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orchestral

Von Thronstahl / HERR / Kriegsfall-U * Instruo Vestra Pro Pugna! (12″ 2005 cold spring)

The Brittish label Cold Spring has been around for 15 years which was celebrated with a small festival late last year and now this special 12 has been released, limited to 500 copies. On side A is a long track by Von Thronstahl, the other two bands have half of side B. None of the tracks are very good… Von Thronstahl (pig headed as they are) come with a strange sound collage consisting of a twice told tale (through eachother) with some kind of music towards the end. I do like it when a band tries to do something new, but of course I can’t always like the result. This track is better than some of the other soundcollages that Von Thronstahl has made, but I prefer them making music. Then to the Dutch band HERR. They made some kind of neofolkish song with awfull vocals and an accordion. Then Kriegsfall-U have a nice dark industrial track, but nothing compared to their album. Exclusive tracks by three great bands, but unfortunately not really their best material. <14/1/06><2>

Von Thronstahl / The Days Of The Trumpet Call * Pessoa/Cioran (cd 2004 terra fria)

This cd has 13 exclusive tracks, was released for a Portugese show and is only available from the bands themselves. It comes in a nice little box (cd-box size) with a small booklet. However the cd is also dedicated to the Romanian philosopher Emil Cioran, it has nothing to do with the Romanian Cioran compilation that will be released some time. The music is mostly tranquil and nice. As always I like the Von Thronstahl tracks better than the Trumpet Call tracks, but this very limited cd is very enjoyable overall.

Von Thronstahl * Bellum, Sacrum Bellum !? (cd 2003 fasci-nation)

The new Von Thronstahl is again released by the guys themselves and can seemingly also only obtained by the guys themselves. But no worries, I had my copy within the week. It comes in a luxery digipack with strange collages all over and with a poster and old and new adds. Again pinpointing current happenings, Von Thronstahl named their album “War, holy war!?”.
Musically there is quite something to say. The sound is by far not as dark as on the first releases, but that is a line that we could already hear on previous releases. Often the sound is obviously Von Thronstahl, but overall the guys keep reminding me of Forthcoming Fire. Several tracks are slightly ‘gothic’, here and there technoish sounds and even there are Forthcoming vocals in one track. No neofolk anymore, but of course there are some tranquil orchestral tracks to be found. Most tracks are slighly uptempo and sometimes a bit bombastic, but again, not as bombastic as on earlier cds. Also the music, like the cover is often a collage of sounds, quite like the “Re-turn…” album. Minor point, a “We Walked In Line” cover, but the Blood Axis cover is a lot better.
I doubt Von Thronstahl will ever top their first cd for me, but still this is a very nice album. <12/7/03><3>

Von Thronstahl * Re-turn Your Revolt Into Style! (cd box 2002 fasci-nation)

Three of my favourite bands released expensive boxes recently and I do not plan to buy them all. The Der Blutharsch 4cd is already pretty expensive, but in the leather bag unaffordable. Mostly material that I have (compilation contibutions which often aren’t Albin’s best material either) and remixes that I am not really interested in anyway,so Der Blutharsch had to be skipped. Then there is the Absinthe box by Blood Axis and Les Joyaux de la Princesse. Extremely interesting. The cd with two 10″s with remixes, live recordings from the Portugal concerts and as far as I understood also tracks from the exclusive cd that was only available to the few lucky ones that were at these concerts. Extremely expensive too so with pain in my heart I also let this box pass my nose. And then we have Von Thronstahl with a box that I couldn’t let get passed. First (and most) of all, all material is exclusive. Actually this is the only reason to get this box, because however it looks great, there isn’t really anything ‘extra’.
The box is 15x15x3cm with a glass-plate of 1 cm high in it where the disc is on, so this is a pretty heavy box! Further a highly informative 20-page booklet.
Both the title and the concept are very fitting for Von Thronstahl. “Revolt” most likely refers to Josef K.’s revolt against the political correct popindustry that let him down over his ideology. K. took the image of the neofolk/industrial scene to extremes, always taking three steps further accross the border than the rest. He definately took his fascism into an artistic style, not only musically, but also in the artwork, etc. This style he returns with this box by dedicating this cd to fascism in different forms of art with a booklet with pictures, paintings, excerpts from interviews with known and less-known artists, articles and own writings all showing the fascination of artists with fascist concepts. Still the ‘introduction’ says that all this has nothing to do with a glorification of a certain phase in history but to build a certain style and aesthetics.
And what do you get musically? Well, Josef and Raymond again didn’t come close to the level of the brilliant debut cd “Imperium Internum” but that is of course because this is again a compilation of tracks and not a concept-album. Still there are some very good tracks to be found, especially the more industrial ones in the beginning. Around the end are a few of the ‘collection of samples’ things (one of 30+ min!) which aren’t too great. Further the guys wanted to use different styles of “gothic”, so you will not only get industrial and neofolk, but also a bit of EBM-like things, gothic rock and the like, a bit “Forthcoming Fire”ish.
Anyway, many tracks are good, some are just fine and others are roundout boring. Overall a nice release. <23/7/02><3>

