Unimaginative, Repetitive and Lazy Industrial Rock on a Downward Spiral - A Review of Stahlmann's Quarz

Inspired by the success of Neue Deutsche Härte icons such as Rammstein, Oomph! and Megaherz, Stahlmann saw the light of day thirteen years ago and released its first eponymous studio album twelve years ago. The band had a distinctive style with its heavy silver make-up and extravagant pitch-black clothing and found a solid mixture of danceable darkwave sounds and sinister industrial rock passages in short, memorable and focused songs. The first signs of decline started to show when several band members left the band after the third studio record. Former guitarist Neill Freiwald started his own Neue Deutsche Härte band Erdling that is nowadays much more charismatic, consistent and creative than Stahlmann. The same could be said about another former guitarist named Frank Herzig who founded Schattenmann five years ago as this Neue Deutsche Härte band manages to stand out with its quirky lyrics that walk off the beaten path. Ten band members have already left Stahlmann and while several former band members have managed to push their careers to the next level, Stahlmann has been on a downward spiral for quite some time. The band's seventh studio album Quarz is the band's low point thus far in its career. I don't seem to be the only one who thinks this way since this release only managed to reach the seventy-eight position of the German Album Charts when the five predecessors all reached the top forty.

The problems start to show right from the beginning with opening tune ''Wollust''. The production is cold, noisy and heavily underproduced. The guitar play is lackluster, simple and unpolished. The rhythm section just plods along without any creativity or energy. The low vocals sound out of breath as if the singer had smoked a pack of cigarettes right before entering the recording studio. The lyrics are unimaginative, the song structure is by the numbers and the chorus is almost childishly simple. There are several other tunes of such quality on Quarz such as uninspired, short and forgettable ''Tobsucht'' that doesn't evoke any emotions whatsoever and failed ballad ''Herz und Tränen'' that sounds sleepy, lifeless and aimless.

The record's only saving grace is the occasionally solid programming that provides some atmospheric depth and catchy melodies. Those sounds aren't extravagant or memorable but they remind of the band's successful early years. The record's middle section features a few tolerable songs with catchy keyboard melodies but nothing to write home about.

Another issue is the product itself. The songs are particularly short, ranging between two and a half and four minutes. The album only offers ten tunes with a weak running time of thirty-three minutes. That might be acceptable for a punk rock or grindcore album but not an industrial rock release that is sold at full price.

At the end of the day, I would recommend checking out the new projects of Stahlmann's former members such as Erdling and Schattenmann rather than the vapid Quarz that is by far the worst release in the band's career thus far. If you are new to the band and would like to discover a better output by the band, I would recommend the band's third record Adamant. You could also start discovering the group chronologically if you have some more time on your hands. Quarz however isn't worth your attention and is one of the worst releases I have listened to this year. Here's hope that the band manages to find the spark to return to the quality of its early years after the pandemic.

Final Rating: 33%