I once read an
interview with the Harry Potter author J. K. Rowling, in which she was
confronted with the rumors that the Vatican had put her books on their black
list. Her answer was that she was glad to be in such distinguished company –
which includes Milton, Swift, Voltaire, Machiavelli and just about 1000 other
literary geniuses.
Eisregen could
give the same answer when asked about how it feels to have half their albums
banned in Germany, their own homeland: indeed this is glorious company,
including bands like Cannibal Corpse and Rammstein! What is wrong with this
country!?
Their album
“Krebskolonie” stands as one of the best German black metal releases ever, and
the lyrics were described by the German authorities as
“grausam,
menschenverachtend, frauenfeindlich und verrohend” (cruel, inhuman,
misogynistic, brutalising) – a point that also applies to the music itself.
Damn, it’s just brutal! What the German courts did not grasp was the irony with
which Eisregen apply their cynicism...
The latest
Eisregen album, “Schlangensonne” has yet to be banned, but it doesn’t lack in
either inhumanity or brutality. The traditional Eisregen blend of sporadic
keyboarding and a time-honoured hybrid of blackened death and rock ‘n’ roll
simply works. Perhaps it has worked a little too well, since Eisregen hasn’t
really progressed much since they made “Zerfall” eight full-lengths ago.
Eisregen has
not lost their sense of grotesque humor either, and “Schlangensonne” introduces
its listeners to – among others – a magical elephant (“Zauberelefant”) and a
very breast-oriented Messiah (“Brustfetichrist”).
The best
tracks on the new album, when measured on a pure metal scale, are “Auf ewig
Ostfront” “Linkshänder” and “Tot senkt sich herab” – these songs bear strong
resemblance to late Satyricon and Khold. However, Eisregens spans some deep
gulfs within music, and has found room for the minimalistic adagio “Kai aus der
Kiste” and the grinding/symphonic black/thrash bastard-composition “Brustfetichrist”.
The album is
in many ways really good, but it’s too much like Eisregens other albums – it
contains no real surprises, although it’s probably good enough to be banned in
Germany.
