Schröttersburg — Om Shanti Om

Om Shanti Om is the 7th album from Polish post-punk/ noise-rock project Schröttersburg. The seven-track album sees the band weaving in elements of locked krautrock groove and industrial texturing into their sound, as well as a fairly pronounced Middle East air to some of the tracks

Schröttersburg are from the central Polish city of Plock. It’s presently a three-piece project, and it started back in 2008. With their previously albums appearing on the likes of Extinction Records, ZIMA, No Pasaran Records. This CD release appears as a joint release between Zoharum, DIY Koło, Bat-Cave Productions. 

Each of the six tracks has roman numerals- with runtimes between three and nine minutes a piece. We begin with “I” which slides in with a glowing feedback hover, which is mixed with this mumbled arabic chant. As we get into the track, we get shimmering ‘n’ twanging middle Eastern guitar tone- this is fairly soon added to by an evenly throbbing bass line, and world music percussive detail. As we move through the album we come to metal hit feed, tolling bass lines, brooding electro tone swirl, and stark male singing of “III”.

Moving into the latter half of the record we have “V” with its murky bass purr, metallic percussion beats meets spiralling middle eastern tinged post-rock, and swelling wailed vocals. Or the nearing ten-minute exit track “VI” which mixes gloomy post-punk bass reverb, smarting-to-hissing percussion, stark tabla-like hits, and glum shouty vocals. With the track nicely building to a noise rock simmer

It’s always great to see a band stretching their sonic wings into new territory, and that’s exactly what Om Shanti Om does. It would be nice to see the band pushing further down the paths started here, and if you enjoy more starkly experimental-through to industrial pounding takes on post-punk/ noise rock I’d give this a try.