Danse Macabre

To many, screamo may as well be a foreign language (you know, the type pioneered by Gravity and fostered by Level Plane). Its angular rhythms, brutal intensity, strange mismatch of beautifully moving chords and messy distortion and commanding drums and general chaos about are just blindly confusing to some. But what happens when a band playing this style really is singing in a foreign language? Is overkill in the works?

Well, not for those who already love the genre, I suppose.

Danse Macabre are a German-based act of this style drawing from bands like Envy and Saetia, though the band's style here is much more raw and unrelenting, with all their lyrics in German, but Synkopenleben, Nein Danke is no less enjoyable. They do everything as described above, often pummelling through its 20 minutes with sheer intensity and little looking back, save for some pretty octaves used in appropriate amounts.

Standouts would be likely to include the title track, which has a wonderfully grand opening, rolling in with solidering guitars and drums to introduce the track. "Eine Schwalbe Macht Noch Keinen Sommer" makes superb use of distorted spoken word and abrupt flange effects, while the condensed Billy Werner channeling in "Keine Atempause" is downright eerie. "Eine Frage der Opportunitatskosten" makes the best use of the vocalist's frenzy, while "Syntax Error" shows some more normal song structure that the band apparently executes well.

Recorded way back in June 2004, Synkopenleben, Nein Danke has taken quite some time to see the light of day. Regardless, this is a blinding 20-minute attack worth the fight, translation or not.

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