Metal Overview - Eisbrecher

Frosty greetings, fellow Otaku & Metalheads!

Yes, today is the final Metal Overview of 2015. What started out as a experiment, instead turned into one of my favorite articles I like to write for this blog. As the weather has become particularly chilly, the band for this last overview was an easy choice. A band that’s simultaneously as cold as the highest mountaintop, as massive as the largest glacier, and as emotional as a grand opera. Heck, even the band’s name embodies all things heavy, icy, and powerful. The band in question.....is the Industrial artists known as Eisbrecher!

Ah, Eisbrecher. You’ll recall from my Top 10 Singers & Bands list that I placed this band at the number 2 spot, and I still stand by that choice. Eisbrecher is younger, fresher, and one of the top Industrial groups known in the world. Maybe not as popular as Rammstein is, but they are most certainly near the top. A band that knows how to bend the heaviness of metal, with power & sweeping emotion, Eisbrecher has released some of the best Industrial Metal albums to date. In honor of the coldest month of the year, I found it only fitting that Eisbrecher is the last band I do an overview on in 2015. So put on some winter clothes, and take a look at the snow-touched mystics known as Eisbrecher. Enjoy!

Eisbrecher (2004)

And so begins the career of Eisbrecher. In 2003, lead singer Alexander “Alexx” Wesselsky left his prior band Megaherz due to creative differences. Shortly after leaving, Alexander hooked up with Noel Pix, who once was a part of Megaherz himself (He worked on the synths, guitars and programming for Megaherz's albums Kopfschuss and Himmelfahrt). After getting together, the began creating some songs, and then on January 26, 2004, the two released their self-titled debut, Eisbrecher (Icebreaker). Released in Europe by ZYX Music, and Dancing Ferret Disks here in the states, the first 5,000 copies were unique for the fact that they included a blank CD, and the band game the buyers permission to copy the music onto the CD. Eisbrecher did this as a form of protest for what they felt was a "criminalization" of their fans, and it’s a little clever in my opinion.

The music on the band’s debut is great! Whereas Rammstein leans more towards the heavier side of Industrial Metal, Eisbrecher’s first outing comes across as more even in approach. Some of the songs were nice & heavy, but other tracks came across as emotional, melodic, and a little atmospheric. Eisbrecher’s first album is also great in the fact that it can be played in a dance club with no problem, but it can also be performed at a metal concert, and chances are it’ll go over pretty well with the crowd.

Best Track? Practically everything on the band’s first release is great. The opening track Polarstern (Polaris) creates the whole album’s mood, and the rest of the songs carry things along. My personal favorite, however, has to be the title track! Filled with a mix of dance beats, electronic bleeps & bloops, a great set of guitar & drums, and Alexander’s hard/soft style of singing, Eisbrecher is one of the tracks that helped establish themselves as a top Industrial act back in the early-to-mind 2000s.

Eisbrecher

Worst Track? There really aren’t any bad song on here. The puzzling thing about this album, however, is the inclusion of a remix (“Club Mix”) of one of the tracks on the album. Fanatica is one of Eisbrecher’s more dance oriented tracks in their catalog of songs. Relying heavily on electronics, Fanatica is the kind of tune to play to dance to, but it’s the club mix that adds an element of heaviness. Both of them are nice in all, but I do find it odd that two similar songs are on the same disk. Judge for yourself which is the better version.

Fanatica (Original)

Fanatica (Club Mix)

Eisbrecher. An opening release done right, it helped establish the band as a new Industrial act, and one that would get more popular as time would go on. Very recommended. Next album!

Antikörper (2006)

Release on October 20, 2006, Antikörper (Antibodies) is a slight deviation from their self-titled debut. Whereas that album was evenly mixed between Electronic/Industrial & Heavy Metal, this one leans slightly more towards the Metal side of things. There’s still electronic & Industrial elements, but the band had a little more emphasis on drums & guitar work. Antikörper was also different in it’s chart placement: their first record debuted at number 13 on the Deutsche Alternative Charts, while this one made it to number 10. It certainly deserves it’s spot, as the Heavy Metal tinged with Electronic/Industrial creates an experience that’s not completely unlike their debut.

Best Track? For me, I’m personally fond of the 9th track on the album, Kinder der Nacht, or Children of the Night as it’s translated. Evoking imagery of vampires & sensuality, but doing so in a tasteful manner, Kinder der Nacht also balances itself between instrumentation & electronics nicely. I particularly like Alexander’s singing in this song, as it come across as a “Controlled Fury” stying of vocal work. This is the kind of song you play at a club to get people moving, and to maybe get a little bit of slow dancing in as well.

Kinder der Nacht

Worst Track? Really the only thing I can harp about Antikörper is the slight unevenness between it’s Industrial & Metal aspects. For the most part you can’t tell, but if you listen closely, you might be able to pick out when things shift in style. This isn’t the most obvious moment of music change (More on this in a moment), but if you like your music to be more consistent, this may be a turn off. Regardless, Antikörper is a natural evolution of Eisbrecher’s first release. Their core style is intact, but they adapt & change things to match up with the likes of their fans. Definitely recommended. Next Album! 

