|
THE REACTIONS
Here we go with a couple of reviews from various zines (printed and online), mailorder catalogues or whatever we find out about other people’s thoughts. Quite obviously we just publish what we want to be said about us, but you know what -- this is our website so we can be the masters of control...
“I don’t know what you guys are doing here, but I haven’t heard such an infernal noise ever before !“ ----- Comment of our rehearsal room landlord when we were setting up our stuff for the first time and hadn’t actually begun playing, it was just the basses playing around a bit. Not that he is the competent person to judge it, but it still sounded very funny.
“Could you please turn down the volume a bit, we can’t hear our own voices !“ ----- Comment of some shitty soft punk band next to an earlier rehearsal room. After they got back to their room Kaptain slightly turned his volume up. We got kicked out of there later, but unforetunately due to the bad motivation of our roommates to pay the rent on time and not our high volume. Fuck, we should have been louder...
“I am assuming that the title of the album is pregnant with tongue-in-cheek cynicism. Or at least a healthy appreciation for irony. For we usually associate a countdown with a rapidly approaching event or climax of which we have some foreknowledge. The only thing is, there is absolutely nothing rapid about Spancer. This German five-piece, which features two bassists for additional bottom end heaviness, revels in angry, sludge-fuelled doom metal that trundles along at a snail's pace, awash in devastating guitar feedback and snarling vocals that draw out each and every syllable of each and every word in a painful manner best compared with that most infamous of torture devices from the Inquisition, the rack. While comparable with doom acts like Grief or Evoken, not to mention suggestive hints of Sabbathy dirge (particularly on the distinct guitar harmonies of "The Beat Goes On"), Spancer has a sense of dynamics that seems to be just as comparable with The Melvins and Khanate, with an emphasis on low-tuned sludge that congeals in shadowy sonic eddies, spilling across the soundscape like thick molasses until it seeps into every pore, its indomitable opacity blocking the merest trace of light from penetrating the tapestry of sound. And yet, despite this bleakness, which is considerable and weighty to an extreme, Spancer still proves quite capable at injecting sufficient movement into its song structures, be it via tempo variation, guitar texture, or vocal nuance, in order to permit the ear to discern how the different shades of darkness emerge and descend. While I think that a more panoramic production (even though that heard on Countdown to Victory is very fine in its own right) will allow Spancer's bloated sonic misanthropy to reach new heights (Billy Anderson anybody?), this is impressive in its own right and recommended to those who drool over every new Southern Lord release.“ ----- Review by Tate Bengtson, Chaotic Critiques
“Before I received this album I had never heard from German-based sludge-doom band Spancer before, but after giving the album a listen I have to admit I should feel guilty about it. Being a great sludgecore fan myself, devouring everything in the Eyehategod/Neurosis/5ive league, Spancer's “Countdown to Victory“ left a -very- strong impression on me. While not as dirty as Eyehategod because they're lacking the feedbacks and taking on a higher pace, Spancer might be seen as their doomy little brother. Especially thanks to the vile vocals and pounding drums, a sinister and depressing atmosphere is set. Paradoxically, the strange and at times almost stoner-rockish guitar work enhances this atmosphere by adding an extra textured layer to the music. Even though this album contains only four songs, it will provide an excellent introduction to this band as well as keep you hungry for more. Hopefully, Spancer will be picked up by a record label soon so we can see them on tour in Europe.“ ----- Review by Xander Hoose, Chronicles Of Chaos
“There are only very few bands here in Germany, that are playing sludge-driven doom as SPANCER, and these four guys are presenting us four songs in 37 min. There are two bass-player in the line-up, so that one bass is played more as a lead instrument with wah-wah and fuzz. All tracks are slow, weighty and heavy as hell, rolling like waves out of the speakers. The riffs are hard and creepy, played in best Chandler-vein. There's also the same monolithic simplicity in the song-stuctures as in Vitus. But SPANCER have integrated and worked out their Vitus influence in the same way as Soul Preacher or Grief (RIP). Both bands are always on my mind while listening to this album. Especially the hate-filled and chainsaw-like vocals from Markus are in some moments very close to the above mentioned acts. And that should be meant as a compliment! SPANCER have also used a very few samples and the opening one in "The Beat Goes On" is in German language. Nice idea! What I like about this band is, that they've got the abilities (sound- and vocalwise) to bring over the heaviness and the angry, but mournful atmosphere that this kind of music needs. The production could have been a little bit more heavier, but "Countdown to Victory" is damn fine self-released debut and if SPANCER would have been an American band, they would get much more attention. This is a band for a label like Game Two Records or Shifty Records. The CD comes with a very good packaging, that includes all lyrics and a lot of entertaining photos. If you're into above mentioned bands, mixed them up with a bit Church Of Misery than you need definitly a copy of this. This is a very good release from a very talented band!“ ----- Review by Klaus Kleinowski, Cosmic Lava
