This was one my most highly anticipated albums of 2006, and 2006 was a good year for music. I was blown away when I discovered Eisbrecher’s self-titled d ebut album, and when I heard they were releasing their second album in a couple months, I was very excited. And, naturally, a bit worried. Any sophomore album runs the high risk of failing to live up to it’s predecessor, and many don’t hold up. So, did Antikörper live up to its predecessor? I feel that it did, but it’s definitely not a rehash of old ideas.
Now, I must admit, when I first heard Antikörper I wasn’t that thrilled by it. I wasn’t gripped the way I was listening to Eisbrecher, and of course I felt a bit disappointed. However, the albums I come to love often don’t quite grip me at the start, and so, based on the quality of their debut, I made myself keep listening to it. And, after about two weeks, I started to really warm to it. The guitars are heavy, the vocals are deep and the electronics and danceability are still there. Alexx’s songwriting abilities have largely matured, although the darker tone of some songs bugs me a bit, especially Leider and Kinder der Nacht. The former is very well written, but the topic is self-cutting, which I can’t relate to, and the latter is a gothic wet dream, with lyrics like “Black blood in our veins” and “We are the children of the night.” The songwriting is balanced out, though, by less dark topics, like the outright love song Ohne dich or the interesting ode to adrenaline, the aptly titled Adrenalin.
The general feel I have of this album is that it’s something of a transition. On Eisbrecher, Noel and Alexx seemed to be trying to distance themselves from their less electronic, heavier guitar days in Megaherz, whereas here they seem to have re-embraced the heavy guitars while still retaining their electronic edge. The track which feels like the best fusion of the two sounds is, ironically, the one which was co-written by Jürgen Plangger [the singer for the band a_Life [Divided] and one of the live guitarists for Eisbrecher] Entlassen. The guitars are still heavy, but there is a greater sense of electronica present than on most of the other tracks.
Overall, Eisbrecher have released a good successor to their debut, but they’re still finding their ground. In a recent interview with Radio Goethe, Alexx has said that they plan to record their third CD later this year, for an early 2008 release date, and I’m eagerly anticipating this next stage in their musical evolution.
Score:
Hompage: Eis-brecher.com
Reviewer: Paul Gifford
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