Sünde (2008/2009)

(Original)

(Re-Release)

Now here we come to perhaps the most baffling record in Eisbrecher’s discography! Released on August 22, 2008 in Germany, August 26th in the states, and re-released in the states on March 10, 2009 (With 3 bonus tracks), Sünde (Sin) is the band’s black sheep of the bunch. Whereas their first release was an even mix between Industrial & Metal, and their second leaned slightly more towards a metal direction, this album leans exceedingly towards the Electronic/Industrial. If I were to guess, I would say that Sünde is 90% Electronic/Industrial, and just 10% Metal. Truth be told, there’s times where the whole album comes across as Electronic & Industrial. Because of this, I find this a strange album to listen to. Not that Sünde is bad, because it isn’t. It’s just that when you listen to the first two albums, and come to this one, it’s like a big case of neck-snapping whiplash. It must have done something right, as it actually debuted at number 1 on the Deutsche Alternative Charts.

Picking a best & worst track is tricky. Due to how Electronic/Industrial this album is, it creates a strange kind of cohesiveness, and thus it’s hard to pick out one or the other. Sünde only real flaw is how different it is from albums before it, and albums afterward. However, I’m rather fond of two tracks, Komm süßer Tod (Come Sweet Death) & This is Deutsch (This is German). While these songs are highly electronic, they also have the most metal within them, creating tunes that metalheads & dancefreaks can latch onto.   

Komm süßer Tod

This is Deutsch

Sünde. A simply weird album, completely different from anything else Eisbrecher has produced before & after. If you prefer more Electronic & Industrial music rather than Industrial Metal, this is the record for you. Next album!

Eiszeit (2010)

After the oddity that was Sünde, Eiszeit (Ice Age) is a return to the style of Antikörper. Released on April 16, 2010, and debuting at number 5% on the charts, Eiszeit had a healthy dose of Heavy Metal injected back into it’s veins. That doesn’t mean they completely removed the Electronic/Industrial blanket from it’s eyes: there’s still some of the dance vibes that their 3rd album created. However, that dance attitude has been mellowed because of the metal that was brought back in. If I were to describe Eiszeit to someone, I’d say it would be a “Heavy Metal Sünde”. You can certainly see this throughout the album, as the metal tracks have hints of Electronic/Industrial dance, while the Electronic/Industrial tracks are a little heavier than others.

Best Track? Once again, this is one of those records that you can pick just about anything on Eiszeit. The return of the metal elements makes this much more accessible to metalheads, and as such the metallic tracks are probably what some listeners will gravitate towards. The title track, for example, is one of these more metal-oriented songs. The electronic elements are still held accountable, but the metallica guitars & drums complement things nicely.

Eiszeit

Worst Track? While Heavy Metal came back onto this album, there’s still an uneven quality in terms of style. It’s definitely more noticeable than Antikörper, but not quite as noticeable as Sünde. You’ll definitely notice the uneven nature, and as I said when I was talking about Antikörper, you’ll hate this if you prefer more controlled music. Apart from this one thing, Eiszeit is a refreshing release when compared to their previous record. Next album!

Die Hölle Muss Warten (2012)

The later period of 2010 was an interesting period for Eisbrecher. After the Summer Breeze Open Air music festival, the band’s long-time live bassist Olli Pohl left (Then replaced by Dominik Palmer). In November of the same year during Alice Cooper’s “Theatre Of Death” tour (Headlined by Alice, Eisbrecher, and Tarja Turunen), their live drummer Rene Greil was temporarily switched to Sebastian Angrand, since Greil needed surgery on his back. In February of 2011, Rene actually left the band because of health reasons (Probably related to his back), and was replaced by Achim Färber. Despite the complications the band faced, they were undeterred by the troubles they faced. Then, in February of 2012, the band released Die Hölle Muss Warten (Hell Must Wait).

Reaching number 3 on the German Media Control Charts, Die Hölle Muss Warten is a more smoothed out release. With their previous two records being uneven in terms of style, this album returns to an Antikörper state of mind. The Heavy Metal elements are very welcome, as it’s great to hear guitars & drums come at me in force, but they don’t in anyway take away from the Electronic/Industrial elements. You can even headbang along with a couple of the tracks, which might sound unusual to some of you.

Best Track? Gonna go left field for this one, and pick Rette Mich (Rescue Me) as the best song of the album. Borderline symphonic in places, Rette Mich is perhaps Eisbrecher’s most emotional & moving tune in their library of songs. I even was brought to the edge of tears almost twice when listening to this tune, which goes to show how strong it is.

Rette Mich

Worst Track? Metall, but not for the reasons some might think. An actually fantastic track, Metall’s only flaw is that it’s not available on the original album, but instead was place on the “Miststück 2012" edition. Again, great track, but not accessible where needed.

