BLOODSUCKING ZOMBIES FROM OUTER SPACE are a quite sympathetic band from Vienna, Austria that has started as a Horror Punk band back in 2002. The band became more and more inspired by the Psychobilly genre though and also included other subgenres in their sound. Musically, the band is inspired by groups like MAD SIN, NEKROMANTIX or THE OTHER. Lyrically, the band is inspired by horror literature and movies and they always honour this genre in a very humorous way. Topics include Dracula's Cadillac, parties at the graveyard, homages to the legendary Grand Guignol theater in Paris and more. Several tracks also include narrative passages from different horror movies, radio plays or interviews. The band stands out for their masquerades and energizing live shows. The four Young men from Vienna though also play a more Blues orientated side which is often shown in acoustic shows.

After 10 years, the band decided to put out a best of release entitled "Decade Of Decay – Gravest Hits". The band put the brandnew and atmospheric song "Decade Of Decay" on the album as well as 15 old tracks. The tracks from the first two studio records have been rerecorded and are much closer to the Psychobilly than to the Horror Punk genre. A good example is my favourite track "A Deeper Shade Of Red." The original version is a sweaty but romantic fast paced song with longing and passionate vocals. The new version kept all the great melodies but sounds much more relaxed and one can distinguish more instrumental details than before. Both versions definitely have their own charm and style and are quite great. If I had to choose, I would pick the original version and a few fans might be slightly disappointed by the new versions. On the other side, I think that the new recordings were a great idea because they add a new touch to the songs and justify this release instead of a simple unoriginal compilation.

This album is a true fun ride, anyway. After a few spins, you feel like singing, thrashing and banging along to all these songs. The catchy up tempo track "Monster Mutant Boogie" for example is an amazing feel good song. It's probably the catchiest song on here and one of the band's biggest hits. "Teenage Universal Creature" and "Dead Eyes" have an amazing Retro Rock influence reminding of Rockabilly and early Rock 'N Roll of the late fifties and early sixties. Black and white images of blond and long haired women dancing along to Rock music with Young men dressed in black costumes instantly came to my mind despite the humorous horror topics of the songs that please me a lot. The fast paced Punk orientated "Eaters Of The Dead" is also highly addicting. The mysterious keybokard driven "Reign Of Devils" with its atmospheric introduction including a choir of girls singing along, a catchy chorus and a few sound experiments is also a song that immediately caught my attention and became one of my favourite tracks on here.

Another true highlight is the last track, a live rendition of the bloody acoustic ballad "Mörder Blues." It's the only track sung in German which gives this song an undeniable charm. In fact, the band employs a strong Austrian dialect that simply sounds amazing. Even though I am German, I had to take a look on the lyrics from time to time to fully understand the intriguing dark romantic topic. That's a quite strange thing. I'm able to understand all kind of French Canadian accents from Cantley to Sept-Îles and from Matane to Dolbeau-Mistassini but Bavarian, Austrian or Swiss accents and even regional dialects are quite hard to be understood not only for me but for most (young) Germans. This accent certainly gives a certain charm to this unique track. I'm surely not the only one who is now hoping for more dark poertic German tracks on the band's future releases because it's original, unique and sounds simply amazing.

In the end, this greatest hits compilation is absolutely essential for Horror Punk and Psychobilly fans and for all those who like alternative short and entertaining mid- to up-tempo music. Horror fans should also spend some time reading the band's lyrics and take a look on their cool video clips and detailed booklets for example. Metal purists might not be interested in this but for all those who like to listen to something different from time to time, this band and in particular this record are highly recommanded.

(Online August 13, 2013)

Only one year after „Quecksilber“, Neue Deutsche Härte band STAHLMANN is back with a new full length release entitled „Adamant“. The third record of the German Industrial Rock and Metal band is the best album they have recorded so far.

The band opens the album with the surprisingly atmospheric, heavy mid-tempo track „Die Welt verbrennt“ that includes simple electronic beats, symphonic kevboard samples, catchy riffs and powerful vocals. Of course, the first song already reminds us of similar genre bands such as EISBRECHER and RAMMSTEIN in this case.

