The universe of musical ideas is endless, so nothing is truly impossible, and limits exist just to be broken by the courageous ones. But’s not a sin that there are moments when dealing with something different from the usual can amaze the listeners (even the experienced ones), or can deceive your senses. The best is to hear and pay full attention to what’s being expressed and trust your feelings and experience. This is the best way to deal with “Abart”, the new release of the German band EISREGEN. Yantit (the multi-instrumentalist of the band) worked as the producer (and did the layout as well), and the bass player Markus Stock did the mixing and mastering of the songs. To such musical formula, the sonority demanded is to be clean and defined (especially because there are many orchestrations, keyboards and violins on the songs), and it is what they created; but on the other hand, the level of distortion on the guitars makes the latent aggressiveness of their music evident as well.

The artwork of Svartir Andar Graphix fits on the songs: is disturbing, but excellent. And finally, the band has as guests on the album the talent of Frau N. Feind on the violin and Gemser on the piano on “Totkörperkunst”. Their music is a mix between Gothic Rock, Industrial Rock, Death Metal and Black Metal, but such dramatic outfit music full of themes linked to horror and gore themes points to a form of Neue Deutsche Härte (the musical genre whose name can be translated as ‘New German Hardness’). It’s not a sin to say that they can be compared to a Black/Death Metal incarnation of OOMPH! and RAMMSTEIN (so it’s truly accessible and hooking, and with charming melodies, but pay attention: these guys are from the same generation of these bands named above), but pay attention: they carry a sinister burden on their musical expression, and it’s simple to hear and fall in love with “Abart”.

It’s their 16th full-length, so they’re experienced enough to create something that’s relevant into the scene, and they’re excellent. But it’s need to say that their mix of influences and appeal shown on “Am Abgrund” (a Gothic Rock based on gloomy bass guitar and pianos parts with charming vocals), “Ich und mein Bolzenschussgerät” (here the aggressive influences from Death Metal and Black Metal becomes evident, with nasty guitars), “Im blutroten Raum” (it’s a metalized version of THE MISSION and JOY DIVISION, indeed), “Lebendköder”, “Dem Menschsein so fern” (beautiful violin parts in some moment), “Schöner sterben” (the melodramatic appeal of this one is truly tasteful), “Hinterland” (a very funny song, indeed), “Rasierfleisch” (another Death/Black Metal moment), “Abart”, “Schmutzliebe” and “Totkörperkunst” (a 10 minutes song with many contrasts and elements, but its melodic hooks are impossible to resist to), that are on the CD 1. On CD 2, here are “Die Rückkehr der Elektro Hexe” (a mix between funny melodies and a burlesque feeling in some moments), “Electro Baba Yaga” (a perfect song for a Rave event) and “14. 1000 tote Nutten 2024”. All the songs form a unity, so the best is to taste them all at once.

It’s obvious that many fans will have concern to deal with “Abart”, because its whole conception isn’t simple. But EISREGEN’s music deserves such an effort.