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A Challenge Of Honour

A Challenge Of Honour * Angelic Torment (10″ 2002 divine comedy records)

In a beautiful cover comes the new material of the Dutch ACOH who released the successfull “Only Stones Remain” cd on the same label last year. Where the previous material is mostly bombastic industrial, “Angelic Torment” is filled with dark industrial / ambient. Side A has a really nice, long and dark track, side B opens with an a bit too ambient track, but then we get some of the old bombastic sounds. “Angelic Torment” is the first of 3 10″s that will be dedicated to the madness of mankind. This one is about the allied bombings of the German city Dresden on 13/2/45 that killed somewhere between 35.000 and 135.000 civilians. A nice 10″ limited to 500 copies, so be quick. <25/5/02><3>

A Challenge Of Honour * Wilhelm Gustloff (cd 2001 stahlklang audio)

This is a rerelease an of the earlier released promo-cdr “Wilhelm Gustloff”, but this time with additional tracks. The material for “Wilhelm Gustloff” was recorded together by Johan K. and Peter S. so this is the transition between when ACOH was still a soloproject of Johan K. (ger) to when it became a soloproject of Peter S. (nl). The “Gustloff” mcd was recorded in march/april 2001 and the additional tracks are only of Peter S. and were recorded in august/september 2001.
“Gustloff” tells the story of the ship with the name “Wilhelm Gustloff” that was shot down by a Russian submarine on 30 januari 1945. Samples are used from the 1959 movie “Nacht Fiel Über Gotenhafen” by Frank Wisbar. The music is not as bombastic as on the latest full-length cd “Only Stones Remain” (see elsewhere), but still ‘bombastic industrial’ so to say. The extra tracks are more orchestral and Peter also makes some neo-folkish music sometimes.
Anyway, again a very nice cd and again you have to be very quick. There are only 50 copies available and it seems that also “Only Stones Remain” is almost sold out. Be sure to get in contact with Peter quickly to see if there still are copies left for you. I can highly recommand both “Gustloff” and “Only Stones Remain” when you like ‘bombastic industrial’ (say, Dernière Volonté, Der Blutharsch, etc.). This one comes in a very funny package as well. <31/10/01><4>

A Challenge Of Honour * Only Stones Remain (cd 2001 divine comedy)

Strange history of the band. First ACOH was a German named Johan König, who got to know Peter S. of Above The Ruins / Materialschlacht, who eventually released the “The Right Place” demo on his Stahlklang Audio label. Later Johan and Peter made some music together and now ACOH is only Peter S. This definately did do anything wrong to the music though! The demo is alright. I haven’t heard the cd-r “Wilhelm Gustloff” (which will be rereleased) yet, but this cd is actually pretty good. Martial industrial reminding a bit of Dernière Volonté sometimes, but mostly sounding very original. Pretty simple, sometimes orchestral, sometimes folky and with a few magnificent tracks. Including two tracks from the demo “Only Stones Remain” is a 52 minute cd with 11 tracks. Plans and contracts for future releases are already there and I am very curious what the future for ACOH will bring! <29/9/01><4>

A Challenge Of Honour * The Right Place (mc 2001 stahlklang audio)

Just released a few days ago and very limited (30 copies) comes a nice tape in a videobox.
“The Right Place” opens with a few tracks that remind of Der Blutharsch and Dernière Volonté and after an acoustic track there are a couple of monotous soundscape-like ambient/industrial tracks that I don’t like as much as the first few tracks. These are a bit harder, slightly militant and with talking-samples, like you may expect with the two comparison projects.
However I think that this German band would fit well on Hau Ruck!, it seems that Cold Spring showed interest. Not the least label indeed, so I’m curious what the future will bring. I’ll patiently wait and see. And for the moment, get in touch with Stahlklang before all copies are gone. <1/4/01><3>