Der Blutharsch
Time Is Thee Enemy!

Brief introduction: the repudiation of war is now a commonly accepted and, personally speaking, undeniable value from all points of view: historical, intellectual, rational, human. Unfortunately, everyone who, like me, unconditionally embraces such a value must necessarily face a simple fact: we live in a world where less than one-fifth of the population leads a dignified existence, and our well-being relies on war and the existence of bloodthirsty dictatorial regimes.

Let's not kid ourselves: we are privileged, and regardless of our conduct and ideals, merely being part of this system makes us silent accomplices to the worst crimes committed against humanity. In my opinion, coherence cannot exist between our conduct and our ideals, but only a painful contradiction we are forced to live with, as the system conditions us and obliges us to follow certain paths. This does not mean that we are condemned to passive surrender in the face of the unchangeable; it is simply a starting point, an awareness to develop a critical and independent thought concerning the complexity surrounding us, avoiding cheap benevolence and hypocritical attitudes that are nothing more than a way to escape our responsibilities.

All this, in short, to say that mementomori repudiates all forms of war and violence (except artistic and self-directed ones), but for this reason, does not feel authorized to listen exclusively to U2 and Jovanotti. First: because Bono Vox's private jet does not run on solar energy or water. Second: because it would be limiting and reductive, especially when talking about art, to preclude certain paths from the start for reasons having little to do with art. Third: because life would be sad, much sadder, personally speaking, a real mess (this is the belly button of the worrrrld... brrrrrr gives me shivers...).

Well, I felt compelled to make such an introduction as I am about to review an artist who bears a red, or rather black, flag: the Viennese Albin Julius, a seasoned musician, producer, and key figure in the post-industrial scene, first with The Moon Lay Hidden Beneath the Clouds, then as a friend and close collaborator with prominent figures of the British and American neo-folk industrial scene (Death in June, Non, Blood Axis are the main names), and finally the mastermind behind the project Der Blutharsch, the pinnacle of the most dramatic and belligerent industrial.

Albin Julius has never hidden his ideological beliefs and love for a certain historical revisionism, and this has prejudiced from the start any possibility of neutrality towards him, decreeing on one hand his success, while on the other swelling the ranks of his detractors, for reasons that have little to do with music.

Since 1997, the year of the release of the eponymous first work, the entity Der Blutharsch has represented the most heartfelt and passionate resurrection of the tense, dark, but also vibrant (depending on one's point of view) atmospheres of the last century's Europe. "The Track of the Hunted", "Der Sieg des Lichtes ist des Lebens Heil", "The Pleasures Received in Pain", "When All Else Fails!" are examples of a solemn and evocative music that, among powerful and epic orchestrations (there is a clear love for Wagner and Morricone), ambient explorations, martial percussiveness and rampant sampling, take us straight back to the thirties and forties.

With this "Time is thee Enemy!", back in 2004, Albin Julius surrounds himself with more collaborators and attempts a, how shall we say, more played approach. A choice that, in its radicality, inevitably turns out to be a double-edged sword. On one hand, there emerges a renewed compositional freshness, spontaneity, lightness, and even irony that make listening undoubtedly pleasant and fluid. On the other, it is evident that Julius's sound exploration has consequently become more approximate (especially concerning sound care), thus losing that formal compactness and evocative power that made the entity Der Blutharsch a perfect machine, an impenetrable monolith.

What emerges is a pleasant mishmash that, among successful insights and more banal episodes, embraces all the sounds that characterize the genre. It is useless, indeed impossible, to point out one track over another (it is a longstanding habit in the Der Blutharsch household not to title the various pieces!): suffice it to say that among the usual war scenarios, unavoidable spaghetti-western citations, and the continuous roar of hand percussion, one will also encounter suggestive and unprecedented acoustic moments, violent (as well as predictable) electro-industrial assaults, and even the irresistible post-punk of the successful "Baltikum", a cover by the Italians Ain Soph, always followed with interest by Julius. All narrated by the voices of Julius himself, the faithful Marthynna, Geoffroy D. from Dernière Volonté, Wilhlem Herich from Genocide Organ, and the Italian Marco Deplano from Foresta di Ferro: among false notes, smudges, verses in English, French, and Italian, our heroes create an album that will likely disappoint the most uncompromising fans but will not be displeasing to everyone else (and it is no coincidence that this album received good feedback especially outside industry insiders).

The initial dilemma remains, namely whether it makes sense to endure the warlike ravings of some lad who probably doesn't fully understand what he's saying and whose intent, perhaps, is only to provoke the easily impressionable. Beyond the fact that contradictions with our conscience are far more than listening to an album by Der Blutharsch, it is advisable in these cases to leave the gossip to specialized magazines and focus solely on the expressive strength of a musical proposal to understand if we like it or not. It is a matter of sensitivity; as for me, despite everything, I am ready to acknowledge in Albin Julius an undeniable talent (and in this regard, one should also especially listen to "Take Care and Control" and "Operation: Hummingbird" by Death in June). But not only, this music, a romantic and passionate representation of the war phenomenon, can also hold socio-psychological interest, constituting a journey beyond the untouchable taboos of society, as well as the evident manifestation that the aggressive and destructive impulses inherent in human nature (which should be kept in check but never denied!) are always ready to surface, at the expense of logic, reason, and historical teachings.

And then, just between us, what uplifting lessons have we ever drawn from the verses of the father of us all, Lou Reed? Perhaps how beautiful it is to get high on heroin?