Well, what the hell can I say about Sturm and their latest release Fragmente? This is one of the strangest albums I’ve heard in a long time. They call their music Nordische Härte which means (I think) Nordic hardness. And what is Nordische Härte? In their view it’s metal stripped to the bone, a basic layer of music with a dominant role for the bass. The music is not the most important thing; it’s merely a carrier, a fundament for the vocals of Per Ole Albrecht who speaks, sings, screams and brawls in German. This results in an alienating experience.

During the first listening I wondered if this was a joke or something made by drunken metalheads with free studio time. However, after playing it a few times more I started to like it. There’s more to Fragmente than meets the ear. The tracks are deceivingly addictive and after some time the urge to sing along became too strong.

The sound is dark and cold but the vocals often bring a little humor into the tracks because they’re sometimes so over the top you have to hear it to believe it.

I honestly can’t say if this is a good album or not. Most people will consider this as a cheap Rammstein rip-off. Although there are similarities (both bands sing in German and have a cold industrial sound) and the popularity of Rammstein surely won’t work against them, it’s cheap to categorize Sturm as Rammstein wannabe’s. Sturm is heading in its own direction much more. Where that may lead them I don’t know but it will be interesting to find out.

The hidden track is hilarious, a sort of Germanized Greek Sirtaki and a porn movie soundtrack completed with moaning women. Who said Germans don’t have humor?!