karten

Disc 2:
01. I.F.D.G.
02. Zu Heiß
03. Insel
04. Trotzdem

To most non-German Germaniacs, Extrabreit probably sounds only marginally familiar because Oomph! has covered them twice (Der Präsident ist tot and Polizisten), but the band is actually also one of the most successful bands founded during the heyday of the Neue Deutsche Welle genre. NDW, a hybrid of punk and New Wave of sorts, swept Germany in the late 70s and early 80s, but was so popular that it practically killed itself by oversaturating the market. Most bands quit and some artists managed to make a comeback later, the definitely most notable comeback being Joachim Witt’s, who was able to put himself in the forefront of German music again with his massively revamped sound. Being also totally bad-ass most likely didn’t make the matters worse for Witt, either. Some of the NDW bands, however, have been able to enjoy continuous popularity through the years, and Extrabreit is one of those bands.

Extrabreit hasn’t been exactly eager to call itself an NDW band, and they do have more of a punk and rock sound to them than most bands of the genre. Maybe that’s exactly what has enabled them to stay active to this very day, releasing their thirteenth full-length album Neues von Hiob this May and a double-CD live album commemorating their 30 years of illustrious career just last October. The effectively named live record 30 Jahre is surely a great way to introduce yourself to Extrabreit’s music, as it contains a wide variety of old hits and also a lot of newer stuff. Personally I think it’s always great to see a veteran band like Extrabreit still be so enthusiastic about their music despite decades of playing. However, I do have to wonder if it’s really a must for all such anniversary compilations or the like to have really atrocious covers…

You can get an idea of Extrabreit’s music from their MySpace, or by downloading the free song Glück & Geld live 2008 taken from the new live album. You can buy both products at Merch United for quite a reasonable price, 10€ for 30 Jahre and 14,90€ for Neues von Hiob. It has to be said, though, that US residents really might want to find some other place to shop, as Merch United takes a massive 30€ for postage. Amazon.de has at least Neues von Hiob for 15,95€.

Click below for tracklisting.

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The Irish-themed speedfolk band Fiddler’s Green will be releasing their new album Sports Day At Killaloe this January on the 9th. The standard album alone tops the scales with 19 new songs, playing for well over an hour, but there will also be a limited edition that packs in even more content onto a second disc. If you’re lucky enough to snag one of those limited copies, you’ll get another 9 acoustic versions plus a music video Fiddler’s Green just filmed last week. The exact tracklistings for the album hasn’t been released yet.

Album pre-listening
Fiddler’s Green is uploading one new song from the album to their MySpace page every week. But once the week is over, it will be removed and replaced with a different song, so you’ll have to visit back often. The song “Bugger Off” is currently streaming this week, so go ahead and check it out.

You will probably be able to find Sports Day At Killaloe in the Fiddler’s Green webshop The Shepherd’s Jumble once the release date gets a bit closer, or you can get it from your favorite German music shop. CD Baby might have it as well, since they have their previous album Drive Me Mad (Check out Joe’s review of that album here).

I can’t believe we haven’t covered this one before. Hailing from Düsseldorf, Die Toten Hosen is, and has been for like two decades, one of the most popular German bands in existence, especially in its country of origin but also moderately so elsewhere. A result of the punk rock movement in Germany, the band was formed in 1982 and has since achieved mammoth-like success with their punk-influenced rock. Their hit song Hier kommt Alex (Ein kleines bisschen Horrorschau, 1988) was even included in both of the insanely popular video games Rock Band and Guitar Hero III. During the years they have toyed with a wide range of styles, including reggae, jazz and folk, and, like a good punk band should, the band’s themes are often political and/or humorous. Anyways, last month they released a new single Strom in anticipation of their umpteenth (actually 14th) studio album In aller Stille, which came out just last Friday. The band is also going to put out a live DVD, titled Hals + Beinbruch - Live bei Rock am Ring 2008, later this month.

In aller Stille

The new album is out in three different editions: a regular digipak, a limited CD + DVD digibook and an individually signed, numbered and limited to 2000 copies deluxe set where you’ll get the album both as a CD and on two vinyls. The album is available at a bunch of online stores, for example Alphamusic.de, which has the normal version for 15,99 € and the limited for 18,99 € (it seems they’ve already sold all of their vinyls), or EMP.de, where you can get the regular edition for 17,99 €, the CD + DVD for 22,99 € and the vinyl set for 25,99 €. You can also get the single Strom at both stores, EMP.de for 6,99 € or Alphamusic.de for 5,49 €.

Hals + Beinbruch - Live bei Rock am Ring 2008

The upcoming DVD will be released on 28th this month, and it’ll feature a full live set of 30 songs, including Innen alles neu from the new album, played at the Rock am Ring festival last summer. There’s also a document detailing the preparations for the live show as bonus material. All this equals a total of 144 minutes of Die Toten Hosen, the show itself lasting 122 minutes and the document 22 minutes. Hals + Beinbruch - Live bei Rock am Ring 2008 will be available as a normal DVD and also a high-definition Bluray disc, both of which are preorderable at least at EMP.de (20,99 € for the normal DVD, 25,99 € for the Bluray.

