In the early 1980s, Berlin's Einstürzende Neubauten was a ferocious exponent of the Neue Deutsche Welle. "Music" was made on old iron and industrial waste or with jackhammers and dilapidated guitars. Frontman
Blixa Bargeld spewed and crowed his lyrics chipped away by amphetamines and other predation against it, as the self-proclaimed "
Halber Mensch. Anno the 1920s, they have become an artsy
… gentlemen's club. In the process, metal and other deviant percussion came increasingly to serve Bargeld's poetic reflections, like a mostly German-language version of his former breadlord Nick Cave (Bargeld was once a member of The Bad Seeds). Today, Neubauten's industrial music sounds warm and empathetic and always remains below the pain threshold. 'Alles schon geschrieben. Alles schon gesagt," Bargeld croons in the opening track Wie Lange Noch? Indeed, they no longer have much new to offer; the strength of Disasters is above all the distinguished way in which Neubauts express themselves. (MR)more
