Review by Michael on September 2, 2024.

Since Lemmy sang about the horror in the trenches of the Great War, young guys bleeding to death, no matter on which side they fought for on “1916”, World War I became more and more popular in the metal scene. Nowadays countless bands write about this horrendous tragedy and probably one of the door openers for the next catastrophe, World War II. Kanonenfieber was founded in 2020 in Bavaria, Germany, and is going to release their second regular studio album in September. Their debut Menschenmühle (“Human Mill”) was already a very harsh and brutal black metal album with smart and interesting lyrics but they have evolved since 2020.

Die Urkatastrophe (“The Primal Catastrophe”) is both – more accessible but also slightly more uncompromising. First of all, it is interesting that they (like the band already did on their debut) use German speech samples from 1914 – 1918. This gives the songs a very special flair and somehow you can almost feel the mood the soldiers felt back then. But of course, with having all the deaths and war insanity in mind you always feel this bitterness remembering that all this destruction and hatred was just for nothing. The lyrics are all kept in German and everybody who knows this language knows that it isn't the softest one. It is more harsh and sounds unkind and this aspect matches really perfectly to the songs. Apropos hatred and bitterness – this is projected into the music very well, especially through the vocals Noise is using. In every song you have the feeling that he is full of hatred and bitterness. Let's take 'Menschenmühle' as a first example. The chorus is nagged and sounds slightly psychopathic and this expresses very well what the lyrics mean:

“Deutschland, Deutschland Kaiserreich (Germany, Germany imperial)
Kriegessucht und Wahnkrankheit, (addiciton to war and delusional illness)
Deutschland, Deutschland Vaterland (Germany, Germany fatherland)
Mordessucht im Wahnverstand“ (addiction to murder in delusional illness)

Although the songs are all really good and there is no filler in sight, there are two tracks that are a little bit more outstanding and got me instantly. The first one is a calmer one which turns out almost epic and heroic….if there weren't the bitter lyrics. That one is 'Waffenbrüder' which tells the story of two German soldiers who have known each other since their childhood and go to the front in France. So the story goes on, one of them gets wounded on the battlefield and has to go to the hospital. “Fortunately” he returns after some weeks and goes back into battle. But I guess that you can imagine how the story for both of them ends… just like the song very sad. And then we have 'Gott Mit Der Kavallerie' (“God With The Cavalry”) which is a very catchy and thrash-orientated song. Distorted vocals give the song also some death metal flair. But when the chorus sets in, this is a really heavy inferno. Musically it is an equivalent to a galloping cavalry. But yet again, there is no space here for any happiness because when the German soldiers meet the Belgian artillery, it doesn't turn into anything good for either one of them or their horses. Underlined this gets through the machine gun-like drumming in that part.

You'll probably find more of your personal favorites on the album very quickly, since as I said, all songs are top-notch. I would say that Die Urkatastrophe is a really good, well-produced album with interesting and thoughtful lyrics and it puts the horrors of war into good words and music and makes it a little bit easier to put yourself into this dark era of the 20th century. This one is recommendable for everybody who likes bands like 1914, Panzerfaust, or Minenwerfer because they don't only go lyrically but also musically in the same direction.

Rating: 9 out of 10