Megaherz
Wer Bist Du

THE REVIEW

"Sperm" by Oomph! is an album that made history: industrial beats, metal guitars, decisive, powerful, and catchy melodies, suggestive rhythms, sharp and allusive songwriting, and the use of the German language for stylistic reasons but also as a form of identity, non-conforming to market rules. This album, a little rough and raw, not exactly a milestone if taken "individually," had the immeasurable merit of marking the "official" beginning of what I consider to be the most prolific, vibrant, and interesting among the numerous musical currents born in the '90s: the Neue Deutsche Härte. Even Till Lindemann had the chance to state that without the crucial influence of Oomph!, Rammstein would have been just another German rock band, the same Rammstein that established themselves as the spearhead, the best sounding board for the movement. However, the NDH is a phenomenon that cannot be confined to just these two groups; the scene is teeming with equally interesting bands, capable of adding new nuances and original characteristics to this creative and varied context.

Considering parameters such as history, prestige, and longevity, one can easily identify the third pillar of NDH in the Bavarians Megaherz: a unique story for this quintet, a story worth telling: the idea from which this project arises belongs to Alexander Wesselsky, known as Alexx: singer, songwriter but also composer, initially, he was the undisputed mastermind of Megaherz. The first act of this band's troubled history is a demo album called "Herzwerk," from 1995, which, however, did not receive an official release. Alexx then decided to completely revolutionize the line-up, and the choice proved successful: they got their first record contract with XYZ Music, and finally, the long-awaited recording debut: "Wer Bist Du," dated 1997.

This, we can call it, mk II, is the classic lineup of the Munich band: besides Alexx, there's Jochen Seibert on keyboards, better known as Noel Pix, Tommy Eberhard on drums, and finally the two historical members, the only ones still part of Megaherz: guitarist Christian "X-Ti" Bystrom and bassist Wenz Weninger. It's a collective with clear ideas, with a precise vision of its sound and well-defined general characteristics, "Wer Bist Du" is the concrete proof of it: in this album, there's none of the rage of the early Oomph! nor the suffocating grooves of Rammstein's contemporaries from "Sehnsucht"; the MHZ path is different. We are faced with an album neither too heavy nor too fast: a homogeneous flow traveling at medium-up-tempo rhythms, without exaggeration; the guitar riffs are angular but not to the point of creating a "wall of sound," instead, the bass is always in the spotlight, adding significant rhythmic and stylistic colors to all the songs, electronics and arrangements settle on a vaguely gothic mood and the frontman Alexx Wesselsky impresses positively, an artist with a distinctive low and slightly hoarse voice, mastering it with great style, performing an eclectic and engaging vocal style.

"Wer Bist Du" is an album homogeneous and balanced, to be absorbed slowly, little by little, and grows with each listen; its homogeneity, which at first glance may seem almost like a flaw, over time reveals itself as an added value because the record flows (almost) without hitches, fluid and well-structured: it's a product of personality, with a beautiful common and characteristic stylistic trait and, I would dare say, a certain elegance too, in the sounds, in the arrangements, and especially thanks to a histrionic Alexx who, above all thanks to a peculiar vocal style halfway between spoken word and a slowed-down, declamatory rap, holds the scene with great charisma. With "Wer Bist Du?" Megaherz proposes a personal and incisive electronic metal, ennobled by excellent and thoughtful lyrics, ranging from despair, "Wer Bist Du?" to a thirst for revenge, "Schlag Zuruck", with a bit of philosophy, "Die Gedanken Sind Frei" and a pinch of self-irony that never hurts, "Tanzen Gehen", not forgetting the personal re-reading of a traditional German fairy tale, a common point of all Wesselsky's Megaherz albums, "Hanschklein 97" revisited in a dark and dramatic way.

Among all the songs, "Gott Sein" stands out, the great flagship of Megaherz, a personal prayer expressed by Alexx to a humanized god, an epic and engaging anthem with a particular gothic touch and on the negative, the dreadful and clumsy ballad "Mude", but it's a youthful mistake that will be carefully avoided in subsequent albums, and in any case does not in any way compromise the outcome of a sparkling debut, highly recommended.