See and hear

You can catch the latest (actually quite rocking) video for the single Strom here, or listen to some samples of all the new songs on In aller Stille here. There’s also a preview of the DVD, viewable here.

Hit the jump for all tracklisting!

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Böhse Onkelz continues to have new releases, even long after the band split up three years ago in 2005. The latest is a series of re-releases done on vinyl which is meant to be aimed more towards collectors and the band’s hardcore fans. Among the new vinyls, you’ll find the Onkelz albums Heilige Lieder, Live in Vienna, the Schwarzes Album, the Weißes Album, Wir Ham’ Noch Lange Nicht Genug, their best-of Gehasst, Verdammt, Vergöttert, and their final album Adios.

The release date for all of these is July 25th. They’re a bit more expensive than a typical album release on CD, but if you really want these, you should be able to find them on pretty much any decent online retailer like EMP or AlphaMusic.

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.

Download the new Donots single for free

It’s becoming increasingly popular among bands to give away some of their music for free in exchange for a list of your friends’ email addresses. By doing this, a band amplifies the reach of their music so more people get to listen to it and it also helps them get in contact with more potential fans, so it seems like a win-win situation. We discovered Daloco’s incredible blues-rock album Mama Ist Entzückt this way and it proved to be pretty popular among readers. Now you can get the new Donots single “Stop The Clocks” this way, too. Will it prove to be just as popular?

Just head over to their e-card, type in some of your friends’ emails, and listen away. Sure, this is just a single, not an entire album, but by filling in the Donots e-card, you’ll also be entered to win tickets to one of 2 festivals the band will be playing at later in the year, a meet-and-greet with the band, and a voucher for the Donots Shop worth 100 Euros. Good luck, and as usual, let us know what you think in the comments.

Scooter ousts Madonna from the top of the UK album chart

The latest Scooter album Jumping All Over The World, which was originally released in Germany and several other countries in 2007, was just released on May 5th in the UK. It was the act’s first album release in the UK since 2003’s The Stadium Techno Experience, but they probably would have released more there if they had known how popular they would be with the Brits. Jumping All Over The World soared to the #1 spot on the UK album chart, surpassing even the “queen of pop” Madonna and her album Hard Candy. You can read the complete BBC article here. Thanks to Nadja for the tip.

Tour calendar finally created

I finally made a tour calendar for German bands that are coming to North America. It includes all bands that have already toured here so far in 2008 (including Ellen Allien which I just found out about, a few days too late) and plenty more that have yet to arrive. Check it out now, and check back often for updates. I hope you’ll find this helpful.

Destroid on tour in the US

Destroid is a project created by Daniel Myer of Haujobb, along with Sebastian Ullman, in 2004. Their latest album Loudspeaker was released in October of 2007, before which they supported [:SITD:] in a tour acrossed Europe. Now, they are flying over the Atlantic for a tour of the United States.

The venue locations seem somewhat evenly spread out acrossed the country, so if you’re within a reasonable distance from any of them, I recommend going. If you’re on the West Coast, you may also have the opportunity to attend one of Daniel Myer’s DJ sets which are scheduled towards the end of the tour. Of course, if you’re not familiar with Myer or Destroid, check out their music on MySpace.

Destroid 2008 U.S. Tourdates
May 22 - Los Angeles, CA - Knitting Factory
May 23 - Austin, TX - Elysium
May 25 - Columbus, OH - Hi-5
May 28 - New York, NY - Sapony
May 29 - Washington, DC - Liv
May 30 - West Palm Beach, FL - Respectable Street
May 31 - Orlando, FL - AKA Lounge
June 03 - San Francisco, CA - Fat City
June 05 - Portland, OR - Mt. Tabor Legacy
June 06 - Seattle, WA - El Corazon
June 07 - Seattle, WA - El Corazon - Daniel Myer DJ set only
June 08 - Portland, OR - The Fez Ballroom - Daniel Myer DJ set only
June 09 - Denver, CO - Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom
June 13 - Los Angeles, CA - Knitting Factory - Daniel Myer DJ set only
June 14 - Phonix, AZ - Sadisco

King’s Tonic will do a quick tour, too

King’s Tonic might be a new name to some of you. I know they were to me when I first heard them on Radio Goethe last week. They’re a punk rock band who just released their second album Fuck Your Neighbour earlier this year and they’re doing a really short 5-show tour in the Southwestern United States at the end of May. Unless you’re near LA or Vegas, there’s not much of a chance you’ll be able to see them perform, but you should definitely visit their MySpace page and give them a listen.

King’s Tonic U.S. Mini-Tour
May 23 - Los Angeles, CA - Doll Hut
May 24 - Anaheim, CA - Ceros
May 28 - Los Angeles, CA - Di Piazzas
May 30 - Los Angeles, CA - Fullerton Back Alley
June 06 - Las Vegas, NV - Double Down Saloon

Also… Festival Kinetik starts tomorrow

Just a reminder, the Festival Kinetik in Montreal starts tomorrow and goes on until Saturday. If you’re lucky enough to be going, enjoy the performances by the 5 German industrial and noise bands that will be there: Feindflug, Funker Vogt, Kiew, Noisuf-X, and Xotox.