"It just won't let you go!"
ASP are versatile. Changeable. Without compromise. They don't always make it easy for their fans, because although ASP are one of the most entertaining and exciting bands that the German-language rock scene has to offer, they often cram their superficially seemingly entertaining songs with much more than is initially apparent.
Not only is singer and mastermind Asp the person who brought us the 'gothic novel rock' genre, and who is the acknowledged 'Master' of it; at the same time he never fails to write, indeed describe, the often rapidly expanding stories on a personal and emotional level. Despite all the complexity, he nevertheless makes it easy for you to empathasise with such sombre figures as the 'Schwarzer Schmetterling' (Black Butterfly), to fall in love with a spooky decoy called 'Astoria', just as the young Paul did, or, as the 'Zaubererbruder' (Sorcerer Brother), to protest against the sombre master miller.
And in all these musical gothic novel masterpieces, there can always be found a subliminal tone that is critical of society and which induces you to contemplation. Social ethics are woven in as an element that comes alive and which can be sympathised with: not as a slogan, but as encouragement; as a comfort for everyday life and as nourishment for the soul.
This connection was realised especially intensively on the GeistErfahrer EP that appeared in 2012. And now, this year, the time is ripe: the EP that came to grow on not just the band but also in fans' hearts can now finally flourish and blossom into a long player. Autumn seems the 'Ich bin ein wahrer … GeistErfahrer' tour, and so what could be better than to seize the opportunity to finally make a fully fledged album out of this EP? For many reasons, the musicians didn't regard themselves as being "finished with this topic". On the one hand, this is because, during the long period of producing the 'Verfallen' concept, two songs accumulated which made the scales fall from Asp Spreng's eyes. He immediately came to realise that they were a perfect fit with the GeistErfahrer songs. On the other hand, for some years they have had to live with a circumstance that was perceived as a flaw; namely that no real drums were recorded for this otherwise unbelievably punchy EP, as they had a short-term drummer problem. This has of course meanwhile been solved, and so the artists now seize the opportunity to re-record the complete EP and the additional songs with real drums. The EP has been completely replaced by the GeistErfahrer album, and while they were at it, a whole load of new bonus material has also been included. And as if that wasn't enough: Asp got his good friend Timo Wuerz on board, who created over 50 (!) pages of new artwork for the re-release, including a specially created graphic novel for one of the new songs, for which Asp wrote a script of unsettling beauty. Comic rockstar Würz has translated this in his typical, dynamic style.
So now a greater GeistErfahrer experience. And it's definitely worth it!
