Hermann Kopp announces new ‘Der Golem’ soundtrack album on Cold Spring
Hermann Kopp
German composer and soundtrack artist Hermann Kopp releases his new album “Der Golem” on 20 February 2026 via UK label Cold Spring. The score, issued as the CD “Der Golem” and as a digital album, provides a new soundtrack to the 1920 silent horror film “The Golem: How He Came into the World” by Paul Wegener and Carl Boese, a key work of early German Expressionism. The album is available for pre-order as a matt-laminate digipak CD and as a download through the Cold Spring webstore and Bandcamp.
Kopp’s new score uses violin, viola and electronic / synthesizer sounds to accompany the story of the golem, a clay figure animated to defend the Jewish community in 16th-century Prague. The music shifts between sparse motifs, noise-edged passages and more melodic cues. The soundtrack debuted as a live cine-concert at Le Club de l’Étoile in Paris on 7 March 2025 as part of the Kosmo Kino Plaza series, with Kopp performing accompanied by Am Not. Later in 2025, Kopp and Am Not presented the score at the Wroclaw Industrial Festival in Poland in a dedicated “Der Golem” live soundtrack performance. The release was mastered by Martin Bowes at The Cage Studios, with artwork and layout by Abby Helasdottir.
“Der Golem” is a 20-track album, opening with “Golem Theme” and moving through pieces such as “Rabbi Loew”, “The Old Book”, “Myriam”, “The Knight” and “Invocation Of Astaroth”, before closing on “End Theme”. Several track titles echo key narrative elements and scenes from the film, including “Golem Goes Into Town”, “Golem Gets Angry”, “House In Flames” and “The Temple”. The CD and digital versions share the same running order.
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About Hermann Kopp
Hermann Kopp (born 21 August 1954 in Stuttgart, then West Germany) is a German musician, composer and occasional actor who lives and works in Barcelona. He began releasing music in the early 1980s with the 7-inch EP “Aquaplaning in Venedig” (1981) and the LP “Pop” (1983), both characterised by minimal electronic arrangements, violin and a stark, personal approach to songwriting. Around the same period he joined the electro-industrial band Keine Ahnung, contributing violin and electronics and performing in German cities such as Mannheim and Berlin.
Kopp became more widely known through his soundtrack work for director Jörg Buttgereit. In 1987 he contributed music to the horror feature “Nekromantik”, followed by further score contributions to “Der Todesking” (1989) and “Nekromantik 2” (1990). These soundtracks were later compiled on the album “Nekronology”, first released on CD in 2004 and reissued on vinyl in 2009 with alternate artwork. Beyond Buttgereit’s work, Kopp has also scored films including “The Queen Of Hollywood Boulevard” (2017) and “Videotheque” (premiered 2024).
From 2004 onward, Kopp released several new titles such as “Japgirls in Synthesis”, “Kitsch” and “Mondo Carnale”, followed by “Psicofonico” (2007), which drew on ideas surrounding Electronic Voice Phenomena. He went on to release “Under A Demon’s Mask” (2008), “Cerveau D’Enfant” (2010), “Zyanidanger” (2013) and “Cantos Y Llantos” (2017), often in limited vinyl or CD editions. Other titles followed: “Noirhollywood”, “Tiffauges” and “Compositions For Indian Pump Organ And Electric Violin”. His work has been released by various labels including Passiv, Red Stream, Vinyl On Demand, Bataille, Galakthorrö, Aesthetic Records, 4iB Records, Alien Passengers, Cloister Recordings, Bacteria Field and now Cold Spring for “Der Golem”.
He has over the years also collaborated with artists such as Lorenzo Abattoir under the project name Psicopompo, released by 4iB Records, offering drone and noise-based sound research. In addition to his composing work, Kopp appeared on screen in “Der Todesking” as a character nicknamed Barsch, a role that indirectly references German political history.
About Der Golem
“Der Golem: How He Came into the World” is a 1920 silent horror film from Weimar Germany, directed by Paul Wegener and Carl Boese. Set in the Jewish ghetto of 16th-century Prague, it follows Rabbi Loew as he creates the Golem, a large clay figure brought to life by a magical amulet to protect the Jewish community when the Emperor threatens their expulsion. The narrative traces the Golem’s activation, its role as a protector and court spectacle, and its eventual loss of control, culminating in a destructive rampage before it is finally deactivated.
The film is the third of Wegener’s Golem projects and functions as a prequel to his now-lost 1915 feature, making it the only surviving title from his Golem cycle. It is closely linked with German Expressionism through its stylised sets designed by architect Hans Poelzig, which depict warped streets and irregular, clay-like buildings that visually echo the creature itself. Karl Freund’s cinematography uses strong contrasts, shadows and unusual angles that would influence later European and Hollywood horror films.
“Der Golem” is frequently cited in film history as an important early monster film and a precursor to later screen versions of “Frankenstein,” with its depiction of an artificial being created by a learned figure, resurrected on a slab and ultimately turning dangerous. Over the decades it has undergone several restorations, including modern digital versions that reintroduce original tinting and, in some editions, the reconstructed 1920 score. As a result, the film continues to circulate in restored prints, Blu-ray editions and public-domain digital copies, keeping its combination of folklore, early horror and Expressionist design accessible to contemporary audiences.
About Am Not
Am Not is a London-based dark noise and power electronics project by British-Japanese artist Tamon Miyakita. The project offers a mix of industrial, noise and death industrial and has appeared on labels such as Unrest Productions, Tesco Organisation, Zaetraom, Phage Tapes and Ant-Zen.
Am Not emerged in the early 2010s with releases on Unrest Productions, including “First Morbid Vibrations” (2012) and the full-length “Unpunished” (CD, 2015), which was later reissued on 180-gram vinyl in 2022 in an edition of 300 copies. In 2017 Miyakita released “The Developing World” via Tesco Organisation on CD and LP, followed by the cassette “Incursions” in 2018 on Zaetraom, later reissued on vinyl and, in a separate 2023 edition, on Phage Tapes. Subsequent releases and related works have appeared on labels including Unrest Productions and Tesco Germany, often in limited runs with hand-numbered packaging.
Am Not’s recordings typically combine heavily processed electronics, feedback and sampled material with structured compositions and prominent vocals.
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