‘VERFALLEN’ – The nerve-wracking finale! On 1st April, 2016 time will have come! What had its beginning last autumn in the form of the first part of the musical horror story ‘Episode 1: Astoria’, will reach its gruesome climax this spring.
Inspired by bestselling German author Kai Meyer’s short story ‘Das Fleisch der Vielen’ (‘The Flesh of Many’), which was written exclusively for this project, ASP unleash the wonderful, tragic, yet romantic horror story - featuring protagonists Paul and the mysterious spectral figure ‘Astoria’ - onto their delighted audience. In order to be able to dedicate himself to the realization of this unique and unusual album concept, ASP mastermind Asp Spreng even delayed the continuation of his intense ‚Fremder’ album cycle for a little while to devote all his energies to working on this musical gothic novel.
This is how the first part of the ‘Verfallen’ story, which was praised by critics in most glowing terms, and which reached the official album charts at #7, was able to come into being.
‘Episode 1: Astoria’: The hotel Astoria in Leipzig, which was built in 1915, represents the glamorous, yet gruesome setting for this acoustic gothic novel. Although once the luxurious centre of the city’s nightlife, the building has now been vacant for almost two decades. Although it is unusual in ASP’s world that the scene of action is a place existing in reality, they still manage to abduct the listener into a fantastic version thereof. The hotel really does come back to life and it assumes a central role in the happenings that are represented in the individual songs in the most thrilling manner imaginable.
In this second part Asp now creates a veritable maelstrom of gripping twists and turns throughout the narration. We quickly come to realize that just like the main character Paul, what we think we know about the story is only really the tip of an evermore menacing iceberg that lurks within its depths.
We get to glimpse behind a whole array of facades. However, whether we like what we come to see remains doubtful.
The horrible deeds that take place in the hotel have been visually realized by artworker Joachim Luetke, who has already worked with MARILYN MANSON, SOPOR AETERNUS, DIMMU BORGIR, KREATOR and ARCH ENEMY.
Despite all the horrors that the music lover is presented with here, ASP have seldom sounded so melodic and catchy while still remaining subtly morbid. The horrors unfold in detail, slowly and in a creeping fashion - just like in an H.P. Lovecraft story. In terms of the lyrics, Asp clearly manages to pull off the balancing act between storytelling and providing the listener with an opportunity to identify with the characters - something he does with his usual ease. As always he achieves this with a level of lyrical narrative that is unique in the German-language music world.
Released early April 2016 on Trisol.
English