Reviews

   DIE KREUZEN, Century Days. Emphasis Tracks: Elizabeth, Earthquakes, Lean Into It
   Crash, bang, flip your hair and slit your wrists, you know it gets no better than this, you monsters of plop. Pronounced DEE KROIT-ZEN, NOT DIE CRUISIN', Wisconsin's heaviest cross-bearers never stagger under the burden of primal scream, plutonium-energetic rock. After three previous releases and tours that have leveled devastated entire cities, the kings of cows and beer are finally getting their rightful place in the illustrious Emphatic universe. Riding up straight and stiff on the charts, they make a hefty College debut at #43, stunning the Commercial world with a #87 debut, which adds up to a #47 spot on the CMJ Radio Top 100-that's the #3 Radio Breakthrough. Then we have and astounding #8 Progressive Retail and the #5 Adventure pick, and we solemnly nod our heads in approval.

   The first side of this record may just feature two songs, "Gone Away" and "Seasons Of Wither", but they're the most perfect examples yet of Die Kreuzen's thoroughly caustic euphoria. Rarely has rock music been so feverishly melodic. The electric guitar ceaselessly baits and blisters the melancholic shiver of the gingerly picked acoustic and, with both tracks, Dan Kubinski's rugged voice first scrambles, then roars and, finally, soars above the struggle. It's an almost inhuman effort.
   On the flip are five songs from their 1986 "October File" album and the more recent "Century Days", recorded at a Milwaukee gig earlier this year. Each, even the relative sobriety of "Cool Breeze", give some indication of Die Kreuzen's raw live power. "No. 3" is a particularly commendable example, the guitars spinning and spiraling, opressing and hypnotising. Despite plenty of opportunities for one or the other to break free, a thick streak of pure malevolence prevails and relief never comes.

   The elaborate fold-out sleeve is all sepulchral tones and pyramids, a head-on clash between It Bites and Neph sleeve technology. Hmmm, Die Kreuzen heading for a goth-prog rock crossover?
   Sure enough 'Gone Away' kicks off sounding like early Banshees before developing into a fusion of gotho guitar FX and Black Sabbath's more ominous moments.

   Translated from German, Die Kreuzen means The Crosses. These weirdos from Milwaukee or whereabouts play with the fire of gods and angels reborn. They uses to be Hardcore's finest non straight-edge exponents, but something happened one summer night three years ago and the metamorphisis into Led Zeppelin was complete.
   This is their first record for well over a year, and the signposts point to change on all fronts. In much the same manner as Joy Division's celestial drones followed on from punk, 'Gone Away' relocates metal styles in a minefield of experimentation. The question isn't whether Die Kreuzen are hip or not, rather how unconventional they can be without losing faithful followers.
   The tempos are mostly slow, each song concealing a prayer for silence that we may think better afterwards. The studio tracks rise above everything else by virtue of their sheer oddness.
   There are some ace songs here: 'Bitch Magnet' as pornographic fury, 'Seasons Of Wither' as barbecued mass-murderers chorusing in unison. But what really impresses is Kreuzen's grasp of iron-fist-in-velvet-glove tactics. Their economy is fierce and threatening.
   People will try and tell you there's something valid in Hardcore's caterwauling urban sprawl. I say start all over again. The only worthwhile acts are the ones who've something with the stagnant genre. Starting with Die Kreuzen.

   Never a bunch to happily stroll on up the beaten track, Milwaukee's noise experts Die Kreuzen (that's Dee Kroytzen) take stock, ease off the accelerator and make a record of huge, breezy, almost AOR proportions.
   'Gone Away' is a simple tale of universal pain, but the song's initial impression of being a tame, lovelorn ballad lasts about five seconds. 'Gone Away' spills its fucked-up heart onto the floor; the acoustic intro is swiftly run through with shards of menacing guitar, and Dan Kubinski's voice-already quivering on the first line-soon breaks into a chilling, anguished howl. You may not pick up all the words but you sure as hell get the idea, and only during the final tormenting moments does "she" make an apperance.
   This is followed by what seem, at first, a rather perfunctory cover of Aerosmith's bitter-sweet 'Seasons Of Wither': a few listens later and Die Kreuzen's fatality-not to mention an evil metallic guitar drone-has imbued the song with an undercurrent of dark, soulful intensity.
   Lest you should be familiar with what Die Kreuzen are more well known for, the live side consists of five songs that display the band's fine thrash pop metal hybrid, the highlight of which is the frenetic mean madness of 'Bitch Magnet'.
   'Gone Away', although not exactly mind-exploding, is a surprise and a treat. Above all, it runs on pure passion-which is, as always, what wins the day every time.

   One of the wildest and most overlooked bands of the Midwest, Die Kreuzen's interstellar sonic roar continues to mutate itself into brave new shapes on this sorta filler EP (you gotta have something in the stores when you tour). The title track is a song as good as any they've ever done, a creeping, hypnotic crawl of a ballad that finds Dan Kubinski's voice slowly building to it's trademark disemboweling screech while Brian Egeness-surely one of the best guitarists on the indie circuit-throws glistening effect-laden electric embellishments over the song's brittle acoustic textures. Also included is a chilling 12-string-driven cover of Aerosmith's "Season Of Wither" (which they've been playing live for years) as well as five scorching live versions of songs from their last two LP's, the best being "Stomp," "Cool Breeze" and the scintillating "No. 3." While this is certainly a nice record to have, we really hope it's not going to be two years before we get a whole new LP. And for hopefully the last time, it's pronounced "DEE KROYTZEN"!!!