Neuschwabenland

It was in 1939 when the German Antarctic Expedition discovered Neuschwabenland (New Swabia) and it remains a mystery why the Nazi propaganda did not make a hype about this fact. Maybe the dude with the clubfoot had better things to do, for example f**king Lida Baarova, the nice actress from Czechia. We don’t know it exactly… but speaking of Czechia helps us to get closer to Götterdämmerung. Despite their German name, they originate from Lida’s homeland, but they seem to have a weakness for the aesthetics of the Nazi period. Or am I misled by the artwork with the slogan “Willkommen in Neuschwabenland” and the “Bund Deutscher Mädel”-girl staring at me? And why was the output released on the 1st of September, exactly 81 years after the outbreak of World War II, the ultimate catastrophe?

Of course, all these speculations and open questions are not helpful. So let’s turn the cone of light on the music. Götterdämmerung rush over the icy fields of New Swabia with a breath-taking speed and sometimes they somersault (“Talvisota”). 5% less hysteria would have been a fine thing here. But if we take a close look at the big picture, we realize that there is not much to grumble. “Neuschwabenland” presents fresh, merciless, rude and mostly absolutely uncompromising thrash. The dudes are not overly influenced by the American pioneers from the eighties and the early material of the German role models such as Kreator or Destruction also does not really shimmer through the nine songs. The first seven songs and the closer are a thrashing bloodlust without a retrospective approach. But the title track stands in sharp contrast to these short, brutal and almost chaotic eruptions.

Suddenly, mesmerizing guitars roll out the red carpet for a narrator who tells the story of, well, the Neuschwabenland expedition in German. He uses almost poetic words, something like “New Swabia, where darkness covers the snowy landscapes… kingdom of eternal ice” and so on, but this remains the only poetic aspect here. Anyway, the narration lies in close proximity to the historic truth and I feel an icy coldness creeping up my back. No doubt, thrash and high velocity should stand shoulder to shoulder, but this mid-paced number is a highlight of the album. This does not mean that the ultra-fast outbursts of energy stand in the shadow of the title track. “Alfa Tauri” marks a strict, murderous and slicing attack with a brilliant bridge and further tracks advance into very high quality regions. For instance, enjoy the rapid, slightly modern-Sodom-like riffing of “Trojný bod” – especially its excellent instrumental parts have the power to drive me mad.

The album was recorded in April 2020 and I hope (no, I’m sure) the dudes did not celebrate Führer’s birthday during the recording process. Firstly, because nobody should do this, secondly due to the fact that they had a better reason to party. The result of the recordings is a very aggressive, straight-in-your-face sound that fits the band’s musical way of proceeding perfectly, although the guitars dominate over the vocals. Götterdämmerung destroy, destroy and destroy again and in view of the quality of the compositions and of the sound, it’s a joy to witness this act of destruction. I still wonder about the dude’s focus on Germany (not only band name and album title, but also the musician’s sick pseudonyms like “Wunderpepi” or “Brummbär”), but this does not affect the quality of the recommendable album.

It’s Teutonic thrash…from Czechia, you dig? But seriously, as far as Sodom knockoffs go, Götterdämmerung is at the right end of the quality metric. We are given a crisp, clean production job to sink our teeth into. The drums are polished to perfection. The bass drum is present but does not suffer from the synthetic click that plagues so many mixes in modern thrash. Likewise, although the guitars are fairly generic in tone by thrash standards, they have a clarity and simplicity that is somewhat refreshing in an age when studio production muscles in on the artistic territory for good or ill. The vocals are relatively high pitched, operating on a near constant Defcon 1 level of intensity, which is fitting given the wartime subject matter of this material.

Beyond that this is a pretty solid if unremarkable rendering of European thrash in the classic style of the big three of Germany. Frantic riffs constructed of choppy power chords are strung together by simple yet effective minor scale melodies, with lead guitars breaking up the monotony of the pitch. If one cares to listen deeper the bass is suitably distorted, allowing it to function more like a third rhythm guitar in the tradition of Lemmy. This allows the music a unity of purpose, a single-minded bullet of intent, but of course the lack of any diversity in tone is the cross to bear for artists that go down this road.

Of course, in the context of thrash whose sole intention is to maintain a high level of intensity from start to finish this is entirely appropriate. And Götterdämmerung seem to be aware of the limits of the emotional range inherent in this music, as ‘Neuschwabenland’ is kept to just barely half an hour in length. There is a nod to ambition by the penultimate and title track however, as the relentless staccato riffage steps aside for the sake or a more laboured, ponderous intro to lead into more thrashing chaos to close, with a stronger melodic core; accompanied with some spoken word and epic guitar harmonies….naturally.

Beyond that this album is a good quality reaffirmation of what made classic German thrash great in the first place. It’s too top quality to dismiss out of hand as a rehash of familiar territory. Sometimes, in the constant pressure to stand out as a new life form, simply emulating what worked before can be enough to turn head.

Originally published at Hate Meditations