DVD, Black Rain, 2006
www.feindflug.info
In order to celebrate their tenth anniversary, harsh EBM project Feindflug have released their first DVD, a disc which features much material, but mainly recordings of live performances.
First on the list is a video of a whole concert, shot in Berlin (K17), a live recording consisting of fifteen tracks. It is nice to see that many of the sound elements are actually performed live, leading to the presence of many people on the stage. Nevertheless it is hard to say that one is seeing some outstanding show: band members simply put up an act making scary or mysterious expressions while hammering the drums and playing on synthesizer or guitar while one of the project’s leaders fires “quote” voice samples. Feindflug’s live performance also includes video projections the themes of which are, unsurprisingly, war (and in particular World War II) though these projections aren’t clearly showcased on the DVD footage. Sometimes the band inertly tries to communicate with the audience which seems to need only one thing from the show: to see their loved project and have fun jumping around under the stage.
Overall, this may have a double outcome. If, on one hand we can hear somewhat talented music and see self-sacrificing work on the stage, on the other hand the show is quite boring. Maybe a lack of free space on the stage is the main problem? But if this show made it into the DVD, it would seem that it must one of the best or, at least, a “typical” show. In between concert tracks, this section of the DVD also includes clips of an interview with Feindflug’s founders, Banane and Felix. It concludes with the lyrical track “Sturmwalze(r)”, and one is also treated to post-concert backstage footage.
The following part of the DVD consists of a set of six live tracks taken from different concerts, featuring much more expression, enthusiasm action (madness if you wish), the musicians being much more active on the stage in these clips when compared the footage from the Berlin concert. Finally, after all of the live recordings, the viewer is treated to a full-fledged clip with “Truppenschau”. It is typical for this kind of military-aesthetic bands: video cuts of military documentaries mixed here and there with video of Feindflug driving around a field on a tank, making themselves out as brave Sturmbahnfuhrers of Bundewehr.
The most intriguing moment of this DVD was the advertising of “Zonen”, a short movie feature. The story of this movie is about one person, who was sent by some ‘Emperor on Earth’ in order to find the “genetic code of the old world”. One would assume that this “code” would be needed by said emperor for the creation of a new human race… It will be hard to say that this movie is particularly impressive: the actors’ performance is weak, visual effects are almost absent and the story and screenplay on the whole is unoriginal to say the least. The movie is preceded by a video clip of Feindflug’s classic track “Stukas Im Visier” which consists of fragments of “Zonen” and of Feindflug’s live performance of this song. Also included are a live clip of “Glaubenskrieg” and a brief video biography of the band.
One thing that is significant about this DVD release, is the artwork, both in the digipack packaging as in the video menus. Both are truly well done and extremely pleasing to the eye, being really exciting.
In the end, this is a release which is mainly of interest, and recommended first of all, to die-hard fans of Feindflug, and it was obviously created with them in mind. A casual viewer may find it somewhat boring or uninteresting, especially when not remotely familiar with Feindflug’s work.
[6/10]
— Igor