Von Thronstahl * Imperium Internum (cd 2000 cold spring)

And here we have the cd of Von Thronstahl. It sounds different from what I expected. There isn’t as much industrial on this cd as on the 10″. (that I reviewed earlier), but there isn’t more folk on it either! So what kind of music is there on this cd? Well, most of the music is very orchestral. The first five songs are like that, at times fairly dark and with some militant touches (marchdrums). A few voices and samples to complete things. It sounds pretty good too. The songs become a bit more industrial with every track, which results in a total industrial track number six. After that there is a shorter and different version from the magnificent ‘Sturmzeit’ track from the 10″.
Then it’s time for the first folky sounds in the form of “Heimaterde, Mutterboden, Vaterland” (Native Soil, Mother Country, Fatherland). Then two more orchestral tracks and a new version of “Turn The Centuries”, which was the only folky track on the 10″. It sounds a lot more orchestral this time.
A piece of industrial and two tranquil songs close the row.
Yes, that’s a lot of tracks. It’s 14 in total spanning a time of about an hour. Because the songs aren’t too long, it doesn’t matter that not all are totally brilliant. But overall this cd is really, really good!
I think this cd will particularly appeal to people who like ‘mystical industrial’ bands like Turbund Sturmwerk, Der Blutharsch and Blood Axis. Those who enjoy experimental folk sounds, might give it a try as well.

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Cold Spring sent me review copies two long anounced rereleases of this controversial band. I heard about this band just before the 2000 Wave Gotik Treffen, but missed their ‘performance’ at the chaotic festival. I did get the 10″ and on 19/7/00 I reviewed this cd. Reading this review again, it seems that there weren’t a whole lot of bands with this kind of sound in those times. I really liked the cd and I still do. It is still one of my favourite albums with music going from soft neofolk to harsch industrial, but mostly music with a very orchestral and martial sound. Many readers of these pages will already have this cd I think, but for those who have been waiting and waiting in order to be able to lay their hands on a copy, now is your change! The rerelease comes in a digipack whereas the first edition was a normal jewel case. Musically I didn’t find any differences, but the booklet is slightly different. There are no lyrics in the new edition.

v/a * Wir Rufen Deine Wölfe (cd 2004 aorta)

Mr. Kadmon of Allerseelen/Ahnstern/Aorta asked 17 bands to make an impression of the same poem of Friedrich Hielscher. Most of the time you get (neo)folky or medieval music and there are a few industrial tracks to be found. As far as I know all material has not (yet) been released outside this compilation. The idea is very original and challenging and after several rounds in my player, I still haven’t made up my mind how I like the fact that all songs have the same lyrics. One or two bands use translations, but the majority sings the same. Musically this compilation surely isn’t disappointing, especially thinking of the fact that most music is neofolk. Particularly nice are the opening song of Der Arbeiter, Lady Morphia, Turbund, Blood Axis (folky) and Riharc Smiles. And now you also see that you get both well-known and less-known acts. For more information about Hielscher and the compilation to the the Aorta site.

v/a * Thorak (compilation cd 1998 vaws)

The first Vaws compilation in this ‘series’ (await the Breker compilation some time soon) is dedicated to the sculpturist Joseph Thorak and is so far definately the least interesting one.
However the orchestral track in the beginning (Stalingrad, The Protagonist, Von Thronstahl, The Days Of The Trumpet Call and Forthcoming Fire) are nice to very nice, the following industrial contributions (Karceral Flesh, Ecodalia, Skrol, Egoades, Turbund Sturmwerk and Source Direct) aren’t very good with the exception of Turbund and then some horrible gothic of Near Death Experience and Siela, followed by two neo-folk songs of Death In June (“Kameradschaft” the only neo-folk song from “Take Care And Control”) and Andromeda Complex.
Only agreeable for the first 1/3.

