("Aggressive Zone Produktionen"; CD):
Now comes something pretty controversial again: OPEN VIOLENCE are a german Skinhead band that plays pretty Old School styled German Skinhead Rock eventually Oi! (but I wouldn't call it this by myself somehow) and that is a follow up band of the controversial and now a days defunct german Oi! (?) Punk/Rock band of the name of KAMPFZONE. Even I'm from Germany and still live here German Skinhead music in general was never anyhow high on my personal fave list and so I missed out on the most of KAMPFZONE and thinking about it I come to the conclusion that I only know a handful of songs of this band... and as you may can think that's all good and fine with me, to say it that way. The former singer of KAMPFZONE turncoated finally into Fascism and Nationalism (even "all" out there call it just "Patriotism" and "Anti-Communism") and is fronting today the far right german R.A.C. band STRONGSIDE and the german NSHC band FIGHT TONIGHT (btw, musically two totally crap bands, not talking about the lyrical abysmal dephts they use to showcase to their listeners), playing live on stage on happenngs of the german extreme right wing political party of the NPD and other bullshit like this. Okay, anyhow, it's more or less freedom of speech, so to me it's all okay somehow, but don't label bands like STRONGSIDE and FIGHT TONIGHT anyhow else than what they are: Fascist Rock!!! Period!!! (Btw, I think the total dull and bullshit german "Punk" band of the name of HEIMATFRONT is also a new or follow up band or project of the former KAMPFZONE singer, even I don't know about it that eactly. But it's also not so important, because musiaclly- as well as lyrically- HEIMATFRONT do suck anyhow.) That KAMPFZONE done crap like this, hm, I don't know of anything like this. I've read in one of the first interviews with OPEN VIOLENCE (when they came up back then, when STRONGSIDE and FIGHT TONIGHT were already around) that they underlined it heavily that KAMPFZONE had never been a anyhow political band. I don't know it and I never cared for KAMPFZONE and so I won't start with it here and now. But also I just remember that I once read in a GUMBLES interview in an old issue of the "SPIRIT OF THE STREETS" fanzine that they used to play with KAMPFZONE years ago and that KAMPFZONE should did a lot of SKREWDRIVER and LANDSER cover songs back then and that the arm reactions of and in the crowd should have been pretty stiff and saluting. However, it's all just bullshit anyhow to me, I won't judge anyone and leave it in any case up to you what to do with OPEN VIOLENCE because some somehow fascist stuff I can't find here anyway. So okay, enough of the introducing small talk, here's the review of this album: OPEN VIOLENCE's first proper release (after they've released in 2008 or 2009 a D.I.Y. demo CD) comes via the (to me totally unknown) german record label of the name of "AGGRESSIVE ZONE PRODUKTIONEN" and contains all in all four songs ("ARMES DEUTSCHLAND", "LETZTER AUFSTAND", "SKINHEAD RULES" and "KAMPF OHNE ENDE") and OPEN VIOLENCE consist out of the singer of the german Skinhead Rock or Oi! band LAST RIOT and the rest of the KAMPFZONE members, so maybe you could say that OPEN VIOLENCE are (former) KAMPFZONE plus (the singer of) LAST RIOT, but after I've heard that the singer of LAST RIOT once was the original singer of KAMPFZONE you may can also say that OPEN VIOLENCE are the once original KAMPFZONE back on track again. Anyhow, name it as you want. Musically we get what we all now already may expect: Very much Old School German Skinhead Rock driven by stomping and rocking, hard and sharp driven guitar playing, very gruff and grim vocals, a powerful pulsating bass and heavy forward storming drumming, nice back up chants and mostly pretty fast pace of the songs and very straight forward pushing structures and rhythm work of the songs. On top of it some gladiatorial, critical (no matter if you may agree on everything that OPEN VIOLENCE do say or if you not agree on it) and also pretty violent lyrics that somehow draw a picture of a world in the state of the survival of the fittest. The production sound is pretty dirty, rough and raw yet backed up by some good healthy doses of sheer force so that it works out really good at the end, and the artwork is pretty much clichè but fits the music and especially the lyrics perfectly. The guys in the band know how to play, no doubt about it and especially the guitar playing is really damn good, and they also know how to write good songs. So it's all good and fine with it but it is, it never was and it will never be "my" cup of tea musically at the end of the day even OPEN VIOLENCE are anything but bad and if you're a fan of German Skinhead Rock or maybe German Oi! (?) music then, if you ask me, you should check them out desperatly and they will leave you with the strong wish for a full length of them being finally released some day soon. Solid to good stuff to me anyhow. Check it out! (7 of 10 points)
+Murderers+row+(2011)+-+The+bully+breed.jpg)
Eine kleine Information zum langem Text: Kampfzone hat nie mit den Gumbles gespielt, möglich ist jedoch, das ein Teil der Gumbles früher Altmarkkillers hießen. Mit diesen (nebenbei eine stark Antifaschistische Band), hat Kampfzone inclusive Crop no.1 und ML Rejects damals in Ribnitz gespielt. Kampfzone haben nur ein Skrewdiver Coversong: "Back with a Bang" gespielt (bekannt vom United Skins sampler u.a. mit Warriors, besser bekannt als Last Resort), Landser songs wurden nicht und nie und auch niemals gecovert.
AntwortenLöschenDie Band ML Rejects (Alte Oi Band, mit zum schluss oft wechselnder Besetzung) hatte jedoch an diesem Abend Songs von Landser, wie auch von Dimple Minds gecovert. Das mag man werten wie man will, von rechten erhobenen Armen ist mir nichts bekannt, das wurde wohl immer hinein interpretiert, ebenso das es Kampfzone waren, die Landser coverten. Was da eventuell die Gumbles genau erzählt haben, weiss ich nicht, es wäre also so auch nicht ganz richtig...ebenso die sinnlosen Kommentare zu einem Kampfzone Video auf Youtube (weiss gerade das Video nicht), dort ist ein Bild vom besagtem Ribnitz Gig zu sehen in schwarz weiss, und die Leute streiten sich, warum Kampfzone unter "schwarz weiss roter Fahne" spielen, die auflösung jedoch ist ganz einfach: Es ist die Mecklingburg-Vorpommern Fahne, oder hat die schwarz weiss rote Fahne neuerdings einen Kuhkopf drauf?
Es wird viel erzählt über Kampfzone,(das meiste was dazu bei Wikipedia steht ist schlicht unsinn, wie sovieles) es war aber einfach eine Oi Band: Patriotisch im sinne der alten Englischen OI Bands, die nicht aus der rechten, sondern aus der Punkszene hervorgingen (teilweise bis zurück in die DDR), wie die meisten Skins früher Punkrocker waren.
Hi Andreas, vielen Dank für Deinen sehr informativen angenehmen Kommentar, brachte einiges Licht da hinein. Und stimmt, wenn mich meine Erinnerung nicht trügt, dann ging es da um einen Gig mit der Vorgängerband der Gumbles (kam mir doch eben beim Lesen sehr bekannt vor), aber im Interview war es von den Gumbles aus einst so zu lesen, wie oben beschrieben. (War in einer alten "In The Streets Of HH" Ausgabe.) Was dann ja auch viel mehr über die Gumbles als eben über Kampfzone aussagt, so nebenbei... Was das Video angeht, da habe ich keine Idee, aber ist ja auch egal im Zweifelsfalle. Über den Hinweis mit der Flagge kringel ich mich gerade nur noch vor lautem Gelächter, nur geil!!! Dank dir auf jeden Fall für die Info. Beste Grüße!!!
AntwortenLöschen