Die Krupps - Stahlwerkrequiem

  by Aaron Brown

published: 3 / 7 / 2016

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Review

Die Krupps, like their German steelworks manufacturer namesake, are legends in their field. Whereas rock music can trace its roots back to the early 20th century Deep South of the US, industrial metal can trace its origins to the early musical outputs of Die Krupps. This is the band that launched industrial music into the mainstream with their seminal 1981 debut album ‘Stahlwerksinfonie’. ‘Stahlwerksinfonie’ which translates as ‘Steelworks Symphony’, for those who didn’t pay attention in German language class, was a marauding thirty minutes of EBM and industrial monolith held together with screeching guitars, a thudding bass-line and constant beat. Yes, ‘Stahlwerkrequiem; or ‘Steelwork Requiem’ is a reworking, an updated version of earlier effort but don’t knock it. The album, while only being thirty-six minute in length, is truly mesmerizing. If the world was ending this is the soundtrack the devil would play on his record player. Yes, the devil doesn’t do MP3. Like ‘Stahlwerksinfonie’, the same screeching guitar, bass line and constant drum beat hold the album together but this is organic as it continually grows to a crescendo While I freely admit that I’m not usually a fan of instrumental music, ‘Stahlwerkrequiem’ is an album that has changed my mind on what instrumental music is supposed to be about.

Track Listing:-

1 Stahlwerkrequiem / Rheinhausen
2 Stahlwerkrequiem / Westfalenhütte

Band Links:-

http://www.diekrupps.com/
https://www.facebook.com/diekruppsoffi
https://plus.google.com/10163547694411
https://twitter.com/diekruppsband
https://www.youtube.com/user/DieKrupps
http://diekrupps.tumblr.com/

Label Links:-

http://www.bureau-b.com/
https://www.youtube.com/user/bureaub/v
https://www.facebook.com/bureaub
https://twitter.com/bureaublabel