v/a * The Cold, The Silent (compilation cd 1999 dragon flight recordings)

Well, this is a strange compilation cd. The first time I listened to it, caused quite a stir. This cd starts with a couple of very descent dark orchestral tracks of Nocturath, Dream Into Dust, Chants for the Fallen, 4th Sign of the Apocalypse and As All Die. Then there’s a doom metal track by Skepticism and I wondered what was the use of that. But the next track of Krieg is a boring black metal track! Next up is Ember who make quite nice melodic black with horrid vocals (or is it Gothenburg-style death?). Then we have Novembers Doom bringing (as the bandname suggests) doom metal. Ningizzia make …eh… black metal? Well, their homepage url says “darkmetal”, so I guess you can call it that. After this we return to some more moody music with Shellyz Raven who play atmospheric metal with female vocals. The pre-last project is Veinke, this is dark ambient again. The Cold, The Silent closes of with the known gothic/doom metal band Canaan.
All in all I’m not happy with this compilation. The first tracks are really worth buying a compilation, but they should definately have left these shitty metal tracks. I suppose the aim of this cd is building a bridge between the gothic and metal audience, but I don’t know if this will ever really succeed.

v/a * Swarm (2cd 2006 cold spring records)

It sure has been a cold spring so far, but fortunately the British label with this name comes with a heartwarming compilation. There are some famous bands, but also new names to me, especially on disc 1. The compilation opens with a heavy martial industrial track by Kreuzweg Ost, followed by ambient and industrial tracks (some pretty heavy) ending in the noise of Necropolis and Deadwood. The second disc begins with the new noise star Sistrenatus from Canada with an alternative version of track “IV” from the demo. Disc two is mostly dark droning noise in the beginning, but what are these terrible version of Von Thronstahl’s “Adoration, To Europe” and the poor track “At Dawn We Meet Our Maker” by A Challenge of Honour doing there? Also the last one may be a bit out of place, but “Stalingrad” by the Dutch band HERR is a nice track to close this compilation with. A compilation with old and new, good and bad tracks, but a good introduction to the Cold Spring label.

Death In June / Von Thronstahl / The Days Of The Trumpet Call / Folkstorm vs MZ.412 * Steel Night 29/11/01 (4cd 2003 cold spring)

This box is a registration of the first evening of the “Stigma festival” in London end november 2001. I’ve travelled to this little festival (see my report here) and I was surprised that after all this time a release dedicated to it comes out. A strange release by the way. Douglas P. asked if he could open the night with an accoustic set. A nice surprise, which you can hear here. The official and original fourth act, Nocturne from Germany, does not have a disc in this box though and I don’t know why. Another thing is that in two years time you would say that the recordings could have been polished through and through. Nothing is less true! It seems as if the recordings are taken from the microphones instead of directly from the PA. Especially in TDOTTC and Folkstorm you can hear the audience talking loud and clear. Further the sound is quite flat in most cases and for example Von Thronstahls ‘soundcheck’ in the middle of the show isn’t cut out. When you’ve been there, you know the situation, but ‘new listeners’ will see no advantage in it I guess.

So, what do you get? Inspite of the spectaculair descriptions you will read, this box is nothing more (but also nothing less) than a small box like TMLHBACs “The Smell Of Blood…” or Sopors “Songs From The Inverted Womb” (cd box size but slightly bigger). Inside are four slips with a disc in it and a small ‘poster’ with some live photos. The front cover is black with black letters.

DIJ has an 11 minute cd with 6 songs. Just Douglas with a guitar. There was almost no audience when DIJ played (even though the doors opened far too late), so the recordings are alright.
Von Thronstahl has a cd of a little over 50 minutes. They played tracks that were not yet released back then and different versions of known tracks. The recording is quite good.
The Days Of The Trumpet Call present their (to me) best material. In contraction to the normal releases there are some guitars and nice vocals which surely adds to the sound. As mentioned, the audience is too present and the sound is too flat. Short too, 16 minutes.
Folkstorm vs MZ.412 had a nice set which slowly builds up from dark industrial to extreme noise. Also here not too good sound and too present audience. The lenght here 42 minutes.

The price of this box is quite impressive, I paid E 40,- for these 2 hours of alright to nice recordings. Of course (again), I’ve been there, which makes this box a nice memory, but I don’t know if I should recommend this box to people who just like the bands presented. Should you consider buying it, be sure to be quick. There are 1500 copies, not extremely limited, but I suppose that with DIJ on it, it will sell out rapidly.