Die Apokalyptischen Reiter - Samurai
Nuclear Blast
Alternative Metal
13 songs (48:19)
Release year: 2004
Die Apokalyptischen Reiter, Nuclear Blast
Reviewed by Jay

Some bands defy labeling and if there ever was an example, it would be Germany’s Die Apokalyptischen Reiter. With elements of death rock, death metal, punk and electronica in their brew, the final product is sure to get you elated and stumbly. They construct a great mix of sounds to pacify everyone from the most staunch death metal head to the Goth boy cowering in the corner pretending to be evil.

For me, Have a Nice Trip was an eye-opener and showed me what the boys could do. While this album is awesome, it does not quite live up to the previous effort in one area. Sadly, the guitar sounds on this record are not as robust as they were on the previous disc. They are still good but they sound more polished and not as raw as in their earlier work. Regardless, the melodies are infectious as ever and this band will certainly win over fans of bands as diverse as Children of Bodom and Black Flag. The passion of songs like "Silence of Sorrow" are counterbalanced the next second by the best song Cradle of Filth never wrote "Der Teufel." This song truly blew me away. It was the trademark sound Cradle of Filth popularized being played by a different band better than by the Fithsters. The screech of the guitars along with blast beats and epic vocals rule. Following this we have "Reitermaniacs" which is a further installment of the fictional lore surrounding this band and their insane fans. Checkout their fan site for more information on Reitermania. Going out of their way to make their music tongue and cheek is a plus in my book.

Switching gears entirely, "Barmherzigkeit" is pure late 70’s punk. The ringy bass goes perfectly with the harsh vocals. While the solo seems out of place for a punk track, the overall motif is there until the incredibly death metalish breakdown. As you can see, this song really breaks any attempts to classify it so just shut up and enjoy it. "Lazy Day" is a chill out lounge/ Jamaican funk track. How this ends up on the album is a mystery but it is weirdly fitting. Fans of Moonspell should take note on this track for the vocals sound similar to Fernando Ribiero. This is also one of the few songs sung in English whereas the band prefer to sing in their native German. Since German is one of the few languages that heavy metal sounds awesome in, this should not be too big a problem for most people.

Not to be left out, the sublime and ridiculous are also present on the album. "Roll My Heart" treads a fine line between music and the sound of insanity encoded into plastic. Do not try to make sense of it, just groove to the party in your ears. "Hey Ho" also fits into this category deriving some influence from more outside sources including some ambient techno groups and maybe even a little Lords of Acid. Crappy Emo is parodied in "Die Sonne Scheint" which has a main guitar line designed to arise ire and poke fun at all that nonsense that is ruining radio today.

Brutality is something that the Reiters are able to provide as well. We get several doses of grinding guitars and demonic death growls from hell. It is a perfect schizophrenic smorgasbord of sounds. Just let it be known that when it is time to kick ass and take names, this might be a good album to break out. When the apocalypse does come, I would certainly want these guys on my side!

Killing Songs :
Reitermaniacs, Der Teufel, Silence of Sorrow, Eruption
Jay quoted 87 / 100
Other albums by Die Apokalyptischen Reiter that we have reviewed:
Die Apokalyptischen Reiter - Have A Nice Trip reviewed by Crims and quoted 94 / 100
Die Apokalyptischen Reiter - All You Need Is Love reviewed by Marc and quoted 94 / 100
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