U​-​Bootsmann

Released late in 2023 U-Bootsmann is the third EP by Kanonenfieber, and would turn out to be the final release before their second full-length album ‘Die Urkatastrofe.’ And just like how Der Füsilier turned out better than Yankee Division, U-Bootsmann is better than both of them. These EP’s all revolve around different themes, the theme here being submarines and naval combat.

The band takes the marching, groovy elements from Yankee Division, and mixes them with the melody of Der Füsilier, fuses them together and ups the heaviness by a ton. This EP is definitely Kanonenfieber’s heaviest material to date, and also among my favorite music of theirs.

The EP is opened by an intro track ‘U-Bootsperre,’ which consists of general underwater ambience, along with yet another german speech from the war. The feature here that you notice first would be the submarine sonar effect. This keeps playing until the track suddenly begins building quickly towards a release. This release comes in the form of ‘Kampf und Sturm.’ The sonar once again plays, but this time paired with incredibly heavy instrumentals. For every time this section repeats, the sonar is played yet again, which I think gives the song a unique sound. This section seems chaotic, but is held together by the crash cymbal which makes everything come together. While I heard submarine sonars in metal before, I’ve never heard them being used on beat as if it was a drum. The song speeds up and slows down multiple times, breaking into the heavy instrumentals found at the beginning multiple times as well. The second song ‘Die Havarie,’ starts out with a slow, clean intro with waves adding atmosphere, before breaking into the second heaviest part of the EP. This song is slow until the end, where it turns more melodic, almost melancholic. This song deals with a submarine trapped underwater, the crew doomed to the crushing depths of the ocean. Proclaiming how the crew is longing for land while the submarine keeps sinking. This last section feels like the crew coming to terms with their fate, accepting the fact that there is no salvation.

U-Bootsmann still follows the formula first perfected on Menschenmühle, but changes it up a bit, and makes it a lot heavier, and a lot more enjoyable. During most of the album, the intense feeling of energy building but never being released is present, except for the heavy parts in ‘Kampf und Sturm,’ where the energy is released, but the feeling shifts towards too much energy and not being able to release all of it, making for a section that’s impossible to sit still to. Overall, some of their best material yet, and by far the heaviest, and hopefully we see more along this vein on the upcoming album.