New EP "Can you feel the beat?"

Just saw on Facebook the announcement for "Can you feel the beat?" EP release. This is the cover, based on "Semper Fidelis" aesthetics - since this model was also on the previous cover. Wearing a new uniform, she is presented with the same sexy feeling plus the greed for power - one of the Nachtmahr's major themes. The bat now is bloody as much as she is, like she had just got back from a fight. And she looks like the winner. :)

I found very interesting the message left for the fans, on Facebook. It says:

Every army is only as strong as each separate soldier. No one is more aware of that than Supreme Commander Thomas Rainer who gathered an international fan army around him that is more than ready to follow NACHTMAHR into battle. The name of the last studio album “Semper Fidelis” (“Always faithful”) has long since become the creed of the Imperial Industrial destroyer – an oath reaching entirely new dimensions with the brand new EP “Can You Feel The Beat?”.

Should we understand this cover as an homage for Nachtmahr's soldiers/fans? I think so, as much it seems the "Semper Fidelis" (well known as a motto of the United States Marine Corps, but also used by other martial institutions such as the Brazilian army/Brazilian Military Institute of Engineering) has been faithfully followed by them. With almost 16,600 "likes" on Facebook, Rainer's solo project has been proving a strong sense of gathering through martial aesthetics.

For the first time, the band has been labeled as martial industrial. I didn't publish yet all the interview made on Vienna, but he told me he didn't consider Nachtmahr a martial industrial project:

Do you consider Nachtmahr a martial industrial band?

Thomas: No, because martial industrial is more bands like Folkstorm or classic or neoclassic, in my definition. Musical definition is something really hard. Everybody has his own definition. Martial industrial is more like a neoclassical approach to the music, less techno influences. Maschinenzimmer 412, Folkstorm, this kind of bands.

So I believe this is more about the martial aesthetics and martial sound elements used on Nachtmahr (marches, speeches etc) than the music genre known as martial industrial.

Yet about the Imperial Austrian Industrial, mentioned as "Imperial Industrial destroyer", this is a slogan for Nachtmahr's style and concept, Thomas says:

I see "Austrian" reflecting patriotism, "Industrial" as the most broad description for the music - so I think if it’s industrial, most of the people will expect something like that - and "Imperial" is just a phrase I want to use as a reflect of the grounder and high aesthetic value I want to see in the music and its claim to be eternal, the music to live on, to be something that is not a current trend but something to go on.

And so the announcement continues:

Having only recently returned to the Austrian grounds from a triumphal campaign in Australia, the imperialistic propaganda machinery already is under full steam again – as usual. The remix competition surrounding the bone dry EBM tribute “Can You Feel The Beat?” caused a worldwide uproar and resulted in an impressive total of 97 contributions from far and wide – a worthy monument for the boiling Electro underground on this planet. The two victorious remix warriors DIRTY BIRD 13 and POPULATION now have the honor to ride into the NACHTMAHR remix battle alongside such long-running and prestigious heavyweights such as GRENDEL, SUICIDE COMMANDO or [X]-RX.

I'd like to stress expressions like "campaign", "imperialistic propaganda machinery", "warriors" and "honor" as they were used here, in this quote, because this is part of a big martial metaphor which Nachtmahr stands for. As a former soldier and artist, Thomas adopts the past expressions and dissolves them into a new context, which is the art, the music. Here he explains how this metaphor of life and art as war really is.

And the "Can you feel the beat?" tracklist will have three new songs: (Wo ist) Dein Gott? (Where is your god?), Geräuschplatten (Sound boards) and Nenn' mich wie du willst (Call me what you want), a cover of a song by Böhse Onkelz. Plus the remixed song Can you feel the beat, from Semper Fidelis, by Dirty Bird 13, Population, Grendel and Uberbyte. Suicide Commando, [X]-RX and Patrick Damiani (ex-Rome, Falkenbach) are also on this EP - notice that this last artist was member of a neo-folk/martial industrial band (listen Rome here).

TRACKLIST:

1. (Wo Ist) Dein Gott?

2. Geräuschplatten

3. Nenn' Mich Wie Du Willst

4. Can You Feel The Beat?

5. Can You Feel The Beat? (Grendel Remix)

6. Can You Feel The Beat? (Uberbyte Remix)

7. Can You Feel The Beat? (Dirty Bird 13 Remix)

8. Verräter An Gott

9. Verräter An Gott (Suicide Commando Remix)

10. Verräter An Gott (X-RX Remix)

11. Verräter An Gott (Memmaker Remix)

12. Rise And Fall (Patrick Damiani Remix)

13. Can You Feel The Beat? (Rioters Anthem By Population)

If you people want to buy the EP, this is the link. Also, Nachtmahr is selling a promotional package for fans who want to buy the EP plus the new shirt - check the female edition.

Finally, as a fan, I'm totally curious about this cover (Nenn' Mich Wie Du Willst) and the remix by Patrick Damiani. Nice partnership between a dark-electro band and a neolfok artist.