First, just a quick reminder to let all my American friends know that Emigrate’s debut album was finally released in the USA yesterday, January 29th. There are 2 versions: the standard version has the same 11 songs as the original release, but the limited edition has 2 bonus tracks, “Blood” and “Help Me”. You can find both at Newbury Comics, but the copies they had with an autographed booklet have already sold out.

Australia will also get both versions of Emigrate on February 2nd.

Emigrate - Emigrate tracklisting
01. Emigrate
02. Wake Up
03. My World
04. Let Me Break
05. In My Tears
06. Babe
07. New York City
08. Resolution
09. Temptation
10. This Is What
11. You Can’t Get Enough
12. Blood (Bonus Track on limited edition only)
13. Help Me (Bonus Track on limited edition only)

Second, Emigrate is also working on the release of their 3rd single. This time, it will be for the song “Temptation”. It was supposed to be released sometime at the “end of January” according to Emigrate.eu, but I haven’t seen it anywhere. I think it’s safe to say at this point that it will likely be released in February. No matter when this new single sees the light of day, we know that it will also feature the previous 2 singles “My World” and “New York City” and will also boast 2 yet-unreleased tracks called “Face Down” and “I Have A Dream”. Bonus features include music videos for the first 2 singles. I’ll update you when the exact tracklist and release date are officially announced.

Alec Empire, famed leader of the now defunct band Atari Teenage Riot, will release his latest solo album The Golden Foretaste of Heaven in europe this coming Monday, January 21st. (It has already been out in Japan since November 28th, 2007.) And for the first time ever, his music will be under his own label, Eat Your Heart Out. His digital hardcore roots have melded with rock to create a sound that makes the album’s music really difficult to pin down. Should I try to describe it? It sounds like Daft Punk collaborated with some breakbeat-experimental artist, perhaps Venetian Snares. Or imagine if Nine Inch Nails were originally more influenced by punk, instead of industrial, and then followed along the same historical path to one day produce Year Zero with that same kind of depressing futurist motif. That doesn’t make any sense, you say? I told you it wasn’t going to be easy.

Trying to describe the music on The Golden Foretaste of Heaven is like one of those tricky word problems they give students on standardized tests. The answer can’t be A, his style has evolved way beyond punk by now. It could be B, rock, but it’s not rock like his older solo albums were. Maybe C? It’s a little closer to techno perhaps, but I’m still not sure. It’s worded funny. Let’s just pick D, “all of the above.” I hope that’s the right answer. Except this time, they finally tell you after the test is over that there was no correct answer. It was open to your own interpretation, after all. Have a listen. What do you think Alec Empire’s new album sounds like?

There have already been 2 singles released for this album, “Robot L.O.V.E.” which was released back on June 11th, 2007, and “On Fire” which came out more recently on December 7th. Whatever you call this kind of music, I like it, personally. It doesn’t have quite the same effect of insanity that you got with ATR’s “Speed,” but it’s still really good. If you liked those singles or what you heard on Alec’s MySpace page, be sure to check out the “New Man” single which will be coming out sometime soon, as well.

Alec Empire - The Golden Foretaste of Heaven tracklist
01. New Man
02. If You Live Or Die
03. ICE (As If She Could Steal A Piece Of My Glamour)
04. 1000 Eyes
05. Down Satan Down (Dub)
06. On Fire (The Hellish Vortex Sessions)
07. Robot L.O.V.E.
08. Death Trap In 3D
09. Bug On My Windshield
10. No/Why/New York

Video for “On Fire”

Source: youtube.com/watch?v=59sp56-TiZ8

“Lied vom Scheitern” is the second song on Die Ärzte’s current album Jazz Ist Anders, and it will also be their second single for that album. The single will be released at the end of next week on January 18th as both a CD and a 7″ vinyl record. Aside from the title track (and its video on the CD version), the single features a B-side called “Nichts Gesehen” which does not appear on Jazz Ist Anders, plus 2 alternate versions of songs taken from the “Economy Version” of Jazz Ist Anders.

What is the Jazz Ist Anders Economy Version? Basically, it is an alternative version of the album that Die Ärzte sold at concerts during their Es Wird Eng tour. It has all the same songs as the regular Jazz Ist Anders album, but they are recorded differently. The artwork has also been changed to look kind of like a child drew it. Despite being sold exclusively during their concerts, it looks like they had some vinyls left over which are now being sold at some online retailers.

One more thing, Die Ärzte is going on a second tour in Europe beginning in May, called the Jazzfäst Tour. Check out their tour page for the complete list of dates.

