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Moonblood > Taste Our German Steel! > Reviews
Moonblood - Taste Our German Steel!

When his eyes see the light, the Christ will fall... - 95%

Slater922, July 3rd, 2023

After the release of Blut & Krieg, the band would release a couple of more demos and splits before unleashing their second and final studio album "Taste Our German Steel!". This one has actually seen fewer official reprints, and there are likely more bootleg copies of this album that exist than there are of official ones. But just like with the last album, those who do own this record are sure to get the same amount of intensity as the last one.

Unlike the last album, there is no ambient intro. The first track "Embraced by Lycanthropy's Spell" jumps straight into the chaos. The production still remains cleaner compared to the demos, but this time, the riffs are different. The previous record have a more cold and dark sound in the riffs. Here, there is a higher emphasis on the melodic undertones, making the epic atmosphere sound more uplifting and triumphant rather than pessimistic, which I think is done really well. The drumming has also gotten a bit more intense, as there are more blastbeats and faster-paced beat patterns, which is quite fitting to the more extreme riffs. The bass play has thankfully gotten better since the debut, as it's more audible in the mix and lays down a better foundation. The instruments follow through a more intensive, yet more melodic style that is not only fantastic, but truly brings out the epic style from the demos, only with cleaner production. The first track is fantastic, but "Sarg & Tod (Part II)", "Troglodytin", and "A Walk in the Woods" are my personal favorites due to having the best melodic riffs in this album. Even with a more chaotic and intense atmosphere, the album still remains as cold and dark as ever.

The vocals have also changed. The shrieks of Gaamalzagoth sound more crazed and fanatic, which is contrasted with the more grounded screams in the last album. But just like how the vocals in the last album were fitting to the instrumentals, so are the vocals on here. A great example of this is on "Apocalyptic Vision", which is one of the more dark songs on here, but is balanced with some melodic riffs. The shrieking not only has a decent flow with the riffs and drums, but also enhances the chilling story of the terrifying apocalypse in the story. The vocals performance on this album is actually slightly better overall with how much more emotion is placed on the shrieks.

It's kind of a shame that this album doesn't see a whole lot of official reissues, because I personally consider it one of their best outputs, and even a step up from the debut to an extent. The more melodic landscapes of terror are a welcome change from the coldness of before, and the intense shrieks only dwell further into the madness of it all. If you do happen to come across a copy, by all means get it while you still can.

Early Sodom of the nineties - 80%

Felix 1666, June 9th, 2018

During the years 1983 - 1985, any form of extreme metal crawled out of its musty bunkers, its cobwebbed caves and clammy holes in the ground in order to shock the brave Teutonic society with its ugly face. Sodom were the most prominent representative of black metal, but early Holy Moses called their style black metal as well and Iron Angel started with a combination of black and thrash Metal. Not to mention the cult formation Poison that failed to release a regular album, but "Sphynx", the opener of their "Into the Abyss" demo, is an essential track for every fan of the genre. Almost any subsequent band has built its sound house on the fundament that the music of these pioneers had delivered.

Moonblood do not mark an exception. Their raw approach hails the old school, the German as well as the Norwegian. The duo from Saxony has inhaled the spirit of reckless black metal. The two musicians do not derive their song formulas from the more enigmatic Greek scene (remember Varathron, early Rotting Christ or Nightfall) and the protagonists of the progressive French community were still drinking the milk of their mothers' breasts at the time of the release of "Taste Our German Steel!". Having said this, the Saxon dudes just raise hell while exhibiting their type of icy leads, restless drumming and grim vocals. "Sarg & Tod (Part II)", for example, bundles these elements in a very exciting manner. Don't talk about innovation and all this nonsense. Black metal was once a revolution, but since the mid-nineties, we have to recognize that it has become a very conservative style. Its purpose is to keep the flame burning and not to sail out for discovering new shores. If you do not believe me, listen to the last works of Dimmu Borgir (symphonic chirping), Enslaved (progressive mishmash) or Gehenna (stupid Death Metal) and try to prevent nausea and vomiting. But don't blame me, if you are not successful in doing so! In other words, any evolution of black metal is its perversion at the same time.

