Sub Dub Micromachine (or more easily abbreviated as SDMM) is a metal band from Berlin that was getting a lot of attention online a few years ago, especially from our friends at DeutschMusikLand.com who not only have a band bio, but also an interview and a review of their first album Rabautz! They were supposed to be working on a followup called Pump Up The Blast, but it was never released as far as I can tell. Fortunately, it looks like the band has regrouped from whatever problems delayed that album and are now approaching the release of their next album Auferstanden.

This new album, which I have been told will be released on April 12th, sounds heavier (and significantly more awesome) than I remember Rabautz sounding. If I had to make comparisons, I would say Auferstanden is somewhere between Rob Zombie and the Korn I was listening to in 6th grade when they were still young. And despite the fact that there’s a certain detuned depth to both the guitars and the vocal style that takes me back about 10 years, the music is definitely not a copy of either of those bands. I would say it’s probably better. If there’s any bit of you that longs for the mid-90s before mainstream music started going completely downhill, you need to give this album a listen. Sub Dub Micromachine has 6 great full-length songs streaming on their MySpace page including “Road To Nowhere”, the song they turned into this badass video:

Amazon.de has Auferstanden listed as a hybrid SACD, but they don’t have a price or tracklisting yet. Neither does any other website I have found, including the band’s own site. So, in the absence of any extra information, I’ll give you another video. This one is for the song “Fly.” Just follow the link to watch it.
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It has been a while since I talked about the Swiss-based band Fanoe, and it’s time to mention them again now that their long-awaited second album Down To Heaven has finally been released. It has actually been available since the beginning of February, but only from a limited number of sources so far and promotion has largely been underground and by word-of-mouth. This electronic rock album has 10 songs and comes in a very nice digipack featuring stunning artwork that was designed by the band’s singer himself. It’s almost as good as the music.

Mini-review / Listen to Down To Heaven
Down To Heaven is a fantastic album and a very fitting followup to Fanoe’s first album Empire Dirt, which has been one of my favorites lately. It’s grungier and the electronics seem to be more thinly scattered than their debut, but the music is still well within the bounds of industrial rock and sounds great. I think “Lover Undercover” is my favorite so far. While German music purists may not like the fact that the lyrics are in English, they are still performed very well and certainly don’t detract from the musical style. I urge you to listen to some of the very generous 2-minute MP3 samples of every song on the album from CD Baby’s Down To Heaven page. You can listen to each track individually or click the “Play All Songs” button to hear them all in order. I also posted the music video for “I Am” below for you.

Where to find the album
In Europe, Down To Heaven is available from Cede.ch. In the USA, CD Baby and CD Connection both have the album in stock. Naturally, you can download the album on iTunes as well. And finally, if you really like the band and want to order a shirt or a special art print from the band, you should visit Fanoe’s webshop. Just choose your preferred currency at the left to enter and see all the items.

Fanoe - Down To Heaven tracklisting
01. Down to Heaven
02. I Am
03. Sweet Nothing
04. Skin & Bones
05. Passion
06. Medicine Man
07. Burn in Hell
08. Lover Undercover
09. One More Day
10. Innocent

Fanoe - “I Am” video

From: youtube.com/watch?v=09-XzyfwIMA. Be sure to check out Fanoe’s YouTube page for more videos from the band, too.

There are many bands that undoubtedly are great overall, but on every record amongst the masterpieces there’s a bunch of a lot inferior or even downright bad songs. A prime German example of such a band would be KMFDM. Every album has its fair share of instant classics, yet to counter them there’s always a couple of really insignificant and inane tracks that don’t do anything to justify their existence. But what does this have to do with Unheilig?

Yeah, nothing at all, because Unheilig isn’t like that. On Unheilig’s latest offering Puppenspiel (released February 22nd) Der Graf shows yet again his nearly unreal talent in songwriting and manages to churn out a full 14 tracks (16 if you’ve got the limited edition, like yours truly), every single one of which are enjoyable. Yes, the previous albums Moderne Zeiten and Zelluloid were both very solid and the same could’ve been said about them, but Puppenspiel is bordering perfection. To be quite honest, I was kind of skeptical when the first three samples of the album (Der Vorhang fällt, An deiner Seite and Kleine Puppe) were revealed. They were good, but they didn’t predict that many changes to the sound and formula that proved to be a winning combination on the last two CDs. However, when the urgent intro Vorhang auf exploded perfectly into Puppenspieler, it grabbed me by the throat and didn’t let go until I’d listened the CD straight through.

