“Die Kinder erziehen zu Killer-Maschinen indem man sie füttert mit Ausgrenzung.”
Germany’s most nihilistic boyband Consvmer are somewhat underdogs when it comes to the metalcore chopping block, dropping their first full length Melancholie in early 2019 followed by sophomore album Obsession three years later in 2022. Despite their best efforts and thoroughly explored identity, they remain under the radar of the mainstream for the most part. In the age of critically-acclaimed international bands such as fellow Germans Rammstein and Japan’s Dir En Grey, the language barrier no longer serves as an excuse not to enjoy good music. They do say the third time’s the charm, however, so in the case of the band’s third full effort Seelenfrieden, we will see if said charm is enough to shove the band into the spotlight for good.
Opener “Dvnkelheit” thankfully steers clear from the obvious connotations that come with a song of said title, instead opting to teach the listener two key components of Consvmer’s work ethic. The first of these is atmosphere: the flicker of a switch and the ambient hum of a lightbulb set the stage. A cacophonous symphony of eerie wails and distorted, heavily aged instrumentation instills a paralysing core terror as if listening to some sort of forbidden tape, long forgotten by those that locked it away. Our second component takes the discomfort distilled by this haunting atmosphere and converts it into pure fear, through virtue of downright disciplinary low-tuned string-strikes, alongside faint whispers, analog noise and additional uneasy elements. The overall soundscape is defined by primal fear. “LEAVING PARADISE”, an augmented voice foreshadows as we hesitantly step over the point of no return.
Given that the listener is now up to speed, the band lose all restraint and immediately devolve into frenzy, creating a tangible forcefield of cruel and oppressive guitarwork courtesy of Mr. Daniel Fischer. “Parasit” leads the charge towards sensory overload and leaves no stone left unturned, as well as no bone left unbroken as the belligerent barrage crashes in with no regard for it’s own or anybody else’s safety. All the while, vocalist Dennis Ackermann tears directly through the listener’s eardrums, armed to the teeth with piercing shrieks and booming growls so full of bottled-mental anguish. This is only accentuated by the intensity of the German language. Following up on what can only be described as pandemonium, “Immvn” further ups the ante by dropping metalcore and beatdown hardcore into a blender, with: a malfunctioning Windows 95 PC, sprinkling trance beats, and – oddly enough – an excerpt of “When My Blue Moon Turns to Gold Again” by Wiley Walker and Gene Sullivan (1941). This lands in an already sonically chaotic landscape, and we learn very closely of Consvmer’s affinity for samples and referenced media in this first half of the album. For all intents and purposes, these all effectively aid in emphasizing complex feelings of fear and nostalgia that the album particularly pushes.
Betwixt the rotting confines of Seelenfrieden’s walls, we are given a well deserved “breather” of sorts in the form of interlude tracks “Travma” and “Leere” – each attempting to break up the intensity of the album in their own (and often extremely unsettling) way. Whilst Leere’s digitally altered string section and poignant spoken word make for a dissociating experience, the most uncomfortable of the two by far has to be that of “Travma”, which takes the form of a bastardized rendition of Vernon Dalhart’s “The Prisoner’s Song” (1924), set to the soothing sounds of heavy, choked respiration. Under normal circumstances, a move such as this would often be written off as edgy for the sake of it. However, in Consvmer’s case, it goes hand-in-hand with the socially-critical nature typical of the band’s theming. Humanity as a concept, as a whole, is portrayed as a petrifying, mocking entity – the monster under your bed, if you will – and thus when the band use dated technology and media as a part of their sound, it feels like a manifestation of mankind’s greed and the destruction left in its wake is actively taunting the listener, begging them to fear their own mortal flesh.
Finding ourselves back in the meat of the album, “Erschopft” delivers instant-gratification through thunderous, ever-densening groove, like a boulder plummeting from the top of a mountain, striking uneven offshoots of rock as it falls. “Wachtravm” aims for more of a brooding piece that earns its eventual punishment through bassist Fabian Schuhmacher and vocalist Ackermann’s stripped back, empty verses ,and the more spaced-out, larger than life choruses – with single number two “Perfekt” sitting somewhere in between. Whilst these songs undoubtedly stand out as remarkable in their own right, it’s at this point in the album where a tad of fatigue starts to set in, whether this be an effect of the overall intensive and unforgiving environment the album has meticulously strung together or just the riffs starting to blend after prolonged exposure. It’s hard not to respect the consistency and musical storytelling that the band achieve with this record, but after a few listens it becomes clear why interludes and features are of such credit to the experience as a whole.
Exhaustion aside, Consvmer manage to reel us back in with a few familiar faces to chew on for a while, our first of which featuring fellow haters of the letter U DVST. They seemingly bring out the unusual in the band, as “Agony” proves itself one of the more “out there” songs on the record, featuring a particularly unorthodox guitar tone that can only be described as aquatic. This comes alongside various unserious yet iconic sampling moments – the infamous Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas line “Aw shit, here we go again” serving as a natural breakdown callout. Ex-Loathe guitarist Connor Sweeney’s influence on “Stimmen” sets the song apart as it comes across more like Consvmer wearing the skin of a post-metal / shoegaze outfit when compared to the rest of the album. Its calculated, deliberately rhythmic and melodic when earned, featuring one of the biggest and most overstated clean choruses on the album. In the same respect as Sweeney’s shoegaze roots bleeding through his feature, Paleface Swiss frontman Marc Zelli typically comes completely out of left field and makes himself right at home on a bouncy and nu-inspired backdrop that gives him plenty of room in providing a performance equal parts powerful and tortured. It comes as no surprise that these tracks elevate the album as a whole through sheer variance alone.
Marking the light at the end of the tunnel, title track and album closer “Seelenfrieden” (Peace Of Mind) puts drummer Dennis Fischer to the test as the band’s black metal influence manifests itself into full blown form. You’ll find all the hallmarks, including traditional blast beats, ascendant tremolo riffage, and spellbindingly shrill rasps that make you question whether or not the album had already ended whilst you were in a daze (or rather, consvmed) and ended up autoplaying something else from your library. Before long, however Consvmer’s trademark analog beatdown begins to bleed through the cracks, and you realise that you’re the victim of quite possibly the biggest fake-out ending of them all – just in time to get smacked in the face by the sheer brutality of the album’s swansong. With the end in sight, one last parting chorus forcefully rips us out of this nightmare as we are left with only the fleeting ambience and the trauma it left behind – the lightswitch from the beginning of the album flips back off, the silence more deafening than any breakdown the band could offer: it’s over.
To sum it up, Seelenfrieden is a master of its craft: nailing the eerie and punishing tone it strives for with flying colours, even if it means achieving this so well that the experience becomes physically exhausting (take that however you will). The only real critique I can bestow upon the record is that whilst its songs are captivating in good doses, there are only so many times you can throw an utterly revolting, facially-reconstructing breakdown at the listener before returns begin to diminish and in this instance the album’s intensity and stressful nature begin to dwell on the listener, though this can be considered a testament to how well it manages to capture the vibe.
7.5/10
Seelenfrieden will be released via Out Of Line Music on Friday, September 6th. Pre-Orders are available here.