''V – Metal Machine Music'' is the ninth album by

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

Industrial Industrial may refer to: Industry * Industrial archaeology, the study of the history of the industry * Industrial engineering, engineering dealing with the optimization of complex industrial processes or systems * Industrial city, a city dominate ...

/ EBM band

Die Krupps Die Krupps () ("The Krupps") is a German industrial metal/ EBM band, formed in 1980 by Jürgen Engler and Bernward Malaka in Düsseldorf. The band has had a diverse range of musical influences over time, including the percussive industrial '' ...

. It was released on 28 August 2015 as digital download and double CD as well as limited bundles.

Background

The album sees the band returning "to a distinctly guitar-heavy sound". The album derives its name from one of the band's earlier tracks, "Metal Machine Music", a single off the Album '' I'', itself a tribute to

Lou Reed Lewis Allan Reed (March 2, 1942October 27, 2013) was an American musician, songwriter, and poet. He was the guitarist, singer, and principal songwriter for the rock band the Velvet Underground and had a solo career that spanned five decades. ...

's album ''

Metal Machine Music ''Metal Machine Music'' (subtitled ''*The Amine β Ring'') is the fifth studio album by American rock musician Lou Reed. It was recorded on a three-speed Uher machine and was mastered/engineered by Bob Ludwig. It was released as a double album ...

'', which Jürgen Engler credits as a strong influence on the band. "Die Verdammten" is a guitar enriched rework of the tour intro the band had used on their 2011 and 2014 tours. "The Vampire Strikes Back" is a rework of a song previously released on a

Wing Commander Wing commander (Wg Cdr in the RAF, the IAF, and the PAF, WGCDR in the RNZAF and RAAF, formerly sometimes W/C in all services) is a senior commissioned rank in the British Royal Air Force and air forces of many countries which have historical ...

OST album in 1998, thus being the band's last song recorded prior to its temporary breakup. "Alive in a Glass Cage", "Road Rage Warrior" and "Volle Kraft voraus" are also older songs that were re-recorded. "The Red Line" was first released in an alternate version in 2014 as a

B-Side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

to the "Robo Sapien" single.

Reception

Alex Boniwell from ''

Terrorizer Terrorizer is an American grindcore band formed in 1986 in Los Angeles, California. After disbanding, its members gained recognition by playing in influential extreme metal bands, such as Morbid Angel ( David Vincent, Pete Sandoval), Napalm D ...

'' thought that the album is "reminiscent of their late '80s/early '90s output but with a bigger, crunchier production" and wrote, "'V' gives out what you'd expect from these consistently good pioneers of industrial – solid, pounding beats, thick danceable riffs, great synth sounds and a gloriously sneering vocal from Die Krupps main man Jürgen Engler".

Track listing

Singles

"Battle Extreme / Fly Martyrs Fly" was released two weeks prior to the album with a lyric video accompanying the

A-Side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company ...

. "Kaltes Herz" followed in late 2015, with "Branded" as the B-Side, supported by a promo video directed by

Faderhead Sami Mark Yahya, professionally known by his stage name Faderhead or also under the pseudonym Sam Nordmann, is a German electronic music producer and vocalist from Hamburg, Germany. History After releasing the track "The Protagonist" as a one-off ...

. "Alive in a Glass Cage" was released prior to the band's first ever

Wacken Open Air Wacken Open Air (, abbreviated as W:O:A) is a rock music, rock music festival, held annually since 1990 on the first weekend of August in the village of Wacken, Schleswig-Holstein, Wacken in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. Almost all styles and su ...

gig. The track was re-recorded as a collaboration with

Caliban Caliban ( ), son of the witch Sycorax, is an important character in William Shakespeare's play '' The Tempest''. His character is one of the few Shakespearean figures to take on a life of its own "outside" Shakespeare's own work: as Russell ...

. The single featured a remix of the title track by Chant, a project of Die Krupps' 2014 live drummer, and a live recording of "Nazis on Speed" in Berlin from 2015. Video footage for another promo clip, "Road Rage Warrior", was shot during the "Kaltes Herz" recording session according to the official band page, but has not been released to date.

Personnel

Die Krupps * Jürgen Engler – vocals, keyboards, guitar on "Alive in a Glass Cage", cover concept, recording, production * Ralf Dörper – noise-synthetics * Marcel Zürcher – guitars, keyboards Technical personnel * Chris Lietz – production * Alex Henke – additional guitar recording * Franz Schepers – band photo * Éric Débris – photos (Jürgen Engler, hot rod) * Dennis Hom – hot rod (front cover) * Jennifer Heibel – hot rod (booklet) * Darrell Heibel – hot rod (booklet) * Sascha Osterland – artwork

Chart positions

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:V - Metal Machine Music Die Krupps albums 2015 albums