Subway To Sally is officially Germany's best kept secret. While being quite well-known and successful in their own country I rarely ever meet someone who is not German that actually has heard of this band, let alone know any of their previous albums.
Subway To Sally was originally founded in 1992, playing an interesting mix of Folk and Rock music and quickly gathered a loyal fan base and excellent live reputation through intensive touring. It was not until 1996 however, with the release of their third album Foppt Den Daemon !, that the band would become known to a wider audience and managed to sign a deal with a major label. In 2003 we saw the release of the band's seventh studio album Engelskrieger, which even managed to chart in Germany despite being slightly controversial amongst their fans due to certain musical changes (which involved ditching most of the Folk influences in favor of a darker and colder sound, stylistically owing more to Rammstein than to previous Subway To Sally albums).
Now, two years later and a with a new drummer, Nord Nord Ost is upon us and once again the band slightly alters (or rather reverses) its direction, this time by reintroducing the Folk influences and even going as far as working with an orchestra. A change which especially fans who felt a bit alienated by Engelskrieger will welcome with open arms. This does not mean however that the more modern approach of that particular album is completely abandoned, something which is especially notable in the guitar work. What it does make sure off though is that the production on Nord Nord Ost is a lot warmer and enjoyable and results in an album which stylistically sounds as a perfect hybrid between Engelskrieger and Hochzeit. As is shown by both the cover as well as the song titles, the main concept behind Nord Nord Ost revolves around fire and (particularly) ice and plays on the contradiction between these two elements. Lyrically sometimes sad and melancholic (the wonderful Eisblumen - Ice Flowers) , the other moment slightly less serious (Das Ratsel II - The Riddle II - which refers to various older songs pretty much in the same way as for example Manowar's Blood Of The Kings does), but musically always thoroughly enjoyable. Even for those of us who hardly know any German at all (in which case now would be a good time to actually start learning).
Nord Nord Ost is easily one of the best albums I have heard all year and should be able to perfectly bridge the gap between both the older Subway To Sally fans as well as the newer ones who favor Engelskrieger. Highly recommended to everyone - but especially to those of us that have a weak spot in their heart for bands like Skyclad or In Extremo.