THE STURMGEIST ALBUM "MANIFESTO FUTURISTA" IS AVAILABLE THROUGH MAIL-ORDER AND TWILIGHT DISTRIBUTION. NORWEGIAN BM ITALIAN STYLE!
Check blog for information about how to order the album
"MANIFESTO FUTURISTA" PRESS RELEASE
Sturmgeist - "Manifesto Futurista"
Norwegian Black Metal
Inhuman Music 003
Sturmgeist was formed in 2003 by Cornelius von Jackhelln, founding member of Avant-Black pioneers Solefald. During his four-year stay at the Sorbonne university in Paris, von Jackhelln, a Norwegian citizen with remote German origins, developed a strong interest in his own identity and culture. The Sturmgeist name, meaning "stormspirit" in German, was inspired by Goethe's ballads from the "Sturm und Drang" era.
In "Manifesto Futurista" Sturmgeist explores the aesthetics of early 20th-century Futurism. "There is no masterpiece that has not an aggressive character," F.T. Marinetti wrote in 1909. Exactly one century later, it is only appropriate to commemorate Futurism with the song "Manifesto Futurista", a blazing anthem to speed and technology. However, also the darkest moments of last century are treated. The song "Verdun" tells the destiny of a young soldier in WWI, whereas the French lyric "Elégie d'une modernité meurtrière" describes a Genesis gone wrong, the creation of Man by God and Man's subsequent creation of industrial death camps.
"Manifesto Futurista" contains four poems from Von Jackhelln's book "Galderhug/Spellmind" (bilingual Norwegian/English edition, Cappelen Damm publishers, 2008). Also a writer, Von Jackhelln's bibliography counts six titles exploring the crash between Norse mythology and contemporary culture. In 2007 Von Jackhelln won the Bonnier-Cappelen publishing group's Great Nordic Novel Competition with the saga "The Fall of the Gods", landing him massive media attention, translations into three languages and a considerable prize sum.
On November 7th, 2007, Sturmgeist got the worst phone call a musician can get: a news reporter stated that a young Finn using "Sturmgeist89" as his YouTube login had killed nine people, including himself, at his high school in Jokela. As a result, Sturmgeist considered giving up music entirely. When confronted with such an example of real evil, the extreme metal fascination with imaginary evil seemed shallow and shameful. However, Sturmgeist decided to persevere. Giving the critics right would be equal to admitting guilt for a crime committed by a deranged kid alien to the band. In a press release the same day, Von Jackhelln retorted that "although extreme metal as a genre deals with topics such as isolation, misanthropy and despair, blaming the musicians is both wrong and unfair. It is people that kill people. Not music." The furious song "Sturmgeist_89" is a message from the real Sturmgeist, with the short question "Why did you do it?" as its desperate chorus.
When Sturmgeist now returns after three years of silence, it is with an album that screams with fury and vengeance. Sturmgeist has adopted the extreme expression of Norwegian Black Metal and evolved beyond the eclectic Black/Thrash/Industrial style of the band's two previous albums, "Meister Mephisto" and "Über" (Season of Mist, 2005 & 2006). Centered around blitzing blastbeats, shattering riffs and hellish screams, "Manifesto Futurista" is the angriest and most intense album ever recorded by Von Jackhelln.
The album cover displays Norwegian artist Pushwagner's monumental work "Dadadata I". "Manifesto Futurista" was recorded in desolate surroundings in Sofia and Berlin, and masterfully mixed by Stamos Koliousis and Vangelis Labrakis at 210 Studios. Released on Sturmgeist's own Berlin-based Inhuman Music under the motto "I speak of war but pray for peace", "Manifesto Futurista" is set to enthuse and to infuriate, to alienate and to arouse.
STURM III: DAWN OF ANGER, DAY OF STRIFE
After a long journey across the deserts of Paris and the meadows of Rome, Sturmgeist settled in Berlin. Once a Kaiserstadt, Berlin is now the metropolis of European contemporary culture. It has to be that way. And Sturmgeist has to be there.
They believed me dead. But I never died.
That does not mean they did not try to kill me. Because they tried.
Sturmgeist is the sound of struggle, the noise of will reckless and relentless. Sturmgeist is resistance to the bitter end – resistance as in Resistance. Three world wars - and battles before that - have been commemorated and commented upon over three albums: WWI, WWII & the War on Terror. There is no subject graver than war. Human history is riddled with conflict from beginning to end.
What Sturmgeist makes you feel may be similar to the emotions induced by war. Beware.
Here is my anger, the beast within let loose. It is a tale of injustice and revenge to be taken.
Here is my anguish, the torment of rejection. I give you my shivering nights, the loneliness and hatred of the insomniac.
Strife is the mother of greatness. In 1909 the Italian Futurist F.T. Marinetti wrote: "Non vi è più bellezza se non nella lotta. Nessuna opera che non abbia un carattere aggressivo può essere un capolavoro." It is no coincidence that, a century later, Sturmgeist returns with "Manifesto Futurista". Can you hear the clattering machine guns, the roaring motors and the cheering crowds? Herein you shall recognise all the buzz and clamour of the early 20th century, just as disastrous as it was bloody.
Sturmgeist explores stories of warfare without endorsing war. The real peacebuilding operation succeeds in the shift from external to internal conflict. When the perceived threat is transformed into a solvable problem, you can start counting the lives saved.
I speak of war but pray for peace.
Sturmgeist
Berlin, April 2009
