I can honestly say that I recommend every single release by this German label. Exile On Mainstream is not a straight up metal label, as a matter of fact, it is not a metal label at all, but most of their releases have that density that can be classified as heavy and that has great allure to fans of the extreme. It helps that their acts are always straddling the lines between the bold and the intense; the intensely experimental and the all out rocking. Read on and spread the word.

What happens when you mix in the Germanic experimentalism of Einsturzende Neubaten with the New York grit of the Unsane? Well, for starters, I wouldn’t have thought that the balance would have tipped this much in Unsane’s favor.  Celan is a project born in 2008 after Benjamin Meyers (Einsturzende Neubaten, Redux Orchestra) and Chris Spencer (Unsane, Cutthroat 9) met in Berlin. The music is so guitar oriented and murky that it reminds of Unsane a great deal. Joining the band is also Oxbow guitarist Niko Wenner. That’s always a good thing. The songs in Halo, the band’s debut, are acerbic and radical, noisy and complicated, angular and totally organic.   The tunes are really for the most part driven by crunchy guitars and the natural screams of Spencer. There are the occasional escapes into more peaceful territories, like is the case of the piano driven twelve-minute closer “Lunchbox” and the quiet background noisescapes of “Washing Machines”.  There is even the disturbing static-filled track with samples from Jim Jones instructing its cult to drink the Kool-Aid (this sample has been used and overused), but mostly, Halo rules when focused on the six strings and that’s by far, most of the time. (MySpace)

Dance rock has never sounded so good. Normally I would be adverse to covering anything relating to ‘dance’ but considering how good this Austrian band is and how dense their rhythms can get I think their coverage is totally righteous.  Plus, this isn’t so much dance rock as it is something that could be called robot rock. Plus, in parts Bulbul reminds of Devo and I love Devo. And in other parts, Bulbul reminds me of the quickly demised electroclash movement, except this doesn’t suck. Not at all.  As the songs are driven by huge fuzzy basslines and the guitars alternate between straight-up rock and roll and certain oblique funkiness, the tunes acquire this unique quality.  As the label brilliantly puts it, ‘Bulbul incorporate pop music’s superficiality’ and somehow end up with something that’s entirely sophisticated. Some of the songs are brilliant, as they flawlessly fuse experimentation with the most basic rock and roll aesthetics, 6 reaches peaks as enjoyable as in the creepy “Daddy Was Girl I Like” and in the super driven rock of “The Song’s Name”. (MySpace)

After one gets over and done with the self titled 2007 debut from Germany’s DŸSE one gets the feeling that there has only been one riff. The album clocks at over 40 minutes so it would be logical to assume that the experience has been tedious. It is then, with absolute surprise that one gets through this album with total amusement and is left jonesing for more. As this band dishes out the same riff over and over , it is everything that surrounds the guitars that varies and changes with fluid ease. Sure, in parts we hear some accents in the guitars, a few accelerations here and there and even a few moments of clarity (“Wokkk”) but at its core, this debut is just one song. And you know what? That’s just OK. DŸSE’s sound is somewhere between alt-rock and noise rock. The riff in question is a short choosing of chords, repeated progressively and layered with drums that go from the regular 4/4 to a more plodding tempo. The recording could have been a bit better, especially the drums which get the ‘cardboard box’ sound pretty good. Overall, DŸSE show that it is possible to stretch one idea in all sorts of shapes and ways and still end up with a thoroughly enjoyable record. (MySpace)

Lieder Sind Bruder der Revolution is the sophomore release by DŸSE and shows a band with a made up mind to expand on the sound honed in their debut. This time around there is an emphasis in the big picture that is reflected in the use of violins, programming and trumpets. At its core, DŸSE still keeps a riff stuck on repeat, even though now the guitar arrangements are greater and more open and with a more aggressive edge. The lyrics in German add certain cool robotic soul to the music, especially in “Treppe” via vocoder.  The emphasis in rocking out is evident. Even the vocals are belched out with an almost hardcore feel. And the tunes roll out mercilessly until we get to “Baubaubau” a nine minute instrumental that pairs up guitars and trumpets.  The key here is versatility and in this album DŸSE show themselves capable of expanding into either more metallic territory and more experimental grounds. (MySpace)

Flu.ID is an enraged three piece from Germany. I took a look at their MySpace pic and determined they were either morons or just in time for a good laugh. I am pretty sure is the latter. Their music is no laughing matter though. Iots contains songs from two previous recordings, their self-titled debut and 2007’s New Imperial Sadism and they show a band with a furious hardcore infested sound. The levels of technique are almost par to the levels of pathos in display here. Flu.ID packs more 45 degree curves than an architect’s plans. The riffs are short and so are the tunes. The melodies are an afterthought but also evident. The vocals almost spit pus from such blistering performance. The second half features a better recording and sprinkled throughout this compilation we can also find a few electronic interludes, which makes me wonder if that’s just filler or will play a role in Flu.ID’s future endeavors. Overall, these Germans sound far more exciting than about 90% of the rest of hardcore bands. Hardcore enthusiasts beware; Flu.ID deserves your undivided attention. (MySpace)

I am not crazy about Oh! Things Are So Corruptible, by French band We Insist! The exclamation points are not the only things that get tiresome after a while. But their tunes sound fragmented and constantly break the mood created which after a while becomes more a distraction than an attraction. The execution is flawless. These are accomplished musicians who are able to balance melody and heaviness but I just wish they could insist a little more in their tunes not being so 'corruptible'. The addition of a saxophone is a nice touch to some tunes that are already a bit convoluted and the prevalence of the bass over the guitars adds to the strangeness.  The results are slightly original, like a sometimes charming mix of Qotsa, Primus, the RHCHP plus some other funky bunches. If that doesn’t sound appealing then I don’t recommend you We Insist!

Germany’s The Antikaroshi sound a bit like a jam band, only instead of having spent a hundred joints while bopping their heads to The Grateful Dead they seem to have gone the wiser way while growing in an abundant diet of indie rock, post rock, hardcore and noise rock.  Fuse all those styles together into fairly long songs (average length is 6 minutes) and what we get is a band that at times recalls Minus The Bear’s handpicked guitar notes and at others sounds like an alternative rock band straight out of the 90’s. A lot of the material in Crushed Neocons, the band’s debut, initially seems sterile by way of their lack of poignancy (“Thin Line”) an issue that is unfortunately recurrent in the second half of the album. The lack of punch of the vocalist doesn’t help, an issue that is no biggie in the first few songs where the band basically presents itself as a dexterous instrumental trio. (MySpace)