East Germany was a forbidden place in the 80s; maybe FORMEL 1's name was heard a little bit outside those borders and that was it. MACBETH was formed in 1985, disbanded in 1987 and CAIBAN did raise from their ashes for some years; suffering from original vocalist Detlev Wittenburg's (1989) and drummer Rico Sauermann's (1993) deaths, the band - under the MACBETH moniker again - came back in 2002/2003 with the Rebirth demo.
Macbeth (2006) was the kind of debut album that sets some standards high but clearly needs some good timing and 'push' to reach more CD players. Three years later, Gotteskrieger serves as the follow-up that dares to pay the price for MACBETH's whole history. Standing for holy warrior, the album's name does have  little in common with a possible assumption expecting a Heavy/Power Metal band of German inspiration. This new album is aggressive, full of anger, with an in-your-face attitude and takes no prisoners in terms of instrumentation. Hostile and relentless, straightforward and malevolent, evil in its own way and killing at sight, Gotteskrieger borrows the insanity of mid-pace SLAYER, the resentment of NEVERMORE, the Scandinavian extreme Metal melodies and the harsh vile vice of on-the-edge Heavy/Thrash German Metal ideals and offers a painkiller for the listener's own apathy.
A gloomy/sinister veil is thrown upon most of the songlist, just with the use of a certain ambience and some rather striking guitars sound...the aim is close, MACBETH flirts with psychosis and songs like Golgatha and Maikaefer Flieg fit like a soundtrack of dusk living next door to decadent serenity. The German language - overall - is a plus, I think. It adds horror, secrecy and some unexpected dread that's yet undetermined by prolific means.
Don't have the lyrics to accompany the audition, so no info can be given on the texts displayed in this second MACBETH album. This, of course, does not omit the least off Gotteskrieger's value. These Germans have balls many bands would be jealous of, and they perform nasty current Heavy Metal with vibe in the way it should - in my humble opinion - be expressed. Solid as concrete, this release should put the band in the Metal map; suffering a lot of tragic events in the past, MACBETH has the right to look into a brighter future even if not teenagers anymore.

P.S.: The communist authorities required any live-performing band to have a government-issued license, and thus the band took a risk playing their first shows without this notorious document...As tensions between the band and the ruling authorities increased during each ensuing concert, it became clear that it was only a matter of time until the situation came to a boil. This occurred in the Fall of 1986 at the legendary Stadtgarten concert in Erfurt. The concert hall was packed full, yet hundreds of fans were still outside trying desperately to get in. Present in the balcony were dozens of Stasi (East German secret police) agents who were covertly observing the raucous events. The crowd in the tightly-packed concert-hall was going completely bezerk during the show, with the intensity threatening to explode out of control any minute, despite the band's repeated efforts to calm the frenzied crowd. However, towards the conclusion of the show the police stormed the backstage area and prohibited the band from performing further, canceling the planned encore. This was the last straw! The fans were furious and not only the concert hall but also the city's streets became filled with angry protests and disturbances caused by the fans on their way home...he authorities immediately suspended the band's license for an indefinite period, and this was just the beginning of the government's retribution. In addition the band's vehicle-license was revoked, and the Chief Burgomaster (known as the Red Rosi) terminated the use of the band's rehearsal room, threatening the band with a series of evictions and fines. Facing a massive debt burden of 25,000 Marks, it became hard to find optimism during this time...