Moonblood are aware of this fact. Consequently, they spit in the face of any kind of experiment. Generic black metal always had the potential to break directly through the lines of its enemies. The minimalist guitar leads, the rather discreet breaks and the absence of untypical elements make clear that the permanently grim Germans are either musically limited or appropriately self-confident. I tend to the latter, although I must admit that these options are not mutually exclusive. Anyway, technical skills are no value in itself and I do not miss egocentric guitar solos, because one thing is for sure: the here presented album kicks asses and deserves wide distribution. It has much in common with Eternity's fantastic "Funeral Mass" from 2007. The density, the brutality and the narrow-mindedness of the sound shape a very intensive work. And I may not forget to add another remarkable advantage. The formation is able to deliver high quality tracks from the beginning to the end. While a lot of other albums have problems to keep the quality of the first songs, Moonblood celebrate permanent destruction. This is, and we all know it due to some bad experiences, no matter of course.

Hi-fi fetishists who think about committing suicide will kill themselves as soon as they have heard the first tones of "Taste Our German Steel". It does not sound clean, it does not have ups and downs and it does not present boat loads of technology. Yet it spreads the ideology of the underground without making many words and that's exactly what I like. The band sticks to its guns while acting with dedication. Better still, the mix is neither blurred nor powerless. As a result, the music shines in full glory. It does not really have a mesmerizing effect, but the omnipresent violence leaves its mark sustainably and generates a stormy overall picture. Unfortunately, Moonblood do not exist anymore, but the spirit of this music lives on. New misanthropic artists show up permanently. Their number is comparable with that of merchandise issues of Kiss. And, to add another similarity with the Kiss gimmicks, their number grows daily. Anyway, let's close the cycle and come back to the beginning of this review. Moonblood take roughly the path through the wasteland of terror that Sodom and other pioneers walked first back in the mid-eighties. It is amazing to see that this kind of music has survived and perhaps it is time to reveal a secret. Thirty years ago, I did not have a clue that I was living in such influential times.

Mehhh - 40%

absurder21, June 13th, 2009

Okay, Moonblood’s Taste Our German Steel...Where to start, where to start...This album is not horribly bad, at least the actual music isn’t, there is no problem with that. The way it is put together, on the other hand is and it really kills the potential of the album. To be honest, I was surprised this band had any sort of label to begin with because as you’ll see, I’m very surprised even a low-grade label could sound so cheap.

To start off on a positive note, the actual riffs aren’t bad, they are very fast and chaotic, like black metal should be, yet they retain a sense of melody as well, making it musically interesting. Occulta seems shy of tricky work though, as there is not very much lead work at all, although when he does put it in there it is fairly solid. But to be honest, the riffs don’t really stand out to me as being anything unique or even that great, it’s actually fairly generic.

The drum sound on this is absolutely horrid, and the drum work of Occulta is very limited and he displays this. Now, I quite understand the unnecessary need for complex drumming in black metal, but there’s an extent where you have to not rely on the same conventions over and over again. I can tell you the drumming on ALL the songs follow this pattern to some degree: Double bass majority of the time, sometimes hitting the snare and the toms in succession, and that’s the length of it. On a few of the songs he does these marching bits which sound really awesome, mainly because you’ve been barraged by double bass for most of the album now and it’s cool to hear something new.

The vocals are okay, I can’t understand what Gaam is saying but it sounds pretty creepy and cool. The lyrics are your standard dark, epic lyrics; nothing special, nothing bad. In terms of creating an atmosphere, I think this album had the potential to do it but failed in doing so. There is a cool creepy atmosphere on the slower parts, but this is rare. I’m not saying this album should have been slowed down, but I think the atmosphere they wanted was lost by too much distortion.

The production. Holy Ear-Canal Rape Batman!
I mean, I understand the rawness black metal needs, you can’t have squeaky clean production on black metal, it’s just not right, it kills the atmosphere and feel of the music and you’re just left with a freak. But there’s a limit, a point where you have to put SOME work into your production so that the people listening to your music don’t need to listen REALLY hard to actually separate the music from the white noise. Honestly, the first time I listened to this album, I thought it was messed up because the entire first song was inaudible; then I found out it was supposed to be like that. Honestly, I could re-record this album with my Skype mic and the production would be better! The organization of it isn’t that great either. The drums are usually way too loud and too bassy in conjunction with the riffs and vocals.

Put all together, it’s good sounding, yet fairly generic black metal with intense rawness that makes it impossible to hear. If the production was even just a little better, I would have liked it all that more because I wouldn’t have to strain myself just to hear music which isn’t even that great.