Our Last Golden Bough Has Been Betrayed
The Great Man I. - The Stance
Those Who Are Still Waiting
Porta Heroum
The Ancient Lords
The Great Man II. - Realisation
Standing By Truth

I don’t believe in hype. In fact I absolutely hate it. Hype will betray you. Hype will disillusion you. You can’t trust hype. It will always let you down dramatically. Without mercy. Leaving you empty and unfulfilled. When I was initially informed of this impending debut release on Cold Spring records that here was a group better than the sums of parts consisting of Laibach, Der Blutharsch, Turbund Sturmwerk and many others I just rolled my eyes. Been there. Heard it all before. Take your overblown viewpoint to someone who will listen. Some other poor unsuspecting mug. You won’t catch me out with your lies. Damn unforgivable lies. So I forgot about it…until now. Only now can I tell the truth. The whole truth. Nothing but the truth. The complete picture.

"Kriegsfal-U" is the debut recording by the Hungarian group Kriegsfall-U which comes housed in a luxury Digipak with A3 sized full colour poster inside with English translated lyrics of the songs. The seven tracks with a total running time of 36 minutes are dedicated to the memory of Blessed King Charles IV and Bela Hamvas. Their lyrics fall into philosophical / political rhetoric and tales of adulation and heroic conquests. The villains slain by the defenders of justice. Bloodied on the field of battle. Words alone, no matter how interesting or thought provoking, needs the appropriate musical accompaniment to bring them to life. To add the flesh to the bones. Mixing neo classical / neo folk / sacral post military Industrial music into one huge cauldron and stirring vigorously the unleashed combination never overwhelms the vocals. Instead by working in harmonious tandem, adding the required depth to certain passages or speech free interludes, the effects are electric. Never crushingly in your face, intruding awkwardly when least desired, the music reigns in any excesses which threaten to overpower the whole listening experience. Thus the electronic sound sculptures, strident marching beats and orchestrations are allowed to breath. To expand and develop creating an invigorating listening experience. Quiet, almost, reflective passages move gracefully into stirring martial anthems, some backed by diligent use of samples, onto hymnal choir inspired soundscapes. Backing this diverse musical accompaniment is the guttural deep vocals, given occasional echo effects or sounding like they are being spoken/sung through a megaphone, adding that extra dimension to the overall production of the pieces.

There are / will be comparisons made to the likes of early Laibach, Les Joyaux De La Princess, Der Blutharsch, Sophia etc. This can’t be helped as these and so many other like minded musicians were the pioneers of this style of music. Kriegsfal-U may have borrowed certain elements or ideas from all of them in the making of "Kriegsfall-U" but the end result is a recording that is both intelligent and individually stamped. Without doubt a dazzling debut you shouldn’t miss. For once believe the hype.

ANM