Die Krupps - II: The Final Option (1993)

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Die Krupps - II: The Final Option (1993)

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This odd Euro-metal vibe is so much fun, and at the roots of a lot of other thrash, doom and stoner metal, especially the continental stuff. Die Krupps is on the shelves of a lot of other outfits - pick up "the Final Option" and you'll understand why, and probably even be able to hear why.

by M. Justin Fort, amazon

I remember getting into fights in the good old days defending this German powerhouse as trve metal purveyors of the 90's when many were dismissing them as wave/industrial noisemongers. Being an avid adversary to all prejudiced stances against music, I go ballistic coming across retarded morons who base their entire view of a band on a song they have heard some twenty years ago when said band were playing stuff miles away from their current style… Anyway, let morons be morons; I believe they still do get quite a bit of a beating nowadays for their idiotic ignorance.

The Die Krupps history shouldn’t be a secret even to the “new kids on the block” since they’re largely considered the finest industrial export from Europe, a musical institution whose career started in the early-80’s when the guys were naïve budding new wavers. That all changed in the late-80’s when metal conquered the world, the Germans joining the arena a bit late, in 1992. It was a time well chosen, as it became clear later, since the band had no intentions on following the old school canons, but had decided to participate in the reformation process alongside Ministry, Skrew, Malhavoc, KMFDM, Front Line Assembly, etc. which brought about numerous modern alterations to the metal scene the more benign aspect of which is known as industrial.

Unlike most of the representatives of the industrial wave, though, Die Krupps kept one eye at the retro metal heritage from the past decade, another indication of which was the Metallica cover of “One” featured on the “I” album; a fairly individualistic cover with the staple for the band lush dark electronics permeating it. The infatuation with Metallica continued on full-throttle a few months later with the release of a 5-track EP containing covers of the Americans only sustained in the same electronic industrial vein. This initiative brought them wide recognition, maybe because the Germans were also wise enough to include a rendition of “Enter Sandman” from The Black Album which was pretty much the biggest thing on the scene at the time.

Moments of “I” showed the guys’ trying to incorporate aggressive thrashy guitars into their rigid electronic template, and it was just a matter of time before they were going to embark on a metal roller-coaster ride. A great help in this trend was the recruitment of the axeman Lee Altus from Heathen who gave the band's sound a desirable pronounced thrashy flair. The album reviewed here is the epitome of this decision although full-fledged classic thrash is strictly out of the question. The industrial gimmicks are all here, but on the harsh guitar-driven background they are rather an asset than an impediment. The band storm with “Crossfire”, a brooding creepy thrasher accentuated by Jurgen Engler’s characteristic semi-clean, at times semi-declamatory, but still dramatic vocals which play a vital role in the band’s delivery. “Language of Reality” comes stomping down with sharp scratching riffs winning everyone in the process with its catchy chorus. Not all is brutal thrashing guitars, though, and “Bloodsuckers” brings back the expressive electronics from previous recordings “to duel” with the incessant riffage and also bring great atmospheric undercurrents to this dynamic shredder. “Fatherland” is the most memorable hymn playing the role of the semi-ballad with the nice chorus and Engler’s more passionate performance; and “To the Hilt” will fill you up “to the hilt” with more sombre atmospherics, pounding riffs and overt electronic strokes, an appetizing symbiosis “bearing” another instantly recognizable anthem.

“Iron Man” marches on with more intense guitarisms reaching headbanging proportions with ease, a mechanical modern thrasher at its best. “Inside Out” is a nervy doomster with Engler displaying his cleaner, more attached side the electronic aspect creating a lot of drama featured more prominently to a positive effect. “Paradise of Sin” recalls the more playful, dance-like potential of the band’s older material, and is the only less guitar-driven cut here. “Worst Case Scenario” is the traditional morose piece which suggestive doomy motifs and the cool chorus, becoming more dynamic later on seemingly setting the scene for the coming of the explosive “Shellshock”, another headbanging delight which may even enchant the old school lovers with its urgent moshing rhythm-section. “New Temptation”, which is actually “the last temptation”, industrializes the environment with the samples and noises piling on top of each other, including Engler’s vocals which acquire a hissing synthesized vibe, burying the buzzying guitars under layers of artificial, machine-like sounds.

Except for that last “temptation” the band do a fairly good job in modernizing the good old metal, particularly its thrashy sector, and as such they can be rightfully placed in the Big Four, the other three being Ministry, Skrew and Malhavoc, that put industrial metal on the metal map as a legitimate phenomenon from the 90’s musical kaleidoscope. They consistently stuck to their guns through the 90’s producing two more albums of the same high quality, attractive blends of impetuous thrashing and mellower electronic reverberations, before laying down the weapons at the end of the decade. With the old school canons on the way to full restoration in the early-00’s, it made sense for symbols of the industrial 90’s like Die Krupps to take a break and look around in order to see how they would fit into the new/old environment with their “noisy” hygienic histrionics…

A series of compilations in 2007 marked their intentions on returning to the fore, but the comeback opus “Volle Kraft Null Acht” was pure dancey electronics taking a prolonged glance at their very roots. “The Machinists of Joy” followed suit four years later, and brought back some of the riff-driven bravado of more recent recordings. However, the full revelation was “V-Metal Machine Music”, named after a song from their early works, where the guys started moshing again with all the vigour left in them giving the metal crowd another option, hopefully not the final one. With the industrial metal batch one never knows what direction things would take in the future so he/she should always expect the unexpected; which should be fine as long as the latter is largely machine-generated musik.

by bayern, metal-archives.com

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Die Krupps - II: The Final Option (1993)

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Die Krupps - II: The Final Option (1993)

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