Samsas Traum is one of the most eccetric groups of the German gothic scene. Band leader Alexander Kaschte often offers conflicting musical genres varying from black metal over gothic rock to neoclassical soundcsapes. His lyrics and opinions are sometimes quite radical and hard to digest when he promotes veganism or claims that the world would be better off without mankind. While most records of the band are related to imaginary tales, Poesie: Friedrichs Geschichte is Samsas Traum's most ambitious project yet as it tells the story of one of the victims of the Clinic for Forensic Psychiatry in Hadamar where numerous people with mental and physical handicaps were killed by the Nazi regime.

The final result is quite controversial. On one side, the lyrics are intense and never cloud the terrible truth, the vocals are often spoken rather than sung in rhythmic patterns recalling Austrian rapper Falco and the music meanders between elegiac neoclassical elements, reduced darkwave sounds and simple gothic rock patterns which makes for an entertaining ride. On the other side, the concept is tough to digest and one sometimes realizes with disgust that one is singing along to specific catchy songs despite their horrifying lyrics.

The cynical "Sauber" with its military rhythms and "Sieg Heil!" shouts, the melodramatic and stoic "Und ich schrieb Gedichte", the bleak "Der Mönchberg (Heinrichs Gedicht)" with its particularly haunting story and the concise and rhythmic "Es tut uns leid" are probably the best tracks songs on this release but there is no filler to be found and the sum is greater than its parts.

If you don't speak German, there is no interest for you to even listen to this record. The music should please fans of the diversified gothic scene rather than those who are expecting a rock or even a metal release. What matters most are however the concept and the lyrics and one should listen to this album while studying the bleak but poetic lyrics in the booklet.

One has to admire Alexander Kaschte's courage to push boundaries and deal with such a difficult topic. The lyrics, the music and even the artwork show how cautiously the artist approached the project to bring one of the darkest episodes in the history of mankind to life. If you're remotely intersted in this topic, you should listen to this album at least once. This is one of the few cases where the lyrics of a record are much more important than the music that goes along with it. Even nowadays, it remains important to remember the horrors of the Nazi Regime in order to ensure something like that won't ever happen again. I appreciated this particular experience quite a bit but I could understand anyone who would like to stay away from such a bleak experiment. This album is blacker than most black metal albums even though it's just a gothic record.

Final Rating: 80%

Ladies and gentlemen!

Last night, a highly entertaining 2018 FIFA World Cup concluded with a dramatic final between France and Croatia in Moscow. France deserved the title with a 4-2 victory over their opponents. Russia was a great host thanks to its colourful people. Several national teams such as Croatia but also Sweden, Russia and Japan surprised very positively. Numerous star players like Croatia's Luka Modric, Belgium's Kevin De Bruyne and France's Kylian Mbappé had the best tournaments of their lives. On the other side, there were also a few disappointments. Germany was particularly underwhelming and no African team survived the group stage. Germany's Thomas Müller was completely invisible, Brazil's Neymar frustrated us with unsportsmanlike behavior and France's Giroud was definitely the worst player of the World Cup Champions. The discussions regarding the photographs of Mesut Özil and Ilkay Gündogan with Turkish President Erdogan were unnecessary, nasty and distracting as they still continue as we speak. You can find a list of my favorite players and teams below. Leave a comment if you like. In a little bit less than four years and a half, I will analyze the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar right here on my blog!

 

Golden Glove: Kasper Schmeichel (Denmark)

Silver Glove: Thibaut Courtois (Belgium)

Bronze Glove: Guillermo Ochoa (Mexico)

 

Golden Ball: Luka Modric (Croatia)

Silver Ball: Kevin De Bruyne (Belgium)

Bronze Ball: Kylian Mbappé (France)

 

Biggest surprise of the tournament: Croatia's national team

Biggest deception of the tournament: Germany's national team

 

Dream Team of the 2018 FIFA World Cup:

Schmeichel

Fernandes - Umtiti - Vida - Augustinsson

Kanté - De Bruyne

Mbappé - Modric - Cheryshev

Kane

 

P.S.: Take a look at the following FIFA commercial that attempts to promote fair play. In the second scene, a woman loses a BLUE bag in a bar. A man runs after her and gives her a RED bag. He changed the bag and cheated the poor woman! What does this tell us about FIFA? You got it!

Hallo Freunde!

Hier folgen einige Fotos von meinem Ausflug nach Darmstadt. Viel Spaß damit!

