German Legends bring their Metal Machine Music to Infest 2017!
Critics worldwide hail them alongside KRAFTWERK and EINSTÜRZENDE NEUBAUTEN as pioneers of Electronic and Industrial music, bands like FRONT 242 and NITZER EBB called them their inspiration, and their musical ideas found their way into the sound of a wide spectrum of music, from DEPECHE MODE to the innovative pioneers of Detroit Techno.
Over 30 years and many internationally successful albums, DIE KRUPPS have developed an unmistakable signature sound that is meant to stay!
After monumental and industrial beginnings with the album ‘Stahlwerksinfonie’, the foundation for Electronic Body Music was laid by the single ‘Wahre Arbeit Wahrer Lohn’ (both Album and Single Of The Week in the British NME), and the following albums ‘Volle Kraft Voraus’ and ‘Entering The Arena’, which created international interest in the band’s characteristic synthesis of hard electronics and highly danceable beats.
European wide releases secured the band a large following, that was only set to increase in the ’90s.
After a 3-year break, international chart positions of a remake of their classic track ‘Wahre Arbeit’, now called ‘The Machineries Of Joy’, which was a collaboration with NITZER EBB (U.S. Billboard Dance Charts Top 10), marked the next chapter in the history of the band.
The following widening of their musical spectrum, which saw the addition of a more metal inspired aggressive vocal style and guitar riffs on the album ‘I’, and the essential single track ‘Metal Machine Music’, was like a slap in the face for conservative critics and listeners alike.
The mini album ‘A Tribute To Metallica’ underlined this daring step, gaining the attention of Lars Ulrich and Co., who helped to secure the band a deal in the U.S.
After an extended hiatus, 2013 was to become the year when DIE KRUPPS machinery went back into full swing.
The machines were greased, the dust shaken off, the factory gates opened again. After shift operation was restored, the long-awaited new prototype ‘The Machinists Of Joy’ rolled off the assembly line on 25.10.2013. With this most recent effort DIE KRUPPS seamlessly picked up the streak of their genre-defining releases in the ’80s and ’90s. DIE KRUPPS still deliver ‘Metal MACHINE Music’ – heavy, danceable, sometimes epic machine-music, adorned with well-placed guitar attacks and the ever-onward hammering of the ‘steel-o-phone’, paired with critical contemporary lyrics, setting themselves off from what has become the norm today.
On August 28th 2015, DIE KRUPPS returned with their new release ‘V – Metal Machine Music’. Back to the distinctly guitar-based sound from the late ’90s, the new songs showed a much increased level of aggressiveness! DIE KRUPPS had never before combined such heavy guitars and powerful sequencers. The upcoming shows proved that this direction was well reserved by the audience Europe-wide.
Alongside mastermind Juergen Engler (vocals, steel-o-phone), the line-up was machinist Ralf Doerper on Korg MS-20 synthesizer, Marcel Zuercher on guitar, with Volker Borchert from former metal band Accuser on drums, and Nils Finkeisen on second guitar.
The album ‘V’ made the official sales chart in Germany and cracked the Top 40! The singles ‘Battle Extreme’ and ‘Kaltes Herz’ both made it to No.1 in the German DAC Charts, the latter stayed in the pole position for 6 consecutive weeks!
The Die Krupps story will be continued with a new album out in 2017…
Full Force Ahead
After a hiatus of more than 5 years the Swedish Electro band Covenant returns to Belgium to present their latest and globally critically acclaimed album ‘The Blinding Dark’. The last time they played in Belgium was at the Rewind Festival (RIP) at De Vooruit, Ghent.
This time they are invited by the Antwerp based organization BodyBeats Productions, to play at one of BodyBeats regular venue partners Zappa, Friday June 30th.
Like the tradition demands there will also be a support band and afterparty added to this night. The name of the support band has still to be announced but we know already DJ BORG will spin at the after-show party.
Sonic Jesus is the project of multi-instrumentalist Tiziano Veronese. Based in Italy and formed in 2012, Sonic Jesus is set to release its enthralling second LP ‘Grace’ on March 10th via London imprint Fuzz Club Records.
The new album follows on from a split single with psych legends The Black Angels and a debut double LP titled Neither Virtue Nor Anger, which was met with wide-spread praise by the likes of The Quietus, Clash and Drowned In Sound.
Grace shows Sonic Jesus taking on an insatiable new form, ditching their industrial and hypnotic psych-rock for an expansive synth-driven post-punk sound that falls somewhere between Interpol, Editors and Cold Cave.
There’s still the hypnotic Sonic Jesus darkness ebbing beneath the noise but these new tracks show the project reverberating around a new-found pop sensibility.
After releasing the widely praised granitic double LP Neither Virtue Nor Anger and an intense period of touring around Europe, it seemed like Sonic Jesus' fate followed an already traced path. Two years later, in comes 'Grace' - a work that questions the inner nature of the band itself, uncovering the experimental temper of Tiziano Veronese.
The Merciful Nuns, brainchild of the enigmatic Artaud Seth, return with their ninth instalment of an epic journey through the pansophic traditions of sacred wisdom and knowledge: “A-U-M” continues to deliver a profound lyrical context against a backdrop of mesmerising soundscapes and carefully orchestrated containment of driven energy. This time the journey takes us into the realms of Eastern philosophy, a tour-de-force in the manner established fans of the band have grown accustomed to and will no doubt find their anticipation suitably serviced with “A-U-M”.
The album will appeal to the genuine seeker as well as casual listeners. The quality of the songs and their production is a given when we talk about the MERCIFUL NUNS, Artaud’s voice in all its facets revealing the scope of its power: soothing, teasing, imploring and chastising as the situations demands. Jawa’s bass work once again expertly arranged to deliver a powerful yet measured approach in setting the tempo, providing a solid and sound foundation for Jòn’s effective and intricate contribution on guitar – ever more assuming a unique and identifiable signature sound. Vocals, bass and guitars are arranged in perfect harmony and in support of each other; one never gets the impression of listening to three individuals working together but rather a coordinated trinity at work.
A remarkably well conceived and executed production, probably MERCIFUL NUNS’s best album yet on multiple levels !
I Can Spin a Rainbow, the new album (& tour) by Amanda Palmer & Edward Ka-Spel
Amanda Palmer of the Dresden Dolls & Edward Ka-Spel of The Legendary Pink Dots combined their creative minds on the new album I Can Spin a Rainbow.
To promote the album an American/European tour is planned:
05-17 Boston, MA – Middle East
05-20 New York, NY – Bowery Ballroom
05-21 Brooklyn, NY – Rough Trade NYC
05-23 San Francisco, CA – DNA Lounge
05-24 Los Angeles, CA – Troubadour
05-31 Warsaw, Poland – Proxima
06-01 Munich, Germany – Muffathalle
06-02 Leipzig, Germany – Wave & Gotik Treffen
06-04 Prague, Czech Republic – Palác Akropolis
06-05 Hamburg, Germany – Fabrik
06-09 Antwerp, Belgium – Trix Club
06-10 Amsterdam, Netherlands – Melkweg
06-11 Paris, France – Cigale
06-13 London, England – Heaven
06-16 Vienna, Austria – Porgy & Bess
