29-03-2009 Eisbrecher

Supports: Die So Fluid; Venue: Batschkapp, Frankfurt (Germany)
By: Nina Mende

As I arrived at the Batschkapp I found many many people standing outside and waiting to get in although I was already 30 minutes past doors open. Having in mind that it wasn’t sold out in advance and knowing that Batschkapp doesn’t have a photo pit anymore made me a little worried. But I got in and found nice people in the front row that would let me close to the stage for some pictures. Eisbrecher were on tour and tonight playing in Frankfurt, after 10 years according to what the singer told us later on. OK, now I understood why it was that crowded.

First band was Die So Fluid from the UK. Die So Fluid is the modern incarnation of a ‘power trio’. Their sound is a harmonic mixture of metal riffs, post-punk eclecticism and bittersweet grungesque melody. They are part of the first wave of bands to turn down signing a traditional record deal and embrace the changes the internet has made to the industry by stripping record companies of their distribution and promotion monopolies. Die So Fluid therefore retains ownership of all their recordings and copyright of all their songs. But not only concerning that they have their own minds: during their performance you could tell that they know exactly what they want. The female bass player and singer rocked the audience and talked to them as well. If you put Skin, The Distillers and Hole in a mixer, you get Die So Fluid. The guitar player reminded me of Oz in the TV series Buffy. Their performance was way too short but very nice. The songs were catchy and great to rock along.

The next band was Eisbrecher. Here’s a little something about this German band for those of you that have never heard of them before: In 2002 an unexpected Ice Age chilly intoxicated the world of music. After having divided from Megaherz because of artistical differences, singer and mastermind Alexander “Alexx” Wesselsky (lyrics/vocals) and sound-engineer, DJ and ex-member of Megaherz, Noel Pix alias Jochen Seibert (composition/keyboard, guitar, producer), founded the industrial dark-electro rockband Eisbrecher to aim for music far beyond all usual Metal clichees – modern electro Trip-Rock. Emotional, honest, forthright – no compromises. Based on electro programming, Alexx and Noel fulfil their musical vision of interesting songs: diverse, clothed in beats modern and danceable. The lyrics are all about us as human beings and in which direction we choose to develop. Eisbrecher take their listeners on a cold seductive journey through individual human relations in a darker getting world: it’s about ‘You’ and ‘Me’ combined as ‘We’ in ‘Here’ and ‘Now’. The songs are mostly in German, or in English German like the song “This is Deutsch”. Everybody went crazy, banged their heads and jumped along with the music of Eisbrecher. Their music is hard to describe, it’s something between EBM, electro hard rock with a slight touch of metal. The singer talked a lot with the audience and got many replies from them as well. Eisbrecher played all their hits and many more. The band was very agile on stage and close to the audience. Everybody sang along. As the singer asked who is going to be at the WGT only a few hands went up. Maybe most people were not sure yet. One of the last songs they played a Schlager on acoustic. For the encore the singer came back with a Bavarian vest and hat talking a little bit in their accent before going on singing. As they came back for one last song he wore a bathrobe. Eisbrecher played for almost two hours.

Links:
Die So Fluid MySpace
Die So Fluid Official
Eisbrecher MySpace
Eisbrecher Official