Friede sei mit dir

The sound of Die Apokalyptischen Reiter has changed a lot since they’ve started. Instead of playing brutal Death Metal/Grind, they play a mixture between different Metal styles combined with catchy Pop elements. But they don’t start to get commercial.

The first song, “Friede sei mit dir”, shows this perfectly.
This song contains a fast, sometimes blasting, and variable drumming that makes it very aggressive. The charismatic vocals of Fuchs are clean almost the whole time. Just some harsh shouts here. But the great lyrics (about peace) are German. And German is a rough language so that it adds aggression, too. The bass guitar is also very rough. But the guitars playing happy and funny melodies that make you smile while listening. And don’t forget about the always present keyboard melodies making this song catchy like a Pop song. At about 1.50 minutes the compulsive piano part, that belongs to each Reiter song, starts. So this song is aggressive and has a happy mood at the same time. It is also easy to sing along, even if you don’t speak German. A great song for partying and pushing up your mood if you’re down.

The second song, “Wenn ich träume”, contains more of the catchy Pop elements. The guitar sound is still very happy and frisky and the bass gives the necessary harshness. The drums are still fast, but not as variable and fast as in the first song. And the vocals are a bit softer then in the first song, although they’re German, too. But the performance of Fuchs is still a feast for your ears. His voice reaches your brain and you can’t get it out of your head. The keyboard is more in the back ground in this song and it completes the happy sound of the guitars. So this song seems to be written for the lyrics it has. The lyrics about dreaming and so does it sound. Good song with catchy melodies.

The third song, “Ghostriders In The Sky”, is a cover of an old cowboy song. So, this is a mixture between Country and Metal. It contains Country guitars and the keyboard playing some Country sounds, too. The drums are very funny cause they sound like a galloping horse. The best thing of this song is again the voice of Fuchs. He is so charismatic and much better than Johnny Cash (who has singed this song earlier, too) was. An outstanding performance of the vocalist makes this song being one of the best songs that Die Apokalyptischen Reiter ever recorded. And it is a brilliant song for life performances, too. The stupid “Yip-i-ya-a, Yip-i-ya-o, Ghost riders in the sky” refrain is perfect to sing along. It is a real groovy party song and even compatible for non-Metal fans.

Last and least: The acoustic version of “Komm”. This song was on the Reiter album “Have A Nice Trip”. There, it was a mixture between Death-, Thrash- and Industrial Metal. But here it sounds like a stupid Pop ballad without any power. Just piano sound with some percussion and calm acoustic guitars. The only good things here are the great voice of Fuchs and the great lyrics about getting older and living your dreams. And there is one really bad thing about this song: It is super-sweet ear candy that glues in your ears and you often will find yourself singing this shitty song. Please never listen to it!

Finally: Three inventive and great songs showing that Die Apokalyptischen Reiter are important artists in the worldwide Metal scene. But if you don’t want to torture yourself, stop listening after the third track.