Thirteen years is a long time. Even longer for a band who are cursed by some but idolised by others and who, on top of that, with almost every album dare to make bold expeditions through virgin musical territory. No question about it, for SAMSAS TRAUM, 13 is the proper number to celebrate and to thank both fans and adversaries alike with a rip-roaring birthday album.
Be warned, all those of you who now lean back, yawning, because you believe that the band are celebrating another anniversary with a contemptible 'best of' album: "13 Jahre Lang Dagegen – Anti Bis zum Tod" is much more than a simple cross section of the band's history. The 13 songs which saw the light of day for this particular occasion have only one purpose: to well and truly rock! This time around, soft melancholy, dark romanticism and enigmatic escapades of a poetic nature are left behind in the drawer – instead, there are fireworks, swinging manes and raw emotion!
The structure of the songs and the choice of words for the lyrics is precise, plain and straight to the point. The advantage of this is that the reduction to the bare essentials lends the framework a raw dynamic which can elude no one. In the best style of ENTOMBED and MOTÖRHEAD, your head and foot will unavoidably begin to bob in time to the music. However, if you are afraid that Alex K will mutate into a bearded lout and will allow himself to develop a proper beer belly, you worry in vain. The Kaschte-composed death'n'roll has a subtle nature, which is ruthlessly balanced against reality – however not infrequently with a wink of the eye. The disc with the provocative title (which can be loosely translated into English as "Against It for 13 years – 'Anti' until death") blossoms into the perfect soundtrack for exuberant parties but nevertheless grants insights into an intellectual complexity. Songs such as "Mr. Misanthropia", "Peng – Du Bist Tot", "Alleine unter Menschen" and "Ich Werde da Sein" take no prisoners with regards to both content or music, whereas the eerie ballad "Barfuß", the rocking "Zuhause", the party firecracker "Happy Birthday" and the magical "Lichtbestäubt" provide for the widest variety of moods. Dirty, massive and ironic – for a birthday album of this calibre SAMSAS TRAUM are only to be congratulated!
