I wasn't quite sure what to expect when I first listened to this album. A friend had told me that it was very good, and that I should give it a listen. As the album started I was still fairly uncertain, as the slow, atmospheric opener Gedanken was clearly not the sound of the whole album. I was instantly sucked in by the beginning of the second track, Lebloser Körper, and was very heartened, but I found myself waiting and waiting in vain for a guitar to kick in. I listened through the next couple tracks and had the same impression, before I finally kinda gave up for a while. I was intrigued again the next day, so, expecting the lack of guitars this time, I sat down and listened to it beginning to end. And I have to say, I was very impressed this time through.

While I suppose Heimatærde could be classified as Neue Deutsche Härte, they are more accurately EBM. The vocals are often harsh, the electronics are often noisy, and the overall sound is firmly rooted in industrial. And yet, despite the essence of their sound being fairly common, Heimatærde has really created something quite unique with this album. What I was the most impressed by were the medieval elements to the music, elements which would be familiar to fans of bands like Tanzwut or In Extremo. I never would have thought it could work before hearing this album, but combining dance music, EBM, and medieval has truly worked out well.

There are, however, a few negative things I have to say about the album. First, it can get a little repetitive after a while. Sometimes the mood of the album fits me perfectly, and I have no problems, but other times I start to get bored halfway through and end up listening to something else. For another, I truly think this album, and the band's first album, would have benefitted tremendously from the occasional guitar. I'm not saying they should make a change like that of Die Krupps in the early '90s, but the occasional tightly controlled blast of guitar would have greatly livened things up and taken this album right over the top. My biggest complaint, however, is with the concept itself. While my German isn't strong enough to understand all in the ins and outs of the lyrics, the basic concept appears to be about an undead Knight Crusader. It's definitely dark, but there are a few bright spots. For one, there are tracks which essentially dispense with the storyline and just work within the milieu of the Crusader period. The best of these is the relatively quiet and atmospheric "Gott will es", which for those who don't know the Crusader period too well was the cry of the Crusaders, "God wills it!". It fits in with the overall concept (though not the narrative) by the acts committed under the banner of this saying, namely the horrific rape, slaughter, and pillaging that was committed by the warring knights during the roughly 250 year period of the Crusades. But enough of the history lesson.

Overall, I think Heimatærde shows a lot of ingenuity and some huge potential. I would greatly recommend "Kadavergehorsam" to fans of EBM and dance music, and I'm sure they'll find themselves rewarded. This is their second album since their debut in 2005, and I'm hoping they will continue to release frequent new albums, and allow themselves to experiment even more. If they can keep releasing albums as good as this, they will have a great future ahead of them. Just don't stick to  such morbid themes all the time!

Score:
Hompage: Heimataerde.de
Reviewer: Paul Gifford