ASP – Endlich!

Release date:  26.11.2021
Label:  Trisol Music Group GmbH

ASP is a German gothic rock band from Frankfurt that has been in the industry for 2 decades now.

The band is making music since 1999. Though there has been some line-up changes within the band, Asp is still going strong because they just released a 3-disc mega album called “Endlich” meaning at last.

The band has been in obligatory hiatus since the end of 2019 because of the pandemic. And this mega album is a black celebration of their reunion with the fans.

The album kicks off with a strings embellished Was du dir wünschst, it has a great chorus with cool riffs, the main strings melody is such a gothic signature that the band has had similar ones in earlier works. Echo sounds a bit 70s with The Who type of delayed guitars. Of course being a non-German speaker I sometimes wanted to look up the words and song titles and maybe because of the language barrier, I thought Alexander’s voice was a bit monotonous in different type of songs on the album, but of course it has been his vocal style for the last 2 decades, and they have cult following so who am I to judge his vocals, right?

However the songs on this 3 disc album is surprisingly varied and a bit repetitive despite all that. I have not listened to all previous ASP albums but I skimmed through the earlier tracks and I can say musically this last effort of theirs is heavier which is very good thing for the band’s discography. The songs have depth and emotion I am not certain that they tell an overall story. There are a few new things to discover that you would not have expected. The songs complement one another though. There are better songs and not so good ones . On the third CD there are 6 more bonus tracks including collaborations with Two Minds Collide, Delva and Lord Of The Lost. The songs in English are served as a fresh breath to non-German listeners. I especially grew fond of Age of The Hurricane. The album is available in several versions, whether as a 3 CD digibook, 3 LP deluxe edition, 4 CD limited deluxe box or even as a red double vinyl.

“Endlich” is a really good ASP album and a celebration of a musical cycle that matured over the years. It’s not a novelty for the listeners and fans but a reinforced and reinfused version of their earlier works.

Line up:

Asp (Alexander Frank Spreng) (vocals)
Tossi (Andreas Gross) (bass)
Lutz Demmler (bass, guitar, mandolin, keyboard)
Sören Jordan (guitar)
Stefan Günther (drums)

Links:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AspsWelten