The German dark rock / Neue Deutsche Härte band Erdling has released “Sternenschimmer (Acoustic Version)” today, December 18, 2025, via Out Of Line Music.

The new version strips away the bombast and dives straight into the emotional heart of the original. The single is a companion release to the band’s seventh studio album, “Mana”, which arrived on October 17, 2025.

Below is the video teaser for the single.

Erdling on tour

Erdling start their “Mana” headline run in Germany on January 22, 2026 in Munich, with Aeverium listed as special guest. The band’s tour schedule also lists festival appearances at Wave-Gotik-Treffen on May 22, 2026 in Leipzig and Summer Breeze on August 14, 2026 in Dinkelsbühl. Below are all the dates.

• January 22 – Munich, Backstage Halle
• January 23 – Erfurt, From Hell
• January 24 – Leipzig, Hellraiser (Saal)
• January 25 – Nuremberg, Hirsch
• January 29 – Berlin, Frannz Club
• January 30 – Lübeck, Rider’s Café
• January 31 – Hameln, Sumpfblume
• February 5 – Trier, Mergener Hof
• February 6 – Oberhausen, Kulttempel
• February 7 – Frankfurt, Das Bett

About Erdling

Erdling are a German dark rock / dark metal / Neue Deutsche Härte band formed in 2014, led by vocalist and programmer Neill Freiwald. Freiwald from his side has rejected the “Neue Deutsche Härte” label for Erdling and described the project as, “Metal mit deutschen Texten”.

Erdling’s album run on Out Of Line started with “Aus Den Tiefen” (CD, released January 22, 2016), followed by “Supernova” (CD, released March 17, 2017) and “Dämon” (CD, released July 27, 2018). The band continued with “Yggdrasil” (released January 10, 2020) and “Helheim” (released December 3, 2021), before issuing “Bestia” on April 28, 2023.

Their seventh studio album, “Mana”, arrived on October 17, 2025 as an 11-track release, with “Sternenschimmer” as the closing track.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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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Celebrating its 30th year, Audioglobe, the most important distributor in the darkwave scene, just shared a statistical review, revealing the shifts and trends in the darkwave (and related) music genre.

Our readers will surely remember that we have reported on these stats for years, until 2018, the first year that Audioglobe didn’t communicate these stats. Sebastian Koch from Audioglobe explains: “Some customers never really cared that much about these, as they have better things to do than reading boring mails from the undersigned. But… Surprisingly there are quite a high number of customers, that sort of ‘complained’ about the fact, that no stats were being done any longer… The reason is: I was simply always far too busy in past years. Anyway: Here we go with the first new stats since 2017!”

So here are some export facts.

Top 10 Bestselling Labels of 2023 (export)

1. FABRIKA/DEAD SCARLET
   • She Past Away, Lebanon Hanover, Selofan, Kaelan Mikla, M!R!M, Doric…
2. METROPOLIS
   • Birthday Massacre, Delerium, Front Line Assembly, A Projection, KMFDM, Legendary P.D…
3. ICY COLD/MANIC DEPR.
   • Twin Tribes, Je T’aime, Traitrs, Kill Shelter, Closed Mouth, Talk to Her, Schonwald…
4. ALFA MATRIX
   • Alien Vampires, Front 242, Metroland, Die Robo Sapiens, Elm, 808 Dot Pop, Helalyn Flowers…
5. RUSTBLADE
   • Claudio Simonetti, Ennio Morricone, Lycia Lunch, Spiritual Front, Ketvector, Legendary Pink D…
6. OUT OF LINE
   • Blutengel, Hocico, Solitary Experiments, Suicide Commando, Signal Aout42, Erdling…
7. TRISOL
   • Sopor Aeternus, Rome, Clan of Xymox, Asp, Ostara, Skinflicks, Nachtmahr, Mantus, Soman…
8. DEPENDENT
   • Kirlian Camera, Girls Under Glass, Spectra*Paris, Mildreda, Black Nail Cabaret, Beborn Beton…
9. ARTOFFACT
   • Actors, Noise Unit, cEvin Key, Kaelan Mikla, Ploho, Sacred Skin, Kauan, Ken Mode, Spectres…
10. AUERBACH
    • Spiritual Front, Sol Invictus, Tenhi, Moon and the Night Spirit, Haavard, Hekate, Orplid…

Best Export Territories of 2023

If we look at the Audioglobe stats, we notice that Germany and Greece remain the company’s strongest markets, continuing a trend that has been consistent for ages. However, the 2023 statistics reveal some notable shifts.