Most of the album is darker and notably more furious than the almost overly sluggish and romantic Moderne Zeiten, especially Lampenfieber is a surprisingly brutal cut for Unheilig, while the ballads Feuerengel, An deiner Seite and Der Vorhäng fällt are no slouches either, as they are genuinely touching and powerful. Guitars seem to have more of a driving role here than electronics making for a heavier sound than before, although synths, pianos and strings are still a large part of the band’s sound. Der Graf also uses his voice in ways we haven’t heard before. Too bad the limited edition is already completely sold out, as the two bonus songs are also terrific additions to the core experience. Probably the only song that doesn’t stand out as much as everything else is Wie viele Jahre, which seems more like filler with its weird, out-of-place Gregorian sample and is grudgingly slow.

In other words, Puppenspiel is tougher, catchier, more epic and simply put better than anything Der Graf has created before. It’s chock-full of songs that’ve been composed and produced so excellently that it’s almost ridiculous, a brilliant, expert combination of both familiar and new Unheilig elements. For fans it’s automatically a must-have, and if you’re not a fan of Unheilig yet, Puppenspiel proves that you bloody well should be, it’s that damn good. Get it and see for yourself.

Check out samples for each track on Nilaihah’s website, where you can also order it if you’re in the US. When you’ve got the album, don’t forget to vote for your favourite title on the German side of Unheilig’s website.

Where to get Puppenspiel
In the USA/Canada direct from Nilaihah Records
In the UK at MusicNonStop.co.uk
In Germany/Europe at AlphaMusic.de

Yes, German metal fans should really be looking forward to this Friday. Not only does the 29th of February mark the release of Atrocity’s new album Werk 80 II, but this is also the day when the band will re-release many of their older albums again.

First, some info about the re-releases
Among the Atrocity albums to see life for the second time is the original Werk 80 which features lots of metal covers of songs from the ’80s, just like the new Werk 80 II. Also getting re-released are Willenskraft, Blut, Die Liebe (feat. Das Ich), Calling The Rain (feat. Yasmin), and Hallucinations/The Hunt. Several of these albums have extra bonus tracks that were not available on the original versions. For example, the Werk 80 re-release includes the 3 bonus tracks that were previously only on the limited festival edition of the album, plus 2 other remixes from related singles. Take a look at the end of this post for the full tracklisting of all the albums.

Some of these re-releases really go back to the time when Atrocity was a proper death metal band. I just had to start listening to Willenskraft as I type this post, and I am now remembering how much I love it. “Scorching Breath” is just an awesome track, the guitar riffs are insane. If this doesn’t get you moving, you’ve got to be comatose. I wish I could find someplace that has samples from this and the other albums for you to listen to, but I haven’t found any.

Where to find the 6 re-releases
You can find the 6 re-releases online in several different shops. Both AlphaMusic.de and EMP.de have them for 9.99 Euros each, except for Hallucinations/The Hunt which is slightly more because it has 2 CDs.

Now, an update about Werk 80 II
As you know, Werk 80 II is a followup to Atrocity’s first ’80s cover album, Werk 80. The standard album features 11 tracks, while the limited edition digipack has an extra bonus track. There is also a third version of the album that I just recently found out about, called the deluxe edition, in which you will actually get both Werk 80 albums (I and II) together in a special slipcase plus an alternate album cover. In case you were wondering, if you choose to get this deluxe double disc version, you will get the limited edition version of Werk 80 II with the bonus track, but only the standard version of the original Werk 80. This is a really great combination if you love metal and classic ’80s hits. I would definitely buy it if I didn’t already have the limited festival edition of the original Werk 80, which has 3 bonus tracks of its own.

Listen to Werk 80 II
Atrocity’s MySpace page provides a few medleys from Werk 80 II for your listening pleasure, plus some songs from their previous album Atlantis which is also really great.

Where to find Werk 80 II
EMP.de has Werk 80 II for the lowest price I’ve found online (13.99 Euros), but if you want to get the CD shipped to America you’ll have to go to the next site, AlphaMusic.de. Ironically, they actually have the limited edition for cheaper than the regular version, so you may as well pay less to get more, while you can.

