Kreuzweg Ost — Gott mit Uns

When they put out their first album in 2000, Austria’s Kreuzweg Ost made a bit of a splash in the then nascent martial-industrial scene and quite a few eyebrows were raised by people who were not really sure whether Michael Gregor (Summoning, Amestigon, ex-Die Verbannten Kinder Evas) and Martin Schirenc (Pungent Stench, Hollenthon) were actually taking the piss or not. That the duo came from the metal world and exhibited a decidedly tongue-in-cheek approach to the genre certainly did not help raise their credibility with the uniform-sporting crowd (this, remember, was before it became evident that both scenes shared the same demographics and Albin Julius was a closet Brigitte Bardot fan) but interesting it certainly was. England’s Cold Spring records, however, did have no such qualms when they signed the band up for their second release in 2005 and chances are they still don’t nowadays upon unleashing their third outing in twelve years, the pompously-titled “Gott mit Uns”.

Martin might have left the band long ago – the line-up now consists of Michael, aided by sound acolytes Ronald Albrecht and Oliver Stummer – and the novelty effect not play in their favour any longer but the elements that made “Iron Avantgarde” stand out so much back in the day (for good or for bad depending on whom you ask) can be found profusely again: the highly filmic appeal of the material – the number of movie speeches per song is as great as usual –, the mostly song-oriented structure of the tracks, the faultless production and the inevitable touch of humour.

“Exitus in Paradisum” opens the album with a slow, cinematic build-up mixing solemn medieval soundscapes with what sounds like Mongolian throat-singing. The Genghis Khan-meets-Bilbo-the-Hobbit imagery might not work for everyone but it is proof again that the band threw away the rule-book before even opening it and would rather do as they please than pander to any self-proclaimed orthodoxy.

By the time second track “Calvaria” sets in, we are back in more familiar terrain: pounding martial rhythms bounce off frivolous electronics reminiscent of era II Mortiis and accompanied by the inevitable speeches. These, more than any other element, usually decide of the mood. From there on, the band sets in cruising mode and never departs much from this formula, navigating as it does between more purely martial and heroic temptations (“Stammen”, “Black Moon”) and lighter, more laid-back soundscapes (“Thy Will Be Done”), all the while managing – no mean feat  in truth – to have the album still sound consistent. At merely two minutes, closing track “Geistige Emigration” is the most subdued of the lot and its minimalistic piano loop and female whispers close off the proceedings on a totally different note.

Obviously, the wide-ranging sound palette of “Gott mit Uns” and its unashamed musicality might put off people who favour the more minimalistic, melancholy leanings of bands like Toroidh or Les Joyaux de la Princesse but there is no denying the compositional talents of Michael (a quality which he no doubt nurtured to good effect in his main band) and his bandmates, and the baroque sonic tapestry which they here weaved possesses enough appeal and power of endurance to please the most discerning fans of the genre this side of late-eighties Laibach.