“Lied vom Scheitern” maxi single tracklist
01. Lied Vom Scheitern
02. Nichts Gesehen
03. Das Schönste Lied Der Welt (Economy Version)
04. Wir Sind Die Besten (Economy Version)
05. Lied Vom Scheitern (video)

Best price on the “Lied vom Scheitern” maxi single
AlphaMusic.de has the CD version of the single for 5.49 Euros

Best price on the Jazz Ist Anders Economy version 12″ vinyl
Abella.de and AlphaMusic.de both have it for 12.99 Euros

Böhse Onkelz, although virtually unknown outside of Europe, were a phenomenally popular punk rock band in Germany. But in 2004, after many years of success including an incredible 14 studio albums, the band announced they would split up after their last tour concluded. About 120,000 fans showed up for their last 2 farewell concerts in the summer of 2005, and the band members each went their own way. Or so that was the plan.

The Onkelz are back together now, and have just completed work on an updated version of their third studio album Onkelz Wie Wir, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. In the same vein as Joachim Witt and Die Krupps, a simple remastering was not good enough for this old album. The band actually re-recorded the entire album with the modern technology that is available today to make the sound much better than the original.

You can read a lot more detail about the album and the reasons behind its creation on the Onkelz Wie Wir page of Onkelz.de, although the text is entirely in German. There, you can also listen to some samples of the reworked songs on the Hörproben page. Unfortunately, they’re not allowing people to actually listen to them all at once, but rather 2 at a time on a rotating basis, so you’ll have to check back often to hear more.

As far as the release date goes, there seems to be some discrepancy. The Böhse Onkelz website is telling us Onkelz Wie wir will be released at the end of the week on November 2nd, but every online retailer I have seen is releasing it a week later on the 9th. I’d trust the stores, personally. It comes down to them in the end.

Böhse Onkelz - Onkelz Wie Wir tracklist:
01. Onkelz wie wir
02. Von Glas zu Glas
03. Erinnerungen
04. Bomberpilot
05. Dick & durstig
06. Falsche Propheten
07. Am Morgen danach
08. Schöner Tag
09. Heut’ Nacht
10. !

In case you didn’t notice, 4Lyn has a new single out today. It’s called “Hello (For You I’m Dying)” and it is our first glimpse of the new material the band has been working on, and their new style. I remember years ago when 4Lyn was lost somewhere in the rapcore crossover style, but recently they have evolved into more of a straight-laced rock band by the sound of this new single. It’s not even nu metal like their current album Compadres is. They have really toned it down. It’s definitely not soft rock or anything like that, but they’re not nearly as hardcore as they used to be. Is this what the entire forthcoming album Hello is going to sound like? We’ll find out in January when its release date comes closer.

Until then, we have “Hello (For You I’m Dying)” to keep our 4Lyn appetite satisfied. The only catch is, the distribution of the single is a bit limited. You can find it online at the digital download website FineTunes.net, but the only way to get the single on CD is to order it through MerchUnited.com. The price there is less than 5 Euros and you get a free exclusive T-shirt as part of the package, so it’s a pretty great deal, while it lasts.

To listen to the single in advance, head on over to 4Lyn’s MySpace page. There, you can listen to both the title track from the single as well as the B-side “Nostalgia” along with 2 songs from their current album. Be sure to check out the music video (in high or low resolution) too.

4Lyn - “Hello (For You I’m Dying)” single tracklist
01. Hello (For You I’m Dying)
02. Nostalgia
03. Hello (For You I’m Dying) - video
04. Nostalgia - video

It has been a few months since Megaherz announced their new singer Lex and the rest of their new lineup, and there has been a lot of speculation and debate about how the band will sound with their new members. Now we don’t have to guess anymore. A demo version of a new song called “Ebenbild” has been uploaded to Megaherz.de! (Just click on your language and look at the bottom of the page for the player.) It’s great to finally hear what they have been up to, and to hear exactly what Lex sounds like as the new Megaherz frontman.

Lex has a great voice and it fits the band well. He doesn’t sound quite as dynamic as Alexx or Mathias were, but this is also just a demo so I’m sure the vocals on the final version of the song will be fantastic. The music itself is definitely in line with that of their current album 5, heavier than in their past and moving towards straight out hard rock. The guitars definitely take the spotlight in “Ebenbild” while the electronic elements that remain have been pushed back into the shadowy corners. The overall sound is confidently Megaherz. I can’t wait to hear more!

The news page of Megaherz.de also announces that the album is planned for a Spring 2008 release. Come talk about the new Megaherz song and album with us.

