Sielwolf: Metastasen Reviews

Wrapping things up is Metastasen, the much-hyped Sielwolf CD. Imagine a Ministry-inspired guitar groove mixed with a militant Laibachian percussion track, a vocalist who rants and snarls in German, and the additional clang and bang augmentation of Einsturzende Neubauten--if you can picture that, you'd be left with a chalk outline of Sielwolf. In order to exceed any limitations, they even manage to pound out a couple heavy dance cuts, as well as some soundtrack inspired pieces. - Rowan-Morrison, StreetSound

SIELWOLF is an outfit from Belgium who aren't happy campers. Matter of fact, they should tour with Controlled Bleeding: they like their noise. A lot. The albumMetastasen offers over 70 minutes of intelligently mixed mayhem: it's loud and hard but controlled. They know how to drive nails into your ears but they know when to back off. There's vocals on some tracks but they're gritting them out in a Germanic tongue so they just add to the threatening sounds. These Euro masters just got this down! - Nick C., B-SIDE Magazine

Highly distorted, bleak, repetitive industrial noise chaos in the vain of Transmisia, only darker. Sielwolf is rough. Their music conquers you with its pounding, distorted, beats. It's repetitive in a way that hypnotizes you and drags you under. And they're patient, too - some of the songs take a while to build. "Die Mieter" sounds like a lost Einstürzende Neubauten song, only without all the intense scraping. Favorites include "Beweglich Animalisch" and "antimon #3." - Eric Sanders, INK 19

Noise is the name here, as this heavy industrial four-piece mix electrobeats and distortion into a murky but tortured sound. "Beweglich Animalisch" has a bit too much of a mechanically-inclined texture, which masks the subtleties, but things get a bit more clean and clear later on. "Spuck Den Drenk Aus" grinds for nearly ten heavier-than-thou minutes, while the texturally low-key "Antimom #1" is the perfect set up for the electronically-swaying title track. Just be thankful all machines don't sound like this. - Paul Semel, HUH Magazine

9 1/2 skulls. Fuck Nine Inch Nails and Minstry. When it comes to ultra-brutal and aggressive Industrial Mayhem there's a new sheriff in town and his name is Sielwolf. In construction lingo a sielwolf is a fast rotating ball, trimmed with razor sharp claws, cleaning canalization waste pipes. In metal lingo Sielwolf is a raging musical nightmare with razor sharp blast riffs and disturbingly chaotic, disjointed rhythms that smash into your skull until brain matter starts to seep out your ears. Ultra-wicked samples from genre classics like Cape Fear and Henry, Portrait of a Serial Killer are woven flawlessly into complex over-the-top brutal compositions that will linger long after the CD winds down. Clocking in at almost 75 minutes, Metastasen is a true test of human endurance. - David Horn, Sounds of Death

Just when you figured you'd seen and heard it all in the loud world of industrial, Sielwolf lays fresh siege to your few remaining brain cells. A very intense record. - Dean, FAD MAgazine

Originally released on KK in Belgium this domestic issue of SIELWOLF's cd adds three cuts from the CDS. If hard distorted beats & samples from Natural Born Killers that clash with chugging guitars & Euro speak vox sound like your cup of tea, then this is your cd. It's very good & harsh, to say the least.!!!! - DAMN Magazine

The genre this quintet populate is not crowded-it's in the ambient/hardcore/industrial category where they reside. And on Metastasen,samples and strangeness combine to create Sielwolf's 13-song fifth release. On it you'll find the "Nirvana Edit" of the cut "Beweglich Animalisch" (they're German FYI), which is based on Nirvana guitar feedback combined with a Richard Burton loop! More strangeness? Apparently, the Sielwolf is a piece of equipment used to clean sewers, and the band that takes its name from that apparatus does a fine job of cleaning out your head. Intense, sample laden unearthly heavoisity worth unearthing. Check it out! - Katherine Turman, RIP Magazine

Van Richter continues to balance the weight of the label shared between electro dance and electro metal. First, there was Testify competing with Zoth Ommog's Klute for the top position in electro metal. Now, there is a contender other than Testify. Two against one? How about one against two? Sielwolf is likely to turn on its own labelmate. Understand, the band is a self contained unit designed to pummel. They are very fond of enormous amounts of noise. Many times the vocals and guitars are smothered. Tracks like "Beweglich Animalisch" are no different than bundles of severed, high voltage wires sizzling in a convulsive fit. In the moments of less turmoil, Sielwolf demonstrates creepy mechanical designs in slower tempo. You don't know what it means to be scared of the dark until "Antimon #3" is heard. - Chris Jagasits, New Industrial Sounds