The second track „Süchtig“ focusses much more on catchy electronic beats and is a quite danceable up tempo track that distinguishes the band from the concurrence. The band did well to choose this track as a single because the German Gothic scene highly appreciates this kind of music in concert and in clubs of the „Black Scene“.

The third track „Wenn der Regen kommt“ is among my favourite songs of STAHLMANN. It has a rather melancholic atmosphere and convinces with sad guitar riffs, a sometimes surprisingly dominant bass guitar play, fitting atmospheric symphonic keyboard samples and variable vocals that remind me of OOMPH!. The chrous is extremely catchy and emotional while the verses are very dark. For a Neue Deutsche Härte half-ballad, one can't do any better and this song grows each time I try it out again. If the band was about to choose one more single from the record, they should definitely go with this track.

„Schwarz“ is a more danceable track like „Süchtig“ and stands out because of its humorous connection to a the traditional German song „Grün sind alle meine Kleider“ with the voice of an innocent girl that prefers black clothes instead of green costumes. This track features guest vocals by TEUFEL from the famous German Electronic Medieval Rock act TANZWUT.

The record has now developped a great flow and mixes catchy genre anthems with more atmospheric and experimental passages. The melancholic chorus of the overall rather heavy „Leuchtfeuer“ even combines both styles and includes once again danceable electronic beats in the background. This track is another highlight and potential live anthem. This is also the case for „Paradies“ and „Tempel der Lust“ that mix atmospheric verses with energizing and danceable choruses that are true fun rides. Another catchy mid-tempo track that mixes straight riffs with danceable beats is „Adrenalin“. The track presents nothing new but is a solid genre song as well.

The cold electronic beats and riffs of „Der Schmied“ remind me of early EISHEILIG and presents us a different and rather depressive side of STAHLMANN. The chorus is though quite catchy once again and includes interesting lyrics that fit to the genre. While the track is not entirely my cup of tea, it's surely a well done song that doesn't sound like the rest on this album. It's maybe even the most interesting song on here and discovers somehow promising new shores for STAHLMANN without going too far away from the usual sound. „Nackt“ is also a quite dark track but it also manages to send positive shivers down my spine by including quite powerful vocals and sexually driven lyrics. „Dämonin“ is also a cold Industrial Rock track with dark symphonic elements that add a fitting epic touch on a closing note. This song sounds though more positive overall and even pleases me more than the other two tracks as well.

The limited edition includes two more tracks with „Traumfrau“ and „Licht“. The first one is a rather exchangeable track with hard riffs and a very simplistic chorus that reminds me of several older STAHLMANN songs. The second track can be described as a half-ballad like „Wenn der Regen kommt“ with beautiful piano melodies, dark bass guitar tones, simplistic guitar riffs and powerful vocals that are crowned by a catchy chorus. This song should have made it on the regular edition without the glimpse of a doubt.

After three spins, „Adamant“ turns out to be the highlight of STAHLMANN's young career. The album sounds more diverisfied than the previous outputs and includes the band's most emotional half ballads to date with „Wenn der Regen kommt“ and „Licht“, the band's darkest track ever „Der Schmied“ as well as many immediately catchy club and live anthems like the singles „Süchtig“ and „Schwarz“ with TEUFEL from TANZWUT. The album offers nothing really new but makes the band sound more compact than before. There are no stinkers and no useless remix versions on here but thirteen classic and solid Neue Deutsche Härte anthems. STAHLMANN still can't mess with EISBRECHER, OOMPH! Or RAMMSTEIN but they have taken a big step forward to become one of the most prominent bands to take care of the heritage of the Neue Deutsche Härte. Five years ago, I was afraid that this genre would slowly die out but bands like STAHLMANN are proving me wrong now and that's a positive surprise to me. My advice for you is to give these genre successors a fair chance. If you don't know these guys yet, this record is definitely worth a try in comparison to the two more or less convincing first albums. Regular fans probably agree with me and consider „Adamant“ by far as the band's greatest album to date.

(Online August 7, 2013)