All of the tracklists are going to make this a very long post, so I hid them below. (more…)

Qntal will soon be enchanting us with their beautiful blend of classical and electronic music again. Their sixth album entitled Translucida will be released on both sides of the Atlantic this week. In the United States, Dancing Ferret’s sub-label Noir Records will release Translucida on Tuesday, February 26th. The album will then be released in Germany on Friday the 29th. Both locations will see the usual 2-format release with a standard and a limited edition. The basic album comes with 12 songs, while the limited edition is in a digibook and contains a second disc with bonus material.

Listen to Translucida
I am currently listening to the 2 songs from Translucida that are on Qntal’s Myspace page and they are just stunning. Very beautiful and captivating. If you enjoy Qntal’s previous music, or other “modern-traditional” bands like Faun or Corvus Corax for example, you will love this new album. Qntal is really one of the most steadily-good bands in this genre and Translucida really continues this trend.

Where to find Translucida
In North America, get it directly from Dancing Ferret’s store, Isotank: regular for $13.99* - limited edition for $16.99
In Europe, get it from EMP.de: regular for Eur 14.99 - limited edition for Eur 16.99

* Please note: I don’t know why Isotank shows the regular version with the bonus disc, but no other retailer shows this. I think it’s a mistake on their site. If you want the bonus disc, make sure you buy the limited edition.

Qntal - VI-Translucida tracklisting

Disc 1:
01. Sleeping
02. Departir
03. Slahte Wille
04. Translucida
05. La Froidor
06. Glacies
07. Worlds Of Light
08. Obscure
09. Sumer
10. Amorous Desir
11. Ludus
12. Passacaglia

Disc 2 on limited edition only:
01. Ludus
02. Umaere
03. La Froidor
04. Slahte Wilde (Version Bleu)

The German Invasion has begun. One of the next German bands that will be coming to tour across the USA is And One. They had actually started out on tour last year with VNV Nation, but pulled out of the tour part-way through. Luckily for us, the band didn’t give up on the idea of playing some concerts over here. We’ll get to see them after all.

And One was created in 1989 by Steve Naghavi and Chris Ruiz in Berlin. Another famous early member of the band was Joke Jay. The band’s current lineup includes the 2 founding members plus Gio van Oli. Over the years, And One has become very well known both in Germany and around the world for their catchy EBM (early) and synthpop (later) styles of music. They have released 9 studio albums so far, with their most recent being Bodypop from 2006. Personally, I like their older songs a bit better because of the classic old school EBM sound you hear in songs like “Metalhammer” or “Deutschmaschine” but their newer more synth-oriented music is great as well.

A few other bits of interesting information: Steve Naghavi is known for remixing songs for other bands including remixes of “Fieber” and “Gekreuzigt” for Oomph! Atrocity covered And One’s song “Deutschmaschine” in 1997 on their first Werk 80 album (only as a bonus track on the limited edition, probably because “Deutschmaschine” was originally released in 1994, not in the ’80s). And One also released a special online-only single called “Amerika Brennt” for free in the aftermath of the September 11th attacks as a sign of their support for the country. Currently, And One distributed in North America on Metropolis Records.

You can watch the video for And One’s 2006 single “So Klingt Liebe” on this post.

And One’s 2008 tour dates in North America
Feb 14 - Washington D.C. at Club Five
Feb 16 - Philadelphia, PA at Shampoo (Dracula’s Ball #40)
Feb 17 - New York, NY at Avalon (see updates below!)
Feb 19 - San Francisco, CA at DNA Lounge
Feb 21 - Seattle, WA at El Corazon
Feb 24 - Los Angeles, CA at Crash Mansion
Feb 26 - Denver, CO at Oriental Theatre
Feb 28 - San Antonio, TX at White Rabbit

Let me know if you will be going to the New York show. I’ll be there along with several others I know.

Update 1 - The New York show has been moved to Webster Hall.

Update 2 - The NYC show has been moved again, this time to The Madison. Life Cried will be one of the opening bands, and you can now order tickets here.

Since we are now in a new year, I thought it might be a good idea to figure out what the best albums of 2007 were. Naturally, I have my personal favorites, but I want to know what you like, too. Post a list of your 10 favorite albums from 2007 in a comment and we can use the most popular ones as recommendations for newcomers. I will also do special posts for any albums that haven’t been discussed on the site already so everybody can learn more about them. I think this will benefit everyone.