“Godamn f**ing DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM from Spermany. I really waited a long time on a band like Spancer. Yes people, this is hard, slow and absolutely smokin´ brutal Doom-Metal. With influences from bands like Bolt Thrower, Eyehategod etc., Spancer made up a very original way to play their stuff. I was amazed when I heard their stuff the first time, after the second time I really came into it and after the third time....RESPECT!!! It´s not only the fat sound of their selfproduced CD, it´s the way they play their stuff....it´s the Spancer-Way and it´s good!!! Four long songs for massmurder, damn heavy and intense, I think I said this at the beginning, but you all know old Ralf, always stoned and always on the search of the ultimate kick and these guys saved my day. Ok, if you´re in Doom, I mean real Doom, YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN, I SAID DOOMFUCKINGMETAL.....BITCH“ -----Review by Ralf Burkart, Daredevil
“Spancer are angry, really angry. And what better way to vent their anger than playing sludge doom ? Only four tracks here, with an average length of 9 minutes ! Slow, groovy riffs meet a solid rhythm section and a hateful vox which spits out its frustration and disappointment in anger. The ultra heavy guitar sound and the slow, ‘Sabbathical’ riffs, reminded me than more once of the relentless heaviness of Warhorse, but the vocalist has stayed off the whiskey bottle - one must be in sober and clear mental state during the sonic attack which aims at destroying this pitiful world. Like an even more groovy and ‘traditional’ version of Eyehategod, Spancer attack the innocent listener with solid riffs, in your face vocals and a droning guitar sound. It feels good to hear a sludge doom track with German lyrics (‘The Beat Goes On’). This raw sounding language lends itself perfectly to the ugliest, most hateful and in-your-face genre in the world. There are also some sonic experiments with guitar effects here and there, which add a new, interesting dimension to the pervasive sound. Not a single note however do they stray off the path of heaviness and aggression. Respect ! Fans of Warhorse, Burning Witch, and of course Eyehategod and Grief, rejoice. There is still more than enough hate in the sludgy doom world.“ ----- Review by Kostas Panagiotou, doommetal.com
“Spancer is ugly, crushing death/doom, specifically designed to make any sunny day suddenly leaden-grey or any party a wake. It's good-time music for both demons and the despondent. For those of you that are into Therogothen, Winter or Evoken, Warhorse or Khang, you'll dig this foursome from Germany. It's not unlike the experience of being kicked in the solar plexus repeatedly with a steel-toed jackboot....albeit slowly. Four songs, 36 minutes of downtuned, aural damage. Lyrically, it's all doom, all the time. The lads are dwelling on war, a vengeful God, misanthropy and pain all sung by vocalist Markus, whom I'm sure has a larynx that looks like undercooked meatloaf. It's not pretty and there is no respite from the swirling black vortex Spancer creates with the addition of a groove-ridden passage, It's a a doom-lover's delight.“ ----- Review by Chris Barnes, Hellride Music (no, it’s not CC or SFU, idiot!)
“Dem Titel des Albums nach zu urteilen, wäre dies hier sicherlich eine tolle Truemetalband und true sind sie auch, denn true bedeutet mir immer noch trendfrei, eigenwillig und magisch. Spancer sind eine Doomband, man kann das am Abbilde Armando Arcostas (des ehemaligen Drummers von Saint Vitus) sehen, welches eine im Booklet befindliche Fotocollage ziert. Ralf Richter glotzt einen ebenfalls recht fiese an und macht klar, dass es hier keine Musik für kleine Mädels, sondern ultraschwere Walzenriffs, schleppende Rhythmen einen donnernden Bass und berserkerhaften Gesang, naja, eher Gefauche, zu hören gibt. Fett geil! Den Gitarren ist vom Sound her ein etwas spaciger Touch zueigen, einige wabernde Soundeffekte verleihen der Musik eine psychedelische Ausstrahlung. Spancer sind schon, vor allem Gesanglich eben etwas herber als die Doomväter Pentagram, Saint Vitus und Black Sabbath, trotzdem, ihr Weg ist der der Vorreiter des Genres. Und wenn man sich die Mühe macht, genau hinzuhören, so erkennt man, dass das Riffing sich sogar zu kleinen Ohrwürmern entwickelt, die Songs zu Hymnen des extremen Doomsounds werden. Sie haben dieses coole, hardrockige Feeling, was den Bands der Seventies zueigen war, diese sehr relaxte und doch dramatische Spielweise, nur in modifizierter Version. Ich verweise auf US Acts wie Warhorse, die ähnliche Pfade beschreiten. In der Tat ist die Musik der Niedersachsen sehr US orientiert. Spancer wissen gekonnt die Monotonie als Stilmittel einzusetzen, sie schaffen eine heißblütige, hypnotische Atmosphäre. In ihren ellenlangen Stücken (keiner unter sieben Minuten) versinkt man, wie in den träge dahinkriechender Lava, die sich höllenheiß über die Erde wälzt. Spancer sind eine jener Bands, die den Hörer auf einen wahren Höllenritt entführen und ihn nicht eher wieder entlassen, bevor nicht seine Seele zu einem kleinen Häufchen roter Asche verglüht ist. Diese Band entfesselt magische Flammenwirbel, wenn sie ihre Songs mit völliger Hingabe aus den Boxen dröhnt. Dabei stellen sie dann unter Beweis, mit welch minimalistischen Mitteln man im Grunde mitreißende Songs schreiben kann. Wenn ich doch nur wüsste, woher die Samples sind, die sie in „The Beat Goes On“ verwenden, irgendwie KULT! Die Soli hier wirken völlig losgelöst von allem, völlig psychedelisch, sie brennen sich ihren Weg zu Euren Herzen. Spancer sind keine jener austauschbaren 08/15 Bands, die es heute massenhaft gibt, sie rocken, sie rocken so verdammt heavy!“ ----- Review by Sascha Maurer aka Sir Lord Doom, Metal Coven & Hellion Records
“Spancer has the same kind of simplistic qualities that makes a band like Saint Vitus make sense.“ ----- Rob Wrong, stonerrock.com
“It’s not really a lot going on there...“ ----- York’s mom after getting to listen a couple of minutes to the cd...
“This is better than Saint Vitus !“ ----- Kappe’s friend Nicolai after our very first gig -- forgive him, he was pretty drunk !!
|