Genre/Influences: Rock-wave, electronics, minimal-electronics, psychedelic-rock.

Format: Digital, CD, vinyl.

Background/Info: This album was originally released in 2013 by WKN. According to mastermind Albin Julius, the “Retriggered”-edit ‘is the remix material done by Geoffroy Delacroix (Dernière Volonté) given away as a bonus CD with copies of the original album, now remastered and re-recorded’. The artwork is a little bit different while the tracklist is different from the original edit. Notice by the way Lina Baby Doll (Deutsch Nepal) played bass guitar on this album while Edward Ka-Spel was invited as guest contributor;

Content: I experienced this album as one of the most accessible ones in the band’s history. It’s hard to label the sound because the songs resulted from a phenomenal mix between different influences and styles. The tracks are moving from rock & wave music towards minimal-electro. Some parts make me think of an electronic version of The Stooges while some lyrical parts seem to have inspired Deutsch Nepal on his latest album. One thing is for sure, this “Retriggered”-version is without a shadow of a doubt the most electro-minimal work I’ve ever heard from Der Blutharsch And The Infinite Church Of The Leading Hand.

+ + + :. I like the minimalism emerging from the songs. There also is a cool 80s touch hanging over the tracklist. It reveals this project under a different perspective while the production stands for refinement and a real subtle approach. The production of the vocals is great and has something intriguing. This album even feels a bit as something unique in its style!

– – – : There’s just one cut, which sounds a bit as unaccomplished (cu; “Hold On”) while I can easily imagine some die-hard fans will find this work too electronic-minded.

Conclusion: The least I can say is that this ‘re-triggered’ version injects a new breath into the original album!

Best songs:  “Sacred Mountain”, “Cosmic Trigger mk2”, “Flying Through The Exit”, “Follow Us Instead”, “The Cosmic Trigger”.

Rate: (8).

Artist & Label: www.derblutharschandtheinfinitechurchoftheleadinghand.com / www.facebook.com/Der–Blutharsch–and–the–infinite–church–of–the–leading–hand-112227928849449

Inferno Sound Diaries

I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.

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Genre/Influences: Apocalyptic-rock, psychedelic, industrial-rock, krautrock. .

Background/Info: Set up and driven by the creative spirit of Album Julius (formerly involved with The Moon Lay Hidden beneath A Cloud and of course Der Blutharsch) Der Blutharsch And The Infinite Church Of The Leading Hand strikes back with a new opus in their already impressive discography.

Content: The style and influences haven’t really changed. The album reveals another ‘freestyle’ opus, which is dominated by different kinds of rock music. From pure apocalyptic passages to psychedelic parts, the band prefers to call it ‘neu kraut music’. It also sounds a bit like time traveling getting us back to 60s, and also the early 80s. Is this the imaginary hybrid between Pink Floyd and Can?  It might appeal for fans of both fans.

+ + + : The krautrock style is definitely back again, but Der Blutharsch And The Infinite Church Of The Leading Hand is different and more diversified. They’ve created their proper sound, which also makes their originality. I like their hypnotic/psychedelic approach remarkably exposed at “Just Because I Can”. The 60s touch emerging on “Make Me See The Light” is another attention grabber. I also have to say a word about the female singer Mathynna who injects a truly spirit to the work. Her timbre of voice has something bewitching, which is totally appropriated with the hypnotic elements.

– – – : There are several cool and noticeable songs featured at “Wish I Weren’t Here”, but maybe not the ultimate, transcendental experience!

Conclusion: Der Blutharsch And The Infinite Church Of The Leading Hand remains a particular experience, which often reminds me of a revival of hippie music.

Best songs: “Just Because I Can”, “Make Me See The Light”, “He Is Here”.

Rate: (7½).

Artist & Label: www.facebook.com/Der–Blutharsch–and–the–infinite–church–of–the–leading–hand-112227928849449

Inferno Sound Diaries

I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.

www.side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Experimental-rock, rock-wave, krautrock.

Background/Info: Albin Julius got some fame with Der Blutharsch. This neo-folk driven project got renamed into Der Blutharsch And The Infinite Church Of The Leading Hand and started to explore different music paths. An impressive number of productions got released over the past 8 years while Albin Julius clearly likes working together with other artists. “Desire” is a new collaboration between Der Blutharsch And The Infinite Church Of The Leading Hand and the American krautrock formation White Hills.

Content: The psychedelic influence is the first thing you can hear on this 5-tracks productions. The opening song is a fascinating exploration mixing dark 80s influences with pure 60s psychedelics. The other songs feature similar elements with intriguing female vocals on top.

+ + + : “Desire” is an interesting production featuring two bands sharing similar music ideas. It however remains something particular, but definitely original. I like this psychedelic approach, which mainly comes through at the opening song. Another attention grabber is the darker title-song carried by a superb, deep bass line. This EP reminds me to the good old 12” format from the 80s featuring different songs and no remixes! Notice by the way “Desire” has been also released on vinyl format.

