Genre: Martial, Folk, Experimental

Track Listing

Majdanek Waltz 
01 Demokratie
02 Himmel des Reiches
03 Wir
04 Die stadt

Sal Solaris
01 Der Himmel Uber Berlin
02 Schauer
03 Erwartung (In Gefahr)
04 Start
 

This is a split release between Majdanek Waltz and Sal Solaris
 
Inside a very well designed Digipack comes a nice split from Majdanek waltz and Sal Solaris. I like the duality that can be found in certain split albums and that's not as obvious as it sounds. We have here two acts that give this album two directions instead of just one, but at the same time these directions should not be too far away from each other. On " Himmel des Reichs / Der Himmel uber Berlin", this sort of relationship is achieved and the final result shows a continuity between the two sides of the sky (Himmel).
 
Majdanek Waltz begins this  album with four tracks that first appear very much in the neo-folk/Revival of post WWII Romanticism tradition, with Russian speech that opens "Demokratie" to the low sounds of dawning music. Martial drums and trumpets with a surprising breakthrough add up to the nostalgic atmosphere. But there are more elements in there that reminds of spiritual front's "In.Will" for instance, as melodic and relatively simple (not a bad thing at all!) music goes with a straight monotonous singing. That is why "Wir" is a great song by Majdanek waltz. "Die stadt" Begins with the same singing, almost on the verge of speech, with a low hiss of lo tech and distorted ambiance, which grows to massive proportions later on the track and end the first half of the album with a sick, distorted blast. Great ending to a very good split part, which was actually released as a separate E.P back in 2006.
 
Sal Solaris begins a different phase of the album that continues from where Majdanek waltz had left. A mix of nostalgic samples, reversed and/or distorted loops and background noises open and let in a rather beautiful – Opera or at least Opera-esque male singing. This melody, dissected to hundreds of pieces and then re-assembled, reminds of what Matt Elliot, A.K.A Third eye foundation is doing to some tracks, especially ian tiersen's music. Another phase in this track begins and Russian speech bids us farewell over the remains of the music heard earlier. Sal Solaris adds a more sinister approach to their music later on and with twisted loops that shriek in pain, reminds parts of Lustmord or Teatro Satanico. Things get more and more abstract and destructive with the progress of Sal solaris towards the end of the album Until the last track appropriately named "Start", going on with crawling dark ambient and sinister metallic whispers, fading to silence at the end of the album.
 
Beginning with Russian militant folk and ending with a blast and a hiss,  " Himmel des Reichs / Der Himmel uber berlin" offers a wide array of music with a close up look on two interesting bands. An interesting and rewarding album.