Tag: germany

Sally Grayson, American post-punk meets alternative country artist who lives in Germany, has just released a brand new single. She said of the track, “Amidst all of the world’s sorrows, I’m releasing a beautiful love song at the beginning of spring to help people escape into a moment of beauty and remember the amazingness of human connection.” Check the song out at her website here: https://www.sallygrayson.com/to-be-loved-press… Continued →

The name Saviour Machine evokes a wide variety of reactions: love, confusion, controversy, and about a dozen others. My friend George reveres them as his favorite band of all time. Others find them dense and difficult. Still others enjoy the dark mysterious sounds as well as the lyrical approach. The band formed in California in 1989, and soon after issued a demo CD of gothic metal replete with classic metal riffs and dramatic vocals. Their label debut released in 1993 for Intense Records and still featured an even combination of gothic rock and heavy metal.… Continued →

Okay, forgive me, but we’re doing two obscure instrumental songs in a row for Friday’s Song of the Day feature. Last week it was Dutch experimental noise artist Dolenaer. This week we have German psych rock band The CT Four Plus. I know very little about the band, other than the fact they were German and active in the 1970s. The band released four different singles (for a total of seven songs), all on the MFB Produktion label, a Christian label based in Germany that was active from the 60s through at least the 1980s.… Continued →

Sally Grayson has a new single out as of this week. The American singer-songwriter, living in Germany, has fronted both Black Swift and Standbye in the indie rock field but more recently has turned to dark alternative country. She released a brilliant album called The Darkness in Me (reviewed here). Written from a place of grief and deep empathy, Grayson’s new single “The Empty Place” is a cinematic and haunting tribute to the suffering of Palestinians. Blending intimate, close-mic vocals with walls of atmospheric, distorted guitars and mournful synths, the song evokes the emotional weight of loss and displacement with raw beauty.… Continued →

AAMS is a post hxc band from Germany. They appeared to have disbanded in 2015 but resurfaced again recently on some compilations. I like their screamo smashup with the keys that early TDWP & With Shakings Hands do also. Anyways, Enjoy.    … Continued →

Alright, you’re gonna need to buckle up for this one. For two reasons: 1) Koinonia has a somewhat lengthy history, and the band’s members are/were probably more connected than any other band ever in contemporary Christian music; and 2) they were a jazz fusion band, which is probably not a genre most IVM readers are astutely familiar with. The band formed in 1980 and were active throughout that decade before disbanding in 1991. While the members were Americans, several of whom were of Latin/Hispanic descent, their music was more widely-known in Northern and Western Europe where they often played to sold out crowds.… Continued →

While German metal band Chryztyne may have formed in 1990, their sound is pure 80s! Traditional heavy metal with touches of glam/melodic metal abound in their material. The band formed in Karlsruhe in SW Germany in 1990, and released a 5-song demo cassette in 1992. Shortly thereafter, they signed with Pila Music, one of the larger Christian music labels from their home country. Their one and only full-length Tales of Paradise released in 1993 on the label, and featured 11 tracks of pure 80s metal. This, of course, proves the rule that although heavy metal had gone by the wayside–in the wake of grunge and alternative rock–in the United States, it was alive and well in other parts of the world, particularly in Europe.… Continued →

Hailing from Leopoldshöhe, Germany, this rare melodic thrash band released 1 EP & 1 LP before disbanding. Their music is very hard to find so I uploaded most to Youtube for your listening pleasure. Instead of thinking thrashy Vengeance Rising, think of newer music that falls within part thrash/part metalcore & you will get a feeling of how this band sounds. The Spirit of Metal site still has them listed as active. but they haven’t released anything since 2005 from what I have found. Also their lyrics are definitely Christian as each of their songs comes directly from different parts of the Bible.… Continued →

While I was first introduced to Sally Grayson formally in 2020, during the covid-quarantine era, it turns out that I had already heard versions of her music many years prior. She’d fronted Black Swift (based in Germany where Grayson transplanted) for a number of years, but long before that she was in Michigan-based (her native homeland) Standbye, an emo/indie rock band by whom I owned a CD. All that to say that while Sally’s name may not be familiar to the masses, she’s been making credible musical art for well over two decades now.… Continued →

This German symphonic unblack metal band has been musically compared to Emperor & Dimmu Borgir whom I personally have never listened to. From what I gather they used the Endtime record label which has worked with Drottnar, Bloodwork, Crimson Moonlight & Dalit. I happen to really dig symphonic unblack metal more than other heavy genres such as thrash, deathcore or death metal so this track resonates with me. Anyways, enjoy & hope your Saturday is going awesome!      … Continued →

You might be familiar with Sally Grayson’s name due to her collaborations with The Blamed–lending her vocal cords on their cover of the scaterd-few classic “U” (for their Quarantine Days project), or for her contributions to “Away in a Manger” on 2020’s Christmas album. The scaterd-few cover is where I first became familiar with her work. Or you might recognize her from her Ted Talk on creativity (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ia2ldxK2rF0), or as a member of post-punk outfit Black Swift. Or perhaps you’ve been lucky enough to catch her on tour with two other femmes de puissance Tess Wiley (solo/Splendora/Phantasmic/ex-Sixpence None the Richer) and Kat Jones.… Continued →

Long before Scott Stapp was crooning about going higher and breaking out of his own prison, there was this Creed, a traditional heavy metal band from Germany. The band released only one full-length album through Pias Music in Europe (and Pure Metal in North America), after releasing an obscure EP. The band played an intensely melodic brand of heavy metal without ever crossing into glam. And although a couple of the tracks approached breakneck speeds, they weren’t speed metal either. This style of metal was prominent in continental Europe at the time, but never garnered a major audience in the United States beyond the mid 80s.… Continued →

"O come, let us sing unto the Lord: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation." -Psalm 95:1

Roemer is a stripped-back acoustic/indie folk project. If you’re anything like me, folk has to be some really special to catch my attention—a quirky vocal style, effective use of harmonies, skilful playing, or best of all hard-hitting and/or poignant lyrics. If it has one or more of those, I’m more likely to pay attention. Straight Bars and Guns was written from an outsider looking in. Much like myself, Roemer is an American citizen living abroad. He in Berlin, me in the south of England. Being an American who doesn’t actually live in the United States gives one an interesting take—neither more nor less accurate, just different.… Continued →

Instrumental music and Christianity have always shared a wonderfully curious relationship, adding a twist to the age old question, “what makes music Christian (or not)?” While attempting to answer that questions is always interesting, and dare I say, fruitful, it would take up much more time and space than what we are afforded here. Nonetheless, it seems appropriate to quote Johann Sebastian Bach: “The aim and final end of all music should be none other than the glory of God and the refreshment of the soul.”… Continued →

The Point of No Return were a Spirit Filled Hardcore band from Germany. FFO: No Innocent Victim, Figure Four, The Blamed, 2Minute Minor, and Hanover Saints.

Get 4 great releases from The Blamed FOR FREE right here courtesy of Grrr Records. Albums will only remain free until December 23rd (Friday) so get in on the action NOW!. The albums include “Isolated Incident”, “Germany Ep”, “Forever”, and “Again”. These were the albums released after T&N. The band is currently plotting their return via new music they are currently working on, stay tuned.… Continued →

The Feel Good Drag is a three-piece rock group based in Germany. They have released a 3-track demo EP on bandcamp for free that features their style of sunshine-infused rock’n’roll