Inspite of the suggestion that the title makes, this is the third cd of Erblast. It appeared that Erblast was the dark side of Oswald Henke, but with “VI” I get the idea that Erblast is more the expression of that which Henke can’t use in his other musical projects (Goethes Erben, Artwork, Zeitgeist). Erblast I was very experimental and not too good. Erblast II was really dark and very good. Especially the stage-performances gave the idea that it was this dark side that Henke wanted to explore with this project. “VI” on the contrary is very melodic, tranquil and romantic. The songs on this cd are mostly built of tranquil orchestral music (violin, piano) and the poetic narrative vocals of Oswald Henke. Therefor I think this cd will be recieved better by Goethes Erben fans than by people who really enjoy Erblast II.
You may wonder what happened to Erblast III, IV and V. Well, Erblast III will probably never be released. The concept of that album deals with drugs and the fact that the corrupt regimes of countries in the middle east are financed by means of drug-transport. One song was enough to proclaim Oswald Henke as enemy of the state by many middle and near eastern countries, so he figured that it was better to not make a whole cd dealing with these ‘sensetive’ subjects available to the public.
Erblast IV and V are still worked upon and will probably released as a double cd some time. But, VI was planned for early 1999, so who knows how long we have to wait for this 2cd. Besides, late 1998 Henke already wondered if anybody would be interested to release an totally un-commercial and instrumental 2cd. Personally I think only the sticker “Oswald Henke ist Erblast” guarantees enough sold copies.
For now we’ll have to do with Erblast VI which is really worth it if you like atmospheric music and especially when you love the voice of Oswald Henke. A warning to close off: don’t be afraid of some experimentalism, even when there’s not too much of that on this newest cd.