Spreu & Weizen - Gott Vergelt's

Despite listening to extreme music for quite a while, I was never a big fan of martial industrial genre. Though there were few phases in my life, when I dived into the very depth of those tunes to explore them and understand their origin.

This time it is Spreu & Weizen that enter my home to reveal their vision of how exactly martial music should sound. Being not that active on the scene, this formation already added few solid releases into their collection. Two of their records were together with artists of neofolk scene, Von Thronstahl and Der Jager. And one was their solo album printed around two years ago. Not much activity from Spreu & Weizen, but tacking in consideration their short career, the material which they present is impressive indeed and can definitely entertain both neofolk and martial industrial fans.

"Gott Vergelt's" is a colorful and diverse picture drawn by the able hands of this German duo. And one of the reasons for such diversity is the fact that they collaborated with many other artists during the preparation of this record. The first track , "Capitanul", is kind of an intro for the album, martial track with where the pizzicato of string instruments dictates the tempo, the drum session lead the rhythm and looping vocal part guides the track towards the second "Deus lo Vuit". This is the orchestra that receives the front role in the second track, full of trumpets and string instruments again to create the cinematic war scene; marching drum session joins the flow, sampled vocals reading some kind of a speech as the additional special effect.

Suddenly, the third track, "Madre Di Salvezza", changes the mood and throws me into some kind of melancholic part, created in collaboration with Rose Rovine e Amanti guys. This one is a massive neofolk song, sad and depressive, guitars, accordion and a passionate voice of Damiano drawing pictures of loss and solitude. Following "Lady in White" continues this neofolk session with a faster and a little bit lighter track still keeping the melancholy alive and making the connection with a martial nature, rising shadows of the past.

"Europa Der Freiheit" and "Rome's Calling" are martial compositions, and all the elements of the genre are there again, synthetic orchestration, martial drum, German speaking vocal part in "Europa" and English lyrics in "Rome's", together with trumpets and strings, but with some additional innovation like electronic drums in the end of the track, which in my opinion has no positive effect or refreshment, but only ruin the overall feeling.

Creepy and dark "Alles Licht" track reveals a darkwave side of German duo with a slow and soundtrack like composition.

With "Rome's Calling" the album passes its peak and turns to be slower and less entertaining. I totally didn't like "Dreams of Rome" which has too many loops of the same melody and seems to be too simple and calm, even can be called too childish after such a massive bust of all the previous tracks. And almost the same problem is with the last track of the album "Marienburg". Trumpets-based loops create the main structure and the only refreshment is anxious war drums joining it somewhere in the middle and guiding those loops until the very end.

Despite of some lower parts of the record, like being rather too much looped or too rough in changing moods between the tracks, "Gott Vergelt's" remains to be a good piece of an album to be discovered by all fans of the scene. Give it a chance, and it will open you the gates of anxiety and despair of war season. Apr 16 2012