Metall

Die Hölle Muss Warten. Only one word can be used to describe this release.....recommended. Next album!

Schock (2015)

Released at the start of this year, 2015's Schock (Shock) is an interesting album. Back in February 12th of last year, the band announced on their website that they began recording music for an early album release in 2015. Due to this early release, they limited their appearances in 2014, but their ice-cold presence was still felt. On March 11, 2014, they released a special U.S. only album call 10 Jahre Kalt, which contained remixes of classic tracks & more recent hits. After that, the band was focused on creating music, so the rest of the year was uneventful apart from the limited appearances. However, it was worth the wait, and on January 23, 2015, Eisbrecher’s 6th album, Schock, was released onto the world.

Debuting at number 2 on the GfK Entertainment Charts, Schock is a fine album. In many ways it harkens back to their Antikörper period, where instrumentation edged out slightly over Electronic & Industrial elements. Sometimes obviously so, sometimes not. Other times, it seems like the other way around: the Electronic & Industrial elements have more precedent over the instruments. Due to this, the environment of this record is much more random & chaotic than anything else in Eisbrecher’s discovery. Given the album’s name, I’m going to assume that this was intentional, as getting electrocuted is quite the hectic & out of nowhere experience!

Best Track? Personally, I’m fond of 1000 Narben (1000 Scares), the 2nd song of Schock. I’m not the biggest fan of Punk music around, but I swear I hear punk undertones here & there throughout this song. Somehow & someway, I don’t mind this. In fact, I actually like the Punk undertones (If that’s actually what I’m picking up), and I think they provide to the song’s attitude. This is the kind of song you don’t want to hear in a fight, cause someone’s gonna knock your lights out!

1000 Narben

Worst Track? Only bad thing I can point out is the bipolar/multiple-personality-disorder nature of the songs. Life is Killing Me from Type-O Negative had a similar issue, but in a strange way that album had more control over it’s issue. With Schock, it feels like there’s less control in regards to this issue. Perhaps to the point of anarchy, but maybe I’m blowing this out of proportion. That said, Schock is a nice album to dance or rock out to. I might not like it as much as other albums, but it’s still awesome to listen to. Once again, another album to recommend!

Sturmfahrt (2017) ****

Okay, confession time: back when I originally did this overview back in 2015.....I was kind of half-assing things. Despite Eisbrecher being my no. 2 band of all time, I was also falling out with them in an odd way. I didn't think they were bad, but at the same time I didn't have a massive drive to seek out their music. Low & behold they managed to put out an album that was not only fantastic, but it brought me back into the group's icy clutches. Released on the 18th of August of last year (The original release date was the 25th, but got put out a week early), Sturmfahrt (Translated to Stormy Voyage) is the album that harkens back to the band's earliest material, while at the same time never feeling as old as those records. I actually recall coming across a track or two in 2017, and brushed them off as quickly as I found them. Fast forward to 2018, and I'm kicking myself for having done so.

Fun Fact: Sturmfahrt became the first album from Eisbrecher to take the number 1 spot on the German 100. It would also be in the top 10 on the Swiss & Austrian lists, taking the number 8 and number 10 spots respectively.

Best Track? In Einem Boot is a really haunting track. Conjuring the atmosphere & feelings of a submarine deep in the sea, Eisbrecher have a serious and emotional take on the experience. It's not a fast song, as it opts for a slower place when compared to some of the other songs on the album. The singing match the slower place as well, and Alexander Wesselsky never loses sight of this when he changes how loud he sings throughout the tune. Coupled with some equally haunting radar pings, and you have a song that just makes you feel like you're trapped on a vessel at sea alongside a few other hardened sailors.

In Einem Boot (On A Boat)

Worst Track? Nothing! for the first time in a while, I am keeping a firm foot in their snowy camp. In what seems like ages, Eisbrecher put out a perfect album in every way, and I am incredibly grateful. Again, the group seemed to reaching back into their early years for inspiration, and pulled out some damn good music from the coldest & deepest point in the ocean. If you don't get at least a chill up your spine while to listen to this release at least once, then something's not right!

Sturmfahrt. The album that helped me back into the band, and a fine release in 2017. If you're brave enough to tread the icy waters, you might just find this album waiting for you to listen to it. Certainly recommended!

So this was a look at the ice cold & emotionally powerful Eisbrecher. A band that’s practically made for this month, they’re a great alternative (Like Turmion Kätilöt) when compared to the more mainstream Industrial Metal artists. They might not be as popular as other popular Industrial artists, but it makes the discovery of them all the better! See you all later this week, when I’ll take a look at a OVA that’s brimming with the Christmas spirit. Until then, spread the word about this chilling band!



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Apologies for the late posting! I was busy helping a friend out this morning, and I didn't have the time to post this until now.

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(Update 1) November 23, 2018/12:58 AM/Eastern Standard Time