Well here’s some interesting German music news: It looks like the German rockers from Pesticide will be getting their music featured in a new porno called Punkd Ur Ass. The film’s director, Matt Zane, is the frontman of the band Society 1 and likes to film rock-themed pornography in his spare time (apparently in the backstage areas of his band’s shows, too). Previous flicks in the series have had guest appearances from well known musicians like Jonathan Davis, Fred Durst, and Mark McGrath, while Punkd Ur Ass will guest star Dave Navarro from bands like Jane’s Addiction and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. That’s one way to promote their music, I can’t blame them for not thinking outside the box.

If you’re interested, you can watch the trailer for Punkd Ur Ass. Be sure to check out Pesticide’s music on their MySpace page, too.

The new Schelmish album Wir Werden Sehen was kind of informally announced here a month ago when “I told you about their single “Moor” but I thought you might like to know a little more about the album. Wir Werden Sehen typifies Schelmish’s folk-rock style which seems to be growing in popularity in Germany lately. If you like the sound of bagpipes and other more traditional instruments combined with your rock music, like fans of In Extremo or Saltatio Mortis do, you will almost definitely like Wir Werden Sehen. The medieval instruments lay out the melodies while the guitar riffs come in to stir things up a bit. It’s a combination that’s very pleasing to the ears.

Wir Werden Sehen will be released this Friday, October 19th, in Germany. Unfortunately, there’s no U.S. release, but you can buy a copy from Isotank who has imported them for us. They are kind of expensive, but you would be paying just as much if you imported it yourself from a German online shop. It’s a shame good music has to cost so much just because we are far away.

Abella.de has samples for every song on the album that you can download or stream with Real Player. But if you hate Real Player as much as I do, Schelmish’s MySpace page currently has 4 full length songs from the new album that you can listen to, instead. (Is MySpace really any better than Real Player? They are both pretty bad if you ask me, but that’s a discussion for another time…)

Schelmish - Wir Werden Sehen tracklist:
01. Intro (The Holeyologists Prayer)
02. Gefangener Der Zeit
03. Ehrlich
04. Blitz
05. So Allein
06. Der Narr
07. Hunter
08. Stern
09. Kreuzzug Gegen Die Verlogenheit
10. Blessed Be
11. Das Moor
12. Andersland
13. Herr Niemand
14. Wir Werden Sehen
15. Rainbow
16. Outro

Zombie Joe released their first album Vegas in 2002 and it soon became one of my favorite albums from that year. It’s incredibly diverse, light and calm one moment and brutally hard the next. Soft vocals suddenly erupt into menacing guitar riffs. Every time I listen to Vegas, it leaves me wanting more. Zombie Joe’s second album Schlachthaus Baby turned out to be a bit more docile. While some songs aren’t as heavy as I’d like, I think it’s slightly more refined than their debut and still very much worth listening to.

Ideally, I would like to have shown you a video from both albums here, but it seems that Zombie Joe’s videos are not very pleniful on Youtube. So instead, I am showing just one video, “Mit dem Kopf Zuerst” from their second album Schlachthaus Baby. I would still urge you to visit the band’s website (go to the Media section) and watch the 2 videos for “Wunder” and “Sukkubus” from Vegas. “Mit dem Kopf Zuerst” is cool, especially with the crazy video angles and “sideways” theme, but I like the earlier ones better, personally.

Source: youtube.com/watch?v=Rga1Up2oJpg

Is that a new CD or the pizza I ordered? That’s what I think of when I look at the cover of the new Die Ärzte album Jazz Ist Anders. The graphic art theme for the album is clearly inspired by a pizzeria, and the band’s website matches, too. In fact, the vinyl version of the album actually comes in a pizza box! Unfortunately, a round piece of vinyl doesn’t taste quite as good as pizza does, but it sure sounds a whole lot better.

Jazz Ist Anders is Die Ärzte’s 11th full-length studio release and contains 16 songs including the single “Junge” on track 6. Their sound hasn’t changed at all really, still the energetic punk-rock we’re familiar with. The album will hit stores across Europe in just less than a month on November 2nd. You can already hear a few new songs on the band’s MySpace page.

Die Ärzte - Jazz Ist Anders tracklist:
01. Himmelblau
02. Lied vom Scheitern
03. Breit
04. Lasse redn
05. Die ewige Maitresse
06. Junge
07. Nur einen Kuss
08. Perfekt
09. Heulerei
10. Licht am Ende des Sarges
11. Niedliches Liebeslied
12. Deine Freundin (wäre mir zu anstrengend)
13. Allein
14. Tu das nicht
15. Living Hell
16. Vorbei ist vorbei