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REVIEWS
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Übermensch Überfrau
Fukken Über Death Party
Loud und Proud
Kaizerreich
Deathschläger
Number 1 in Deutschland
Hail to the Dark Side
Bavarian Bierhaus Blood
Das Boot
Heil Hizzle Mein Nizzle
Lederhozen Macht Frei
Sternkrieg
Tötenhead
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Hanzel und Gretyl
2012: Zwanzig Zwölf
Metropolis Records
Posted: Friday, February 15, 2008
By: Trubie Turner
By: Trubie Turner
Without breadcrumbs to guide their way back, HuG have continued down their path of metal and are now completely lost.
The follow-up to the 2006 EP Oktotenfest, the fifth full-length Hanzel und Gretyl album continues the direction seen in the predecessor album, Scheissmessiah, and that direction appears to be a continued downward spiral. Once very innovative and fun, HuG has become a mockery of their former selves, releasing their least creative and most annoying album to date. The end result comes across as a haphazardly slapped together album of recycled samples, repetitive and unimaginative lyrics, and yawn-inducing hackneyed metal.
The most heartbreaking thing about this album is the amazing lack of creativity from a band that used to be so inventive. The lyrics on about half the songs on the album consist almost entirely of repeating the song's title over and over. The only plus to this is that musically, the album blends together so much that the repeating of the song's title does manage to remind the listener what song they're actually listening to. Adding to this lack of originality is the horrible and continued abuse of the "cheer" sample that was used sparsely in Über Alles, frequently in Scheissmessiah, and habitually in every single song on this album. With the constant abuse of this sample, HuG has managed to create their very own cliché that is so horribly overused that listeners are sure to find themselves bracing for it, and hoping they can go one song without using it. Bad news... they can't.
In their striving to be more "metal," HuG continues to downplay the electronics and go for more heavy guitar and drums. In doing so, they have achieved a more traditional metal sound; however, the metal aspects are just typical without any real flare or flourishes. Perhaps the abuse of the cheer sample is an attempt to spice it up a little, because stripped of what sampling and electronics remain, there just wouldn't be anything of interest at all. It's very ironic that the more metal HuG goes, the less punch their music seems to have.
When able to look past the sample abuse and the repetitiveness, there are still a handful of highlights to be had and a couple other songs that are acceptable, yet forgettable. "Lederhozen Macht Frei" and "Sternkreig" are very energetic and powerful songs and "Bavarian Bierhaus Blood" is a taste of the catchy and fun HuG seen previously. However, for every highlight there are tracks like the incredibly amateurish "Number 1 in Deutschland," which is easily the worst song of HuG's career and the thankfully short, but obnoxious "Heil Hizzle Mein Nizzle." Diehard fans of Scheissmessiah may still enjoy this album to a point, but will likely tire of it quickly. Yes, HuG is intentionally a band not to take too seriously, but this effort feels so exceedingly lazy, it's obvious that they aren't taking their creative process seriously enough.
The most heartbreaking thing about this album is the amazing lack of creativity from a band that used to be so inventive. The lyrics on about half the songs on the album consist almost entirely of repeating the song's title over and over. The only plus to this is that musically, the album blends together so much that the repeating of the song's title does manage to remind the listener what song they're actually listening to. Adding to this lack of originality is the horrible and continued abuse of the "cheer" sample that was used sparsely in Über Alles, frequently in Scheissmessiah, and habitually in every single song on this album. With the constant abuse of this sample, HuG has managed to create their very own cliché that is so horribly overused that listeners are sure to find themselves bracing for it, and hoping they can go one song without using it. Bad news... they can't.
In their striving to be more "metal," HuG continues to downplay the electronics and go for more heavy guitar and drums. In doing so, they have achieved a more traditional metal sound; however, the metal aspects are just typical without any real flare or flourishes. Perhaps the abuse of the cheer sample is an attempt to spice it up a little, because stripped of what sampling and electronics remain, there just wouldn't be anything of interest at all. It's very ironic that the more metal HuG goes, the less punch their music seems to have.
When able to look past the sample abuse and the repetitiveness, there are still a handful of highlights to be had and a couple other songs that are acceptable, yet forgettable. "Lederhozen Macht Frei" and "Sternkreig" are very energetic and powerful songs and "Bavarian Bierhaus Blood" is a taste of the catchy and fun HuG seen previously. However, for every highlight there are tracks like the incredibly amateurish "Number 1 in Deutschland," which is easily the worst song of HuG's career and the thankfully short, but obnoxious "Heil Hizzle Mein Nizzle." Diehard fans of Scheissmessiah may still enjoy this album to a point, but will likely tire of it quickly. Yes, HuG is intentionally a band not to take too seriously, but this effort feels so exceedingly lazy, it's obvious that they aren't taking their creative process seriously enough.
