The Kanonenfieber machine is up and running.
Led by the mysterious masked vocalist, composer and multi-instrumentalist Noise (Leiþa, Non Est Deus), the project signed its second album Die Urkatastrophe to Century Media Records in 2024.
The band’s creator officiates on live vocals, accompanied by Gunnar (bass/vocals), Hans (drums), Kreuzer (guitar) and Sickfried (guitar). Maik Weichert (Heaven Shall Burn, Extermination Order) is also credited on the album, as is Daniel Bechthold for the artwork.
We join the battlefield with Grossmachtfantasie, an ominous introduction where a German vocal sample is joined by a heady melody that finally explodes on Menschenmuehle, which truly marks the battle’s beginning. The choruses and martial approach make this track a veritable war anthem in which the vocalist comes into his own, taking advantage of the dissonant leads to lead us into Sturmtrupp, where the onslaught resumes in earnest thanks to a super-powerful rhythm section. The frantic passages are perfect for showing off the band’s virulence, but they are contrasted by more pared-down, oppressive moments like the break, as well as unifying choruses, but Der Maulwurf will offer us a much more intriguing and obscure approach. The beginning of the track is truly distressing, but the return of the riffs finally makes it catchy, especially on the lilting chorus, and this duality is echoed in Lviv zu Lemberg, the following track, which first presents us with its soothing harmonics before charging forward again, fuelling the ambient chaos with an unstoppable surge. The melancholic solo changes our mood in no time, but the rhythmic surges again to push us to Waffenbrueder where we find both the cohesion the track evokes, but also the ambient aggression, just as on Gott mit der Kavallerie, where we feel a certain nervousness, like the horses on the introductive sample. The vocal parts are also more serious, completing the heaviness of the track, which adopts a driving groove on Panzerhenker, while remaining on its initial rage often pushed to full speed or with more jerky parts, but also with a more solemn tone on the heavy break. Ritter der Luefte begins slowly enough then accelerates and suddenly bursts into flames and takes us along for the ride on its vindictive, piercing leads. The band then allows us a moment’s respite with Verdun, an interlude that allows us to breathe for the arrival of Ausblutungsschlacht, where orchestrations join the impressive refrains. This is undoubtedly one of the band’s most majestic compositions, offering theatrical flights of fancy before Als die Waffen kamen closes the march with its gentle notes and reassuring vocals, almost lulling us to sleep before the sound fades out.
Kanonenfieber is a true war machine, capable of seamlessly linking an aggressive atmosphere with extremely melancholic moments on Die Urkatastrophe. The band came out of nowhere four years ago, and have already conquered every territory they’ve ventured into, in order to pay tribute to all the deceased from the WWI.
95/100