– – – : Both last cuts can’t totally convince me; it feels a bit as the magic from the opening part has been lost.

Conclusion: Der Blutharsch And The Infinite Church Of The Leading Hand never stops to surprise, but in the meantime the band clearly moves on experimenting with psychedelic-rock, krautrock and related genres. This is a new and interesting collaboration.

Best songs: “Nom De Guerre”, “Desire”.

Rate: (6½).

Artists: www.derblutharschandtheinfinitechurchoftheleadinghand.com /

www.facebook.com/Der–Blutharsch–and–the–infinite–church–of–the–leading–hand-112227928849449 / www.facebook.com/WHITE–HILLS-90476409450

Label: www.van–records.de / www.facebook.com/vanrecs

Inferno Sound Diaries

I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.

www.side-line.com

The latest album by Albin Julius’ Der Blutharsch and the infinite Church of the leading Hand gets a bigger distribution after being released in October last year.

“What makes you pray” will be available later in March in 2 vinyl versions, a black vinyl version (you can place your orders here) and a limited red vinyl version (you can place your orders here) plus a CD version (you can place your orders here).

To get an idea how the material sounds on this album, check out the track “Land Of Free” below in case you didn’t already hear the album.

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Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

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Genre/Influences: Industrial, apocalyptic new-wave, ritual, psychedelic.

Background/Info: Der Blutharsch And The Infinite Church Of The Leading Hand, which resurrected from Der Blutharsch is a music combo I don’t really need to introduce. Driven by the creative spirit of Albin Julius the band has already released an impressive number of works since 2010. Notice by the way this album got different release formats; next to the CD-version you can get the album on vinyl and cassette format.

Content: This band again deals multiple influences, which in the end makes the sound hard to define. It sounds dark and into bombast arrangements, sometimes reminding me of the mysterious and somewhat ritual style of The Virgin Prunes, but then also more into psychedelic treatments. The vocals of Marthynna remain pretty intriguing and only accentuating the occult side of the sound.

+ + + : “What Makes You P ray” is a kind of sonic enigma and like any other enigmas it has an intriguing aspect. The ritual elements hanging over the work only increase the degree of fascination. The opening cut brings the listener immediately into mystery. Der Blutharsch And The Infinite Church Of The Leading Hand awakens good-old 80s influences from new-wave music, but they also mix it with more familiar industrial and ritual elements. The guitar and vocals both are noticeable elements running through the album. The sonic universe of this album is extremely dark and somewhat disturbing, but in the end that’s precisely what we expect from this band, isn’t it?

– – – : I already mentioned the sound of this work (and this band) is hard to catch. That’s what makes the main strength of the band, but still hard to label. But that’s also an interesting point; do we really have to label all records and all bands?! Definitely not, but then and at the other side it’s often easier for journalists, music lovers and commercial purposes generally speaking. From a pure musical point of view, I can’t say that “What Makes You Pray” is the best work I’ve heard from Album Julius gang although it’s a cool piece of music.

Conclusion: The best way to describe this work is to link it with ‘freestyle’ in dark music inspired by different genres and which will mainly please to lovers of industrial- & ritual music plus apocalyptic rock and new-wave freaks.

Best songs: “Shine”, “You Bring Law”.

Rate: (7).

Band & Label: www.facebook.com/Der–Blutharsch–and–the–infinite–church–of–the–leading–hand-112227928849449

Inferno Sound Diaries

I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.

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Genre/Influences: Psychedelic-rock, experimental-rock.

Background/Info: Albin Julius and his gang are back on track. The new album rather looks like an EP or mini-album only featuring 3 songs. 

Content: they define their sound as ‘neu kraut musik’ (new ‘kraut’ music), but mainly deals with a psychedelic-rock composition. The songs also reveal a surprising, but exciting hypnotic feeling. I’m not saying that “Sucht & Ordnung” will lead you into a trance, but there’s a similar flavor hanging over the songs.

You’ll notice there’s only one song with vocals, which are pretty bewitching accentuating the hypnotic sensation.

+ + + : I like the psychedelic effect running through this composition. It’s not only about great guitar playing, but I also enjoy the kind of organ parts on the final track. It reminds me a bit of The Doors mixed with a darker approach. This work also has a strong visual appeal, which is created by the psychedelic atmosphere making the particularity of the work.

– – – : All titles are untitled so we don’t really get any indication about a deeper meaning. It’s not necessarily a bad thing as this way the listeners can create their own story. My main and only regret is that this work only features 3 songs.

Conclusion: Der Blutharsch And The Infinite Church Of The Leading Hand remains an enigmatic formation composing exciting songs although hard to grasp.

Best songs: “Untitled 2”, “Untitled 3”.

Rate: (7).

Band & Label: www.derblutharsch.com /  www.facebook.com/Der–Blutharsch–and–the–infinite–church–of–the–leading–hand-112227928849449

Inferno Sound Diaries

I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.

www.side-line.com