Genre: Martial Orchestral / Industrial

Cold Spring Records is notorious for producing and promoting some of the very best music the postindustrial music genre has to offer and they continue this dedicated mission of excellence with the release of Kreuzweg Ost - Edelrost. Kreuzweg Ost follows in the legacy of similar Cold Spring musicians Herr, Von Thronstahl, Kriegsfall-U, Werkraum, Toroidh, and Karjalaan Sissit. This is admittedly a very hard lineup to follow in the tracks of but Cold Spring has proven they are capable of following one stunning release with another.

Kreuzweg Ost is the latest band to join the Cold Spring family of martial industrialists and they have earned there place amongst their peers with their debut album Edelrost. Kreuzweg Ost is compromised of Michael Gregor, Martin Schirenc, and Oliver Stummer added to the line up in 2003 all of whom hail from Austria. Michael Gregor and Martin Schirenc formed Kreuzweg Ost in the year 2000 with Oliver Stummer joining the ranks in 2003. The original conception of the band evolved around the premise of creating music based upon specific movies that featured shared themes of war or religion. Seizing upon this formula the band has found a new way to approach the now maturing martial orchestral music arena.

Having been five years in coming Edelrost is a very powerful debut for Kreuzweg Ost. Rather than launching with a premature album the band has enabled themselves to bring forth a mature and worthy album that will certainly be embraced by enthusiastic martial orchestra music lovers. The idea of forming music around specific films has enabled the band to draw upon a vast array of sampled voices and sound clips thus impregnating their music with sound clips that help define the accompanying music. The music of Kreuzweg Ost is not easily comparable to other offerings within the genre. Kreuzweg Ost have compiled nine songs that vary from heavily martial oriented orchestrations to heavier industrial influenced tracks that incorporate a hefty dose of industrial noise into the otherwise symphonic compositions. Amidst these heavily orchestrated tracks appear influences of dark ambience and even industrial noise accents. Kreuzweg Ost has unified often divorced martial symphonic with undeniable industrial influences creating a new hybrid filled with the soaring emotional drive of martial orchestrations and the raw power of industrial music.

I personally found the sound clips, which tend to be the central focus of each song to be a bit of a distraction to the overall music but this may be because I do not speak German and the majority of the sound clips are in the German language. Being that the conceptual basis of the album is music formulated to accompany the sampled vocals, I could not help but feel I am missing out on something. Luckily, the music is of such high caliber that most anyone will be able to dismiss the lack of translation and embrace the overall mood of the music.

Track one titled “Edelrost” launches the album with a dark ambient composition. The song begins with slow dark rumbling black ambience that rolls through the speakers like a dense fog. A male speaks in German while his voice is accompanied by the raw static hiss one would here when playing a record on an old phonograph. The mood is decisively foreboding and vintage. The dark atmospherics evolve slight with ghostly sounds penetrating the dark ambience adding to the somber mood of the track. Very tightly controlled industrial sounds filter into the music as the sound of a beating heart merges into the song near the end. After the sampled voice leaves the music, there is a short musical interlude before the song ends with the creaking sound of an old door opening. “Edelrost” establishes the vintage mood of the album as well as initiating the listener into the shadow that is to follow.

Track three-titled “Die Legion” highlights the bands diversity as they incorporate music influences of the East with their decisively Western martial tones. “Die Legion” begins with delicate Cello playing joined by a random lot of thundering industrial sounds. The sound of war drums and clanging metal explode across the refined cello music only to withdraw as quickly as it occurred. A woman gasps briefly as if feeling the weight of the industrial explosions. After a brief interlude, Eastern music in the form of drums and woodwinds enter playing distinctly Eastern rhythms and melodies adding a notably defiant element to the music. The token male voice enters the music amidst the exploding of industrial drums and industrial noise. Soon the voice is competing with bombastic orchestration in addition to the force of the industrial noise and eastern melodies and drums. These various elements smash together with tremendous force like a musical representation of a true cultural clash until they merge into one monumental force. Martial drumming enters the composition and takes the lead for some time as if illustrating that the only true leader amidst the chaos is sheer force. “Die Legion” demonstrates thoughtful use of sound and music and really pushes the envelope in terms of creating the ultimate martial anthem.

Track seven titled “Rasputin” is the only track on the album to feature vocals in English and ironically it deals with the enigmatic figure of the Russian cleric Rasputin. “Rasputin” begins with reverberating dark ambient drones embellished with a haunting male chorus. A male voice speaks over the music giving a very dramatic sermon about damnation. The mans voice is raw and very theatrical and it made me really regret not being able to understand the words on previous songs as his speech is so effective here on “Rasputin.” The music quickly shifts gears after the first segment of the vocal sample as thundering drums rip across the song in a demonic march. Industrial sounds are looped over the drumming creating a powerful song driven by drums and aided by harsh industrial sounds. If hells armies marched across the earth, this could well be their anthem. Part way through the song acoustic string orchestration joins the thundering drumming and the industrial assault adding a softer layer to the hellish anthem and aiding the song in its evolution. Kreuzweg Ost utilize a varied array of sound and musical influences in each song which help keep the listeners attention and create full bodied songs that evolve significantly as they progress. This non-linier approach helps exalt the music of Kreuzweg Ost above many of their peers.

I have to admit to being highly impressed with “Edelrost.” I consider myself amidst those martial music fanatics that await every new release to enter the arena with drooling anticipation. I was highly anticipating this release due to the description Cold Spring gave of the music prior to the albums publication. Moreover, I have to say the description was accurate and the music actually exceeded my expectations. With every new artists that enters the scene there is always the fear that they will simply produce music along a prescribed format that has already proven to be successful for another fellow established artist. Though Kreuzweg Ost are not redefining the genre they have succeeded in carving their own unique vision from this ever expanding genre. “Edelrost” is sure to claim a lot of airplay amidst martial music fans and I am highly anticipating follow the career of these artists.