First kudos to Van Richter for putting this domestic disc out with the Import CD single "Beweglich Animalisch" tacked onto it. You saved me about $30, Mr. Abramson. And how is it? Nachstrom but noiser. Yes, I mean that. The forementioned single track opens the album with a howl of distortion and breakbeats to bring on slaughtered German vocals and a guitar, somewhere, buried in the mix. We are talking about Godflesh on speed here kids. Don't look for conventional song structure or pleasant riffs. This stuff forces you to listen. Easily one of the best new acts operating today. Oh,and for all you sampleheads - this album is registered with MACOS, so you can grab your favorite bits lawsuit free. - Ned Kirby, Industrial Nation

Belgium is crazy cool with putting out good industrial bands, A Split Second, Insekt, and now Sielwolf, licensed from Belgium's KK records through Van Richter here in the states. Strong sampled noise collages segueing into cool heavy electro beats. Sielwolf is probably one of the coolest bands I've heard in a long time and will kick your fucking ass. If they had an incredible singer, as opposed to the pretty cool one they have, Sielwolf would take over as the best European industrial band. If the writing was more pop structured, they would take over as one of the best industrial bands. As it stands they have to suffer being a member of the secret underground elite. - Anon Devi, Interface Magazine

Apart from mental Destruction's "When madness strikes" this is one of the very few band releases that I would classify as Industrial. "Metastasen" is well thought out processing of noise aimed aggressively at the listener. For sheer intensity this cannot be faulted, however, in one case in particular, "Dreck", they rely too heavily on guitar sampling that lies somewhere in the vein of Klute. The major thing that saves this CD is the evil genius who put in the killer dance floor beats and "Portrait of a Serial Killer" samples. "Metastasen" is improved by the great Ambient/Industrial tracks, making the album overall easier to listen to. Recommended. - Nathan Sebastian, Dark Angel Magazine

This is a kick-ass joint project between Petra Tausendpfund and Peter Prochir who used to be the drummer of the Euro-skronk-rock group Cassiber. It's base is distorted industrial with beats but there's a wide amount of variety ranging from lots of heavy chunky guitars to periods of ambient sounds. Best thing in this vein since White Slug's Alphacoma EP. - Chanel, KZSU Magazine

The impressive and grinding 5th album from Germany's SIELWOLF is an experiment in mind-numbingly aggressive techno noise industrio chaos, complete with blast beats and old classic GOLDFLESH like feel circa Streetcleaner. From what I gather, a Sielwolf is a strange ball type thing with razor claws that digs through waste pipes or something to that effect. If this is the case then the band SIELWOLF holds close to the mysterious creature in question, digging deep within the listeners psyche and mangling their mind. To play favorites song wise on this album would be unneeded for all the tunes blend together well in the changing of moods and emotions that swell and cascade throughout the length of this release. An added extra 'fuck yeah!' on this album is a nice selection of samples from the masterpieces of the silver screen Henry:Portrait of a Serial Killer and Cape Fear(DeNiro). Good songs, good samples, very good album. Seek this one out loyal fans of the industro-core genre. It delivers the goods. - Skott, Symposium Magazine

Also from fertile Germany comes the monstrous Sielwolf, whose Metastasen CD is demented potpourri of industro-metal-thrash cuts and eerie sound collages. The five-man collective is brutality incarnate on "White Trash" and "Beweglich Animalisch", but the real prize is the surprising and brilliant Lassigue Bendthaus remix of the latter, an acid techno nightmare that'll have Aphex Twin fans climbing the walls. - Al Ritchie, Loud Music Seminar

This issue's winner of "Bio of the Week" goes to Sielwolf:..."Deformed structures of highly civilized industrial societies don't need more musical destruction..." Wait, there's more: "...Sielwolf are digging deep in the shallow of the mind. They try to catch their own personal existentional fears, mutation fantasies and weird dreams..." Now, I don't know what any of that means, but I'll describe t he band this way: Sielwolf is an aggro-industrial band. Try to imagine Trent Raznor to the Nth degree.... - Scott Turner, F Magazine

Sielwolf is a belgian band that's as angry and industrial as anything ever to come from Belgium, and that's saying something. (Half of the departed Wax Trax roster came from Belgium,it seems.) They're members of Musicians Against Copyrighting of Samples, but they don't have to worry. Everything is so furiously distorted that the original creators will never recognized their material anyway. I never thought I'd here anything that would make the Young Gods appear peaceful by comparison, but this is extremely extreme. - Seth Berner, Face Magazine

