Sturmgeist
Über
7.7
Fans of the prolific, avant-garde musicians Cornelius and Lazare have a lot to digest this year as Solefald (Black for Death: An Icelandic Odyssey Part II), Borknagar (Origin), and Sturmgeist (Über) all have a new full-length up for consumption, and I’m pleased to report that they’re a worthy investment for anyone who enjoys the work of each respective band. While Cornelius’s debut under the moniker at hand – Meister Mephisto, the cover of which was a mock Jägermeister label – was more underwhelming than I expected it would be, the sophomore entry in the Sturmgeist saga is more impressive in just about every way.
Oddly enough, however, I prefer the compositions on the latest Solefald to the ones here, yet Cornelius turns in a superior performance on Über that is ultimately more aggressive and versatile than its counterpart. That’s not to say that there aren’t gems to be unearthed from this 14-track full-length, because there are. First and foremost, Sturmgeist is both straightforward (songwriting) and experimental (effects). Besides Sturmgeist (vocals, guitars, bass, orchestration, programming) and Panzer (guitars, bass, programming), of note is AntiChristian (Grimfist, The Cumshots, Tsjuder), who provides rousing drum accompaniment.
Classifiable as industrial rock/metal, “Blood-Axe” is definitely a romp yet not necessarily representative of the majority of material to be found. Still, it’s a solid tune. Moving on, “Dobermann” is incredibly Amon Amarthian, and if Johan Hegg were fronting the crew, it could pass for a song by the long-running Swedes. “Grimanic Guerillas” has a catchy chorus, and “Iron Hammer” is fairly hard-hitting, but “Party Über Alles” infects with its techno beats, driving rhythms, and German-spitting bullhorn vocals – sample borrowed from Nattefrost’s Blood and Vomit. Taking a break from philosophical and political content, Cornelius opts for humorous lyrics on “Ruger,” which says,
Ruger is a cold guy but a friend of
the House
Everyone he talks to gets
extremely schnell raus
One day he came around when I
talked to the Fat Kid
A baby’s baggy pants and a ball
cap on his pinhead
The Fat Kid looked mean type
‘fuckin with me?’
Ruger looked back ‘Ja ich bin
fickin with thee’
The pinhead took his phone to
call up his homeboys
Ruger went mad he dislikes them
tech toys
Ruger Killed the Rapper
‘Fuckin with me’
Ruger Killed the Rapper
‘Ficken with thee’
Ruger Killed the Rapper
R.I.P.
Ruger Killed the Rapper
Fat Kid cannot be
We wrapped up the Fat Kid and
dragged him to the bridge
His body was cool as if chilled out
in a fridge
We flung him in the river with
stones in his gut
Ruger hit the sky said ‘a chapter
is shut –’
Nananana nananana
Nananana nananana
But there are more pages in the
Book of Rap
I’m burning for this problem,
there is such a pile of crap
That if I lived forever there’d still
be more around
The best thing we can do is
fight the scum with sound
“The Unknown Soldier,” to continue, is much more morose than anything else on tap, and features Cornelius at his most dejected, while “Triumph” and “London” are upbeat. The WWII-centered “Enigma,” Falco cover “Rock Me Amadeus,” and mid-paced “Hindenburg” round out the line-up.
All in all, Über is an improvement over Meister Mephisto and yet another Cornelius-related album worth its weight in dollars, Euros, pesos, whatever. Nonetheless, I view Cornelius and Lazare as an irreplaceable duo – two of my favorite musicians in metal today whose collective brilliance is undervalued, underappreciated – and so Sturmgeist feels a tad emptier than Solefald. Similar to their past endeavors, though, this is a must-buy for aficionados of quirky, forward-thinking music, which is unafraid to forge ahead even at the expense of being unapproachable, inaccessible, or simply esoteric.
