Review: Scarscab, Soulblood (2007)

Would you expect to find Louis Armstrong on a German metal record? No? Well, you might be right; there is no obvious reason to. The more it struck me, when I heard Louis Armstrong’s famous line And I said to myself / What a wonderful world being sung on Scarscab’s album Soulblood. To be more precise, it is used in the record’s last song Behold Beware. Some might say this is blasphemy. I would agree, if Armstrong’s words would be used in a bad piece of music. However, Behold Beware is one of the best metal songs I’ve heard in a long time, leading me to one deeper insight: this is not blasphemy, this carefully crafted and yes, catchy, metal from Germany.

The same holds true for the rest of the record, even though Behold Beware remains the strongest song. Take, for instance, the beginning. The opening track, named after the album, is merely a prelude, emphasising the band’s taste for rhythmic and melodic arrangements – the first moment of good songwriting. But it’s clearly the second song, which shows that the band has more to offer: Human Havoc has everything a metal fan might ask for: speed, brutality, melody. Wow. I simply can’t find a real weak spot on that record. Quite the reverse. For someone like me, who is not a regular metal consumer, this record is a revelation and brings back my taste for music with heavy guitars.

Admittedly, one cannot deny Scarscab’s resemblance to bands such as Machine Head or Fear Factory. In fact, the band’s music is based on the same principle of speedy double-bass metal blended with clear, melodic singing. However, as mentioned above, Scarscab is not a rip-off. Rather, the band was able to create their own sound and style, which sometimes even leads to Metallica-resembling ballads such as All That Lies, which could easily receive some airplay on MTV. What these guys need now is a proper record deal!!

A QUESTION OF IDENTITY

Europe is a great idea but leaves us with a challenging task: creating a common identity.

The difficulties are obvious. On the one hand, Europe benefits from the various cultural differences of its members. However, these differences could also be seen as the main obstacle towards a common European nationality.

The EU, for instance, has now 27 members with 23 official languages. This can become a real problem, as identity is closely linked to native languages. In the EU, the three main languages are English, French and German. But what about other states such as Greece, Poland and Portugal? Language is still a hurdle to common understanding and will remain a problem for European identity.

Therefore, building our nation requires different methods. One of them has been the introduction of a common currency, the Euro. A spontaneous look into my wallet revealed coins from Ireland, Italy and Germany. Suddenly, bridging cultures and countries becomes very easy indeed. Unfortunately, the UK has refused to join the Euro until now and therefore missed the opportunity to move closer to the continent.

According to last week’s New Statesman “The euro has become the world's favourite - and most stable - currency and no country has lost its identity.”¹ Still, the author remains too general about the term ‘identity’ and neglects the issue of a European nationality. But joining the European currency could make it much easier for Britain to become part of a multinational Europe – a step it only has taken half-hearted up to now.

Europe has to take every opportunity to become one. As part of Europe, Britain should not wait any longer.

A HURT NATION

How long does it take until a nation gets over its past?

It was this question troubling Germany after World War Two. A whole generation, known as the movement of 1968, critically engaged with the country’s Nazi-past – something, they claimed, their parents had failed to do.

It is due to this generation that the Third Reich is probably the best-researched period in German history. However, the movement also brought one of the biggest traumas to the country, known as the Red Army Faction (RAF). During the 1970s and 80s, the terrorist organisation assassinated several business tycoons and state officials in their attempt to uncover a nation still steeped in fascism.

This week’s Time showed that German politicians still have huge difficulties in closing this matter in an objective manner.¹ The debate circles around the release of two convicted former members of the RAF, Brigitte Mohnhaupt, 57, and Christian Klar, 54. Both were sentenced to a respective 24 and 26 years in 1985 due to numerous counts of murder and attempted murder.

Now, after 22 years, Mohnhaupt became eligible for parole and will be released from prison in March 2007. Klar has appealed the German president for early release. However, there is debate among conservative politicians whether parole should be granted at all. Markus Söder, general secretary of the Christian Social Union (CSU) has uttered strong concern about the release. So, too, familiy members of the RAF-victims would like to see Kahl’s appeal rejected.

Terrorists are criminals and should be treated accordingly. But if politicians question probation, law becomes obsolete – Guantánamo Bay has shown what this means. Only when “law takes its course”, Germany will get over its past.²

¹ Purvis, Andrew. 2007. Red Ghosts. Time. February 19, p. 32-33.

There is a huge difference between quality and mediocre media. The most visible one is the quality media’s ability to move beyond current issues and discover their true meanings for society.

Last week’s Economist confirmed my opinion. With its leader on bird-flu, the publication uncovered the British media’s dependence on people’s fears. As the author notes, “the British press does love a good panic”¹ – but bad news also sell newspapers. Instead of reporting what is actually happening, stories are embroidered to justify a disturbing but yet attractive headline.

When it comes to media frenzy, diseases seem indeed to be tailor-made. Take, for instance, BSE and SARS which have long been a constant source for front-page stories. Once the victims of these diseases faded, so did the coverage. Therefore, I was pleased to see that these shortcomings of media mediocrity were revealed by another publication.

But the leader not only confirmed what I already knew. It took the debate to another level by stating what we should really be worried about. And that is the lack of investment in those countries where these diseases are widespread. Containment has to start there. But our awareness seems to be limited to the society we live in. As long as we are not directly affected, there is no reason for us to care.

I admit that I never made that step before. To me, thinking about the double standards of mass media seemed sophisticated enough. But I never considered that our society has to invest in other, poorer societies to prevent diseases like bird-flu. 

Only quality media can provide us with this awareness.