Here are my 10 favorite German releases from 2007
Ulrich Schnauss - Goodbye
Die Krupps - Too Much History
Geist - Für Alle Zeit
Joachim Witt - Auf Ewig
Black Heaven - Kunstwerk
Polarkreis 18 - Polarkreis 18
KMFDM - Tohuvabohu
Emigrate - Emigrate
Tocotronic - Kapitulation
Krieger - Krieger

What are your favorites?
Leave a comment and let everyone know!

Mantus was a fabulous gothic metal band that sadly disbanded after their last album Zeit Muss Enden was released in 2005. Shortly thereafter, the remains of Mantus were sorted out and rejoined to form the new band Sepia. They released their debut album Goodbye Tristesse on October 19th on Rough Trade Records, and I feel obligated to tell you just how awesome it is.

The music is really great, I love the deep guitars and the dark gothic electronic overtones. But the thing that surprised me the most was the vocals. Normally, I’m not a big fan of female singers, but Tina has a really wonderful voice that fits the music so perfectly. Plus, the way the songs are mixed allows her vocals to blend in beautifully with the music, rather than stand out above it like most female-fronted bands tend to do.

You can listen to 2 full length songs and 2 longish samples on Sepia’s MySpace page. Amazon.de also has short samples of every song on the Goodbye Tristesse album. But I recommend watching the “Keine Worte” music video right here, as your first introduction to this fantastic band. The video is a bit trippy, but I like it. And the music is just great!

Sepia - “Keine Worte” video:

SEPIA - Keine Worte

Sepia - Goodbye Tristesse tracklist:
01. Ich Lebe
02. Keine Worte
03. Kalt
04. Moloch
05. Himmel
06. Goodbye Tristesse
07. Königin
08. Paradies
09. Melancholie
10. Allein
11. Kein Morgen
12. Was Bleibt

The Berlin-based techno-metal band k.d.a. have been making a lot of progress recording new songs for their forthcoming album Dubetestzudemfalschengott. Apparently, they liked the new music so much that they couldn’t hold back the goods until the album was actually released. The band decided to upload 4 of their new songs to their MySpace page so we can all have a nice preview of what’s to come. After just one listen through them all, they’ve already left a strong impression on me. The music is simply fantastic!

I strongly urge you to take a moment and go have a listen. k.d.a.’s 4 new songs take catchy industrial-flavored techno beats and pair them with simple guitar riffs and distorted vocals for a sound that really isn’t quite like anything else I can easily think of. I would say their song structures could be compared to those of Ministry because they are pretty minimal and can be a bit long and repetitive at times, but they are definitely not as heavy as Ministry is (or rather, was). The electronic elements are very strong through these new k.d.a. songs.

My personal favorite so far is “Overdose” but the behemoth-named “Wolltihraufdaslebennachdemtodewarten?” comes in as a close second. What’s your favorite?

Rozencrantz is a new name in the German gothic rock scene. Although the band was formed in 2003 which seems like a long time ago, they have only released one demo so far. They have remained pretty much under the radar since then, but I have a feeling this band is going to have some success. Bruno Kramm at Danse Macabre has done a wonderful job developing Rozencrantz and producing their debut album which will finally be released this Friday, October 12th.

The album is called Salvation and features 13 songs, with the last 2 being remixes of “In These Arms”. The music has a nice mixture of guitars and electronics, as well as some piano and other instruments coming through to give it a bit of a gothic edge. Throughout the album, the members of Rozencrantz have been assisted by guest musicians including Eve Cooper, Carsten Klatte, Matthias Lohmöller, and of course Bruno Kramm, all adding to the already great sound. You can listen to 4 songs from Salvation on the Rozencrantz MySpace page. Be sure to check out the 2 music videos on their website, too.

Rozencrantz - Salvation tracklist:
01. Forsaken
02. Decision
03. Her Walk Gets Slower
04. Bound To You
05. In These Arms
06. 1000 Knights
07. Severed Dreams
08. Lively Waters
09. Dissolve
10. Sweet Desire
11. Fareza
12. In These Arms (Acretongue remix)
13. In These Arms (Eurocide remix)