Endstille - Endstilles Reich
Endstille are quick to point out their origins in Schleswig-Holstein, as opposed to the rest of Germany. This northern state abuts Denmark and is home to the annual Wacken Open Air festival. Schleswig-Holstein's disposition is evidently more Scandinavian than German, which helps explain Endstille's near-perfect take on black metal.Among Our Glorious ExistenceEndstilles Reich
The cover of Endstilles Reich (Regain, 2007) depicts post-WWII Kiel, the capital of Schleswig-Holstein. War is a natural obsession for Germans. But being German and war-obsessed does not automatically make one evil. Endstille are firmly anti-NSBM; they opened 2003's Frühlingserwachen with a radio soundbite announcing Hitler's death. Unfortunately, the promo of this album did not come with lyrics. They are mostly in English, though, and interviews reveal that much thought went into their mix of historical and personal themes.
Much thought went into this band, in general. "Endstille" means "final silence," and the band ends each album with a track called "Endstille." Five full-lengths into their career, they are professional operators. Endstilles Reich is an unbroken string of complete control. The band hails down the requisite blastbeats, but often shifts into heavy, swinging shuffles, as oceanic chords wash over the top. Eschewing drum triggers, the sound is natural and huge. This album is a model of consistency and power.
Endstille's fans are justifiably a bit crazy. They've dressed up cars with some of the finest black metal regalia you'll see on the road. See this Passat (photo 1, photo 2) and this VW van (photo). They're not quite the Iron Maiden plane (photo), but they're impressive.
Endstilles Reich is available from The End.
Labels: black metal, clee, germany
6 Comments:
The Grateful Dead, black metal style! (Love the van). What's next?! Black metal bus gypsies?!
That's from the Wacken Open Air festival, so it's a bit of local loyalty. New Yorkers have Yankees caps, Wackeners have Endstille vans.
Haha, as your (very new) resident "car guy", that Passat is STILL killing me. Awesome find Cosmo.
Not bad. I'm surprised by how good this is. Also surprised that I've never heard of this band in my life, yet they have five albums... since 2002!?!?
Although, knowing me, I reviewed three of them three years ago and totally forgot about it. (I didn't, thankfully, I checked.)
Good, ferocious energy, and there's a killer dissonance to the guitars. Great bite. Hmmm... I wonder if this is sitting around at my house somewhere, too!? Ha, ha...
Yeah, Andrew, I'm starting to find some good stuff in German black metal. The scene isn't as huge and awesome as the French one, but...they definitely have some cool things going on.
Johnny, you haven't seen the half of it. In Berlin, I saw this VW (I think), where the owner replaced the model name with the Bon Jovi logo (unless someone makes a car called the Bon Jovi!).
Ooh, this is tasty! They've got the intellect and savage drum production of Deathspell Omega. Thanks for hipping me to 'em Mr. Cosmo.
Post a Comment
<< Home