Eisbrecher - Die Hölle muss warten (2012) (7,5/10)

EISBRECHER is a band of the more and more famous Neue Deutsche Härte genre that combines Industrial Rock or Metal music with Electronic Rock and Pop elements and a solid dose of Gothic music. The music sounds hard but is danceable while the lyrics are in general in German and treat on opposite topics such as love and hate, sex and passion or life and death. Sometimes, a couple of lyrics also invite you to think about current topics from the news or the struggles of our modern society in more or less provocative approaches. Comparable bands are the world-famous RAMMSTEIN as well as the genre’s first bands such as DIE KRUPPS or OOMPH! but one should especially cite MEGAHERZ  where singer Alexander Wesselsky who is better known as Alexx Wesselsky as well as composer and guitar player Jochen Seibert known as Noel Pix have been involved before EISBRECHER got together back in 2003. If you like this kind of music, you should also check out bands such as SUB DUB MICROMACHINE, STAHLMANN or the harder stuff of UNHEILIG. As time went by, EISBRECHER became one of the most famous bands of the genre. The new album hit the German Media Control Charts at position number three and the first single “Verrückt” easily made it into the top 50 of the single charts as well and even got the peak position in the German Alternative Charts. The band also hit the charts in Austria and Switzerland as well.

EISBRECHER principally convinces with very strong live performances as well as a variable and unique singer while the music itself is definitely not yet diversified enough to stand out next to the high amount of other bands of the same genre. This is where the band could still improve and get a true international breakthrough one day. The band proves from time to time that they are easily able to write better tracks than the standard stuff for the gothic clubs. Especially the title track “Die Hölle muss warten” surprises with a highly diverisfied vocal performance, chilling additional female vocals and a decent string section in the catchy chorus with the great lyrics. The calm and epic “Ein Leben lang unsterblich” is also a well done surprise because of its very positive lyrics about enjoying each day of one’s life which is rather rare to find in the genre and a welcome change of attitude. Another standout track is “In meinem Raum” that convinces with calm verses and an energizing and highly addicting chorus that has a lot of single and live potential. The interesting lyrics are about struggles with schizophrenia are courageous and add a special certain something to the track.

Next to these highlights, one can find many songs that are typical for the genre. These tracks are somewhat fast, hard and pumping but always danceable and include a rather simplistic structure. The energizing opener “Tanz mit mir” is a perfect example as well as “Exzess Express”. Both songs talk about love somewhere between passion and sex which is a very common topic for the genre and should please to the old fans of the band.

This release would easily be worth of eight points out of 10 as it’s a very entertaining record with a couple of great and memorable songs as well as a couple of promising experiments. The only reason why I cut off half a point is that the record is definitely too long with 15 tracks. Especially towards the end, there are a couple of fillers that all sound quite alike and not as inspired as the tracks I pointed out for example. A record with 10 to 12 songs would have sounded more addicting but I’m not worried as the band has always improved since their beginnings and I’m already looking forward to the improvements for their next album that might hit the stores in two years.

(Online July 17, 2012)