An intense roller coaster of pulsating beats and ferocious noise likened to having your teeth drilled by a dentist with an overwhelming case of dementia. Sielwolf pushes sound to brutal limits where the torturous pain of nearly audible and high-pitched tones become the victim's only salvation; an aural delight of sheer ecstasy. The electric shock of the grinding synthesizers, shrill guitars, and caustic samples, completed by the voice of utter hell and misery, makes Metastasen the soundtrack for a futuristic hell. Each abrasive track pulls your senses apart like the most hideous demon imaginable in the worst of nightmares. The tracks deviate between structure and complete chaos. This album spans and destroys the boundaries of noise, industrial, and techno; if you're a fan of any of these genres, this disc is one piece of art you cannot afford to be without! - AnaStesia, Permission Magazine

...A veritable pleasure palace of pain and torture from the first track "Beweglich Animalisch" (no I don't know what it means) this sample driven, guitar screaming band from overseas has enough C-4 on every track to blow up a very small German town. Very powerful and almost cataclysmic. Like a bad dream you can't run away from Sielwolf just keeps coming and coming, harder and harder. I actually broke out in a sweat just listening to this CD. Pushing technology to the limits on the second track "White Trash" you swear you're gonna blow a fuse. From the downtrodden pace of "Spuck Den Drek Aus" (no, I don't know what it means either) "The Guns Eye" and the title cut "Metastasen" to the faster than fast tracks like "Dreck" Sielwolf has an amazing mind for heavy percussion. There are thirteen cuts in all, with a few different versions of one and a couple remixes of another thrown in the bag. True German industrialist fans of the new school should take a lesson from Sielwolf, and study hard... cause if you fail... you die. - Gear Magazine

Sielwolf works with two sampling technicians, a guitarist, and a drummer to create noise constructions that use a brash punky approach to the genre rather than the avant-garde approach favored by most of their counterparts. The resulting sound, as heard on Metastasen, is decidedly mixed. Songs that move the guitar to the front, such as "White Trash", sound like a murky mix of industrialism and grunge. However, submerging the guitar results in a more successful sound: noise symphonies further fueled by a steady beat. "The Guns Eye" works well in a dark Gothic fashion: sampled orchestrations placed within a subtexture of bass sounds, and a throbbing tympanic beat offset by the occasional strains of the harp. "Die Mieter" creates a tense droning sound, a permutation of the sound of metal balls rolling on a metal surface, feedback, and a softly spoken voice. "Metastasen" itself is a continual onslaught of scraping metal and siren-like squeals, a dull hollow-metallic clanking beat and distorted, unintelligible vocals. A very definite love-it or hate-it affair. - Michael Mahan, Alternative Press

Ranging from all out guitar Industrial to subdued soundscapes, "Metastasen" is a harsh excursion through all that is considered Industrial. As with many Industrial bands though, SIELWOLF's sound takes precidence over song structure. The guitars are crunchy, the vocals are distorted, the samples are interesting, but the songs are weak. At times SIELWOLF is incredibly heavy, but overall this release is much too repetitive. I'd only recommend "Metastasen" to the most die hard Industrial fans. - Bob, Worm Gear Magazine

Hardcore? We're talking relentless, nihilistic, vicious assaults. Grinding guitars, attacking to achieve the deadliest, blackest, bloodiest massacre without remorse, drum machines providing the dreary, fast paced, founation for the march towards destruction. And all of this evil crusade is directed by growling,distorted vocals, electricized but nevertheless unforgiving and spine-tingling. But the average Sielwolf disciple would demand this "torture for the ears", or at least that's what your grandmother will call it. Harsh psychotic nightmare trips deep into the vicious night are made more horrific by samples of neurotic beings mumbling and threatening every human's existence. Sielwolf definately provide the soundtrack for the deadly dangerous, and insane, and don't have mercy on the lightweights. So if you're into death metal or have a taste for harsh industrial (Fear Factory, Bile fans enter here), Sielwolf may rip your flesh to shreds in the right direction. - Warm Lynsian, Fad Gadget Magazine

