How do I even begin to cover a band with a 30^th anniversary looming on the horizon? Not only that, but due to the lyrics on their albums, four have been banned in their native Germany and not for dodgy politics, but because the government was disgusted by the violence of the lyrics. OH MY!

Anyway, exposition aside, this is a nasty piece of work; it’s a re-release of their second album from 1998 (!) It’s being released with a second disc of live tracks, which I’m not going to go into too much about, just because… Honestly, it’s sort of daunting when you have a band you know zilch about. But, fuck it, here I go.

It starts with some light keyboards and the choking on a bloody tampon vocals of front man M.Roth, then comes the guitars and blasting drums; with that “Vorabend der Schlacht” takes hold and doesn’t let go for the remainder of the track. It’s unrelenting, hitting hard like a baseball bat to the face, and that, coupled with the suitably slimy production, is why I like this album, even if it is a re-release… It’s new to me!

Listening to Krebskolonie is like walking through a sewer full of decaying perverts, which would normally be unpleasant, but within the miasma of Eisregen, it’s perfectly fine.

“Nachtgeburt” is another bludgeoning track, as are they all, and it’s here that the production gets downright sludgy. There are blasting drums twisting their way through the boundaries of good taste to utter destruction.

“Scharlachrotes Kleid” starts with some creepy as fuck keyboards and M.Roth’s menacing rasp. It keeps this slow-burning heaviness throughout the track, even when the guitars and drums break through the morass and pick up the pace. “Krebskolonie” is a bit RAC-infused with some bouncy keyboards; it’s a super fun track and has some killer violin in it. Plus, there’s this insane breakdown at the 3:00 mark that’s absolutely ridiculous fun. This is one of my favorite songs because it’s so deceptively sweet and catchy as hell.

“Für euch die ihr lebt” is a neck-snapping beast, a little bit of a Black Metal influence thrown in for good measure. “Das kleine Leben” is not to be outdone, and they pour on the keyboards for good measure. “Blassblaue Lippen” has more of a 1^st wave Black Metal feeling to it, sort of like The Covenant or early Abigor.

“Abglanz vom Licht” is another Blackened Death Metal monster, more of an early days Dimmu Borgir, all it takes is some well-placed keyboards to turn it into a Black Metal tune, and that’s the case here.

Second to last track is the controversial “Futter für die Schweine – Rezept 2025”… apparently, the original lyrics were so offensive to the German government that they banned the entire fucking album, plus three other albums of theirs. I can’t find the original lyrics, so I don’t have any idea what the problem was that got it initially banned.

“Thüringen” is the last track on the first disc; it’s a bit of a bouncing Death Metal beast, and it closes out Krebskolonie in epic fashion. There’s even a little bit of Folk Metal influences thrown into the mix.

The second disc is a live recording and it features “Leichenlager”, “Des Heilands Haut”, “Nachtgeburt”, “Krebskolonie”, and “Thüringen”. It shows the unbridled brutality of their live experience, the crowd noise, the between song banter; all bring together a ‘being there’ feeling.

Eisregen is now on my radar. They’re definitely a band I wouldn’t have heard if I weren’t doing reviews. This is for fans of the grimier side of Death Metal: Pungent Stench comes to mind, especially their Been Caught Buttering and Club Mondo Bizzaro albums, but also some grimy Black Metal ala Abigor and early Dimmu Borgir . Check them out if you haven’t before, you won’t regret it!

[Visit the band's website]

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