'Edelrost'

Available from Cold Spring Records, P.O. Box 40, Northampton NN6 7PT, England.

---

I N 2000 Kreuzweg Ost released their debut album, ‘Iron Avantgarde’, something I’ve not had the opportunity to hear at this stage. I was very keen, therefore, to listen to the follow-up, particularly as it was deemed suitable for a well-respected label like Cold Spring. Kreuzweg Ost – which roughly translates as a ‘crossing into the East’ - is an Austrian trio comprised of Michael Gregor (formerly a member of Summoning), Ronald Albrecht and Oliver Stummer.

The gloomy imagery on the front cover of the CD shows a medieval warrior holding aloft two spears in his outstretched arms, whilst the rest of the insert is decorated with Latin stanzas, imperial crests, scythes and – in typical Holbeinesque style – a skeletal figure clutching an hour-glass. The title track, ‘Edelrost’, is an ominous slice of Black Industrial, and soft German vocals form a heady contrast with the fear-laden atmosphere of impending doom. It’s a simultaneous compound of the potentially burgeoning and the effectively minimal, each fighting for territory in a soundscape pregnant with an underlying and subliminal aggression.

‘Fur Kaiser, Gott und Vaterland’ is quite different. A furious orchestral flurry, combined with rolling drums, militaristic orders and the sound of marching feet, acts as a brutal setting in which the aesthetic movement of a Wagnerian conductor’s baton and the glint of a Prussian rifle become menacingly entangled. Here lies music that could mobilise the Wehrmacht itself. ‘Die Legion’, continuing the group’s obsession with conflict and battle, has a deep cello superimposed over the sounds of falling bombs and the frantic gasps of a frightened woman. Eastern drumming and high-pitched keyboard melodies add a slightly Arabesque touch to the proceedings. Indicative, perhaps, of a war of fantasy between the forces of Islam and those of the West, albeit in a more traditionalist setting. This is musical jihad; the S.S. Handschar Division caught in all its glory; the Mufti perched on a flying carpet over the Maginot Line. Like a cross between a Buddhist hum and a dying Messerschmitt, a deep drone signals the beginning of ‘Zucht und Hunger’. Static crunches and beeping radio frequencies litter the foreground like shards of electronic lost property, eventually reassembling themselves into an ordered beat and becoming peppered with female vocals. This is followed by a catchy tune that wouldn’t be out of place at a Klezmer concert; featuring wild horns that defy you to stick your favourite rabbi in a wooden chair and whirl around the room like a veritable dervish or someone who found some LSD down the side of an armchair whilst shopping at Ikea. ‘Eiserne Menschen’ seems like a benchmark for everything this genre has to offer. Its powerful bass tones radiate their way through yet more fraulein exclamations and unrepentant drumbeats, like Sly and Robbie making an unexpected appearance at the Bayreuth Festival. It’s a great track.

‘Zum Appell’ is a droning rumble lashed to the back of a monstrously slowed-down German vocal arrangement, spoken word and song uttered in both singular and plural. The drums on this track are fantastic, joined by fluttering trumpets and sampled cheers. The wall of impenetrable sound created within this eclectic cocktail is staggering and has a slightly Roman feel to it, the frantic vocals giving the whole thing a real sense of uncompromising action, dynamism and urgency. Towards the end it all comes to a clattering halt, with nothing but the ambient drone and slurred vocals remaining. ‘Rasputin’ is an historical figure that has always held a lot of interest for me, as does the entire story of the Romanov dynasty and their eventual downfall. This track includes English vocals reading the evocative lines from Proverbs 5:5: ‘Her feet go down to death / And her steps take hold on Hell / Where the screams of the undead / Shall pierce the sinner like a sword’. And very effective it is, too. Before long, of course, this is followed by another massive timpani barrage, coupled this time with the ringing chimes of something almost resembling a glockenspiel and a constant scraping of unidentifiable percussion. The strange beat also reminds me a great deal of The Fun Boy Three’s 1981 chart-topper, ‘The Lunatics Have Taken Over the Asylum’.

Moving on swiftly, ‘Leu der Lufte’ contains a rumbling intensity and some near-hysterical shouting, but is comparatively minimal compared to the previous track. But the more I hear of Kreuzweg Ost, the more I think how wonderful it would be to see them perform live. Especially with a couple of percussionists on hand to really drive the bombastic message home. In fact some of the drum patterns remind me of H.E.R.R., although despite their fondness for timpani they tend to avoid using the rat-a-tat-tat of the snare most of the time. Finally, ‘Lebmuhl’ adopts a characteristic Alpine sound but quickly brings up the drone and places it alongside some scattered birdsong. And, like a hard-edged version of Sturmpecht, more traditional folk song is used to great effect before the album draws to a close. I really enjoyed this release and can recommend it to all devotees of Martial Industrial, particularly if you like your music cruel and tyrannical.