Yikes. This band makes Godflesh sound like disco-cream-puff-delight. Metastasen is a monster of a record, with a huge variety of noise and percussion, and vocal styles. Tempo goes from sub-sludge ("Spuck Den Drenk Aus") to ultra-fast jungle beat ("Dreck") to more trancey rhythms on songs like "Antimon #2" and "Die Metier." Every song is heavily layered with samples and unidentifiable noises that bring the auditory innovations of earlier industrial giants like Test Department and SPK to mind. At times, the mechanized roar reaches levels on par with power electronics acts like MSBR and Nanamax, but the songs never loose their percussive backbone. Generally I'm wary of bands that fill up their discs with remixes, but the three versions of "Beweglich Animalisch" found on "Metastasen" are radically different from one another, with little in common beside the title lyrics. The first could be described as "all systems go at the local slaughterhouse"; the last of the 3 is a hypnotic washy piece based on a sample of some Nirvana guitar feedback. - Spider, All That

If you like you music heavy and fast then Sielwolf's pummeling industrial sound will suit your every mood. Metastasen spews a deadly dose of some of the harshest, rawest samples ever heard. If you like this stuff let Sielwolf guide you into their world of terror. Hope you make it back in one piece. - V, Delirium Magazine

A sielwolf is commonly known as a fast,rotating ball trimmed with razor sharp claws,cleaning canalization waste pipes from the dirt that sounds like a swork shredding air. Taking music into consideration, that definition would not be complete if it didn't include the musical group known as Sielwolf. Using a process they call "Psychohygene",they dig deep into the shallow of the mind and try to catch their own personal fears,mutated fantasies and weird dreams. Metastasen, the followup to the magnum Force album, is a raw noise assault and a mixing of different musical styles. The album contains bonus tracks from the 12 inch maxi single "Beweglich Animalisch"which has three different versions - one influenced by Nirvana guitar feedbacks and a second version re-mixed by Lassigue Bendthaus. TERRA INDUSTRIA Magazine

Stereowars giving you problems in your apartment complex/dormitory? Can't hear yourself think when Irritator's thrashin' away upstairs and Kool Mack Frozen Yogurt's bassin' yer face next door?Try some Sielwolf ammo to keep yourself ahead of the pack. Track 1, Beweglich Animalisch, has enough firepower to knock you on your ass, rattle the furnature , and get your other neighbors in a hurry to clog 911 with requests for the police and/or an ambulance. Ungodly sampled metal Thrash ,augmented by hiBPM industroCarnage. The body count climbs with White Trash - Sepultura riffs, maiming beats, and rant sultures of Deniro's psycho Character in Cape Fear. More tracks which follow are just as corrosive, while others resemble the smoothingsounds of Armageddon's wartime assembly lines - robotic workers twitching their way to terminal breakdown. Select tracks are indeed quit, but it is the quit found quivering within the bombed husk of a smoke palls in the sky. Evil as fuck. Metastasen is mechanistic punishment meant to be shared with your entire neighborhood. If you happen to be of the less brazen type ,listen to Sielwolf with headphones while enhancing your doom II scores. Kill and kill and kill again! - Vic2, Dissonance Magazine

Metastasen marks the continuation of Sielwolf's guitar industrial terror tactics, laid out in previous releases Magnum Force and Nachtstrom. The first of Sielwolf's albums to be re -released by Van Richter for the US domestic market, Metastasen sees already powerful guitar chords styles blended with avalanche drums and electronic or sampled elements. From the visceral power of the opening track. Beweglich Animalisch, it is obvious that Sielwolf have refined their form. While the usual elements are all there, Sielwolf seem to have found a new construction of sharp chords and moodier guitar atmospheres (Spuck Den Dreck Aus), and darker electronic ambiances (such as the Antimon #1 and Antimon #2) without skipping a beat. Sielwolf either build a disquiet and tension throughout the track or else start with energy and sustain it without doubt. Whichever the mode, the edges are always dark and sharp. Metastasen like previous releases is not simple industro - rock but is attempting something more complex in design. Sielwolf seem to have made a good attempt to capture the feel of steel chains, rut, and abandoned spaces that will appeal to guitar industrial tastes - this act lacks nothing technically. The unique direction may make them less accessible than similar industrial acts of the time but the payoff is tremendous. - Itunes, All Music Guide

I never bought another Sielwolf CD because this one is so unique, anything else can only be a disappointment. But I have bought this one three times, when one got lost and another worn out. The only thing there is to that is the remixes on this one, I don't really think they work. At bit too much tryíng to be American underground Hollywood movie. But the original tracks are fantastic. Heavy and atmospheric and insanely so full if power - and not too fast. Fast is not better! - klawzfinger, Discogs

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