Canada, once a prominent market for Audioglobe, has surprisingly disappeared from the export landscape. In contrast, the United States and the United Kingdom have re-emerged as significant territories, marking their return to prominence in the darkwave music scene after several years.

The most unexpected development in 2023 is the rise of Australia as a key market. This growth stands in stark contrast to Switzerland, which, despite its affluence, has seen a sharp decline in sales. Sebastian Koch adds: “The (by far!) lowest sales of all countries where we export to, was to Switzerland… The rich Swiss don’t buy records! Since I left the country (1990), something is wrong back home!”

Here is the top 10 list of export territories:

1. Germany
2. Greece
3. Netherlands
4. Portugal
5. USA
6. United Kingdom
7. Australia
8. Spain
9. Russia
10. Poland

Not in the top 10, but France, Japan, Malta, Brazil, Sweden, Mexico, and Perù are also good export territories for Audioglobe.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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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The dark metal act Erdling has shared a brand new performance video “Rabenherz” and also announces some line-up changes as Neno will leave the band. Max Nash will be joining the band now as guitarist/background shouter, as well as Valy aka Böse Fuchs as guitarist. Erdling as a result is now a quintet with frontman Neill Freiwald, guitarists Max Nash and Valy, bass player Rob and Chris on drums.

Neill states: “These are really hard times, when we are working in the most difficult industry that you can choose in these days. During the last months many things were quite different for us in Erdling: no tours, no festivals, working remotely. And as you have already heard or read, especially in times of crisis, paths often divide – sometimes completely unexpected. For us it is therefore even more important to stick together and to stand behind our art, leaving our mark all over the world. That’s why we made an important decision by mutual consent – and we wish Neno all the best and much success on his further musical journey.”

In a reaction Neno says: “Every journey has an end at some point! After 7 years together filled with ups and downs, big festivals and small club shows, joy and tears and all that this unforgettable time with all the companions brought, I have decided that my journey with Erdling ends here now. I am immensely proud of all that I was able to experience. I wish the band all the best for the future on this exciting journey. Neno”

But first of all, here’s the new video for “Rabenherz”.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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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1. Mikrowelle – El Perro (Der Hund)
2. J. Blitz Gouthier – Vida de Vidro (Crystal Ball)
3. Tua – Maschinenraum
4. Grzegorz – Bursche
5. Steve Van Velvet – Zuchtvieh
6. Erdling – Helmut
7. Lord of the Lost – Bratwurstzange
8. Kuschelsnuff (King Khan, Bela B., Rummelsnuff) – Brüder

Read the review of ‘Rummelsnuff & Asbach’.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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-metal.

Background/Info: Erdling is a German combo set up by Neill Devin who gained some reputation as the guitarist for Stahlmann. Most of th productions from this band were released by AFM Records. Erdling released a debut-EP “Blitz Und Donner” during late 2015 and now unleashed their debut full length.

Content: This band reveals a great and mature production, which sounds a bit stereotypical although fully accomplished. It will be hard to get away from comparison bands like Eisbrecher, Megaherz, Ost+Front and of course Rammstein. There’s a similar sound formula, which mixes powerful guitar, epic arrangements and a kind of electronic refinement to make it all more melodic and accessible.

The songs are characterized by explosive and carrying choruses. I here especially refer to the already familiar “Blitz Und Donner”, but also to “Dickicht” and “Du Bist Soldat”. Erdling sounds hard and merciless although the two last cuts reveal a softer approach.

The limited edition features an extra album of 7 songs/remixes. After an acoustic version we get an interesting variety of remixes. The most noticeable names are Heimataerde and Chainreactor.

↑↑↑: Erdling is quite different from the pure metal-sound of Stahlmann. It’s a well-crafted production, which will appeal to fans of the aforementioned bands. This debut work reveals several potential hits.

↓↓↓ : I can easily imagine that Erdling will be also considered as a new emulation of the Rammstein influence and mania.

Conclusion: I don’t care about possible links with a major band like Rammstein. This work is well-crafted and featuring multiple great songs so why should we complain?!

Best songs: “Dickicht”, “Blitz Und Donner”, “Du Bist Soldat”, “Aus Den Tiefen” + “Stimme Der Wahrheit – Hucretha Remix by Heimataerde”

Rate: (DP:8)DP.

Band: www.erdling-band.de / www.facebook.com/erdlingofficial

Label: www.outofline.de / www.facebook.com/outoflinelabel

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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