SCHATTENMANN
EPIDEMIE
Wet Records Studios
Release: July 5, 2019
Last year lift the band the secret of the Schattenmann’s identity and took the Gothic scene by assault. Within two years, singer Frank Herzig raised the future of Neue Deutsche Härte
together with his band mates Luke Shook (bass) and Jan Suk (guitars), last year drummer Nils
Kinzig completed the line-up. Together, they brought the slightly outdated genre, invented by
groups like Rammstein and Oomph!!!, back to life and with their support tournees with bands
like Megahzer, Hämatom and Unzucht they made everyone talking about the new slogan
‘’NDH 2.0“.
Their experiences on tour, their permanent exchange and especially their spectacular debut on Mera Luna Festival in summer 2018 inspired Frank Herzig to start the work on ‘’Epidemie“
soon after this first release. ‘’I started the songwriting already in April“, so Frank.’’Our first tour and everything that happened around and inside of us really drove my creativity. I just had to go on!“ In many months of work formed the ideas and melodies to ‘’Epidemie“.
Tracklisting:
Schattenland
F.U.C.K.Y.O.U.
Schlag für Schlag
Epidemie
Wahrheit oder Pflicht
Ruf der Engel
Kopf durch die Wand
Schwarz = Religion
Gewissen
Darkroom
Nadel und Faden
Phantom
With this new album Schattenmann go further and present an exciting mix out of the harsh
heaviness of NDH, featured by brachial metal riffs and danceable, easy-going hooklines. Once
caught by the fantastic energy of ‘’Epidemie“, this longplayer lives up to its name and touches a
particular unheard nerve in the listener. ‘’Epidemie“ is an emotional rollercoaster which also
reveals some other very intimidate parts of the young musicians. This way, the Franconians
create an album crossing the border between Metal and NDH and setting their mark impressively.
It is an album, Frank Herzig noticeable feels comfortable with, how he confirmed himself. ‘’We
got more mature, this shaped our own style much more without losing our diversity“, he describes. He worked on every single track and the production for a long time. ‘’I wanted to give a voice to each aspect of ‘’Epidemie.“ Like no other album in NDH before, Epidemie moves musically and lyric-wise in a permanent dance between prejudices and labels people try to put on german speaking music nowadays.
This journey to the hidden depths of our souls has just begun and slowly the veil lifts. ‘’Epidemie“ is not only the undertow into this world of subtle overtones – but also the dawning recognition that there is much more between light and darkness than just disdainful grey. Energetic and tempting at the same time, relentless and impulsive.
As far as I can remember, I liked Schattenmann’s previous release ‘’Licht An’’. I hope the same goes for ‘’Epidemie’’. We start the album with ‘’Schattenland’’, a very straightforward track. It has great guitar riffs and the rough German vocals that I like. ‘’F.U.C.K.Y.O.U.’’ is a bit odd to me. The whole track just rubs me the wrong way (considering the title, that was maybe the point). ‘’Schlag Für Schlag’’ is a good track, but I would’ve appreciated a bit more melody in the chorus. Title track ‘’Epidemie’’ is definitely the best track up till now. I like the electronic effects over the intro!
‘’Wahrheit Oder Pflicht’’ is not necessarily a bad track, but it’s not really my jam. ‘’Ruf Der Engel’’ is somewhat of a power ballad, it’s okay in my opinion. ‘’Kopf Durch Die Wand’’ has more electronic influences, and we all know I love those. Overall these few tracks have been very average. ‘’Schwarz = Religion’’ is a pretty solid track, better than the last few. ‘’Gewissen’’ has a nice chorus, but that’s about it. The melody in ‘’Darkroom’’ is very cool and catchy! Finally a track that stands out, because I feel like there aren’t many original, experimental tracks on this album. The electronic influences could;ve been so much more, but this is a begin. I’m not a big fan of using both German and English in a song however. ‘’Nadel Und Faden’’ I dislike, but luckily closing track ‘’Phantom’’ was actually good.
Overall, I expected more from Schattenmann. They seem to have put quantity over quality this time, which resulted in the fact that a lot of tracks sound the same. However the cover art, the band pictures and the actual cd cover are very good and professional. Maybe that is the reason why my expectations were so high. I actually feel bad about this score, because I really want to like Schattenmann.
Rating: 4/10
For More Info Visit:
By Tamar
Line-Up:
Frank Herzig (Vocals)
Jan Suk (Guitar)
Luke Shook (Bass)
Nils Kinzig (Drums)
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