28 March 2024

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)

Tracklist

CD#1:

  1. Intro: Bedenke gut
  2. Was du dir wünschst
  3. Echo
  4. The Eternal Stranger
  5. Ziel
  6. Seerosenblüten von einst
  7. Ausgewachsener Albdruck (Fremde Träume III) CD#2:
  8. Endlich
  9. Ruine (FremdkörPerson, viertens)
  10. Spät
  11. Widmung
  12. Raise Some Hell Now!
  13. Begleitung (Bedenke gut Instrumentalreprise)
  14. Tor
    CD#3:
  15. Age Of The Hurricanes (Two Minds Collide feat. ASP)
  16. Seemansgarnknäuel (DELVA feat. ASP)
  17. Rooftop. Legs Yet Dangling. (Cassadi feat. ASP)
  18. Echo (Lord Of The Lost Version)
  19. Endlich (Single Edit)
  20. Raise Some Hell Now! (Single Edit)

Links:


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