World Conference Center in Bonn, ehemals Platz der Vereinten Nationen

Kennedyplatz mit Springbrunnen in Darmstadt

Die Waldspirale vom großen Wiener Künstler Friedensreich Hundertwasser

Der Ludwigsturm

Aussicht auf eine weitläufige ehemalige US-Kaserne vom Ludwigsturm 

Aussicht auf Darmstadt im Vordergrund und Frankfurt am Main im Hintergrund vom Ludwigsturm aus gesehen 

Kilian auf dem Ludwigsturm

Meine Wenigkeit auf dem Ludwigsturm

Der Skulpturengarten Darmstadts

Ein mysteriöser grüner Käfer im Wald - wer weiß, was das für ein Insekt ist, darf gerne einen Kommentar hinterlassen!

Kunstwerk an der Technischen Universität Darmstadt im Bereich Lichtwiese

Premier League 2018/2019 (England)

1. Manchester United                            97

2. FC Liverpool                                     95

3. Manchester City                               94

4. Tottenham Hotspur                          93

5. FC Chelsea                                      91

6. FC Arsenal                                      75

7. FC Everton                                      55

8. West Ham United                            50

9. AFC Bournemouth                           49

10. FC Burnley                                    45

11. Leicester City                                42

12. Newcastle United                           41

13. FC Fulham                                    41

14. Huddersfield Town                        41

15. Crystal Palace                              34

16. Brighton & Hove Albion                 30

17. FC Southampton                          26

18. FC Watford                                  25

19. Wolverhampton Wanderers           21

20. Cardiff City                                  20

Serie A (Italy)

1. Juventus                        101

2. Internazionale                  93

3. Lazio                               88

4. Napoli                             85

5. Roma                              83

6. Fiorentina                        77

7. Milan                              75 

8. Bologna                          66

9. Torino                            64

10. Atalanta                       59

11. Genoa                          55

12. Chievo                         50

13. Sampdoria                   48

14. Udinese                       46

15. Sassuolo                     41

16. Empoli                        38

17. Parma                        36

18. Cagliari                      33

19. Frosinone                   31

20. SPAL                          18

La Liga (Spain)

1. Atlético                      90

2. Sevilla                       88

3. Barcelona                  85

4. Real Madrid               84

5. Valencia                    79

6. Villareal                    72

7. Athletic Bilbao           65

8. Celta                        57

9. Getafe                      53

10. Real Sociedad         51

11. Real Betis               47

12. Real Valladolid        47

13. Espanyol                43

14. Eibar                     41

15. Rayo Vallecano      38

16. Levante                37

17. Girona                  34

18. Alaves                  32

19. Léganes               30

20. Huesca                18

Premier Liga (Russia)

1. Lokomotive Moscow                       72

2. Spartak Moscow                            70

3. CSKA Moscow                               67

4. Zenit Saint Petersburg                   63

5. FK Krasnodar                                50

6. FK Rostow                                    44

7. Rubin Kazan                                 43

8. Ural Ekaterinburg                          37

9. Arsenal Tula                                 36

10. FK Ufa                                       33

11. Achmat Grosny                           32

12. Gazovik Orenburg                       29

13. Yenissey Krasnyoyarsk                22

14. Krylya Sovyetov Samara             20

15. Dynamo Moscow                        18

16. Anschi Machatchkala                  18

Ligue 1 (France)

1. Paris Saint-Germain                      101

2. Olympique Marseille                      101

3. AS Monaco                                   95

4. Stades Rennes                             80

5. Olympique Lyon                           75

6. OGC Nice                                     67

7. Girondins Bordeaux                      61

8. AS Saint-Etienne                          55

9. HSC Montpellier                           52

10. Lille OSC                                   50

11. FC Nantes                                 43

12. Stade Reims                              38

13. FC Toulouse                              36

14. Dijon FCO                                 35

15. SM Caen                                   34

16. Olympiques Nîmes                     28

17. EA Guingamp                            27

18. Racing Strasbourg                     26

19. SC Amiens                                24

20. Angers SCO                              23

 Liga NOS (Portugal)

1. FC Porto                                    78

2. Benfica Lissabon                        71

3. Sporting Braga                          69

4. Sporting Lissabon                      57

5. Belenenses Lissabon                  50

6. Maritimo Funchal                       48

7. FC Rio Ave                                45

8. Boavista Porto                           45

9. Vitoria Guimaraes                      44

10. Vitoria Setubal                        41

11. Nacional Funchal                     40

12. FC Moreirense                         33

13. GD Chaves                             25

14. Desportivo Aves                      24

15. SC Portimonense                    22

16. CD Feirense                           20

17. CD Santa Clara                      19

18. CD Tondela                           17